Chapter 67: Practicing Piano

  Zheng raised an eyebrow: "Are you thinking of taking advantage of Qiao Jie's first birthday to bring your mother and younger brother over to see Lan Jie?"

  "Daughter-in-law, you can't hide your thoughts from me." Cui Wan was caught off guard and decided to speak directly: "My younger brother is good in every way, but he's read too many books and has become a bit dull. Mother has always doted on him and wants to find someone who suits his taste. That's why things have been delayed until now."

  Now that he has set his sights on Ye Qinglan, he naturally wants Cui Yu to take a look for himself. It would be best if Cui Yu and Ye Qinglan hit it off with each other, cultivate some feelings, and then talking about marriage will become a natural thing.

  Zheng smiled and nodded in response.

  Let's put that aside for now. Ye Qinglan followed Ye Qingning to the piano room in Huancui Pavilion and suddenly found a new piano inside.

  Ye Qinglan's eyes lit up and she said with a smile: "Sixth sister, is this the guqin you specially gave to me?"

  A hint of self-satisfaction flashed in Ye Qingning's eyes, and she smiled proudly: "This is the one I specially asked Zhi Xia to find for me in the warehouse of Luomei Academy. Although it's not as good as the one my grandfather gave me, it's still a fine instrument!"

  Ye Qinglan had already happily gone over and lovingly stroked the body of the guqin and its strings.

  This joy is not entirely pretended. In her previous life, she had never learned to play a musical instrument, which was always a regret of hers. Now that she has the opportunity to practice the guqin, it's also a delightful thing.

  Yè Qīngníng saw her joyful expression and felt happy in his heart. To him, it was just a small matter that required no effort, but he didn't expect Yè Qīnglán to be so delighted over such a trivial thing.

  "Sixth sister, thank you, I really like this piano." Ye Qinglan's clean and tidy little face was filled with joyful smiles, and the entire music room lit up along with her.

  Ye Qing Ning smiled reservedly: "As long as you like it. By the way, Zeng's wife will be here soon, I need to practice my zither first. You can do whatever you want."

  Ye Qinglan smiled and nodded slightly.

  Ye Qing Ning sat down properly, her hands gently pressing the strings. Familiar plucking, pleasant and delightful piano sounds began to ring out.

  Ye Qinglan had never touched a guqin before and didn't know where to start. If she played randomly, she was afraid of disturbing Ye Qingning's playing, so she simply sat down honestly on one side and focused on appreciating the music.

  After a moment, Zhi Xia led in a woman of about thirty. The woman's appearance was at most average, without makeup, using only one gold hairpin to tie up her black hair, and there was no decoration on her body. Yet, it made people feel inexplicably comfortable and natural.

  This woman was none other than Zeng's daughter-in-law.

  Ye Qinglan glanced at Zeng's wife a few times with a subtle gaze. In her heart, she secretly praised her.

  Beauty fades with age, no matter how beautiful a woman is, she can't escape the day when her beauty will fade. Only temperament will become more refined and elegant as time goes by, emitting a lingering fragrance. Zeng's wife was such a woman, although not particularly beautiful, she had a quiet charm.

  Ye Qingning immediately stood up and welcomed him with a smile, calling out "Zeng Fuzi."

  Zeng's daughter smiled and nodded, her eyes naturally falling on Ye Qinglan. In her heart, she was secretly puzzled. She often came and went from the Changyuan Bo Fu, and was familiar with the various young ladies in the mansion. But the gentle and beautiful girl in front of her was very unfamiliar, never seen before...

  Ye Qinglan stepped forward and curtsied: "Qinglan has seen Master Zeng."

  Ye Qingning smiled leisurely and said: "Zeng Fuzi, this is my younger sister, tenth in line."

  Zeng's daughter smiled slightly: "So it was Miss Ten. Sorry about that." Ye Qingning didn't like to be disturbed while practicing the piano, so this music room rarely had anyone else come in. This Miss Ten suddenly appeared here, surely she wasn't going to learn piano together?

  Not yet finished thinking. Then heard Ye Qingning say: "From now on, Shi Mei will practice the piano with me, sorry to trouble you, Master Zeng."

  Zeng's daughter smiled faintly and nodded in response.

  She has always been responsible for teaching Ye Qingning's piano skills, and now suddenly there is a new hand with no foundation, it will definitely be more troublesome to teach. But since Ye Qingning took the initiative to speak up, she couldn't refuse. She had to agree first.

  Zeng's daughter first taught Ye Qingning a new piano piece and pointed out the fingerings. After Ye Qingning practiced for several times, she nodded slightly, indicating that Ye Qingning should continue to practice. Only then did she have time to instruct Ye Qinglan.

  During this time, Ye Qinglan remained silent and did not interrupt. This tactfulness and obedience earned her a lot of good feelings from Zeng Niangzi, whose attitude became much warmer than before: "May I ask Miss Ye, have you ever come into contact with the guqin before?"

  Ye Qinglan shook her head honestly: "No, I've only heard Sixth Sister play the piano. Sixth Sister's piano playing is very nice."

  That's natural. Zeng's daughter smiled: "Sixth Miss has been learning piano since she was six years old, with exceptional talent, practicing for at least a few hours every day, her piano skills are naturally outstanding."

  The implication is obvious, if you don't have a bit of perseverance, then it's better not to learn this instrument.

