On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

Lin Zhen took Qizhuer's hand without saying anything and walked out.

The candlelight in the living room gradually shrank into a warm yellow behind him. Lin Zhen's palm was pressed against Qizhuer's wrist, and the touch was so thin that it seemed as if he could feel the joints through the skin.

She held the Jiaoweiqin in one hand, and the tassel swayed slightly with her steps, sweeping across the night dew in the cracks of the blue bricks.

The palace lanterns in the winding corridor stretched the two people's shadows very long, sometimes being cut off by the rockery, and sometimes shattered into gold foil on the surface of the small lake.

The koi swimming in the lake were even bigger than the porcelain vase she had seen in Zuixian Pavilion, and their scales shone with a pearly luster in the moonlight.

In Lin Zhen's opinion, the people who go out for a walk at midnight are only hungover men and women who just left the nightclub and sluts who are willing to go to the hotel at all costs to have a look.

Who in their right mind would go out for a walk in the middle of the night?

It’s not that people who go to nightclubs are abnormal, but compared with the majority.

When have we ever seen an elderly couple go out for a walk in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?

But Lin Zhen is an exception now. He is really taking a walk, and holding the hand of a little girl.

It’s a bit like dreaming back to my junior high school days. The feeling of holding a girl’s hand for the first time was so wonderful and hard to describe.

"Zhu'er, look, what do you think of the scenery in our palace?"

The two stood by the lake, looking at the rockery in front of them. Qizhuer suddenly spoke, her voice as soft as raindrops falling on lotus leaves.

"How magnificent! Back in Yangzhou, I accompanied my mother to deliver embroidery to the salt merchants. I saw a rockery half the size of this one, and at the time I thought it was the most magnificent courtyard in the world. But now, compared to the palace, it's like the difference between a rice bead and the bright moon."

"Hahaha, you really know how to give compliments."

"No more~ It was then that I realized that the courtyards of rich people could be without roofs." She looked at the rockery in front of her with stacked stones forming peaks, and rare black orchids planted in the cracks of the stones, and spoke softly.

Then he looked up at the night sky that was cut into pieces by the eaves: "The moon can be so close, so close that it seems like I can pick it up with my hand."

Lin Zhen heard the unspoken bitterness in her words.

The training room of Zuixian Pavilion never sees the sun all year round. The twelve-year-old girl was locked in a six-foot square room, practicing the posture of "looking back with a hundred charms" in front of a bronze mirror. At this moment, what was reflected in her eyes were the glass lamps hanging on the rockery of the palace. Each lamp was painted with a different painting, and made a crisp tinkling sound when the wind blew.

When passing through the moon-shaped gate, Qizhuer suddenly stopped.

There is a pavilion on the water in the middle of the small lake in front of you. The eight vermilion lacquered pillars are carved with plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. There is an automatic tea-making mechanism on the stone table in the center of the pavilion. Water flows into the teapot through a bamboo tube, and charcoal fire is faintly visible in the cracks of the stone.

"This is the outer courtyard of Jingxin Garden." Lin Zhen released her hand and ran his fingertips over the zither carvings on the stone railing. "I've never met my mother, but the prince said she used to love listening to the spring water while she brewed tea."

Qizhu'er's fingers unconsciously stroked the body of the piano.

She recalled the pain of her foster mother's cane hitting her back when she was seven years old, and the stinging pain of the teaching nanny using silver needles to correct her sitting posture. All of these gradually became blurred in this luxurious scenery.

When her toes stepped over the white marble arch bridge and the mist from under the bridge wet the hem of her skirt, she suddenly felt like a porcelain doll picked up by a nobleman, which could be smashed to pieces at any time on this road covered with pearls.

The vermilion lacquered gate of the villa stood quietly in the night.

In the square courtyard, ink music scores were painted on the window paper of the east wing, and the faint fragrance of agarwood wafted from the west wing.

The lantern in the gatehouse reflected the three golden characters "Tingqinju". When Lin Zhen pushed open the door, the moss on the bluestone path was dyed silver-green by the moonlight.

"This was originally the guest room for the zither player. It's far from the main courtyard, so it's quiet and suitable for you. You'll live here from now on. I'll arrange for maids and cooks to serve you, and you can just concentrate on studying the principles of the zither."

Inside the house, Lin Zhen took out a lighter, lit the candle, and put on the lampshade.

The moment the candlelight in the room was lit, Qizhuer's eyes were drawn to the piano stand on the wall.

The walnut frame is in the shape of a phoenix with its wings spread out, and the string-like copper bars are engraved with the abridged notation of "High Mountains and Flowing Water".

Qizhu'er was very surprised, but didn't dare to ask more questions.

