The Devious First Daughter

Chapter 164. Is this the song of the Witch?

Ning Xueyan took the stage with two of her maids. It was her privilege as the Crown Princess. No one could criticize her even if she brought twenty maids, let alone two.

Lanning took out the antique zither called Mark of the Moon and carefully put it down.

Immediately, shocked whispers resounded. "Mark of the Moon?" someone said. "It's really the Mark of the Moon!" another said. Comments and laments abounded.

The women's stunned whispers alarmed the men as well. When the famous scholars heard that it was the Mark of the Moon, a few couldn't help standing up and craning their necks for a better look.

The Mark of the Moon was so famous that everyone couldn't help but focus on it.

"Is this really the Mark of the Moon?" a scholar asked the scholar beside him.

"It must be. The Crown Princess wouldn't use a fake." The other scholar nodded while staring at the zither on the stage. However, the stage was so far away that he couldn't get a proper look.

A maid beside them smiled and interjected, "That's indeed the genuine Mark of the Moon. The Crown Princess had just gotten it recently."

The scholars didn't care that the maid had just interrupted them. They weren't the kind to be concerned about enforcing the differences between a superior and subordinate. They didn't think that the maid's sudden interruption was improper either, so they nodded unconcernedly and went along with her words.

"So, the Crown Princess had just gotten it recently. It seems that she's determined to impress us."

"I heard that this zither isn't that... auspicious," the maid replied in a low voice. Her voice was soft, but it was enough to enter the two scholars' ears.

One of them seemed to have thought of something. He frowned and looked at the zither on the stage. Looking worried, he said, "It's probably not that..."

His counterpart didn't notice anything wrong until he saw the scholar's frown. He couldn't help but recall the maid's words. His face immediately changed as he muttered, "It's impossible..."

Both men looked deeply disturbed as they looked at each other. They seemed to have discovered an unbelievable secret. Emotions in their eyes flickered and they turned their heads, forcing themselves to look indifferent. However, one could easily tell that they weren't as composed as before.

Even their seating postures seemed a little stiffer.

They didn't notice that the maid who reminded them about the zither had quietly left the banquet area. There was a smug smile on her face as she turned around and took another path.

What she didn't notice was that Xinmei had been quietly following her.

The maid was so focused on the two scholars that she didn't notice Xinmei sneaking up behind her. The scholars weren't paying attention to what the maids were wearing, so they didn't notice that Xinmei was in different attire. They took a quick look at the maid before returning their attention to the stage. It went without saying that they didn't notice Xinmei.

Xinmei's eyes flashed as she watched the maid scurry away. Her steps became lighter and lighter.

The maid took several turns before arriving at the gate of a small courtyard. She stopped walking and looked around. When she didn't see anyone, she entered the courtyard.

Xinmei stood still under a tree. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that half of the tree branches hung over the courtyard wall. Her body moved quietly as she leaped on top of a branch and swiftly entered the courtyard...