A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated 1

9

The young man was carrying an air of importance and he saw how the housekeeper had stammered so badly. He laughed, "Missus, you have misunderstood me. I am here on behalf of my Master." Turning to the carriage, he spoke again, "Please excuse my rudeness, My Lady, and accept this."

Lady Hua wasn't sure what exactly was going on but she was very much amused, "What are you going to give me?"

"My Lady's qin technique was spectacular. Master has asked me to give this guqin to My Lady."

Pingting made a small sound of recognition and suddenly remembered the man who had wanted to see her. She leaned forward to whisper in Lady's ear.

"Who is your Master?" asked Lady Hua.

The man politely answered, "Please forgive me, My Lady. Master wishes to keep his name a secret for now. But Master did say that when the time is right, he will come to see you again." After saying this, he bowed again and carefully gave the guqin to the housekeeper. Then he got back on the horse and left.

The others saw him leave, and gradually followed suit.

The housekeeper saw that they had all left and immediately relaxed. She passed the guqin inside and chuckled, "That was surprising, hehe, My Lady must have been playing really well today to have attracted such a rich man. I thought Lady was playing well today too. It was mystifying!"

The Lady blinked at Pingting and whispered, "So you're good at the qin huh? I couldn't tell."

Pingting bent over and studied the guqin. The qin's body was made of old Paulownia wood and just by tapping it with mere finger left a sonorous sound.

Pingting suddenly paled. "Phoenix Paulownia-Guqin?"

Phoenix Paulownia-Guqin was extremely rare.It was something that even her Master's money couldn't buy. The previous owner of this item must be someone special, to give away such a precious item as a gift.

"A good qin for a beauty huh. I unwittingly picked up a talented girl. Interesting, very interesting." Lady Hua declared, looking really happy and she nudged Pingting, "That person said that he will come to see you, I'm sure he's interested in you." Gui Le and Dong Lin were rich cities and women had no difficulty in talking about love.

"Interested in me?" Pingting fingered the qin.

Her heart thumped and she wasn't sure what to do.

That person was indeed very sly, his actions were not too fast and not too slow. First quietly listening to the qin, then asking to meet, yet leaving without saying a word and then giving her an expensive qin. Everything was clearly calculated with different motives, just like the art of war.

Although they hadn't met yet, it was enough to spark Pingting's curiosity.

"Hong," the Lady nudged her and giggled, "look at you and your dazed look."

Pingting laughed sheepishly in response, but her eyes never leaving the guqin.

"Dong Lin isn't a playground, I have to stay alert."

Ever since the visit to the shrine with Pingting, Lady Hua became very attached to Pingting and had an everlasting supply of subjects to talk about with her. She was closer to Pingting even more than the other girls who had been with her for the last few years. Coincidentally, Lady Hua's maid, Miss Dong'er was very sick and had to go back home so her parents could look after her. Lady Hua then requested Pingting to become her personal attendant.

Just like that, Pingting rose from a manual-work maid to a wedding seamstress to the Lady's Maid. She had skipped several stages, which surprised everyone.

September was just out of summer, but the autumn tiger was quite fierce.

The laughter of two girls was often heard behind the trees of the Lady's main room.

"Like this?"

"Nope."

"Then... is it like this?"

"Nope."

Lady Hua had tried to sew for the whole day, but she still didn't get it. She threw away her sewing and sighed dramatically. "I refuse to learn, it's no fun and my fingers are full of wounds."

Pingting laughed, "I already warned My Lady that sewing wasn't fun. When I first learned it, all ten of my fingers were swollen. My Lady's wounds are very small anyway." Pinting's plan dictated that she was supposed to escape earlier, but since she hadn't had any news of her Master, she decided to extend her stay.

That guqin was really good. Though Pingting liked it, she'd have to ask to use it, as it was displayed in Lady Hua's room. After all, that qin was namely given to the Lady of Hua Residence.