  Ye Qinglan replied without hesitation: "Master, please rest assured, I will study and practice the piano diligently and will not complain." Her expression was extremely serious.

  Zeng's daughter secretly nodded in her heart and began to guide Ye Qinglan in practicing the piano.

  Playing the piano is an elegant thing, which has many requirements for sitting posture, demeanor and appearance. It also requires the player to be calm, quiet and focused. Beginners should not practice difficult piano pieces, but start with the simplest finger exercises, and after mastering the basic finger techniques, they can practice some simple piano pieces.

  Zeng's daughter spoke at a moderate pace, thoroughly and clearly explaining the music theory in a way that was easy to understand. Ye Qinglan listened very attentively, occasionally noting down things she didn't understand before asking about them later.

  Zeng's daughter demonstrated a few basic fingerings and then let Ye Qinglan practice on her own.

  Ye Qinglan took a deep breath, dispelled distractions, and straightened her waist. Her left hand pressed the strings, while her right hand plucked them.

  At the beginning of practicing finger techniques, it is naturally a very dull thing. Repeating those few actions over and over again, not to mention young girls, even adults may not be able to hold their patience.

  Ke Ye Qinglan, however, continued to practice her finger techniques with her head down, not showing any impatience from start to finish.

  Zeng's daughter watched from the side, and couldn't help but secretly praise her. This tenth young lady was indeed very talented, having only looked at it a few times before mastering the fingerings, and being extremely serious and meticulous. Given time, I'm afraid her piano skills won't be inferior to those of the sixth young lady.

  Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

  Ye Qingning's piano skills have made some small achievements, no need to arrange extra lessons. Zeng's wife alone arranged a piano practice task for Ye Qinglan: "Practice for at least two hours every day, and memorize these fingerings by heart. By next time, you can start practicing simple piano pieces."

  Ye Qinglan respectfully responded. After sending Zeng's wife out, she finally showed a tired look and sighed: "I'm so tired, my fingers are sore to death."

  It's not just sore, but also a little painful. Especially the left ring finger of my left hand that presses the strings is slightly red and swollen. I'll probably need to apply a hot towel when I get home tonight to make it feel better.

  "Has it just started and you're already tired? The days of being tired are long ahead!"

  Ye Qinglan sincerely exclaimed: "Sixth sister, I'm really convinced of you now. You practice for several hours every day, how did you manage to hold on?" With such perseverance, Ye Qingning was not entirely without merits.

  Ye Qingning smiled slightly with a hint of pride in her eyes.

  As a noble lady, having an outstanding appearance is not enough. To stand out among the many noble ladies in the capital, one must also have exceptional talent. She has always been a very proud girl, either she doesn't do it at all, or if she does, she will do her best.

  She started learning piano at the age of six, and except for reading and writing, almost all her time was spent practicing piano. At the age of ten, she had made some achievements in piano playing. In a flower appreciation meeting that year, she made a big splash and gained the reputation of being a talented girl. Outsiders only saw her glory, but no one knew how much effort she put into it.

  Ye Qinglan's praise had truly gotten into her heart.

  Ye Qinglan glanced at Ye Qingning and smiled: "I'll have to learn from Sixth Sister in the future, even if I can only learn one or two percent of her skills."

  If someone else said this, it would inevitably sound a bit mushy. But Ye Qinglan was actually good at saying flattering words in a serious and sincere way that made people deeply believe her.

  Ye Qingning finally couldn't help but laugh and scolded her: "Look at this mouth of yours, it's always coaxing me to be happy."

  Ye Qinglan batted her eyelashes: "Of course, I was still hoping you'd give me another qin to take back to He Feng Yuan!"

  She's got some nerve saying that. She's been freeloading off emotions, food, and even music, and now she's developed a habit of it.

  Ye Qingning burst out laughing and made a rare joke: "Why don't I just give you this piano that I'm used to playing?"

  Ye Qinglan replied seriously, "How can I possibly accept, but since Sixth Sister has shown such great enthusiasm, if I don't agree, wouldn't that disappoint her? Little sister has no choice but to obey."

  Ye Qingning was amused and laughed so hard that she bent her waist, and her originally bright face was no longer cold and arrogant, but rather more easy-going and amiable.

  After laughing and joking, when Ye Qinglan left, Ye Qingning indeed instructed Zhi Xia to go to the warehouse again to find a zither and send it to He Fengyuan.

  Zhi Xia's astonishment at hearing such an order for the first time, to now being unruffled, was a transformation that took only two short days. She immediately accepted the task and went to the warehouse, found a brand new guqin, and ordered two maids to carry it and deliver it to He Feng Yuan.

  All along the way, Guī Yuán couldn't hold back her excitement and chattered on: "Miss, Sixth Miss is really too good to you."

  Ye Qinglan tugged at the corner of her lips, and a faint smile flashed across the bottom of her eyes.

  What Ye Qingning meant by being good to her was also conditional. Firstly, she had to stand obediently behind Ye Qingning and never steal the spotlight from her. Secondly, she had to cater to Ye Qingning's every whim. Thirdly, she had to speak in a way that pleased Ye Qingning. Most importantly, she absolutely could not harbor any jealousy towards Ye Qingning's loved one.

  In the end, how many people can be considered as good friends of Ye Qingning?

  Besides her, probably no one else!