Chapter 4

For the emperor’s birthday, envoys from every realm gathered at the Sunrise Terrace for the Four Kingdoms Banquet.

Even the famously elusive Prince of Qi’an appeared. He was the only hereditary prince in Great Yin whose house did not share the imperial surname. His family possessed its own fief, and he was not required to bow before the emperor.

The current prince, Mu Qinghong, was only in his early twenties. This was merely his second visit to the capital since inheriting his title. Rumor called him violent and merciless, though no one denied his extraordinary looks.

Court officials and eminent clans filled the terrace, yet his presence was impossible to ignore. He reclined in a carved chair, watching everything with the shadow of a smile.

I sat below the imperial dais. After one brief glance in his direction, I quickly lowered my eyes.

His arrival turned the entire gathering solemn.

As a prize, he presented the legendary zither Sea-Moon Radiance. Whoever could make it sing would win the instrument.

Sea-Moon Radiance had not appeared in the world for many years. Everyone was eager to try.

The foreign envoys hoped to carry the treasure home as proof of their achievement. The emperor, naturally unwilling to let anyone say that Great Yin lacked talent, urged his own guests to make the attempt.

An envoy from Beiyue stepped forward first. Not a single string sounded beneath his fingers, and the terrace erupted in laughter.

One noble young lady after another tried. None could coax so much as a note from the zither.

Liu Xuran went up with her chin raised, only to slink down from the dais in humiliation.

Before I left home that morning, Grandmother had repeatedly ordered me to distinguish myself at the banquet.

All I wanted was to disappear into the background of this farce.

Unfortunately, someone had no intention of letting me.

“Eldest Miss Wen is famed throughout the capital for her talent,” Liu Xuran said, one brow lifted in anticipation of my disgrace. “She was once accepted by the finest zither master under heaven. Why does she not try?”

The emperor himself ordered me forward.

I had no choice.

But I knew that even with all my skill, I could never play this instrument.

This glory belonged to Wen Shuyi alone. No one could take it from her.

In my previous life, I had walked onto the dais full of confidence. I trusted in my musicianship and believed there was no zither in the world I could not master.

Before all those eyes, I failed utterly.

Rage and despair overwhelmed me until I coughed up blood.

For years afterward, that moment haunted my dreams. I had envied her. I had raged against her. I had hated…

Would this time truly be any different?

Gems set into the zither’s body shimmered with a soft inner light, worthy of the name Sea-Moon Radiance. My fingers brushed the strings while emotions churned within me.

I plucked.

The instrument remained silent, exactly as it had before.

I truly had done everything I could.

“How can this be? Eldest Miss Wen was the personal disciple of the world’s finest zither master!”

The crowd stared in disbelief.

I had always taken pride in my mastery, but heaven had ordained that I would fail here.

Laughter and whispers stabbed into me.

“So this is the celebrated daughter of a great house and her matchless music? Perhaps she built her reputation on lies.”

“A hollow name. Useless when it matters…”

Each word felt like a knife driven through my heart.

Father, who had always boasted of my accomplishments, let his face darken. Expectation in his eyes turned to disgust.

“Get down from there. Have you not embarrassed yourself enough?”

I swallowed the ache in my throat and descended with heavy steps.

Amid the muttering, one figure walked forward.

“I’ll try!”

The clear voice carried across the terrace.

Under countless astonished gazes, Wen Shuyi stepped out. Her movements were poised, her expression composed. Not a trace remained of the fool they knew.

The crowd still looked down on her.

“A simpleton who doesn’t know her own limits…”

“Would a fool even know how to touch a zither? Ha!”

Their laughter rang out.

But I knew she could play it.

This zither was the glory fate had reserved for her.

She settled gracefully before the instrument and swept her fingertips over the strings.

At last, Sea-Moon Radiance sang.

As her fingers quickened, exquisite music poured through the terrace and seemed to linger even after each note had faded. Even the proud, indifferent Prince of Qi’an stilled, wholly absorbed in the sound.

I smiled bitterly.

What use were the dozen years I had spent practicing?

When the piece ended, everyone sat speechless.

Even the Beiyue envoy gazed at her in wonder. “I never imagined Great Yin possessed a musician of such transcendent skill.”

She had made her name beneath the heavens at the Four Kingdoms Banquet, just as she had before.

I looked toward Lin Shaobai.

As expected, he stared at the woman on the dais without blinking.

Perhaps everyone was staring at her then—from princes and nobles to the lowest officials.

Her pale green robes framed a beauty that had finally been revealed to the world.

Even regret flickered in Prince Yan’s eyes.

She had become a radiant pearl.

But she was no longer his.

After the banquet, I sat alone in a pavilion while voices all around me marveled that the fool had awakened, that her music was matchless, that she had astonished four kingdoms.

By tomorrow, every teahouse and tavern in the capital would be repeating the story.

Prince Yan passed beside me with a derisive laugh.

“You shielded her that day and offended me to defend her. Now she has dazzled everyone, while you have become the stone beneath her feet. Your dear sister hid her talents well.”

He meant to mock my failure and drive a wedge between us.

I came back to myself and faced the wind.

“Whatever happens between my sister and me is our concern. It is not Your Highness’s place to sow discord. Do not demean yourself with such petty behavior. Besides, all of this was fate.”

He frowned. “Fate?”

“Yes. She was destined to shine today. Just as she was destined to marry someone other than you.”

I held his gaze, my voice cold.

The words struck the wound he wished to hide. Humiliated and furious, Prince Yan swept away.