Secluded Origin Palace

On the morning of the 17th, the performance officially began, with a total of twenty teams appearing over the course of two days, each bringing their respective pieces. The performance slot for Xia Yu and his two companions, as well as the Gu siblings, was scheduled for tomorrow. Today's performances mainly featured smaller divisions.

Although there were one or two impressive teams among these divisions, most of them were rather ordinary, causing Xia Yu to yawn. At the end of the event, the organizers arranged a small climax – a famous ensemble from the second division, which was the group of four men Xia Yu had seen the night before. Their ensemble consisted of a pianist, violinist, cellist, and flutist.

The flute used was a European flute, which was different from the transverse flute used in the first division. European flutes were played vertically, similar to the recorder popular in Xia Yu's previous life elementary school. The most captivating piece of music performed today featured this particular instrument.

After the performance, Xia Yu, like everyone else, offered his applause before returning to the hotel. As he was considering whose card to draw that night, Liu Manman burst into his room.

"Xia Yu, someone is slandering us online!" She showed him her phone. Quickly browsing through the post, Xia Yu observed a fairly well-written text.

First, it compared the ancient musical instruments of the first division with European instruments, emphasizing the glorious history and achievements of the ancient instruments and provoking a sense of pride in the readers. It then mentioned the decline of these ancient instruments in the modern era, evoking a sense of regret.

At this point, the emotional foundation was well-established. The post went on to discuss the upcoming global performance, praising the Gu siblings for their persistence in promoting Chinese culture. It then compared their traditional approach to Xia Yu's and his companions' hybrid style, the intended message being very clear.

Various versions of this post appeared not only in one forum but in many places with similar wording. Rubbing his chin, Xia Yu understood the Gu siblings' intention: they wanted to portray themselves as national heroes. They indeed had the ability to do so, as their performance was already the most outstanding among all teams in the contest.

Liu Manman, unaware that the Gu siblings were behind this incident, laughed triumphantly, "Those netizens definitely won't expect that our third piece is entirely dedicated to ancient Chinese instruments!"

The Gu siblings were privy to the first two pieces that Xia Yu and his companions had submitted, but they were unaware of their third piece. Xia Yu was more looking forward to the siblings' reaction than the netizens'.

After sending Liu Manman back, Xia Yu spent the night casually at Xu Youxiang's place. The next morning, they went to the venue together. The opening performance was a duet from the eleventh division, featuring a bamboo flute and a taiko drum, playing a piece of Shinto music.

Following that, performers from the sixth division took the stage. The third act featured the Gu siblings. Their pieces were "Shipwreck" and "Land of Giants." While "Land of Giants" was pretty standard, "Shipwreck" was rather impressive.

Xia Yu's evaluation was based on his Level 5 mid-level skill set. Naturally, this included ensemble playing. His ensemble skills were far superior to those of An Siyao and Liu Manman, and even better than the skills of the Gu siblings.

Therefore, the Gu brothers' skill level was already top-notch among the competing teams, and the applause from the audience was quite enthusiastic.

After finishing their performance, the Gu brothers smugly returned to their seats and cast a triumphant look at Xia Yu.

Xia Yu didn't pay them any mind.

After three more teams, Xia Yu and his team finally took the stage.

"Is this the second team of the first district?"

"Let me see, their three songs are Moon's Tears, Wind from the Cold Valley, and the Piano Song of the Isolated Palace. What is the Isolated Palace?"

"It might be a combination of piano, guzheng, and flute."

"What's the point of turning the original song into a mixed performance with instruments from different countries? The first team is way better."

By the time Xia Yu and his team stood on the stage, the whispers stopped, and the audience watched them.

First, they performed Moon's Tears with two guzhengs and a violin. The original guzheng piece, with the addition of the violin, added a touch of continuity to the wind passing over the white flowers.

Then came the Wind from the Cold Valley, a piano piece accompanied by two flutes. The coldness of the valley gave off a touch of sorrow with the addition of the flutes.

Liu Ronglan, sitting in the audience, nodded, then shook her head.

The performance of the trio was not bad. Their overall enjoyability compared to the Gu brothers wasn't worse, but the mixture of Eastern and Western styles left a bit of a regretful feeling.

Liu Ronglan had read the online posts criticizing the Gu brothers' hype, but the content of the posts indeed struck a chord with her.

As a member of a family of traditional instrument heritage and one of the leading figures in guzheng, she too wanted to witness the glory of traditional instruments.

The Gu brothers had indeed showcased the beauty of traditional instruments on this global stage.

It had been a long time since Chinese ensembles had such a brilliant performance on this stage.

They would be seen as a source of honor.

She looked at Xia Yu's team on the stage again. She knew they still had a third piece, a piece her good granddaughter had kept secret from her.

However, even if their performance was better than the Gu brothers', it wouldn't have any effect. The only ones the district would remember were the Gu brothers, who represented righteousness.

Huh? Why are they going backstage? Why are the staff members moving the piano away and only bringing out one guzheng?

There was a small commotion in the audience, which lasted until three minutes later when the trio reappeared on stage.

Instead of the previous suits and gowns, they were now wearing Hanfu, traditional Chinese clothing.

Liu Manman sat in front of the guzheng, Xia Yu picked up the sheng in his hands, and An Siyao also raised the flute in her hands.

All traditional instruments!

Liu Ronglan was taken aback. It wasn't surprising to see her granddaughter playing the guzheng, and she had seen Xia Yu play the sheng before, but since when could An Siyao play the flute? Her teacher swore she only knew how to play piano and violin!

No, these things don't matter now.

Liu Ronglan calmed down.

She started to think about the pros and cons. It was risky for the trio to perform now. If their level of performance was similar to the Gu brothers, that would be okay, but if they were not as good, it would cause significant problems.

As long as there were people to stir up trouble, there would be sarcastic remarks online, venting their dissatisfaction with the decline of traditional instruments on the trio, blaming them for their lack of focus.

Even if the trio played at a similar level as the Gu brothers, they would not receive praise, and the online mockery would only decrease slightly.

The Gu brothers understood this as well, and they watched the trio of Xia Yu with excitement.

Their ensemble skills, honed by constant interactions, had already reached a peak. They had analyzed the previous collaboration of Xia Yu's trio, which was a hastily formed team with poor coordination, relying on individual skills to make up for it.

No matter what piece they were playing, it was impossible for the Xia Yu trio to play better than them. This applied to all pieces!

The other audience members also became increasingly attentive.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the melodious sound of the flute echoed, followed by the sound of the sheng and the plucking of the zither.

Liu Ronglan and the Gu brothers' faces changed.

They had never heard this prelude before!