The Prime Minister's Darling

Chapter 293: 162 Overwhelming Power (First Update)_2

She strode into the Medical Hall and said to Gu Jiao, pointing at herself: “Miss Gu, do you remember me?”

Yes, she already knew the other party’s surname was Gu.@@novelbin@@

Gu Jiao was in the process of classifying the medicine she had just purchased, and upon hearing the sound, her actions didn’t stop. She gently replied, “Dr. Song is in charge of the clinic today.”

“I’m not here to see a doctor! I’m here to find you!” said Du Xiaoyun, “I’ve wanted to come a while ago, but my recent homework has been too busy!”

The coursework for female students wasn’t always this busy, but for some reason, the students in the class made a lot of progress all of a sudden, and almost all the homework was correct, almost catching up with Zhuang Yuexi and Gu Jinyu.

Some of it were copied, but some were genuinely understood the problem. When the teacher asked them to explain, they were spot on!

The teacher thought he was really good and raised the difficulty level of the entire class.

Du Xiaoyun’s learning was not bad, but not outstanding either.

She was the type who would rather be scolded for not doing them at all than copy someone else’s homework, so she had been doing her homework late recently.

She hadn’t been out in a while. If it wasn’t for her sister insisting that she had to go to the Medical Hall, she would still be in the classroom doing homework now.

“My sister told me that you had Scar Ointment here. She has been busy recently and couldn’t make it, so she asked me to get it for her.”

Only one person has mentioned getting Scar Ointment to Gu Jiao, which was the Third Prince’s wife.

Yes, the Third Prince’s wife did mention that her surname was Du.

The first aid kit already had the medicine, Gu Jiao took out the Scar Ointment and the scar plaster. She squeezed the Scar Ointment into a well-sealed porcelain bottle and removed the outer packing of the scar plaster.

Gu Jiao explained the usage and charged her three taels of silver.

Du Xiaoyun was stunned, “This is expensive? Are you running a black market here?”

This was the best scar ointment in the research institute, costing over two thousand dollars per tube, which was equivalent to over two taels of silver. Scar adhesive was also expensive. She didn’t make much profit.

“If you don’t buy it, then it’s fine.” Gu Jiao reached out to take the medicine back.

The medicine in the first aid kit was so precious, she was reluctant to sell it.

Du Xiaoyun protected the medicine with one hand and put the silver on the table with the other, “I’ll buy it, I’ll buy it! If I don’t, my sister will skin me alive! There are so many imperial doctors in the palace, I don’t know why my sister has her eye on your medicine!”

The fact that the Third Prince’s wife had surgery was not publicised and even Du Xiaoyun didn’t know about it. Du Xiaoyun just thought the Third Prince’s wife had bumped or been injured somewhere on her body.

Today was the last day of classes at both the Guozijian and the female school.

The girls’ school had gone through a series of exams, with only the music exam remaining.

In the Music Hall, after Zhuang Yuexi finished playing the tune they had learned this month, cheers filled the room.

Her performance was truly splendid.

Zhuang Yuexi came first in the poetry exam, and tied with Gu Jinyu for first in arithmetic. Music was her weak subject, everyone had assumed that her performance would be disappointing. Yet who’d have predicted her rapid progress in just half a month’s time?

For this examination, the Crown Princess invited court musicians to supervise the exam together with the teachers.

The musician’s surname was Xie.

Musician Xie nodded in satisfaction: “Miss Zhuang has made great progress in playing the zither.”

The teachers all gave her an A.

Musician Xie, being stricter, gave her a B.

However, this grade was already quite impressive.

Up next was Gu Jinyu.

Gu Jinyu held her Yueying Fo Xi zither and bowed to Musician Xie and the teachers.

The teachers also stood up to return the bow.

She was a Countess, and etiquettes were not to be dropped.

As a court musician, Musician Xie also held an official position, and his rank was above Gu Jinyu. He readily accepted Gu Jinyu’s bow.

Gu Jinyu’s Yueying Fo Xi zither had a much more beautiful tone than Zhuang Yuexi’s guqin. Furthermore, she had put in more effort in practicing the zither than Zhuang Yuexi. It was not as she had claimed – that she hadn’t practiced for a long time. In fact, she had been practicing every day.

