Flowers Bloom from Battlefield

Yan looked at Soujin with a dark face. ”When exactly did Jun Min tell you about his sister?”

”When we were fighting,” Soujin answered. ”Besides, these arts are not that important once you’re married.”

Ming Hui nodded. ”Only a few of them will continue to use it to please their husband.”

”Ming Hui, you’re not allowed to participate in this conversation.”

”Why?”

Soujin let the two people banter as he gazed at the stage calmly. The test was about to begin.

The first test was for the girls. They all lined up to draw their lots before returning to their seat.

Jun Hua glared at the word on her paper: Music

”Jun Hua, what did you get? I got music,” Fan Lanying asked excitedly.

Jun Hua showed her paper. ”I got the same with you.”

”Then when is your turn?”

”I got… the first.”

Jun Hua sighed. It seemed that she would have to stand up first and become the laughingstock of the people in the capital. Once the girls had finished drawing lots, those who had drawn drawings would start first simultaneously as those who had drawn music to play their pieces.

”Jun Hua.” The teacher called out her name to get on the stage.

Jun Hua went up the stage. As she strode over, many people’s gazes headed towards her. They could see a petite girl walking. Despite that Jun Hua kept wearing her veil people could discern that she was a really pretty girl. Most men were lamenting why didn’t she open up her veil and let them see her face? They really want to see her full face!

Jun Hua headed towards the zither and took a seat before it. Although she knew that she could not play well, she had to at least do her best. She never liked string musical instruments, but the girls needed to learn them so she had no choice.

Jun Hua placed her hand on top of the zither and her fingers started to move. Her movement was still stiff and rough, but she could remember the notes clearly. She picked one of the songs she used to play for her practice. The song was not long, but it consisted of a lot notes.

Her fingers glided across the zither, but she was having difficulty playing as smoothly as there were some tempos messed up and a few notes strung wrong. Her play could not be considered good, but it was not too bad either. Compared to when she first started to learn the musical instrument, she improved a lot. But for people listening in the hall, her music sounded really terrible.

”Is this the standard of the academy?”

”It’s sounds really terrible.”

”Can’t she play properly?”

Fan Lanying didn’t bother with the whispering around her as she clapped earnestly after the song was finished. The others looked on with derision towards her and they didn’t follow suit. Surprisingly, there were a few people who gave applause: Ming Hui, Yan, Soujin, and Lin San.

”Why did you clap too?” Yan asked his best friend.

”She’s not as bad as the rumor said,” Soujin answered.

Lin San clapped because she knew about the hard work Jun Hua expended in her performance. The little girl, who once didn’t know how to play at all, now was able to play an entire song albeit with little mistakes. For her, it really was an amazing feat. Even while she was painting a picture, she still spared some time to listen to her performance. After all the setbacks she had experienced, she no longer chased after Jun Min and went against Jun Hua anymore.

Jun Hua didn’t mind other people thought of her performance. She just stood up and bowed to the audience after she was done. She walked back to her seat and Fan Lanying gave her a thumbs-up.

”Thank you.”

”You did good there,” Fan Lanying commented. ”There are still a lot you can improve.”

After Jun Hua, another girl came up and played another song. The girl was far more skilled than Jun Hua and completely captured the audience’s attention. With their skills as comparison, the people’s view on Jun Hua kept on decreasing. Other than her beautiful face, what else did she have?

Fan Lanying’s turn came after that. She went up to the stage and sat before the zither. Her eyes swept towards Ming Hui and she smiled. After that she started playing.

”She just looked at you, didn’t she?”

”Shut up and listen,” Ming Hui clearly saw the look Fan Lanying had thrown at her. She knew that Fan Lanying wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what.

Fan Lanying started to play the music. She had been practicing and the song she chose to play was a story about two people falling in love. In a sense, it was the same song that told the story as the one Ming Hui chose to have the play.

Hearing the song, Ming Hui remembered her birthday party. She now knew that Fan Lanying had wanted to give her a present by playing a song for her. Since the party was interrupted before, she hadn’t got the chance to do so. Now that she could play on the test naturally, she would use this opportunity to present her this gift.

Fan Lanying’s talent has improved by leaps and bounds. Similar with Jun Hua who kept on practicing her embroidery, Fan Lanying also didn’t stop practicing her music aside from her training. The way she played could be considered as one of the best. Of course, it would only apply for this one song since Fan Lanying only practiced one song these past few weeks.

When the song ended, there were more people applauding since the music played was really good. Jun Hua included. She was happy for her friend getting such a good result.

Fan Lanying bowed and hurriedly returned to her seat.

”Do you think she heard it? Will she like it?”

Jun Hua nodded. ”I’m sure she will. You played really well.”

”That’s a relief,” Fan Lanying smiled happily. She was hoping that Ming Hui would love her present.