"Someone is playing the piano." In the carriage, Mu Yaoyao also pricked up her ears and looked surprised.
There is so much noise around me, but I can't suppress the music in the distance. When I first listened to it, I felt like there was a clear spring flowing in my ears, washing my body and mind. There seemed to be illusory figures in front of my eyes, intertwined and changing in thousands of ways.
"It's "Time"," a disciple raised his head and broke away from the immersion state:
"Legend has it that it was created by Master Liyang in the past, and later the National Master changed it to a new version. However, the style of this song is more lively."
He was actually someone who knew some music theory... Ji Ping'an felt a little relieved that after all, not all of his subordinates were foodies like Mu Yaoyao.
The carriage continued to move forward until there was a traffic jam ahead and it could no longer move.
Fortunately, the terrain here is high, and with the practitioner's extraordinary eyesight, one can get a general view.
As the music of "Time" played, the noise near Baidi gradually became quieter. The people of Shendu were immersed in the music, as if time was like water.
Ji Ping'an also saw clearly that on the high platform built by the shore, there was a young girl sitting cross-legged playing the piano.
The long skirt is simple and elegant, with a bookish air... The bare hands are playing the piano, without using any spiritual essence, but there is a rudiment of "phony" hidden in it.
"not bad."
Ji Ping'an nodded, thinking that although he was only 30% warmer than his old friend, it was really not easy at this age.
"It's amazing. Just Suqin can affect the mood. What will happen if it is infused with spiritual essence?" Mu Yaoyao is at the top of the Heavenly Ranking. After marveling, she suddenly realized that this is a powerful opponent:
"The court musicians are in danger."
At this time, across the stage, the chief musician of the palace was also stroking the strings. The same song "Time" played melodiously, but it was in a completely different style, more calm and majestic.
If it were a solo performance, it would be enough to win the title of God's Capital. However, Mo Lin's piano master came first, and the gap between the two was highlighted.
"Don't listen, Mo Lin won this time." Ji Ping'an lowered the curtains and sealed the coffin.
After the song ended, the court musician stood up sadly, feeling bitter in his heart: "I lost."
Zhong Tongjun stood up and saluted: "I accept."
It was only then that the people around him recovered from the artistic conception of the music and started making noise again, finding it difficult to accept this fact.
A musician next to him walked onto the stage and picked up the guqin:
"Senior Sister Zhong, what are you looking at?"
Zhong Tongjun looked back from a carriage leaving on the bridge in the distance, shook his head in confusion and said:
"Maybe it feels wrong."
While playing the piano, her mood was clear, and she was vaguely aware of the prying eyes of her colleagues.
…
The second arena is located in Qingxingyuan.
After the carriage crossed the bridge and walked along the embankment for a while, they saw a gathering of literati in front of them.
The venue was in a courtyard, and people, mainly scholars, gathered outside and stayed there for a long time.
From time to time, a boy would run out with a painting and stick it on the long courtyard wall for readers to appreciate.
"There are a lot of people here. It's going to be crowded if you want to go in. It's better to wait outside for the results." Huang He held the riding crop and stretched his neck and said.
After everyone waited for a while, they saw the closed courtyard door suddenly open. A boy sang "The Chief Painter's New Work" and hung up a foot-long landscape scroll.
"The writing is powerful and the artistic conception is long-lasting. It is truly a treasure." An old man was full of praise.
"What a splash of ink. The mountains are majestic and the water is long. It's wonderful." Another scholar clapped his hands and exclaimed.
There are many people who agree. After all, the threshold for appreciating paintings is higher than listening to music. Most people don't understand and can only listen to authoritative judgments.
Hearing this, morale was boosted.
At this time, the courtyard door opened again, and a rich and handsome young man dressed as a standard painter walked out, holding a one-foot scroll in his hand and throwing it against the wall.
As the scroll was unfolding, everyone was in a trance and felt the majestic mountains and rivers rushing toward their faces. Some people retreated in fear and screamed, feeling that the mountains were about to topple and the water was about to overflow.
After calming down, I realized it was just a painting.
The whole place was silent.
"The form and spirit are beginning to take shape. The disciples sent by Mo Lin this time are indeed good." Ji Ping'an praised in a low voice, but it was just "not bad".
Mu Yaoyao didn't hear clearly and looked at him: "What are you muttering about?"
Ji Ping'an smiled, resisted the urge to scalp her, and closed his eyes: "Let's go to the next game, I'll lose this one too."
At the same time as he finished speaking, the middle-aged palace painter bitterly handed over his hands, shook his head and sighed, and left with a group of common people booing.
Not surprisingly.
…
"If we lose two games in a row, wouldn't we be left with only Go?" A disciple in the car asked worriedly.
Another female Si Chen said:
"The one who represented the imperial court was Lian Congyun, a great player. Even though I don't know much about chess, I know him. Mo Lin majored in 'painting' and 'music', so it's not surprising that he is better. But the way of chess is different after all."
This statement was echoed by the others.
In Go, the people of Zhou... to be precise, the people of Shendu have their own pride.
The Shendu Chess Academy has the best chess players, and Mo Lin plays martial arts and plays chess with mortals, so of course he will not send out great monks. Everyone felt that the imperial court had a great chance of winning.
Thinking of this, I got excited again.
Ji Ping'an is not optimistic.
Judging from the first two games alone, the disciples sent by Mo Lin have been considered excellent in the past few years. Will their chess skills be poor?
An hour later, the carriage drove through Chang'an Street and arrived at Shendu Qiyuan.
