Sir Song, do you want to pledge yourself to me?

Miss Lin II hated Ji Nuan to death, but she had to feign composure. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her inner turmoil. Then she slowly stood up and bowed to the Marquis' wife, who sat at the head of the table. There was a subtle tremor in her voice. "Madam, I'm not very knowledgeable and would not dare to embarrass myself in front of you ladies. But since Miss Ji mentioned it, I'll give it a try and bring some elegance to today's banquet."

After saying this, she turned to the maid standing beside her and motioned her to bring the guqin.

Seeing this scene, who among the people present didn't understand? This was obviously planned in advance. Miss Lin wanted to use today's banquet to become famous among the celebrities in the city.

There were some people who didn't like Ji Nuan's overly aggressive behavior before, but now they all looked at each other with disdain, waiting for the show to begin.

Chen Rong despised their behavior even more, speaking bluntly to them, "You may not have had much contact with the Lin sisters, so you're not familiar with their usual tactics. Miss Lin, as a legitimate daughter, prefers to feign weakness and grandeur. Meanwhile, Miss Lin, having lost her concubine at a young age, was raised by Madam Lin. The clinic defers to Miss Lin's every word, and she's the one who intervenes whenever something goes wrong. These two, one playing the villain and the other the good guy, one truly mean and the other feigning innocence, work together seamlessly, causing many to suffer at their hands."

"Rong'er said it very well. The record of this pair of sisters in my booklet is the same." Qiu Shizao nodded in agreement, then opened the booklet, turned to the page about the Lin sisters, pointed to the last two bold words - "detour", and said with a smile.

Qiao Qiao stretched her head to take a look, covered her mouth with her hands and chuckled, jokingly saying, "Whoever wrote this booklet must be very worried that you would suffer at the hands of these sisters? They even left these two words to warn you."

After all, secretly collecting names on the roster wasn't a glorious thing to do. Qiu Shizao said a little embarrassedly, "Well, after the roster was finished, my eldest sister checked for omissions and added these two words for me. I guess she was afraid I'd accidentally run into someone delivering food."

Ji Nuan, "Your elder sister really cares about you. Huh? Why didn't she come today?"

"Big sister has been feeling a little unwell these past few days and can't go out." Qiu Shizao felt sorry for Big Sister. He looked up and saw the maidservant beside Miss Lin Er coming back with a zither, so he reminded them, "The zither has been retrieved, and she's about to start."

Several people turned their gaze to the center of the open space.

Miss Lin Er gently stroked the strings of the zither to adjust the pitch, and after a moment, a melodious and graceful melody flowed out.

Qiao Qiao had once been somewhat interested in playing the piano and had sought out a master to learn from. Now, as she listened to the notes flowing from Miss Lin's fingertips, she couldn't help but sigh in surprise, "I didn't expect Miss Lin to have such real talent."

"She played the piece quite well indeed, but the art of music requires more than just technique; it also emphasizes artistic conception." Qiu Shizao commented seriously, "Compared to a true zither player, she's far behind in this respect."

Ji Nuan asked curiously, "Is Shi Zao very knowledgeable about music?"

Qiu Shizao shook his head and said modestly, "That's not the case. When I was recuperating at my maternal grandfather's house, I was fortunate enough to learn from a zither player, so I know a little bit."

Ji Nuan was listening intently when she felt someone gently tug at her sleeve. Turning around, she saw Chen Rong pouting and saying to her with disdain, "Sister Nuannuan, look at that smug look on Third Miss Lin's face. Her mouth is as wide as a cracked walnut. It's so ugly. Does she think Second Miss Lin can impress the ladies just by playing a piece? Does she really think everyone is as superficial as she is?"

She then worriedly said, "Sister Nuannuan, if you let Miss Lin Er steal the show like this, Miss Lin San will definitely think she's capable again later."

Ji Nuan gently picked off a watermelon seed and looked at Miss Lin San with a faint smile on her face. "I won't give her the chance to provoke me again."