Chapter Twelve: The Sound of the Guqin in the Marquis's Manor

  The examination went on day by day, with trials of archery, writing and arithmetic.

  The imperial examination is about horse riding.

  Li Tu had never ridden a horse since childhood, and coupled with his blindness, the result of this subject's exam was naturally a foregone conclusion.

  However, the candidates paid special attention to him, after all, he performed too well in the music test, overshadowing all the other candidates. His piano skills made people feel hopeless, and naturally hoped that he would not get good grades in other subjects, so that they would feel more balanced and less uncomfortable.

  Among these two exams, Ning Zhen performed the most outstandingly. On the school field, he showed extraordinary brilliance, far surpassing other examinees and deeply impressing the three examiners.

  The test is for calligraphy.

  There is an ancient saying: "A person's character can be seen in their handwriting. If the handwriting is good, then the person is good; if the handwriting is bad, then the person is bad."

  So, the first thing a scholar needs to do is to practice his handwriting well. If a scholar writes in a sloppy hand, his future is basically over, no matter how beautifully he writes his articles, no one will bother to read them.

  Moreover, calligraphy is a manifestation of human emotions, character, nature and life, reflecting the natural and social attributes of man. For example, being upright and honest, calligraphic works naturally exude an air of integrity.

  Li Tu was blind in both eyes, but before the age of nine he had already laid some foundation, and after years of diligent study and practice morning and night, the characters he wrote were not excellent, but they were not bad either.

  The font is majestic and expansive, with a strong and powerful bone structure, and an air of grandeur.

  Chang Fei performed exceptionally well in the first trial of the book, his calligraphy foundation was very deep, and he had already set one foot into the master level, while other examinees were far from catching up.

  ……

  The six arts examination at the Imperial Academy has ended, and all the examinees have completely relaxed, walking into the county town in groups of three or five, having fun while waiting for the announcement of the results three days later.

  By the Wei River, on a bamboo building, intermittent and ear-piercing zither sounds are transmitted.

  Li Tuopan sat in the corridor with a guqin on his knees, facing the river water, practicing finger techniques.

  The white-clothed person sat on a cloud playing "Divine Melody Prelude", with golden notes floating up one by one, the flawless and perfect melody left a deep impression on Li Tu, like a celestial music that was hard to forget.

  This piano piece is magical, containing a powerful force that can purify the soul and cleanse the heart. For a pianist, a pure and perfect heart is most important, its influence on the pianist far exceeds talent. Moreover, its 365 fingerings are also very helpful in improving piano skills, making up for deficiencies in commonly used fingerings and enhancing tone color. So as soon as the six exams were over, Li Tu immediately devoted himself wholeheartedly to arduous practice.

  If you master these over 300 fingerings and can play "The Divine Prelude" completely, it will be a leap forward in your piano skills.

  Li Tu was eagerly awaiting the arrival of this day.

  It's been four days since I last came out of the mysterious place on the Hanging Piano Platform. Li Tu hasn't entered that place again, and he doesn't even know how he got in there in the first place. He feels deeply regretful about it.

  That piano platform is also very mysterious. It seems that playing the piano there can bring out one's skills even better, play to one's heart's content, and be completely unaffected.

  After practicing for nearly half a day, Li Tu felt that his fingers seemed to have stiffened and were no longer obedient, so he had to stop and exercise his fingertips.

  "I remember that night on the guqin, I practiced for about two hours and my fingers were still unable to move, but now after less than an hour of practice, my fingers are already unable to move. Why is this?"

  "The four arts of qin, qi, shu and hua, the suspended qin platform, the black and white chess city, the boundless book mountain, and the ten-thousand-mile painting corridor. I have only seen the suspended qin platform, but do not know what the other three arts are like."

  "I really wish I could get back into that place."

  Li Tu's face was filled with yearning, an unutterable longing. The place was full of mystery and full of opportunities.

  The whole morning passed slowly during Li Tu's practice.

  ………………………

  The Danxiang Marquis's estate, a elegant and refined sound of the guqin came from a garden.

  The sound of the zither is sometimes like the majestic mountains, sometimes like the vast ocean, sometimes like the chopping of wood, and sometimes like a boatman's song.

  In the garden, the pavilions and corridors are elegant, the small bridges and flowing water are quiet, the artificial hills and lotus ponds are serene and beautiful, and the environment is very elegant.

  In a pavilion, two girls sat.

  A young girl wearing a white dress with faint blue embroidery stroked the guqin, her expression serene and elegant, like a beauty in a painting. Another girl, slightly older, wore a blue robe with a texture, holding a thin charcoal pen, staring at the scroll on the stone table, frowning, occasionally writing and drawing, equally stunning.

  Two girls sat facing each other, each doing their own thing, serious and focused, very quiet.

  A leisurely and carefree "Fisherman's Question and Answer" came to an end, the white-clad girl stopped, holding the guqin in her arms, slightly raising her head to look at the blue-robed girl who was frowning.

  "Half an hour has passed, how many questions have you answered?"

  The girl in blue robes with a texture stared intently at the scroll, her long eyelashes fluttering as she spoke without lifting her head: "There are two more, slightly harder to decipher."

  "Did it stump you?"

  The white-clothed girl was indeed Han Taiji, and she looked at the girl opposite her with some surprise.

  The blue-robed girl opposite is proficient in chess and has a superhuman talent for arithmetic, it's generally hard to get her to say the word "difficulty".

  "It's not that difficult, just need to spend some time, is it strange?"

  "It's not that, just some surprise, in the college entrance examination, someone finished this paper in less than half an hour, and the answers were all correct."

  The girl in blue stopped the charcoal pen in her hand, looked up at Dantai Ji, and asked doubtfully: "Is there really someone who can finish this test paper in less than half an hour?"

  "Hmm." Dongtai Ji nodded slightly, and a somewhat slender figure appeared in his mind.

  "How is that possible? The ten questions on this test have a considerable amount of calculation, and half an hour is simply not enough time to complete them." The blue-robed girl was somewhat skeptical.

  "Don't believe?"

  "I am unable to do it, and so can very few people." The blue-robed girl said confidently.

  "But he really did it, and he's still blind."

  "Blind man?"

  The girl in blue robes looked surprised all over her face, then said: "Are you sure you're not joking?"

  "Do you think I'm joking?"

  "Is he really blind?"

  Dantai nodded and looked at the guqin in his arms, continuing: "Moreover, he is a blind man with very high musical skills."

  "How tall?"

  The girl in blue looked at Dongtai Ji and saw some desolation on her face, but was shocked in her heart. Could it be that the blind man's piano skills were really high?

  "He is a sixth-grade guqin player, and he's the same age as me."

  "A sixth-grade guqin player, who is also of the same age as you and is blind, are you really sure you're not joking?"

  "I also wish so, but he is indeed a sixth-grade zither player."

  "You're probably just a ninth-grade zither player now?"

  Ding Tai nodded slightly.

  "His piano skills are surprisingly high, no wonder you noticed him."

  The girl in blue was surprised and continued: "A genius pianist also appeared in the Royal Academy, who is only 14 years old this year, but he has already become a fifth-grade pianist."

  Dantai Ji sat silently opposite him, quietly gazing at the ancient zither in his arms.

  In the afternoon, the bamboo building transmitted intermittent and ear-piercing piano sounds, Li Tu was still practicing finger techniques.

  In the distance, a young man in white stood quietly watching, with a faint smile on his handsome face, and only walked towards him after the boy stopped practicing.

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