Unyielding Spring Mountains - Chapter 29: The Zither Lesson

The night wind seeped in through the gaps in the bamboo blinds, causing the candlelight to flicker and her stray strands of hair to sway.

Qi Yan lowered his eyelashes, staring into her eyes. They were so close that he could even see himself reflected in them.

He said, “I didn’t see much. Apart from the initial moment when your neck and back were exposed, I never looked anywhere else. Later, after I carried you ashore, you had already changed into your dress and draped my outer robe over yourself.”

Wei Zhen asked, “Really?”

Qi Yan closed his eyes briefly. “Really.”

His hand rested on the zither strings. “Shall we begin the lesson?”

He lied without batting an eye. He said he hadn’t seen, but in truth, he had seen everything.

He remembered it all vividly—moonlight, grass, the maiden, the lake. She floated and sank in the water, her shoulders, collarbones, waist, and legs all exposed. There was no part of her that wasn’t beautiful. The curves were like rolling spring hills, the slenderness like swaying willows. Her skin was like jade, luminous and breathtaking.

At first glance, he had already taken in everything. Not to mention that later, she had stood before him wearing only a thin spring dress.

Indeed, today he had stumbled upon this by accident, but if she wanted him to take responsibility, he would gladly do so without the slightest hesitation.

Wei Zhen’s beautiful eyes curved into a smile. “When I said the young general need not take responsibility for me, I meant it. I didn’t want you to feel burdened. It’s good that you’ve said this.”

She returned to her seat and placed her hands on the zither strings. “Where did you leave off just now, young general?”

Qi Yan gazed at her face. She seemed to harbor no other thoughts. Suddenly, he said, “What if I said I saw everything?”

Wei Zhen raised her head, her eyes widening in a flustered panic.

Qi Yan chuckled. “I’m joking.”

Although Qi Yan claimed it was a joke, Wei Zhen couldn’t help but take it to heart. It had taken great courage for her to ask how much he had seen, anxiously awaiting his response. She had originally thought that even if Qi Yan admitted to seeing everything, she wouldn’t force him to take responsibility. But now, if that were truly the case, she wasn’t sure how she would face him.

Qi Yan, however, acted as if nothing had happened. “I was explaining that different zither tones require different finger techniques.”

Wei Zhen mimicked his plucking technique and asked, “Is this correct?”

Qi Yan shook his head. “No.”

She tried plucking a few more times, but each time, the sound wasn’t quite right.

She had taken a few zither lessons when she was younger, though she had long forgotten them. However, she remembered that when teaching beginners, zither masters would guide the student’s hand from behind, much like a calligraphy instructor correcting a pupil’s strokes.

So she softly said, “Young general, could you guide me?”

Qi Yan rose from behind the table and moved to sit behind her. When his chest pressed against her back, Wei Zhen’s spine tingled slightly.

“Your posture while playing is incorrect.”

His hand rested on her slender waist, and everywhere his palm touched seemed to burn. Wei Zhen trembled slightly in his grasp, causing the zither beneath her fingers to let out a delicate, trembling note, as if voicing her unspoken thoughts.

Qi Yan noticed the change in her body and lowered his face to ask, “What’s wrong?”

He was so close that his breath brushed against the nape of her neck, making her shudder. She replied in a muffled voice, “Nothing.”

He continued teaching her, one hand steadying her waist, the other correcting her fingers.

“Can you lighten your grip a little, young general?” Wei Zhen asked.

The zither fell silent. Qi Yan asked, “Is my grip too strong?”

Too strong was an understatement. When he had carried her back earlier, his hands had clutched her legs so tightly that they left two deep red marks on her thighs. Wei Zhen was too embarrassed to tell him.

After a brief pause, Qi Yan asked, “So when I carried you back, did it hurt?”

Wei Zhen murmured a soft “Mm.”

He said, “I’ll be more careful next time.”

Wei Zhen was puzzled—why was there a “next time”?

Previously, he had always been gentle when they interacted. He had never lost control like today. She could only attribute it to the fact that he was a warrior and unaware of his own strength.

Focusing on her fingers, she concentrated on learning his technique.

Qi Yan watched her serene profile and finally understood the source of his discomfort—

It was her scent.

That intoxicating fragrance seemed to have seeped into her very bones over the years, enveloping him, ensnaring him in an invisible net, consuming him bit by bit.

Her left hand hung loosely over the edge of the table, inadvertently resting on his thigh. Her delicate fingertips, soft and boneless, felt like they were setting him ablaze.

Qi Yan’s grip on her slender waist tightened.

“Young general.” The girl in his arms turned to look at him, her gaze shimmering like rippling water, silently reminding him—his grip was too strong again.

With a beauty in his arms, Qi Yan found himself increasingly weary. He sighed, “Apologies.”

One couldn’t teach properly, and the other couldn’t learn with focus.

He said, “Perhaps we should stop for tonight.”

Before he could finish speaking, footsteps sounded outside the carriage. Both of them froze and looked up.

A knock came on the carriage wall. “It’s me.”

The girl in Qi Yan’s arms spoke. “Your Highness, what brings you here? I was just about to rest and am not in a position to receive guests.”

