My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 289 - 227: Never Fall into the Hands of This Young Master

Chapter 289: Chapter 227: Never Fall into the Hands of This Young Master

Faced with the persistent Yu Huaijin, Zhao Rong chose... a temporary compromise.

At this moment, just like Yu Huaijin, he sat with a stern face at the stone table in the courtyard, silently staring at the ancient zither in front of him, named "Nine Heavens Cloud Pendant."

After Yu Huaijin declined Zhao Rong’s "cucumber temptation," she heard Jia Tengying excitedly calling out in the vegetable garden and went to the yard’s vegetable patch.

Yu Huaijin accepted the few cucumbers that Jia Tengying picked for her and thanked him reverently with a bow, to which Jia Tengying hastily waved his hand and returned the gesture.

At this moment, she crossed her arms and returned to the stone table.

Yu Huaijin glanced at Zhao Rong’s expression and said nothing, her peripheral vision always mindful of the shallow red-colored Di wine in the small white porcelain bowl on the ground at the center of the courtyard.

Seeing her return, Zhao Rong smirked and abruptly raised his hand to play the ancient zither chaotically; the sound was quite noisy, and since the stone table was close to the east wall where the courtyard gate was located, the cacophony traveled far.

Yu Huaijin slightly frowned and swiftly raised her hand to stop him, saying, "Wait a moment, Brother Zhao."

Zhao Rong ceased his Mad Demon Zither Technique and, looking up with a smile, said, "What, does Brother Yu feel moved by my zither music and wishes to learn?"

Yu Huaijin glanced at him and did not reply, she walked forward, came to the side of the zither, and stretched out a finger to hook a string once again.

Twang————!

This was the third time she had plucked a string today.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Zhao Rong’s gaze wandered with a trace of curiosity.

Inside and outside the courtyard remained very quiet, without a sound from elsewhere reaching them.

It seemed there was no change.

The Ritual Formation was still in place.

Yu Huaijin said softly, "Brother Zhao, please continue."

Zhao Rong shrugged his shoulders and paid it no further attention as he bowed his head and continued his Mad Demon Zither Technique.

However, Yu Huaijin’s mind was somewhat relieved; she no longer focused on the small white porcelain bowl at the center of the courtyard.

Her third sound of the zither had just now diminished the scope of the Ritual Formation, no longer encompassing most of the Nanxuan Academy.

Since the early morning was already halfway through, with the early sun climbing the branches, students from other small residences within the academy had begun to come out one after another, and there were more passersby. Although the Ritual Formation was constantly controlled by Yu Huaijin’s mind and did not affect the other unrelated scholars, it was somewhat troublesome and distracting to keep up.

Hence, now she had shrunk the Ritual Formation to the size of just the East Fence Small House, which was indeed more convenient.

As for why the formation was not yet dismissed, besides Zhao Rong intentionally causing trouble to disrupt her with his noisy zither playing that might affect the students within other small houses, Yu Huaijin had some matters to prepare for and would soon need to go out, so it wasn’t yet time to dismantle the formation.

As it was now, it was not bad; no sounds came from outside, Zhao Rong and Fan Yushu could study and practice the zither peacefully within the East Fence Small House, and the sound of Zhao Rong’s zither playing could not travel beyond the wall.

Unless the people outside were very close to the East Fence Small House, such as right at the courtyard door ready to knock or right next to the east wall, the sound would not carry through, and they could not hear the noises inside the courtyard.

Yu Huaijin lifted her hands, standing in front of the stone table, with downcast eyes and silent, her mind pondering about visiting her teacher later, for she had been too busy to go for some time.

Moreover, the next mid-monthly examination was crucial for the Art Studies taught by her teacher and could even be the winning point for Shuaixing Hall.

Among the Six Halls of the Academy, none had a distinctive advantage over the others in the teacher’s Art Studies, leading to a significant gap. In the last mid-monthly examination, the performances of all six halls in this subject were mediocre, and even using the teacher’s words, their writing was so confusing that it gave her a headache. There were only a few papers she could seriously consider, and the teacher had already been as generous as possible with their scores.

Yu Huaijin remembered her teacher, who rarely spoke playfully, joking that after grading their papers, she felt as if she had aged ten years. With twelve mid-monthly examinations in a year, that would mean aging by two cycles of sixty years.

Yu Huaijin slightly furrowed her brow; her command of this Art Studies was not particularly strong either... Just then, the sounds of Zhao Rong’s chaotic zither playing echoed in her ears; she lightly turned her head, her gaze as still as an ancient well.

"Brother Zhao’s recent rendition of ’Yi Lan Cao’ wasn’t bad, showing some improvement compared to before. It seems that repetitive practice is necessary," she said.

Names of ancient zither pieces typically include terms like ’a certain Chang’, ’a certain Yin’, ’a certain Nong’, and ’a certain Cao’. Among the widely spread ancient zither pieces are "five Chang, nine Yin, twelve Cao", of which ’Yi Lan Cao’ is one. It is said to be composed by a Confucian Saint and is a compulsory repertoire for Confucian Scholars from the Nine Provinces.

Upon hearing Yu Huaijin’s earnest praise, Zhao Rong felt insulted. He had been deliberately playing haphazardly, with immense force on his fingertips, devoid of any notion of light and shade; he just wished he could break this "Nine Heavens Cloud Pendant" that was being used as the key to the Ritual Formation, to collapse the formation.

What a pity that this zither, made by some bastard, was simply too sturdy.

And frustratingly, even though the key to the formation that trapped him was right under his hands, he couldn’t break it. Zhao Rong felt a little dejected. Hearing Yu Huaijin’s praises at this moment felt like asking him, "Haven’t you eaten? Why so little strength?" or "Louder, I didn’t hear that means I didn’t hear"...

Zhao Rong glared at Yu Huaijin.

Her expression remained calm.

Zhao Rong took a deep breath, and the next second he continued to focus intently on the Nine Heavens Cloud Pendant, determined not to be daunted: ’This young master refuses to believe...’

But after a while, Yu Huaijin listened for a bit and then nodded, saying earnestly,

"Brother Zhao, you’re in good spirits, just like Teng Ying when you had supplementary lessons. However, your finger technique still lacks finesse and isn’t flexible enough. On this point, you must learn more from Brother Teng Ying."