In the end, even Musician Xie gave her an A.

“Actually, the reason I gave you an A was not solely because you played well, but also because you altered the latter half of the score very well.”

Yes, Gu Jinyu had altered the score.

The piece they were studying was called “Qiu Se”, a fragmentary score passed down from a former dynasty. Only the first half of the score existed, and the second half was composed by later generations. There were a couple of different versions in circulation, and the version composed by Lord Yueying had the highest acclaim.

The version taught at the female school was this one.

However, Gu Jinyu had made some subtle changes to this version, adding a touch of softly tragic artistic conception, making it more suitable for women to play.

After all, Yueying is a man, and his scores seem to be tailor-made for male musicians. It’s hard for women to evoke that bold and unrestrained feeling.

“I was moved to tears, Miss Gu played so beautifully.”

A gentle-hearted lady said through her tears.

It was not only her who cried. Counting around, Gu Jinyu could see four or five girls wiping their tears. It was apparent that her arrangement had been a huge success.

Gu Jinyu was very happy and proud.

With Gu Jinyu setting such a high standard, the performances of the students who followed, no matter how good, were in vain. Their performances were underwhelming.

The last to play was a round-faced little girl, about fourteen years old. The uniform of the female students was provided to them, but the jewelry was their own. She only wore a red string in her hair without even the most common pearl flower.

“She passed the entrance exam,” a teacher told the musician, Master Xie.

She was a girl from a poor family. Her father had been educated up to the scholar level, and she had learned some things from him while he taught her brothers.

She worked hard. Although she was only mediocre in other areas, her play lacked.

Out of inferiority, she dared not practice in the Music Hall. Every day, she hid in the quiet pavilion, playing in the cold until her face was frostbitten.

The guqin she used was the cheapest. Its timbre couldn’t compare to the good ones, but its accuracy was just fine.

She began to play.

Truthfully, she had also made significant progress. If it weren’t for Zhuang Yuexi and Gu Jinyu, the teachers might have given her more attention.

The first half was unremarkable.

Master Xie yawned behind his hand.

She was the last student, and he was ready to give her a poor grade.

The other teachers were about to doze off as well.

But in this instant, she suddenly plucked a string, and the tune instantly rose!

This was a song about expressing deep feelings. On her wedding night, her lover was drafted into the battlefield and remained there for ten years without returning home.

She brought the maiden’s lament for her lover to its ultimate extent.

The first half also depicted the maiden’s reminiscences and sorrow, but the latter half of the music suddenly changed.

It was as if she knew the truth of her lover not returning for ten years.

She seemed to gaze out over the entire battlefield.

There was no longer sorrow for her lover in the melody, but lament for the battlefield and grief for thousands of withered bones. The soul-stirring desert winds bearing the remains of thousands of brave souls swallowed by the shifting sands!

In the end, everyone seemed to see the setting sun, the vast desert, a sword standing in the slanting sun, and a girl’s headscarf fluttering in the wind around the hilt.

Everyone’s eyes were red, and they were immersed in the tremendous shock, unable to recover for a long while.

Master Xie was the first to recover and found that he was crying.

How long had it been since he had heard such a stirring piece?

The girl’s playing couldn’t truly be called outstanding, some parts even coming off as immature.

However, it was these instances of immaturity that brought about the near-breaking, desperate, and frantic despair in the second half.

This was like a song tailor-made for her characteristics.

Contrary to Gu Jinyu’s minor alterations, this girl had completely upturned the second half. Compared to hers, Gu Jinyu’s arrangement seemed lacking in ambition and unsuitable for the stage.

Master Xie silently lamented that even Yueying, the first-ranked musician of the six nations, may not have been able to create such a grand piece.

This was more than just a song; it represented a person’s temperament!

Master Xie suppressed his excitement and turned to her, asking, “What is your name?”

She bowed slightly and said, “Li Wanwan.”

Master Xie nodded in approval, “You’ve changed the song very well.”

Li Wanwan opened her mouth.

The song…

She wasn’t the one who changed it.