"Yao... fell in love with Father when you were rescued by him." And that's why she was willing to stay in the palace and only ask for a moment of warmth.
Withdrawing her gaze, Jiang Yao calmly turned to look at the young man sitting across from her, looking into the distance with a sense of depth that was incompatible with his age. The darkness in his eyes made her smile bitterly, were the two of them, father and son, actually in love with each other? No wonder His Majesty was so angry that day.
"It turns out that His Majesty has told you all about my past." It proved that in that person's heart, Mingyue was the only special existence. Even if he was his parent, he didn't care about it since the target was this child. "Mingyue must feel that I am a filthy woman? I had a broken body and even brazenly served up my own body. In the end, I even entered the Imperial Palace."
It was as if she was talking about other people's affairs, there was no pain or sorrow in her eyes, only a self-deprecating smile. Between her words, there seemed to be nothing that could make her mind so candid and leisurely
Qi Mingyue shook his head at her, "I only feel appreciation. A woman like Yao, I'm afraid that you are the only one in the world, so people have to like you."
Seeing him speak seriously, Jiang Yao's eyes widened in surprise and she asked, "Like me? Will my disposition make people like me?" In the eyes of the world, she was shameless. No one had ever said they liked her.
Somehow, her surprised expression at the moment was very cute. Qi Mingyue couldn't help but smile and say, "I said that I like you in front of Father yesterday and it made him furious." There was a bit of smugness in his words.
Only you dare to take pleasure in angering him, Jiang Yao heard him say this but secretly rejoiced from the bottom of her heart. That man also had such a day. "Mingyue really likes me?"
She narrowed her eyes and asked with a smile but Qi Mingyue seemed to be able to perceive her nervousness, so he walked to her side and reached out to hug her, "Yao is the most lovely woman I have ever seen. Father Emperor has no vision, so let me cherish you."
His voice resembled the clear lake water, spoke in her ear. The low murmur made people feel intoxicated. The gentleness words and compassion in his voice made Jiang Yao unable to bear the urge to cry for the first time.
Blinking her wet eyes, she said teasingly with a light smile, "You child, so big already that you know how to coax people. It seems like your Father, you will be fickle towards people in the future." However, she still reached out to embrace the young man tightly. How could His Majesty not feel tempted towards such a person? Even she couldn't feel even the slightest bit of displeasure towards him, obviously... she should hate him. As a prince and his son, he made that man fall in love with him. It was such an unorthodox thing and should be disgusting, but she couldn't feel even a little bit of disgust towards him.
"Fickle? My love is not much and all I can give is already for Father Emperor... I'm afraid he won't allow me to give any less."
It was easy to say words that couldn't be said to others. Still peaceful, Jiang Yao looked up at the young man standing in front of her, "I won't tell anyone."
Qi Mingyue let go of her and sat down next to her gracefully, then leaned against her without any manners. He lazily threw a sentence, "As long as Father Emperor doesn't know, it's fine." Father Emperor already did some excessive things from time to time, if he came to know that he said such a thing, he was afraid Father would be proud of himself and be complacent.
Seeing him like this, Jiang Yao looked a little frightened. "Mingyue, don't hurt me. If you are seen like this again, I'm afraid His Majesty won't spare me this time."
"When I come to you, I feel really sleepy. Being here makes me feel at ease, it's soothing." He murmured, he felt like he could sleep peacefully here, without worrying about being haunted by those dreams.
"What did you mean by asking for advice?" Helplessly, she could only let him go. Jiang Yao found that she felt really close to him but it was not the kind of affinity that the people in the palace discussed. There was a familiar atmosphere that made her, who had learned Tianyin, trust him and want to get close to him uncontrollably.
Reminded by her words, Mingyue opened his eyes and said, "Nian Chen. Although I survived the dream, I still have nightmares these days. Gradually, I feel like everything around me is not real. Father Emperor said that it's because the power of Nian Chen still hasn’t passed and there are still remnants left. In the long run, I’m afraid I will sink into a dream won't be able to distinguish between reality and dreams. It’s just strange why the power of Nian Chen is so long-lasting, I wanted to ask about this."
Jiang Yao's brow furrowed as she thought, the power of Nian Chen could not be so long-lasting, unless... thinking of the familiarity and intimacy she had previously felt towards him, her eyes suddenly lit up as she turned to stare at him and began to assess him.
Startled by her eyes, Qi Mingyue had to sit up, "Why do you look at me like this?"
