Chapter 43: Showing Talent

Before Shen Zuijin could react, Liu Liwa shut the door and ran away, just like Qin Wan’er’s beautiful back view had, Shen Zuijin’s pretty legs also left a deep impression on him, and his randomly made-up ‘door-pushing game’ seemed really doable, for a second-generation figure like the Son of the Vice Minister, the only fun in life was seeking thrills, and he could also join in the excitement.

But before that, he wanted to play the door-pushing game one more time, having fully tasted its sweetness, and while the Madam had given him a chicken feather as a command arrow, he must seize the moment to enjoy himself in time.

Liu Liwa walked to another room with a sneaky smile, pushed the door open without thinking, but this time there was no surprise, only amazement.

This time he finally found the right room, Miss Liuyun was right in front of him, but this time Liuyun was different from before, although he had only seen her a few times, Liuyun had left a deep impression of quiet and cool elegance, like a fairy on a cloud coldly watching the men in the world go crazy for her without being moved, but now, Liuyun had changed into extremely plain light blue coarse hemp clothing, with her beautiful hair tied up in a bun and wrapped with a handkerchief as a headscarf, a dark gray cloth skirt, and a pair of embroidered small shoes, completely looking like a housewife feeding chickens, chasing dogs, herding pigs into pens, watching children and cooking, but even dressed like this, her clear and pretty face was still unforgettable at first sight, it felt like a celestial maiden had descended to the mortal world and married a common man.

Liu Liwa was stunned, unconsciously comparing her to the previous jade back and pretty legs, only then did he realize that the most beautiful part of a woman is her face in one’s hands!

Liuyun probably hadn’t worn such clothes much, she looked a bit awkward, constantly adjusting the corners, and when she saw Liu Liwa she seemed a bit at a loss, murmuring: “Liu, Young Master Liu, you’re here.”

Liu Liwa also smiled: “Why are you dressed like this?”

Miss Liuyun’s expression darkened, saying: “I no longer have any value to the Intoxication Pavilion now, I could be pushed into a guest’s room at any time, my body is already like willow catkins, so why flaunt in those luxurious clothes?”

Her words were bitter and lonely, lamenting how quickly her status had changed and the heartlessness of the pleasure house. But dressing like this wasn’t bad, if she still wore fine clothes and dresses, it would make her even more dazzlingly beautiful, many people were waiting to get close to her, but the Intoxication Pavilion wouldn’t easily sell a girl of her level to outsiders, only reserving her for figures like the Son of the Vice Minister, and Liuyun’s current housewife attire somewhat hid her glamour, offering her some protection, to keep the lustful men from coveting.

But Liu Liwa still laughed: “Being low-key is fine, but you don’t have to fall straight from the Immortal Realm to the mortal world, you can just wear ordinary girls’ clothes, oh right, bring your Ya Qin along, later cooperate with my storytelling, provide background music for my story, you heard the story I told yesterday, right?”

As soon as he mentioned his story, Miss Liuyun’s jade-like face immediately flushed red, like the charming and moving peach blossoms of March, she nodded almost imperceptibly, indicating she had heard Liu Liwa’s story, and at that time she was right by his side, listening more carefully than others.

Being in a pleasure house, Liu Liwa didn’t think his story was too explicit, and now he wasn’t teasing women, he was creating a reemployment opportunity for Miss Liuyun, so he was open and straightforward, like a director explaining a scene to an actor: “My story is quite popular for now, but telling it dryly seems too empty, adding your background music will make it more lively, I don’t know much about the Ya Qin, I’ll just mention some story features, you provide the music accordingly, for example when I talk about the character’s background, you can play some mournful, desolate tunes, when I talk about the girl and the man entering the room, try to play some teasing music, when they enter the bed curtains with smiles, the music tempo should become cheerful, showing their joyful and impatient mood, when the golden spear enters the peach blossom’s stamen, the music should become heavy, shifting from slow to fast, finally becoming wild, like a sudden storm, like raging waves churning, then slowly turning into a trickling stream, gradually returning to calm, the key point you must note is the transitions, when I mention the high…”

“Enough, I know!” Miss Liuyun’s face seemed about to drip blood, just as Master Liu was about to explain ‘high C’ in detail, she quickly stopped him, if he said any more, she wouldn’t even have strength to hold her Ya Qin.

Director Liu was very satisfied with Miss Liuyun’s reaction, an actor who dares to interrupt the director shows she has her own thoughts and great confidence in the performance, Liu Liwa casually glanced around and found Liuyun’s room was very simple, this was his first time entering a woman’s ‘private room’, it was indeed as described in books, elegant yet cozy, and fitting the owner’s cool character. At the same time he also noticed that not only was there a qin table in the room, but also a dongxiao hung on the wall, along with a few other instruments Liu Liwa didn’t know the names of, it seemed this girl was also a musical talent, skilled in blowing, pulling, plucking, and singing.

Liu Liwa suddenly had a bright idea, asking: “Can you play all these instruments?”

Miss Liuyun modestly nodded, saying: “A little, just a little!”

Liu Liwa smiled: “Different instruments have different characteristics, the music effects they produce are different, and the stories they express are different, since you can play them all, then the able should do more work, let’s modify the earlier music arrangement, like I said, when the man and woman enter the room, you can use the flute to express joyful mood, when they enter the bed curtains you can use heavy drums to express tense and exciting emotions… Take this chance to fully display your talent, let everyone know that Miss Liuyun doesn’t please men with her eyebrows, she has outstanding talent and ability, purely in music she can bring everyone happiness and joy. Although your voice isn’t good and you can’t sing, pure music can also convey feelings, show talent, make the customers like you again, like your music, make the Madam value you again!”

Liu Liwa said this loudly, in his view this was very normal, as an agent, even with Yufeng and Furong, he had encouraged them like this, let alone the truly talented Miss Liuyun. But these words sounded somewhat shocking to Liuyun, in this era where women without talent are virtuous, women didn’t even have the right to read or attend school, let alone have talent, the poetry and songs learned by pleasure house women were just another way to please men, belonging to the vulgar, rarely reaching elegance, but now Liu Liwa was encouraging her to boldly display her talent, make people like her music if not her, was that possible?

She wasn’t sure, but Liu Liwa was certain, what is vulgar, what is elegant? They were just slogans used by those self-righteous moralists who thought they could represent everyone to differentiate their preferences, what they liked was elegant, what they didn’t like was vulgar, when disagreements arose among them, another term appeared called ‘elegance and vulgarity appreciated together’, crap!

Liu Liwa didn’t bother saying more, nor did he naively think that just his few words could change Miss Liuyun’s deeply ingrained feudal views, he was just giving Miss Liuyun a clear idea, pointing out a path to make a living by her skills, especially in this time of scarce entertainment, any form of entertainment could be easily accepted, not to mention those rich men outside, even the high and mighty emperor and nobles only watched song and dance performances, drank some wine and had fun with palace maids, occasionally even mistaking eunuchs for women… if at this time there were poles and grass skirts, the emperor wouldn’t make such mistakes easily!

So, true entertainment lies mainly in the spirit, only when the spirit is touched will the body follow…