“I came to ask what you and Qi Yan were doing in the wilderness at dusk,” the crown prince replied. “Ah Zhen, have you forgotten my previous warning? Do not get too close to Qi Yan. If the Prince of Jin learns of this, it won’t just be you two who suffer—Chu State will be implicated as well.”

Wei Zhen asked, “What does Your Highness think the young general and I were doing?”

“Coupling in the wild. There are many things a man and a woman can do in the woods. I don’t care what happened between you two in the past, but from now on, do not bring harm to Chu State.”

He was blunt, directly stating the words “coupling in the wild.” Wei Zhen’s face turned red, and she dared not look at Qi Yan behind her.

She lowered her voice. “Your Highness, please refrain from speaking nonsense.”

“There are Jin officials among the escort party. Do you think they won’t be suspicious after you and Qi Yan disappeared for so long? Since I am overseeing this journey, I will ensure that you two never have another moment alone together.”

Wei Zhen thought—then did he know that Qi Yan was right behind her at this very moment, still holding her?

“I’m leaving. Rest early.”

As the footsteps gradually faded away, Wei Zhen turned her head while still in Qi Yan’s embrace.

Before she could react, he had already leaned down, pressing her against the zither. The boy’s jade-like face grew larger in her vision, inch by inch.

Her heart burned hot, her entire body trapped between his chest and the desk.

The candlelight flickered, causing the brightness before her eyes to shift between light and dark.

Those deep eyes—so deep they seemed bottomless.

Wei Zhen didn’t understand why he was doing this. He raised his hand toward her face and said, “A moth landed on your hairpin. Let me brush it away for you.”

The moth rested on his fingertip. As a breeze swept through, it fluttered its wings and flew toward the bamboo blinds.

Wei Zhen asked, “Young General, could you get up?”

Qi Yan agreed, but just then, the candle inside the carriage was extinguished by the wind. Her vision disappeared instantly, amplifying her other senses.

The voices of soldiers outside seeped into the carriage. In the narrow space, she was pressed against the desk’s edge, able to clearly feel the boy’s tall and lean body, as well as his burning palm resting on her lower abdomen.

Qi Yan leaned forward to relight the candle. “Wait a moment.”

In the darkness, Wei Zhen fumbled with her hands, and unknowingly, she clutched his shoulder. As she pulled on him, he slid downward, pressing her against the zither, causing a sharp and discordant note to ring out.

He seemed to exhale beside her ear.

A low sound, suppressed, magnetic—a soft, masculine sigh.

In the darkness, the air felt thick with an unspoken tension. The rustling of fabric, the pressing of bodies against each other, an increasing sense of oppression.

That sound made Wei Zhen want to cover her ears. She gently pushed him and trembled as she spoke, “Qi Yan.”

He responded, “Just a moment.”

The candlelight reignited. Wei Zhen turned her face away, not wanting him to see how flushed she was, her cheeks as red as blood.

“Will the young general continue teaching the zither tomorrow?” Wei Zhen asked.

“The zither must be practiced daily. It should not be neglected.”

Wei Zhen understood his meaning. But if every lesson was like tonight, how agonizing would that be?

Meanwhile, back in his own carriage, Qi Yan’s attendant took his discarded garments and suddenly remarked, “Young General, your clothes seem to be covered in a strong feminine fragrance. Is it the princess’s scent?”

Qi Yan lifted his arm and brought it under his nose. He didn’t even need to deliberately inhale—the scent belonging to her was unmistakable.

The candlelight illuminated the boy’s handsome profile. He lowered his gaze to his sleeve and, after a moment, said, “Put these clothes away and don’t use them again. When we reach the next city, buy some new ones.”

Her scent was too rich, too intoxicating. Once it clung to him, it was impossible to remove.

In the following days, Qi Yan still entered her carriage but only sat properly across from her at the table, teaching her finger techniques. Everything was conducted with decorum, and Wei Zhen, too, took the lessons seriously.

During the day, the convoy traveled; in the evenings, they rested.

After the unexpected incident last time, Wei Zhen no longer dared to bathe in the lake. Instead, inside the carriage, her maids brought in a wooden tub for her to bathe.

The bamboo blinds were lowered, and several layers of fabric were draped to obscure her silhouette.

Every time Wei Zhen bathed, Qi Yan would stand guard outside the carriage. Even though he kept a fair distance, he was a trained warrior, sharp of hearing. He could clearly catch the sound of water trickling inside, as well as the occasional soft sighs of comfort she let slip.

A pale wrist extended from the carriage, lightly resting on the window edge. Warm mist drifted from within.

And every time, it reminded Qi Yan of that night—her figure floating in the water, half-hidden and half-revealed.

At night, the soldiers sat beneath the trees, drinking and eating by the campfire, chatting freely.

One soldier said, “I like the girl who lives next door to me. I don’t plan to marry her, just want to have a night with her someday…”

Another soldier retorted, “Listen to yourself! If you like a girl and want to court her, that’s normal romance. But if all you think about is her body, that’s just vulgar!”

Passing by the edge of the camp, Qi Yan overheard their conversation and glanced at them with a peculiar expression.