Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character's Revenge

Qi Ning smiled and then touched the strings of the zither.

As the melodious piano music began, Qi Ning played with complete concentration and skillful fingering.

The piece she played was not a famous piece; none of the people present had ever heard it before, and the melody was somewhat unusual. However, the piece had a unique charm that captivated everyone present.

Even the system couldn't help but sigh, "It's so much easier to have a host who's good at everything. Qi Ning is proficient in all the arts, from music and chess to calligraphy and painting. If it were any other novice host, her identity would either be exposed or she would make a fool of herself today."

Finally, as the last note faded, Qi Ning withdrew his hand.

She stood up: "Your Majesty, I have made a fool of myself."

The crowd then realized what was happening and began to applaud, expressing their admiration.

"I never expected that Consort Ning's musical skills were so superb. I had never heard of them before."

"I have never heard this original piece played by Consort Ning before. It sounds quite different from ordinary zither music, but it is very unique."

"That's right, I really had a feast for the ears today."

The praise people gave to Cao Xier earlier was somewhat flattering, but compared to the praise they gave to Qi Ning now, it was clear that the praise was much more sincere.

Chu Yiyao looked at Qi Ning with a smile in her eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief for her.

Xiao Jin was slightly stunned; this was the first time he had ever seen Qi Ning play the zither.

Seeing this scene, Cao Xier turned ashen with anger. She never expected that her scheme would fail.

She had been waiting for Qi Ning to break the string, and hadn't even noticed what Qi Ning had played.

As a result, after waiting from beginning to end, Qi Ning played a whole piece of music, and there was absolutely no problem with the strings.

Qi Ning turned around and smiled faintly at Cao Xier: "Thank you for the zither, Miss Cao. Now that it has been returned to its rightful owner, Miss Cao, please have someone put the zither away properly."

After saying that, she slowly walked back to her seat.

Cao Xier gritted her teeth as she looked at Qi Ning's smug and triumphant appearance. This was, of course, completely unrelated to the scene she had envisioned.

She arranged this whole thing today to embarrass Qi Ning, not to let her steal the spotlight.

Cao Xi'er was unwilling to let it go so easily, so when she asked the maid behind her to put away the zither, she gave her a look.

The maid understood and nodded slightly.

She immediately went to retrieve the instrument, but as she picked it up, a string suddenly snapped.

"Oh dear!" the maid exclaimed dramatically, "How come the string broke so easily?"

"What? The string broke?"

Cao Xier quickly got up and went over, took the zither from the maid, and stroked it with great tenderness.

"How could this happen? Why weren't you more careful? This zither was a birthday gift from my grandfather!"

The maidservant immediately knelt down and protested, "Miss, I'm innocent! I only touched it lightly, and the string broke. It was probably already close to breaking when Consort Ning played it, so when I touched it, it broke..."

Her words instantly pinned the blame for the broken string on Qi Ning.

Qi Ning was speechless. Even after all this, Cao Xi'er was still relentless and persistent.

It seems she was indeed spoiled by the Duke of Cao's mansion. Her methods are far too naive compared to Zheng Qinrong's, no wonder she couldn't defeat her.

Zheng Qinrong didn't even need to lift a finger; Cao Xier voluntarily relinquished the position of Empress.

If it were Zheng Qinrong, she definitely wouldn't use such shallow methods. Even if she did, she would stop in time if something went wrong.

But Cao Xier was completely blindly arrogant and willful.

In reality, even if Qi Ning really broke her zither string today, so what? It would just make her look clumsy and incompetent at using such a fine zither, and she would have to apologize to her, but it wouldn't cause her any real harm.

To everyone's surprise, another unexpected event occurred. Just moments ago, they were immersed in the music, but now a new source of amusement has appeared. This whole drama is truly captivating.

"Your Highness Consort Ning, you were so careless!" Cao Xier said pitifully, wiping away her tears.

Duke Cao spoke again: "Xi'er, that's enough. It's just a zither. I'm sure Consort Ning didn't mean it. I'll find you another one later. Come back soon."

“Grandfather, Xi’er knows that Consort Ning did not do it on purpose. Xi’er just feels sorry for her.”

In just a few words, the grandfather and grandson convicted Qi Ning.

Qi Ning understood Xiao Jin's character; if she didn't speak up soon, he would probably make her apologize to Cao Xier.

"Miss Cao, do you mean that I broke the string?" Qi Ning asked.

Cao Xier hugged her zither and cried pitifully.

"When I played the zither just now, the strings were fine, but my maid broke them as soon as she touched them. It must have been caused by Consort Ning playing the zither. However, please rest assured, Consort Ning, I have no intention of blaming you."

She's quite generous; she's already begun to "forgive" Qi Ning.

"This Cao Xier is disgusting, like a toad," the system muttered to itself.

you do not say.

Anyone with eyes could see what was going on, but given Cao Xier's status, even if they knew that Cao Xier was deliberately making things difficult for Qi Ning, no one would stand up for her.

