Chapter 16 Floating Orchid Villa (2)_1

Before Anya could open her mouth, Sura preempted her, saying, "There's no need to bother Miss Anya, we can find it ourselves."

Anya smiled and said, "It's not a bother. Yinzhu, I remember you are a Divine Music Master, and you mentioned last time that you were going to play the zither for me. I have a zither here, why don't you play a piece for me? Even though all the waiter positions are already filled, I'm currently in need of a performing Divine Music Master." At this point, she looked at Sura with an almost teasing smile and added, "Of course, I'm not going to show any favoritism. If your zither skills do not meet my standards, I won't hire you."

Ye Yinzhu smiled, "Even if you don't hire me, I would still love to play a piece for my big sister. I've got my Zither."

The tea had been served by now, and the server obviously had the tea washed and the purple-clay pot warmed, pouring the tea directly into the cup. Immediately, a refreshing fragrance of plum blossoms permeated through, invigorating the senses. The tea appeared light red, which was rather enticing.

Anya smiled and said, "Let's have some tea first. This is Red Strawberry Flower Tea, a type of floral tea, an essential drink in the Milan Court and a very rare product. It has properties that reduce internal heat, diminish inflammation, detoxify, beautify, and delay aging. Add a bit of rock sugar, and it tastes amazing."

Ye Yinzhu picked up his cup of tea and took a sip. Immediately, a rush of warmth flowed down his throat. The comforting sensation drove away the chill from outside. Further to this, a hint of the plum blossom fragrance accompanied the sweetness in his mouth as he exhaled from his lungs. A wave of relaxation seemed to open up all his pores, prompting him to subconsciously exclaim, "This is a great tea."

At first, when Sura spotted the flower tea, he seemed somewhat disdainful. However, after taking a sip, his disdain was instantly replaced with surprise. Unknowingly, he had finished the entire cup of Red Strawberry Flower Tea.

Anya gave a small smile and said, "In terms of tea leaves, green tea and oolong tea have always been held in high regard, but I have a unique fondness for flower tea. Many people disdain flower tea and even call it the commoner of teas. But I don't see it that way. First of all, the flower tea here is not made by stir-frying flowers and tea leaves together, but by using real flowers which are dried before they're made into tea. This is also the main product of the Floating Orchid Villa. I consider such flower teas as the nobility of teas. Different flower teas possess different benefits, which are generally superior to those of green tea and oolong tea."

Ye Yinzhu gave a genuine smile and said, "I don't understand tea, but it really tastes good."

Anya sighed lightly, "The tea culture has a long history and was passed down from the original Eastern Dragon Empire. Unfortunately, too much has been lost to the passage of time…"

"Eastern Dragon Empire?" Ye Yinzhu looked at Anya in surprise. Although this was the first time he heard this name, he was too familiar with the words "Eastern Dragon." His grandfather and Grandpa Qin mentioned the "Eight Eastern Dragon Clans" more than once. Even though he didn't understand its meaning, he reckoned it must have some connection with the Eastern Dragon Empire that Anya mentioned.

Anya's facial expression subtly changed, but she quickly regained her composure and hurriedly changed the subject, "Yinzhu, weren't you going to play the zither for me? Why not start now?"

Ye Yinzhu was surprised, but being a simple-hearted person, he stopped questioning when Anya changed the subject. With a flash of light from the water-blue crystal on his ring, the slender Haiyue Qinhui zither gracefully appeared on the table. Although the table was a little high, Ye Yinzhu, being tall and slender himself, managed to use the tea table as a zither table despite the height difference.

The zither, with its chestnut-colored paint and flowing water patterns, exudes a proud atmosphere under the bright and moist glow of Haiyue Qinhui. The strings that shimmer with a faint green light and the thirteen zither footers, made of inlaid pearls, radiate an understated elegance and the nobility of the zither.

"What a fine zither." Anya voiced in surprise, she hadn't expected that Ye Yinzhu could get such a good zither in such a short time.

He focused intently, observing his nose with his eyes, his heart with his nose, and his heart's lower elixir field. His breath moderated. He sat straight before the fifth zither insignia, lightly pressing his hand on the strings, merging his heartstrings with those of the ancient zither. Ye Yinzhu had seemingly transformed. The innocent clarity in his eyes had completely turned into obsession and persistence. Even though he was wearing the uniform of the Milan Magic Martial Academy, the elegance he exuded was even more potent than the most refined noble.

With a light tremble of his hands, he shook his sleeves off his wrists, revealing eight fingers. His left hand lightly pressing while his right hand flicked in the manner of Orioles flying out of a valley. As the low humming sound filled the room, matching the current season, "Autumn Swan" had quietly begun.

Heart and intent in unison, intent and zither in harmony. Maybe because he was playing for Anya, Ye Yinzhu, since arriving at the Milan Magic Martial Academy, for the first time gave himself fully to the performance without any ulterior motive. He achieved tranquility and focus.

By now, his mind had completely calmed down, and his eyes exuded a relaxed, self-assured air. He was serene, and his entire spirit emerged from the music, merging with the world. The tune, like the upcoming autumn expressing its admiration, everything was so harmoniously natural.

Without releasing the red glow of zither magic, Ye Yinzhu fully concentrated but only played the zither. All the staff present, even the waiters on the upper two floors of the Floating Orchid Villa, had paused their work at this moment. Each of them stood still, silently listening to the lingering sound of this music.

Anya and Sura might not understand, but under the focused performance, Ye Yinzhu's right hand had successively played Orioles flying out of the valley, Feng Jing Crane Dance, crane singing in the shade, egret holding the reed, lonely goose looking at the group, commerce sheep drum dance, flying dragon grabbing the cloud, mantis catching the cicada. His left hand accompanied with autumn osprey facing the wind, divine birds carrying books, fragrant forest and lovely Oriole, blue dragon entering the sea, roosting phoenix combing its plume, cultured leopard holding things, screaming monkey climbing trees, sound transmitting through the empty valley. Like a dance of the elves, his hands moved with the rhythm of the clouds, even if the performance was just considered from the perspective of the zither, Qin Shang here would have to admit defeat. The focus of the innocent child's heart of the zither, is something no Divine Music Master can compare to.

The weather cooled, autumn awakened, wandering around shockingly like a startled swan. The joy of the harvest , the slight fear of the approaching winter, deeply imprinted in everyone's heart surrounded by the sound of the music. The ancient rhythm, the lingering sound of the zither, the resonance of the zither and heartstring, brought this moving "Autumn Swan".

Hum—, the final tremble slowly faded. Ye Yinzhu gently lifted his hands and slowly put them down, landing on the strings to quiet everything. The divine light in his eyes was bright. After the whole-hearted performance, he had a new understanding of the mystery of the zither music. Indistinctly, Ye Yinzhu felt that his zither magic seemed to have a hint of a breakthrough.

Silence, the entire Floating Orchid Villa, at this moment, the only thing left was the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the leaves. Everyone's eyes in the first-floor hall were on Ye Yinzhu, showing a mesmerizing look. Even if he didn't intentionally use his spiritual power to blend into the sound of the zither, the infectious power of "Autumn Swan" still made everyone sink into it.

"Seven strings for friends, two ears for soulmates, stillness in the heart's sound, its music timeless. Excellent zither, great composition. A zither's music with such infectious power, I have not heard in many years." An aging voice came from the entrance, waking everyone from the reverberation of the zither's music.