Lei Mingxing continued to play the guqin tirelessly for hours, her eyes closed. Occasionally, she could hear some coins being tossed her way, landing all around her, although not once did any of them touch her and she just kept her eyes shut, letting herself be swept away by the music as well. It was only twice throughout the whole night that she opened her eyes. The first time, when she felt an intense gaze fall on her, that was filled with neither wonder nor desire, only inquisition. It clung to her like an unspoken question. Confused and curious why that was, she opened her eyes. Searching for the origin, only to find that its owner was a young man with pure white hair and piercing red eyes, his face taut as if carefully assessing her, but when he realized that she reciprocated his attention, his eyes widened a bit and he quickly turned around, disappearing into the crowd and exiting the brothel, leaving Lei Mingxing to wonder what that had been about.
The second time wasn't too long after the first and occurred when she felt a person stopping directly in front of her, and although her fingers didn't stop moving, she raised her eyes.
Standing there was a person of undetermined gender, their body tastefully wrapped in luxurious robes and adorned with many accessories that concealed the intricately crafted artifacts between them. They smiled brightly at Lei Mingxing, their expression friendly.
"Greetings, Master Musician, I've never heard these pieces before, dare I ask what they are called and who they're from?"
Although the other had been very polite in their question, Lei Mingxing was still cautious in her reply, who knew what crowd gathered here.
"These pieces do not have a name, they are created to follow my whims and stir the mind."
The person before her put on an admiring expression.
"So these melodies are all composed on the spot? Remarkable! Could I ask you for your name, Master Musician? Surely such a talented musician has to have a reputation."
But Lei Mingxing just shook her head at this question, gently replying: "I'm sorry, I do not have a name to give you as this is my first performance."
"Really? How surprising! But then I will just have to explain my proposal now... I want to hire you to perform at a certain auction, I'll be hosting in about two months. Although the venue is a bit far from the capital, I'm willing to cover all your travel expenses, as well as reward you handsomely for your performance. So, how about it?"
The offer was so sudden and unexpected that Lei Mingxing almost plucked the wrong string. She fell silent, only staring up at the person standing before her.
It was tempting to say the least, maybe she could even use the other's bodyguards, who were standing not far away and occasionally sneaking glances, to get rid of the guards behind her, becoming a free woman again. But... she knew better than to jump on the offer of some unknown person with unclear intentions, after all, it was simply too good to be true. She was good at playing instruments, but she didn't think that she was that good. So after remaining silent for a few more seconds, she ultimately rejected the offer with a shake of her head. Calming the guards behind her who had been getting increasingly restless the longer it took her to reply, their hands already on the hilts of their swords, ready to unleash their strength and take Lei Mingxing away, as they had also discovered the bodyguards of unknown strength not too far away.
"I'm sorry, I cannot leave Qingshui Kingdom at this moment, I won't be able to perform at your auction."
The merchant sighed in regret.
"That's too bad... Well, if you change your mind, you can just return here and inform the owner that 'Illustrious Raven' invited you, even if you can't join this event, there are many more to come and I would be honored to have you," the other once again flashed Lei Mingxing a charming smile. Just when she thought that they would leave now, the merchant slipped their hand into their sleeve and pulled something out before dropping it to the ground with the loud clinking sound of several coins striking each other. It was a coin pouch the size of two fists.
"To show my sincerity," the merchant winked at her, "after all, you made this night that more enjoyable. Goodbye, until we see each other again, Master Musician."
With that, the other left, and Lei Mingxing could only stare at their back with a shocked expression, wondering if the heavens were finally smiling upon her again. Her next piece was a lot more energetic and bright after this encounter and her own depressive mood had improved a lot.
But this was everything out of the ordinary that had occurred during her stay at 'Blossoming Delights'. When night was gradually being chased away by the light of dawn and most of the customers had left, the elderly owner finally appeared again before Lei Mingxing.
The owner's face was bright and she had an overjoyed expression on her face as she handed Lei Mingxing her payment, praising her and trying her best to advertise 'Blossoming Delights' so she would visit once more, but the latter just gave some vague replies while instructing the still disguised guards to pick up the coins on the ground around them and put them into the coin pouch the merchant had gifted her. She watched them with hawk eyes, making sure that they wouldn't put some into their own pockets.
When everything was settled, Lei Mingxing paid the owner a few coins for the guqin and disguises so she could keep them and left the brothel, instrument in hand.
Finally stepping out of the brothel which's air was permeated with a various cheap and expensive perfumes and incense, all three of them sucked in the fresh morning air outside, as the light of dawn gradually climbed down the tops of the buildings of the capital. Relaxed, they walked down the streets and wandered until they reached the morning market.
Several vendors had already set up stalls, most of them were produce and food stalls, focused on breakfast items, but all in all, it was already fairly diverse. Setting her eyes on a fruit stall, Lei Mingxing grabbed a few copper coins and turned to one of the still disguised guards behind her.
"Go buy us a few persimmons."
The clean-shaven guard happily accepted this request, as long as it wasn't returning to a brothel and being confronted with such blatant indecency, he would do anything! Although he had to admit, the Second Princess' skill with the guqin was nothing to scoff at. Actually, he wasn't sure if he had heard something quite like it before in his life. It was an experience that would stick with him for a long time, of that he was sure, though he still wondered why she did it and why he was still wearing that silly disguise. Thinking this, he handed over a few coins and received 5 persimmons in exchange, just as he was about to turn back and return to his mistress, he heard a familiar plucking sound. Whipping his head around, he froze, only able to stare in disbelief.
Lei Mingxing was once again playing the guqin, having acquired a small stool from somewhere. There were already a a few passerbys gathering around her, mesmerized by the beautiful melodies and occasionally tossing a few coins at her feet, but the guard could only stare at his colleague with silent betrayal in his eyes. However, the latter just stood still next to Lei Mingxing, his expression behind the face veil numbly resigned to his fate.
Just when would they be able to return to the palace?
Small theater:
Clean-shaven guard: We've been out all day and night! Our shift is almost over! We want to go home, black-hearted employer!
Mustached guard: Yeah! Actually, after playing all night, shouldn't the Second Princess feel tired? Let's go back and rest,... please?
Lei Mingxing: Eat a persimmon and be quiet, this Princess still has money to earn.
Happy Anniversary!!!
It's already been over a year and I haven't written nearly the amount of chapters I was hoping for... _(:3」∠)_ Anyways, I will try to update more consistently this year, maybe not two chapters per week but I should be able to handle one lol
I've created a TikTok Acc with the same Name and Profile Picture for my story/stories for some occasional drawings, memes and the like (because I'm tired of having to figure out, time and time again, how uploading pictures works on SH lol) Hope to see you there!
Thank you for reading and thank you for sticking with this story despite how infrequently I updated! To another year of happy writing/reading!