Qi Ning was getting impatient and didn't want to play along with Cao Xier anymore. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard a sarcastic laugh.

The others, of course, also heard the laughter and looked toward the person who had made it.

It is Xiao Yu.

Upon seeing that it was Xiao Yu, Cao Xi'er asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why is Your Highness Prince Yu laughing?"

Xiao Yu put down his wine cup: "I laugh at Miss Cao's honest nature. Just now, Miss Cao said that her zither skills were shallow. I thought it was just Miss Cao's modesty, but I didn't expect it to be the truth. It is rare to see such a frank person, so I couldn't help but laugh. Please don't take offense, Miss Cao."

Xiao Yu's words did not sound like a compliment at all.

Cao Xi'er's face stiffened: "What do you mean by that, Your Highness?"

"Miss Cao, didn't you hear it just now? The piece that Consort Ning played didn't use the broken string at all. On the contrary, when Miss Cao played it earlier, she used that string. If you have to say, it was Miss Cao who broke the string."

Qi Ning raised an eyebrow slightly. She hadn't expected that Xiao Yu would actually see through it and even say those words before her.

As soon as Xiao Yu said this, the people at the table couldn't help but whisper among themselves, and some even couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Cheng Li couldn't help but say, "It seems that Miss Cao has misunderstood Consort Ning."

Zheng Qinrong came from the powerful Zheng State Duke's Mansion, but she herself did not have the spoiled nature of Cao Xier, and she was very shrewd and sophisticated in dealing with people.

Hearing Cheng Li's words, she acted as a peacemaker: "Miss Cheng's words are biased. Didn't His Highness Prince Yu say that Miss Cao's zither skills are shallow and she herself doesn't know what's going on? It can't be said that she deliberately misunderstood Consort Ning."

"However, it's no wonder that the tune Consort Ning played earlier was so unique. It turns out that one of the strings had been unused. It's truly remarkable that she could still play so beautifully under such circumstances."

Xiao Yu cupped his hands to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I have some knowledge of the zither and couldn't help but speak frankly. Please forgive me."

Xiao Jin replied, "It's alright."

His expression was somewhat cold, not directed at Xiao Yu, but at the farce unfolding before him.

Cao Xier's face flushed red and then turned pale. It wasn't that her musical skills were truly lacking; she simply hadn't listened carefully to what Qi Ning was playing, and being far away, she hadn't seen clearly that Qi Ning hadn't touched a single string throughout the entire performance.

Seeing that she was in an awkward situation, she secretly glared at the maid in front of her.

The maid hesitated for a moment, then immediately kowtowed twice: "This servant knows her mistake, it's all this servant's fault. Actually, actually, this servant accidentally broke that string, and was afraid of being punished, so... so..."

"You wretched maid!" Cao Xi'er cursed.

Duke Cao could no longer stand it; his granddaughter's behavior today made him lose face.

Originally, it was thought that she could bring some honor to the Duke of Cao's mansion and make a good impression on His Majesty, but unexpectedly, she lost all face.

But who could blame them when Cao Xier was the only daughter in three generations of the Cao family, and the apple of his eye, whom he had cherished since childhood?

The Duke of Cao still has to cover for her.

He stood up and said, "Your Majesty, it is all my fault for failing to properly educate Xi'er. She has been naive and ignorant since childhood, and the maids under her command have also been neglected in their upbringing, which has led to this ridiculous situation. Please forgive me, Your Majesty, and do not hold it against Xi'er. I will definitely discipline her properly when I return to my residence."

It must be said that the Duke of Cao's love for his granddaughter was quite touching, but it was precisely this doting that spoiled her.

That's why Cao Xi'er was so fearless, knowing that no matter what trouble she caused, someone would solve it for her.

The emperor listened to the Duke of Cao's words and did not inquire about Qi Ning's thoughts; he only wanted to end this farce as soon as possible.

"Duke Cao, you flatter me. Since it's a misunderstanding, I'm sure Consort Ning won't hold it against you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Duke Cao then said to Cao Xi'er, "Hurry back and take your seat."

"Yes," Cao Xier replied.

She returned to her seat, her face still showing resentment.

She tried to hold back, but couldn't help herself and said sarcastically, "It's all thanks to His Highness Prince Yu for speaking up for Consort Ning, otherwise I would have wronged Consort Ning."

As soon as Cao Xier said this, it was obvious to everyone that she was just being sarcastic and deliberately said this out of spite after being humiliated, so naturally no one took it to heart.

The banquet had to continue, and of course, it couldn't remain in this stalemate. Eunuch Wu had already arranged for dancers to come on stage and ease the tension.

Xiao Yu didn't hold Cao Xi'er against him, nor did he glance at Qi Ning again, as if he had truly had no selfish motives and was simply speaking out for justice.

Only the emperor, sitting at the head of the table, subconsciously glanced at Xiao Yu, then at Qi Ning; no one knew what he was thinking.

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