Yan Conghe?
Yan Qishan was taken aback for a mont, then said, "That was my great-great-granduncle, according to seniority, I should indeed call him great-great-granduncle."
"It really was him." Tai Qing gnashed her teeth, looking at Yan Qishan and said, "You bear a strong resemblance to him."
Yan Qishan touched his face: "When I was young, indeed my father and others said the sa."
He thought for a bit and then said, "You said your na is Tai Qing? I rember now, my father ntioned that my great-great-granduncle once wished to marry a lady, a master of zither arts, surnad Tai? Could it be you?"
Tai Qing was startled, then sneered, "He even said he wanted to marry ? What a bundle of lies. If he truly wanted to marry , why bother disappearing without a trace? I waited and waited, my eyes almost wore out, but his figure never appeared. Due to my disheartened sorrow, I fell ill and never recovered, ultimately coughing up my heart blood and dying on this zither."
Because of the grudge in her heart, her yin energy surged, her soul body becoming more substantial, her gaze at Yan Qishan beginning to lose its kindness.
Yan Qishan’s legs wobbled: Is it possible she wants to co over and strangle to vent the resentnt in her heart?
Tai Qing, still sowhat lucid, recounted how she ca to know Yan Conghe. She was a quite renowned Zither Master, teaching zither at an academy for girls in Yong State, and during a leisure outing, she played the zither on a whim. Her music attracted Yan Conghe.
Yan Conghe was incredibly learned and equally exceptional in his zither skills. He understood the zither and even knew how to make them. After eting Tai Qing and feeling that they were kindred spirits, a mutual appreciation developed between them.
The two beca acquainted through their shared interest in the zither, which further developed into love.
"...This zither was made together by us, using the finest aged fir for the panel, catalpa wood for the base, along with silk strings. This zither is nad Qingqi, symbolizing the phoenix perching on the Chinese parasol tree, and it carries my na, because it was made for , compact and precise, portable to be carried anywhere, and playable on one’s lap."
As Tai Qing fondly stroked the zither, she said with eyes full of reminiscence, "After the zither was made, we even composed a piece together. But before we could give the piece its final touches and a na, he received a letter from ho, saying that his father was gravely ill and he must return imdiately."
"He said he would introduce to his family and then co to marry with a grandiose bridal sedan chair. I knew he was from a great family, and it might not be as he wished, after all, I was but an orphaned girl, albeit with so fa, just a Zither Master." Tai Qing gave a bitter smile and said, "Yet I held onto a sliver of hope, hoping he was a man who kept his word, that he would eventually co to marry with the proper betrothal gifts and ceremonies. But this hope eventually turned hollow."
"I waited day and night, only to see my hair turn silver, and still no word from him. Proud and aloof, I did not seek him out. I waited for two years, struggling with illness to finish our composition. When the last drop of my heart blood was spat out, I collapsed on the body of the zither, and the song ended as did my life."
The crowd looked at the two strands of white hair by her temples, and couldn’t help but sigh.
"He lied to , he betrayed ..."
"No!" Yan Qishan shook his head. "My great-great-granduncle didn’t, he just didn’t manage to get to you in ti."
Tai Qing was stunned.
Yan Qishan said: "My great-great-granduncle indeed returned ho because my great-grandfather was critically ill. After my great-grandfather passed away, he personally escorted the morial tablet back ho for burial. It happened at Green Lake in Yuhang, as he was saving my drowning father, he exhausted his strength and drowned in Green Lake."
Tai Qing’s mind went blank, murmuring, "Are you saying he died long ago?"
Yan Qishan nodded and said, "My father told that when my great-great-granduncle died, he was only twenty-two and had yet to take a wife. So, he didn’t betray you, he just couldn’t fulfill his promise."
Tai Qing, whose soul body had been solid, wavered, turning ethereal again: "He actually left this world before , then?"
She murmured this sentence over and over, tears turning into blood, streaming down her cheeks.
Jiang Wenliu was startled and couldn’t help but move closer to Qin Liuxi.
Qin Liuxi, watching the yin energy circulate faster within the room, couldn’t help but sigh lightly, "You died with obsession and resentful energy, and your soul entered the ancient zither; your obsession turned into foolish resentnt, which has imprisoned you for many years. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, you can let go of this obsession."
"No, I must find him." Tai Qing lifted her eyes, now red with blood-tears, and shook her head, "You are a Heavenly Master, help ."
Qin Liuxi: "..."
She looked at Tai Qing and said, "Big sister, let remind you that Mr. Yan is already over fifty, and his great-great-granduncle has been dead for nearly a hundred years, if not quite. How are you going to find him? Even if he has reincarnated, he would have done so twice by now."
Tai Qing replied, "Even so, I want to try to find him, even if it ans searching through reincarnations."
"You are making this difficult for ," said Qin Liuxi. "The man has been long dead. What can you do even if you find him? He died in his youth without having married. It’s likely that the Yan family would have already arranged a ghost-marriage for him by then."
Upon hearing this, Tai Qing’s resentful energy surged, the ribbon binding her hair snapped silently, and her hair flew about with the chilling wind. Coupled with her blood-red eyes, she suddenly bore the likeness of an Evil Ghost.
Yan Qishan hurriedly explained, "No, there’s no such thing!"
Three people and a ghost turned to look at him.
"Our Yan family has a scholarly lineage, the kind that has been reading for generations. The Yan family rules state that a man can take a concubine only if he has no children by forty, so naturally, we would not be as old-fashioned as other families, believing in such things as lonely spirits seeking the deceased to match them up in the underworld."
Yan Qishan continued looking at Tai Qing, "So my great-great-granduncle remained unmarried even in death. The family was worried that there would be no descendants to tend to his morial rites. Since he died saving my father, my great-grandfather decided to adopt my father into the great-great-granduncle’s lineage as his grandson. Therefore, even though I’m accustod to calling him my great-great-granduncle, in reality, I carry on his familial line."
Everyone: "..."
What kind of convoluted, bizarre story is this?
Yan Qishan took a deep breath and courageously said, "Since my ancestor had promised to take you as his wife, even though there was no chance to formalize the ceremony, the verbal agreent still stands. Therefore, I should be calling you my great-great-grandmother."
As soon as he finished speaking, he knelt down with a thud, kowtowed to Tai Qing and said, "Great-great-grandmother, please accept your great-great-grandson’s bow!"
Tai Qing was so scared that she quickly took two steps back. If she were still alive, her face would undoubtedly be flushing red with embarrassnt by now.
She looked sowhat bewildered at this man, who was over fifty and seed even older than her.
Great-great-grandson?
What a big great-great-grandson!
Everyone was dumbfounded, watching Yan Qishan kneel with such ease and hearing the sharp crack coming from his knees, all felt speechless.
Such earnest and decisive acknowledgnt of kinship!
Master Tang: You really are sothing, Yan Zhongqing, able to cling to life at your age with such gumption!
Yan Qishan smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum but thought to himself, he wasn’t afraid of anything except the possibility that Tai Qing might mistake his great-great-uncle’s marital status, beco displeased, turn into an Evil Ghost, and snap him first.
What does age matter? When it’s ti to cling to life, you’ve got to do it!
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