The Unveiling of Secret Queen

Chapter 272: Chapter 272: The Konghou Given by Mr. Norton_1

”Hmm.” Nathalie Quinlan glanced around and didn’t see anyone in the living room, a trace of confusion flickered across her eyes.

Alfred Garland seemed to have noticed her confusion and quickly said with a smile, ”Amadeus, Mr. Zachmann, and the young master are in the kitchen making noodles for you. That longevity noodle tastes best when freshly made, so they’re still working on it. You might have to wait a little longer.”

It was the first time Nathalie Quinlan had heard about these longevity noodles. She uh-huhed, went downstairs, took a bottle of water from the fridge, and just gulped down a couple of swigs.

Alfred Garland came over and handed her something.

”Ms. Quinlan, after you left, the waiter at Waterfront Pavilion said an old gentleman had left something there for you, saying it was your birthday gift. As they couldn’t find you, they asked us to pass it on to you. I think that thing looks like some kind of musical instrument.”

Nathalie Quinlan’s brows knitted together as she listened, now recalling that she had been so preoccupied with settling the account with Ghania Quinlan that she forgot she had also made an appointment with someone.

Now she had stood someone up.

Nathalie Quinlan felt a bit of a headache and asked him, ”Where is the thing placed?”

Alfred Garland nodded towards a direction, ”The living room. Amadeus said that the moment you woke up, you would surely look for that gift and brought it back.”

”Do you want to see it?”

As he spoke, he didn’t waste words, efficiently found the item, and handed it to Nathalie Quinlan, while remarking, ”At first, I thought this was a harp, but then Amadeus told me it’s not a harp, it’s some kind of classical instrument from our country. What’s it called again...”

Those two characters were quite complex. He had forgotten them.

When Nathalie Quinlan saw what he had brought, the instrument’s brown wooden texture was simple yet understated, with a semi-circular design that resembled a western harp at first glance.

But upon closer inspection, one could see subtle differences between the two.

Compared to the harp, this peculiar instrument had fewer strings, and unlike the western harp, its body was entirely made of wood grain, with a tail that was longer, and its tawny wood grain looking as if it was burnt at the end.

Nathalie Quinlan took the item and said with a slightly hoarse voice, ”Konghou.”

On hearing this, Alfred Garland clapped his hands, remembering, ”Right, right, right, it’s the Konghou! Amadeus also said this is a Konghou!”

He gave the calmly poised girl a puzzled look and asked with curiosity, ”Ms. Quinlan, can you also play this?”

After all, if it’s a birthday gift, it surely wouldn’t be something that’s merely for display, not meant to be used.

But he remembered that there weren’t many people who could play the Konghou in the country.

Nathalie Quinlan had already spotted some neatly carved ancient script with a knife at the tail of the instrument’s body—Norton.

She carried the instrument to the sofa, casually uttering, ”... I know a bit.”

Alfred Garland, driven by curiosity, asked, ”So, is this instrument particularly expensive?”

Nathalie Quinlan paused for a moment, seemingly unexpected he would ask this question; her crow-black lashes dipped slightly as if pondering.

She eventually concluded, ”It’s alright, not particularly expensive.”

An instrument of this quality, the Phoenix-tail Konghou, just in terms of price, might be in the seven-figure range.

But with added value, such as the Norton character inscribed at the tail, it might require an eight-figure sum.

For her, eight figures was neither particularly cheap nor particularly expensive.

But Alfred Garland misunderstood, seeing how nonchalant she was, and upon noting that the tail seemed as if it were burnt, he instinctively figured it might just be a few hundred dollars, and couldn’t help but exclaim, ”... It seems that not all large things are valuable.”

This instrument looked so big, and yet it was worth less than an erhu.

The person who sent the gift was maybe too stingy, giving such a hard-to-carry thing, and it turned out to be just a few hundred dollars!

From the look on his face, Nathalie Quinlan knew his estimate of the price was certainly different from what she had said, just as she was about to explain, at that moment, the people from the kitchen came out—