Outside the door of this elegant building, the large square was already crowded with people. To facilitate viewing, people from the chess academy set up wooden boards everywhere, and chess lecturers stood aside.
Whenever a piece is placed on the ring, a boy will deliver the chess score like a messenger, and then the chess teacher will stick the "chess piece" as big as a fist on the erected wooden board.
"Did the chess game reach the middle game?" Huang He was surprised.
Ji Ping'an said with a smile: "A game of chess can last for several hours. If you are in a hurry, just watch it here."
Mu Yaoyao's cheeks puffed up, like a little hamster, and said angrily: "I don't understand."
Ji Ping'an finally couldn't help it, smiled, touched her head, and joked:
"Is it possible that Qin only understands the painting and can understand the painting?"
Mu Yaoyao moved her butt angrily, jumped off the carriage, and joined the other disciples to join the crowd.
Ji Ping'an smiled, but still sat back in the carriage, lazily unwilling to step into the dust.
As for the chess game...well, it's only the middle game, and everything is not yet certain.
This game of chess was played very slowly, and the spectators around them changed one after another. As the evening approached, the situation was still anxious.
"From the perspective of the board, although both sides still have a chance of winning, White's chess is showing its fatigue. I expected that within ten moves, Black's chess would show its murderous intent."
A chess instructor was eloquent and said with a smile:
"Besides, as we all know, what Lian Guo is good at is fighting in the later stages and overwhelming the enemy with overwhelming force. The Dragon Slaying Sword has been completed."
The "chess king" Ke Qiao holds white, and the "big player" Lian Congyun holds black.
The onlookers couldn't understand, but they were shocked. When they heard that their own national team had the advantage, they couldn't help but cheer up and celebrate in advance.
"Hey, little Mo Lin, it's ridiculous to try to fight with my masters from the Great Zhou Dynasty."
"Although Lian Guo's players are a little older, their chess skills are still the same as before."
"In this round, my god still wins."
In the carriage, Ji Ping'an listened to the discussions, but sighed softly and said, "Lian Congyun can't hold it anymore."
Huang He was startled and said in surprise: "Sir, what did you say?"
Ji Pingan's eyes were calm:
"White seems to be weak, but it is actually a hidden killer move. It has been planned from the beginning. Even Cong Yun has noticed it, but it was too late to make up for it. If he was at his peak, he would still have a good chance of winning, but after all, he is old and his physical strength has declined. , the longer the time drags on, the slower the calculation in the mind becomes, and now, it is just holding on."
Huang He was surprised:
"Young Master, are you saying that that 'chess king' is deliberately stalling for time? It's draining Lian Guoshou's energy?"
Ji Pingan pointed to the sunset in the sky in a funny way:
"Otherwise? It's just a game of chess. No matter how carefully you think about it, it won't end like this."
"But... wouldn't this go against the rules of a gentleman?" Huang He couldn't accept it.
In this era, playing chess is a "gentleman's art", which requires style and complicated rules.
Ji Pingan said:
"Go is like two armies fighting. If you want to win, you should do whatever you can to win."
As he spoke, he frowned and looked through the dark crowd at the two figures on the distant ring.
To be precise, it fell on Lian Congyun who was trying his best to support him.
He could imagine how much pressure this old man was carrying, making him willing to waste his lifespan rather than leave the game.
The spirit is commendable. But...objective laws never change based on personal will.
At this time, new chess records were delivered, and the chess instructor’s smile suddenly froze, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead:
"This...this...even the national player made a mistake!"
As his energy declined, Lian Congyun inevitably began to make mistakes.
Just like when two armies are facing each other, if one army is defeated, the whole army will be defeated.
Within ten moves, the chess game was reversed, and the entire square was in commotion, with anxious looks on everyone's faces.
"The national champion is going to lose? Didn't he take the advantage just now?" Mu Yaoyao couldn't accept it and was so anxious that she almost cried.
"That's it. 'Painting' and 'Qin' are two games. It can be said that this is Mo Lin's specialty. Well, according to the word invented by the national master, it is called 'dimensionality reduction strike'... But this game is different." Another one. All the disciples also looked anxious.
Competitions are related to the honor and disgrace of the entire Divine City and even the people of Great Zhou, and no one cares about it.
At this time, as the situation became clear, the originally enthusiastic people became frightened and angry. There were also masters in the crowd who saw the "chess king"'s delaying tactics and denounced him as despicable and shameless.
The people suddenly realized this and became increasingly angry.
There was a martial artist who was yelling curses and making all kinds of nasty remarks at the "chess king" on the ring as if they were free of charge.
But the little fat man didn't care at all, he only stared at the big player opposite, showing a winner's smile.
Cultivation is inherently contrary to nature, even going against heaven, so how can you talk about being graceful?
Three consecutive victories were enough to make Mo Lin famous in the city. As for some doubts, it didn't matter in front of the winner.
Seeing this, the people watching became increasingly angry, but they were unable to do anything, and the atmosphere in the scene was depressing.
"Master, why don't we still..." Huang He looked at the old man on the stage struggling to hold on, feeling worried.
He couldn't help but speak and wanted to leave.
No one responded.
Only then did they realize that the carriage was empty. Ji Ping'an got off the bus and disappeared without knowing when.
"Where did he go?"
Mu Yaoyao stood on tiptoes and looked around, her face blank.
At this time, suddenly... there was a noise from the front, and a group of Muyuan disciples followed the sound and were stunned.
I saw on the ring in the distance, my senior brother somehow managed to bypass the government officials blocking the crowd and walked onto the ring.
