Chapter 366: Learning the Zither
Chapter 366: Learning the Zither
The Consort spoke softly, and Su Su listened, perplexed. However, she vaguely understood that the Consort wanted her to forget her past unhappiness and live a joyful life.
She was now a young noble lady, different from her previous self.
Children couldn't think too much, and after being perplexed for a while, Su Su was attracted by the delicious food on the table and paid attention to nothing else.
The children happily finished their breakfast and then went to study with Master Shen.
Prince Qi returned to the mansion around noon.
He had to appease both the Emperor, his brother, and the Empress Dowager, his aunt, and then visit the Empress's palace to check on her health.
In short, in the span of an evening and a morning, Prince Qi was exhausted.
Fortunately, he had managed to calm everyone down.
His aunt hadn't completely lost her mind, the Empress's health was manageable, the Emperor hid his emotions well, and Prince Qing maintained a calm demeanor. Everyone controlled their emotions, and there were no outbursts or arguments, nor did anyone fall ill from anger.
After handling all of this, Prince Qi rushed back to the mansion without rest.
He hadn't had dinner with Su Su the previous night or breakfast that morning, and now he just wanted to return and have lunch with her.
When Prince Qi returned, the Princess was worried and asked him about the situation in the palace in detail.
In response, Prince Qi said while changing his clothes, "Aunt seems calm, but if the outcome doesn't meet her expectations, I'm afraid she'll have the entire Jin Yang Marquis Manor slaughtered. The Emperor definitely understands this as well. As for the Empress, she hasn't interfered much lately as she's been unwell and her spirits are low, but the court physicians say her health is stable, and her appetite is good; her body is just still weak."
When it came to the central figures of the incident, Prince Qi furrowed his brows, "As for the Jin Yang Marquis Manor and Madam Xie..."
There was no decision yet on how they would be dealt with.
The Emperor had already expressed that he wouldn't be lenient.
Hearing Prince Qi's words, Princess Qi nodded, "It's good that His Majesty is taking this seriously, otherwise, Aunt might... And there's also Sister Ning, she almost suffered a grave punishment because of the Xus..."
Princess Qi didn't know what else to say.
Su Su's morning lessons ended, and she saw her father come to pick her up.
The little girl jumped up happily and ran towards him, "Father!!!'
The little girl ran to him excitedly.
Prince Qi had already taken large strides towards her and opened his arms to hug her, "Oh, my good girl, Father missed you."
As he spoke, he rubbed his face against Su Su's.
He had taken great care to groom himself, and his beard was especially neat and clean.
Even so, Su Su still felt a slight prickle, but instead of pushing him away, she laughed and hugged him tighter.
The little girl was tickled and laughed happily, and Princess Qi, watching from the side, also smiled.
The family enjoyed a sumptuous lunch, and after playing for a while to aid digestion, Su Su went to take an afternoon nap.
The summer days seemed especially long, and at noon, the sun scorched the earth, causing many people to dare not venture out, lest they be burned.
After digesting her meal, Su Su held hands with her sisters and went to take a nap.
The bed was large, but it was a tight fit for the four little girls.
So, in the end, Su Su slept with Ren Shu Han, while Liu He Meng slept with Shen Hua Tang.
In the afternoon, Su Su learned to play the zither with a new teacher.
The zither teacher spoke very slowly, and if she met an impatient person, they would probably be driven mad by her pace.
Su Su loved the gentle and soothing tone of the zither.
Since it was their first day of learning, they started with the sheet music and didn't actually play the instrument yet.
However, the zither teacher still brought along a zither, allowing Su Su to familiarize herself with it so that she would have a reference to look at when learning how to play later.
Among the four little girls, the other three had already learned to play the zither, with the difference lying in their proficiency or talent.
Shen Hua Tang was the best at playing, followed by Ren Shu Han, while Liu He Meng's heart wasn't in it, so she played the worst.
Moreover, compared to the zither, she was more skilled at playing the erhu.
If not for her grandfather's dislike, Liu He Meng would even want to learn how to play the suona.
As Su Su was just starting to learn, there was no rush for her to actually play.
Just recognizing the sheet music and the strings would probably take a few days.
If she wanted to play well in the future, she would have to lay a solid foundation in the basics.
Su Su learned the zither for three consecutive days.
She had mostly recognized the strings and sheet music, and could now barely play.
Of course, her playing was stiff and harsh to the ears.
The zither teacher was not surprised by this.
This was how it was like at the beginning; the playing was stiff, and as children also couldn't understand too many emotions, so most of the time, it was more about the technique.
Su Su wasn't in a hurry. In the past, she couldn't even touch these instruments.
Now, being able to learn was already great, and it was fine to learn slowly.
The Princess Consort said that as long as she put in effort, it was fine, and whether she could learn and play well or not depended on her talent and innate abilities, which couldn't be changed.
However, if she put in effort, it was possible to change everything.
So, Su Su studied very diligently.
Every day, her little back was straight, and she was adorable.
The zither teacher liked her more and more, and her tone became gentler and gentler.
Another day passed, and after dinner, Su Su curled up by her mother's side, watching her mother embroider a purse for her brother.
After the previous purse was packed away with the cricket, even though it had been cleaned, Feng Xuan Rui no longer wanted to use it.
So, the Princess Consort of Qi thought that when she had free time, she would embroider another one for her son.
In fact, she didn't have much free time.
After the small banquet on the sixth day of the sixth month, the Qi Prince's Manor became busy again.
This was because the birthdays of the Prince of Qi and Feng Xuan Ze were both in the sixth month.
One was on the nineteenth day, and the other on the twenty-sixth day; there wasn't much time between the birthdays of the father and son.
Not only that, but the birthday of Lu Yin Song, the son of the Assistant Duke, was also in the sixth month, on the sixteenth day, which was even earlier than Feng Xuan Ze's.
Since it wasn't a coming-of-age ceremony, they probably wouldn't hold a grand celebration.
However, given the relationship between the two mansions, the Qi Prince's Manor would definitely send a gift, and whether they would stay for dinner would depend on the situation.
However...
Lu Yin Song would probably not want to celebrate his birthday.
Ever since he became bedridden, he had completely sunk into despair.
The Princess Consort of Qi sighed when she thought of this.
The next day, Su Su continued to study with Master Shen in the morning and learned the zither in the afternoon.
In the evening, she reviewed her lessons and tried writing Chinese characters.
Of course, she only wrote the most basic ones.
However, as Su Su was young and had just started practicing writing, her grip on the brush was unstable, and her writing looked like a dog's crawl.
When the Prince of Qi saw this, he burst out laughing, "Look at the characters our little cutie pie wrote. They're so similar to Father's. Our little cutie pie is so talented."
When the Princess Consort of Qi, who was sitting beside him and sorting through the accounts, heard this, she wanted to roll her eyes.
She thought: Is writing badly something to be proud of?
(End of Chapter)
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