Chapter 23 Two Tigers

  The bright moon is a thousand miles away, and the silver frost settles on the golden mist, adding a luxurious atmosphere to the outside of the pear forest.

  Nan Yue Lan sat quietly, listening to the sudden stop of the drumbeat, and a ball appeared in her hand out of thin air. The ball was embroidered with a pair of qilin shaking their heads and tails, surrounded by auspicious clouds and auspicious gas, lovely and as she wished. This was a necessary result that she had expected, but she really didn't like being "slaughtered" so loudly by these people, nor did she like it when they talked to themselves and classified her as an accompaniment. She raised her head, the stars in her eyes flashing and then dimming, her expression unchanged.

  Xuan Sheng clapped his hands, "This ball is well-stopped. My brothers can calm down, but I'm curious about this sudden appearance of the eldest daughter of Nan Yue. Let me take a look at her skills."

  "The fifth prince laughed and said, 'Do you think your sister wants to help you divine whether we can catch the tiger on the mountain tomorrow?'"

  "I'll leave the tiger for my brother to deal with, but I'd really like to catch a fox and give it to Mother as a fur coat." Xuan Sheng was a filial son, but women other than his mother had no status in his eyes. He wasn't polite to Nan Yue Lan, "Miss Nan Yue, let's see how my luck is?"

  "Nan Yue Jin Wei is the real young lady." Xuan Ran's attitude was to refuse her from a thousand miles away after she came out of the forest, and even when her gaze fell on Nan Yue Lan Sheng again, there was not a hint of warmth, "Even if this girl said everything that was true, it still couldn't change people's perception that had been ingrained for many years, let alone being born as a commoner."

  Although the two princes present were not born to the empress, the distinction between the legitimate and illegitimate children of the imperial family was not applicable in the Da Rong dynasty. The late empress had no children, and the emperor did not establish another empress. He had a total of four princes: the third prince, fifth prince, and sixth prince were all adults, while the ninth prince was less than ten years old. In other words, there was no so-called "legitimate" crown prince in Da Rong. The reason why the emperor still did not establish a crown prince was that, apart from the fact that the mother of the ninth prince was a palace maid, the mothers of the three princes had equivalent status and family power, making it difficult to choose one without offending the others.

  However, the princes do not use the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, nor does it mean that other nobles do not use it, let alone the ministers below. The sons of the Eastern Peace King, Xuan Rang, the Western Peace King, Xuan Sai, and Xuan Sheng, who came out to hunt today, are all born to the queen, and will either inherit the throne or be enfeoffed as marquises in the future, with esteemed status. There is also the son of Nan Yue Lan, a high-ranking official who has no time to idle around, not only is he the eldest son, but also the eldest son of the legitimate wife, only then can he compete with the other princes on the same field.

  So Huan Ran belittled Nan Yue Lan's birth as a concubine, earning the sympathy of every single person present.

  "I came to the capital only to guard the tomb for the great madam." Chattering and chattering, it's really annoying. One by one, they like to point fingers and criticize, but they all have their eyes open yet blind, can't they see that she is wearing mourning clothes? She suspects that even Daoist nuns become their entertainment, probably won't take the etiquette of mourning seriously either.

  The third prince sneered, "It's been less than two months since the death of the national teacher's wife, and the concubine who was driven out has returned with her daughter. How touching is this filial piety! So she dares to hint that we are ignorant, insisting on dragging those in mourning along to play with her. What a mouth that hides a knife behind a calm demeanor, not because she doesn't like to talk, but because she doesn't put us in her eyes. Be careful, if I'm not happy, I'll cut off your tongue, and see who dares to speak out of turn!" He thoroughly analyzed her brief words and threw them back at her with a slap in the face.

  Nan Yue Lan lowered her eyes. She had already tried to say as little as possible, but couldn't help adding a sharp remark under her breath, due to her differing views on hierarchy from the ancients. Who knew that being too clever would lead to trouble, and the other party would lash out with harsh words. At the same time, she realized that relying on Da Guo Shi was not secure in the face of imperial power.

