At first, everyone merely thought it was a novelty and didn’t believe such a small thing could play any kind of musical instrument, but to everyone’s surprise, the prelude alone was enough to astonish them all. As the music progressed to the climax, the expressions on the faces of those who had underestimated Shen Xiaoyu could no longer hold.
Only the Empress nodded, satisfied, and the Emperor was the first to laugh loudly after her performance ended, "Good, well played!"
Accompanying this were hearty laughter and applause, which the Empress also echoed.
"Xiao Yu," the Empress said, "the sound of your harmonica is indeed very unique and delightful, do you know any other tunes?"
Xiao Yu knew this was the Empress giving her another chance to showcase her talent. She promptly played "Horse Race," "Farewell," and "Childhood." The cheerful rhythm of "Horse Race," the profound sentiment of "Farewell," and the finale with the serene ambiance and beautifully melodious, thought-provoking "Childhood" - all left the audience in awe.
Such a small harmonica, to have such explosive power was simply unbelievable.
As they had never seen such a musical instrument before, nor heard such beautiful tunes, everyone was dumbfounded, savoring the sound of the recent tunes, and finally, the site erupted with thunderous applause. The Crown Princess Consort couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement, "Miss Shen truly has overflowing talent, it’s awe-inspiring!"
However, Princess Yijia was not satisfied with such results and looked at Shen Xiaoyu challengingly.
"Where did you get this harmonica? And these tunes, did you compose them?"
Xiao Yu smiled and responded, "There is only one harmonica in the world, how it came into my possession is not important. What’s important is that I was able to play delightful music with it. Who composed the music is not important, what’s important is that I successfully played tunes that you are unable to play. So, Princess Yijia, is there anything else you wish to compete in? I am ready at any time!"
"You, good, very good, then next, please compete in chess skills with Liu Yun from the Master Mansion."
Four Arts—is it implying a series of challenges? Fresh chapters posted on novèlfire.net
However, what would she do since she didn’t know how to play Go?
Promptly, she shifted her eyes and said to Miss Liu, "I must confess, Miss, I do not know how to play Go. Would you be interested in learning another type of chess?"
Liu Yun, hailing from Master Mansion, exuded a scholarly aura, though not without a hint of worldly pride.
Xiao Yu then taught her how to play Five-in-a-Row, and Liu Yun, true to her reputation, took an immediate interest.
"Okay, let’s compete in this. I won’t take advantage of you, you go first!"
She didn’t know Go, but at least she knew Five-in-a-Row, and the key was that it was still played on a Go board, but even after filling up the board, no winner could be decided.
But Xiao Yu stood up with a smile, giving her a half bow, "Miss Liu is extremely talented, instantly mastering it and performing so well, I concede defeat, you win."
Liu Yun returned the bow, "Miss Shen, you are too polite. It was a draw; there’s no question of who lost or won. You are also quite intriguing, such a unique method of play is new to me as well. Thank you for broadening our horizons, Miss Shen, I hope we can play again sometime."
Ultimately, this round was declared a draw.
Afterward, someone came to challenge her in calligraphy. Xiao Yu couldn’t perform any standard calligraphy, but she took a different route and performed a one-stroke dragon drawing. However, since a dragon drawn with one stroke was certainly not as refined as one crafted carefully, this round was merely a formality for her, and she lost.
Though she lost, this segment remained fresh in everyone’s memory because such a technique was new to them. Shen Xiaoyu had repeatedly broadened their horizons, indeed making them curious, Yan Qing had found such an extraordinary woman from somewhere.