But Jiang Yao behaved like a fool, muttering to herself, "That's right, it must be right. Like what Father said, it must be... It's such a coincidence, born... Oh my god... I found it..."
"What the hell is going on?" He didn't expect such a question to make her so excited.
Excitedly grabbing the bewildered Qi Mingyue, Jiang Yao showed an ecstatic expression and almost couldn't speak, "Mingyue, you-- you're the one I am looking for!"
"The person you're looking for?"
"Yes! Celestial[1]!"
[1] Celestial, Heavenly person/man, pick whichever.
"What Celestial?" An ironic smile tugged on his lips, he didn't know there would be celestial beings here, his soul was from a different world and he was already the alien star. It was a bit ridiculous to be labelled a celestial being this time.
Seeing that he was unimpressed, Jiang Yao was not in a hurry. She looked at the young man in front of her, "If you want to know why the power of Nian Chen is so long-lasting, then listen to me carefully."
It was the first time he saw such a solemn and serious expression on her face. Qi Mingyue couldn't help but feel a little more surprised. "Go ahead, I'm listening."
"That year, my family was eradicated by the enemy. Fortunately, I was rescued by His Majesty. Afterwards, I accidentally got that guqin in Jianghu. This thing actually compliments my family's learning, it's a rare instrument that can align with Tianyin."
"Tianyin?" First a celestial being, then celestial music[2]. These should be the secrets of Jiang Yao's family, but why was she telling him?
[2] Tianyin translates to Sound/Music of Heaven, it can also be understood as Celestial Music.
"Nian Chen belongs to the study of Tianyin." Jiang Yao showed a bit of nostalgia as she recollected the memories of her family, "It is said that Tianyin is the sound of nature which isn't listened with both ears but is perceived with the heart. When Tianyin comes out, it can make the coldest people cry, make the most passionate people have no fervour..."
"Something with such a magical effect, Yao has learned it?" Nian Chen was already so powerful, it seemed that Tianyin should be a kind of magical technique that controlled the heart with guqin sounds.
"It's not easy to learn." She shook her head and continued, "If there wasn't for the lack of a usable instrument at that time... how could those thieves defeat us so easily? It's a pity that no one in my family could fight them back then. Tianyin, Tianyin, all of my family had learned Tianyin, but no one had a weapon to use! It's ridiculous..."
"Could it be that even after learning Tianyin, an instrument is needed to make it work?"
Jiang Yao nodded, "To learn Tianyin, no internal force is required, even weak women can learn it. But even if Tianyin's mental skill is practised, few people can make it work." She sighed again and shook her head, "I am already lucky. My father said that I have good talent, barely able to give it a try. After I practised the mental skill, I found a famous guqin with a good structure. I tried it but it was not very effective, it could only make people freeze for a while."
"Why is that? That day you played the guqin, the power of Nian Chen hasn't yet disappeared." Could it be because of that guqin?
Hearing his words, Jiang Yao looked at the guqin placed not far away, "After getting this guqin, I could finally play Tianyin, but it's not a famous instrument. It's just an ancient guqin. Now, I finally understood the secret of Tianyin and what exactly this Celestial referred to that my father had been looking for his entire life."
His curiosity was aroused because of her words. He never imagined that there was such a magical technique that combined hypnosis and music theory in this world, moreover, he became a Celestial in her mouth. He didn't know what the reason was and listened to her even more attentively.
"My ancestors left behind the study of Tianyin, which was rumoured to have been famous, but then fell out of favour because no one had learned it, and at first, everyone thought that the reason they couldn't perform it was because they didn't have a suitable instrument, so my father searched the world for a famous instrument to complement Tianyin and exert its proper power, but then he discovered that no matter what kind of famous instrument they used, some people would never be able to play Celestial Music (Tianyin) in their lifetime..."
Listening to her regretful sigh, Qi Mingyue couldn't help but ask, "Why do you say that? Isn't it possible to find a suitable instrument to play it? For example, your guqin can."
Jiang Yao chuckled, "Ancient musical instruments can help bring out the effects of Tianyin, but if you are not gifted with the right talent, even if you learn the method of Tianyin, it's useless. No matter how spiritual the instrument is, if it loses its mastery, it can only play ordinary music."
"What if the qualifications are good?"
"That's just like you, a person like you is called a Celestial! There is no one like you in the world, even if there is, such a person is difficult to find. Because the talent of a Celestial doesn't lie in their body but their heart and soul."
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