  "Miss Nan Yue, don't be stubborn. If you continue like this, I'll get angry and my temper will flare up. Whether it's fortune-telling or physiognomy, bring out some of the Nan Yue family's skills. This time, let's just consider it a pass." The Fifth Prince said with a smile on his face.

  "That's right, let's just say I can or cannot catch the fox. If you're accurate, I'll help spread the word and it will be easy for you and your mother to establish yourselves in the imperial capital. Otherwise..." A snort, Xian Sheng raised his head proudly, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the person.

  "I sing a song." Nan Yuelan's eyelids rolled up, her phoenix eyes narrowed and flew up, and she smiled slightly, "Does it count?"

  She has an advantage, able to quickly adapt to the living environment, relying on the student era to work multiple different jobs. These people are the highest nobles of the Great Honor Dynasty, and cannot be treated with a confrontational and competitive mindset, but must act according to circumstances.

  "Sing?" Hyeon-seung didn't expect that.

  "Oh——as far as I know, your four sisters are like princesses, learned and proficient in poetry, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting from a young age, but none of them can sing." The third prince stared at Nan Yue Lan Sheng, finding that she looked very lovely when she smiled, and her appearance was not as ordinary as he thought.

  A beautiful person has an advantage in everything; this is a principle that has remained unchanged for thousands of years.

  He raised the golden cup to his lips, and quietly looked up at Nanyue Lan's proposal to sing a song, which was also filled with interest. The two sisters, Nanyue Ping and Nanyue Sha, were like goddesses, high above, and were pursued by noble young men, becoming celestial maidens. But this daughter of the Nanyue family wanted to sing in public, making him feel that the celestial maiden had descended from heaven to experience the worldly pleasures.

  Nan Yue Lan's tone was soft and gentle, "not the art of poetry or song, but simply singing a happy tune."

  "Be honest with others, and they will be honest with you. Sing then, if you can delight the crowd, Miss Lan will continue to guard the tomb." The Third Prince couldn't help but promise, having been softened by Nan Yue's smile.

  Nan Yue Lan turned around and said to Wu Guo, "Singing alone is boring, take out your stuff and let's have a jam."

  He reached behind his waist and pulled out a half-arm-long, dark green bamboo clapper. The style was similar to the Tianjin fast board, with holes at both ends and an iron chain tied to it, making a crisp and short "pa" sound when moved slightly, suitable for beating rhythm.

  Xuan Sheng looked at the new bamboo board, but didn't think much of it, and slowly took a sip of wine.

  At this time, Nan Yue Lan stood up with a serious expression and began to sing in a loud and clear voice - (bracketed text is a quick and fruitless commentary)

  Two tigers, two tigers, (clap-clap—clap, clap-clap—clap-clap?)

  Run quickly, run quickly (pa-pa, pa-pa-pa?)

  A rabbit without ears (What's up with all these slaps?)

  A blind bird (chirp chirp chirp - tweet?)

  How strange! How strange! (Pa——, pa pa?????)

  After finishing the song, she bowed and sat down with Wu Guo, who was completely out of rhythm but showed no embarrassment, together they were in an eerie silence, still calm.

  A moment later——

  Pfft! Xuan Sheng spat out a mouthful of wine, splashing it all over the table. The Third Prince choked and turned to cough violently. The Fifth Prince buried his face in the table, his shoulders shaking suspiciously. As for Xuan Sai, who had been drinking silently from start to finish, he suddenly let out a belch and finally glanced at his neighbor for the first time.

  He stared, staring at the woman sitting upright, but that song with two old tigers kept echoing in his ears, as if it had drilled into his brain. The strange lyrics and tune, plus her meticulous yet distant and endearing singing voice, made him feel like he was going to burst. Behind him, a small servant with a bitter melon face clattered two bamboo boards together, and he...he... He tried his best to hold back his laughter, but eventually couldn't help it, and burst out laughing loudly.

  His loud laughter suddenly released the pent-up laughter in his throat, and for a moment, it shook off the dense golden light that shrouded the camp.

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  Some people might say the lyrics are wrong, Lan Sheng intentionally sang them incorrectly, she's scolding someone, you guys understand, right?