Lin Zhen seemed to see through her confusion and explained, "In the past, the prince had a guest official who was good at playing the Jiaowei Qin, so the prince ordered someone to make this stand. Unexpectedly, the master of Qin theory passed away a few years later, and the stand became just a decoration."

Having said this, Lin Zhen pointed to the piano stand and said, "You can put your piano on it."

"Is it really possible..." Qizhuer was still a little flattered.

Although she didn't have her own music stand when she was in Yangzhou before, she only had a camphorwood box, which was made of very cheap wood and the texture was not good.

Including her piano, it was not a top-notch piece at all, it was just barely playable.

Weeping Pearl placed the harp on the harp stand,

The moment she fell, Qizhuer heard her heart beating like a drum.

In the piano room of Zuixian Pavilion, she could only lock the piano in a box, but now she can put it openly on the bedside.

When he turned around, Lin Zhen was already sitting on the carved bed. The moonlight shone through the screen window onto his black jade ring, revealing the unspoken tenderness in his eyes.

"I will help the prince change his clothes." She bent her knees habitually, but Lin Zhen raised his hand to stop her.

"No rush." ​​He patted his legs, his tone somewhat indulgent, "Come here."

Qizhu'er's face turned red, but she still walked towards him bravely, her embroidered shoes making a rustling sound on the blue bricks.

Still as natural as before, with her arms around Lin Zhen's neck.

Their breaths intertwined and flowed, and both Lin Zhen and Qizhuer's heartbeats began to accelerate.

Lin Zhen's palm rested on the back of her hand, his fingertips rubbing over the thin calluses from piano practice, as if caressing a treasure lost and then found again: "Zhu'er, when you were in Zuixian Pavilion, how many of your strings did they break?"

Lin Zhen knew that good musicians were made through hard work.

This is especially true for a skinny girl like Qizhuer who is so young but has such high musical attainments.

really.

This question is like a blunt knife, gently cutting open a scabbed wound.

Qizhuer looked at the buttons on his chest and recalled that when she was eleven years old, the three strings of her zither were torn apart in public by the nanny because the strings were half loose. The iron-wire-like strings left blood marks on her arm.

"Three." She lowered her head and bit her lip. "Then I learned from an older sister. She hid silver wire in the strings. That way I could play them in tune no matter how hard I played. But the sound wasn't very good."

Lin Zhen's fingers suddenly pinched her chin, forcing her to look up, and the moonlight flowed at the corners of her eyes.

Suddenly I realized that the instructors were really good. They knew how to fight and how to do it so that it would not leave scars while causing excruciating pain.

"I won't do that again." Lin Zhen's thumb brushed against her lips, feeling as soft as fresh snow. "You are the only one who can cut the strings of the zither in the Regent Palace of Daqian. I promise you, no one will dare to touch you again."

"Prince..."

An ambiguous atmosphere spread in the small space.

Lin Zhen's other hand slid to her waist. Through her thin skirt, he could feel her muscles tensed due to nervousness.

That is a conditioned reflex developed by the skinny horse training.

Any physical contact may be a signal of "acceptance".

But his palm just pressed lightly on her lower back, as if soothing a frightened deer.

"What are you afraid of?"

Qizhuer shook her head, but couldn't help but lean into his arms.

He had the aroma of Bamboo Leaf Green wine mixed with the fragrance of Agarwood, which was a hundred times more fragrant than the rouge worn by the wealthy businessmen in Zuixian Pavilion.

"The prince smells so good~"

Lin Zhen smiled in her ear and said, "Hehe, I see your zither is a bit old, and the wood isn't very good. Well, I have a friend who's a big fat guy. He had an argument with his father a few years ago and got a really nice piece of fir wood. It's huge, and he said he wanted it as a coffin for his father. I'll have someone bring it out from his private courtyard tomorrow and make you a new zither. As for the base, I'll have someone find zelkova wood that's over a hundred years old, and give you a better zither tassel."

Qizhu was crying while listening to this, and her little look was so pitiful.

"Thank you, Prince..."

"Okay, stop crying. Play a song for me on your piano today."

"Ok!"

Qizhu'er was about to stand up, but was held down by Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen looked at her flushed cheeks, and his Adam's apple rolled unconsciously.

Running my hand down her back, I could count every protruding vertebra.

"But I don't want to listen to 'Heartbreak Song', I want to hear you play 'Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix'."

"But I only know how to play music that harms my body..." Qizhuer opened her eyes, her eyelashes still stained with mist. "In Zuixian Pavilion, they say women in the entertainment industry shouldn't play too intense tunes."

"This isn't a brothel. Look—" He pointed to the piano stand on the wall, "The phoenixes are waiting for you to spread your wings."

These words were like a spark, lighting the light in Qizhuer's eyes.

She suddenly lowered her head and bit his lips, more proactive than last night, but still awkward.

"Then, I will play a song and try it out. I hope the prince will not laugh at me."