Seeing the girl, delicate in features with large limpid eyes, sitting over by the pond as though the others chatting around her did not exist made for a very irritating picture. She, Wu Mei Lin, felt her eyes become sore the longer she looked.

That girl, Jiang Ya Lin, was merely orphaned trash that should have had the fate to die during the great war more than a decade ago. If it weren't for Commander Jiang Yu Xue picking her up from the battlefield, she would have been left for the carrion birds to pick apart.

Not only did she not die when she should have, Jiang Ya Lin seemed to be determined to pollute her, Wu Mei Lin's, eyes as well as foul up her air. Flaunting herself off and stealing the affections of her beloved Gong Meng Yao-ge, whom she has adored since before she could walk. This good Jiang Ya Lin also took advantage of her illness to steal her title of best guqin player during the competition the empress held every year at the palace.

Such a cunning and sly bewitching fox she was that Wu Mei Lin could not abide her leisurely and carefree appearance, as though she were above the world. As she moved to cause her trouble, the girls that were chirping about her vying for her favor quieted down and followed after her curiously.

"Why, if it isn't Jiang Ya Lin." The girl exclaimed with a condescending laugh. "I'm surprised you have the face to show up here, but then considering that you're merely something someone carelessly picked up, what face could you have."

"Wu Mei Lin," the girl acknowledged, giving no reaction to the biting words thrown at her. This greatly upset Wu Mei Lin, however, the jeering girls behind her greatly lifted her mood as she took delight in their disparaging comments to grasp her favor.

She was a young miss of the Wu family from the first wife and her father was a trusted adviser who held the Emperor's ear, there wasn't a person around who did not try to curry her favor. So, as they whispered to themselves their insults quite audibly, Wu Mei Lin grinned widely as she leaned in with a predatory vigor.

"Ah, Jiang Ya Lin, I head that while I was ill you managed to win this year's competition for the musical arts. I also heard that the song composed was a spur of the moment composition inspired by the Empress' suggested theme." Wu Mei Lin paused as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I wonder if you wouldn't mind displaying such an awe-inspiring talent for me to see as I had been sick and missed the chance to witness it."

Sensing the girl's ill-intent, Jiang Ya Lin quickly excused herself by saying. "I hadn't thought that I would be asked to play, so I did not bring my guqin along."

Waving her hand, Wu Mei Lin gestured for her servant standing at the side to come over. "Luo Shi, go and quickly fetch my guqin... if the young lady Jiang doesn't have a guqin to play than I shall allow you to use mine."

Jiang Ya Lin went silent as she tried to think of a way to refuse this grace. Her prolonged silence, unfortunately, went on a little too long as the maid hurriedly rushed forward with the guqin in hand. As soon as she had the instrument before her and felt the strings, she realized it had been tampered with. There was no way that Wu Mei Lin could play any decent sounds on this guqin. It was quite obvious she had the maid tamper with it before bringing guqin over. How much hatred did Wu Mei Lin bare that she could destroy her own instrument?

"What's wrong," a girl ornately dressed in green and pink robes sneered, "why haven't you started to play? Or is it that you feel playing with Lady Wu's guqin beneath you now that you've won the Empress' favor."

Expression falling, Jiang Ya Lin realized that she was trapped. There was no way for her to refuse to play without seeming like she was trying to insult Wu Mei Lin. If only she were a bit more articulate with her words. Unfortunately, she was one that rarely went out and thus did not often trade words with others let alone any of the verbal sparrings between women.

She desperately did not wish to bring shame to the Jiang family that had kindly taken in the war orphaned her. However, in this situation, she could not think of a way to move without losing face. The only matter was: which would lose the least amount of face for her kind family and adoptive father?

Before she could come to a decision, Jiang Ya Lin was yanked behind a girl with dazzling long red hair. She was adorned in dazzling robes of light blue and pink, the material something she had not seen in all her years of life. From her outfit alone, not to speak of her strange features, it could be seen that she was not normal. The girl, probably a couple years older than her, stood with her spine straight as she looked down on the group of girls bearing the arrogance of a highborn young lady.

Stunned at the sudden appearance of the red-haired girl, they took an involuntary step backward. Recognizing the girl before her as the one she over-heard her father speak of brought out a bit of stubbornness to stem back her fear. Wu Mei Lin refused to be cowed by a mere pet.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Looking down her nose, Wu Mei Lin said. "Where do you, a mere pet, think that you can intervene in my, Wu Mei Lin's, matters." She stressed her last name, expecting the girl to fall over herself in trying to rectify her error.

Instead, the corner of her lip raised upward as if she were looking at a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. The look infuriated Wu Mei Lin to no end!

"Who are you speak down to my family's young miss," Paoxiao interjected. His deep male voice had gone frightfully high, sounding like a chattering chipmunk. The sound was an absolute agony to his ears. "Even with her status as a pet, you have not right, for she belongs to the Elemental Spirit Master who is also brother to his Majesty the Emperor."

'Ah,' Paoxiao cringed, 'speaking with this voice is an absolute travesty.' He only hoped that he had worded everything properly. There were many differences between here and the Spirit Realm. The information that one could find on the Mortal Realm was sparse as rarely was anyone able to travel back and forth. He had heard it whispered about that Li Yu Rong was related to a Mortal Realm emperor and that here in this realm he was mostly referred to in such a way.

Hearing the mention of that terrifying man and remembering her few glimpses of that devil wearing human skin, Wu Mei Lin felt her skin crawl. She had once accidentally looked into his gleaming crimson eye nearly losing her sanity to fear within its boundless depths.

Grabbing his wide sleeve, Nastasia prevented Paoxiao from continuing on. Though she could not grasp all of what was being said, she could understand the situation well enough just by looking and using deductive reasoning.

Leaning in close, she murmured, pointing to the guqin. "Fix it, can you?" After helping her learn along the way to the capital, it had become almost second nature to correct her sentences after she spoke them. The current situation was not appropriate for it, thus he bit his tongue, merely nodding his head in answer.

When one came at you viciously, it was best if you could take their methods and throw them back in their face just as viciously. Since it seemed as if these girls wanted to humiliate the one behind her by having the girl play a ruined instrument, then she would play and give them what they wanted. However, rather than a mockery of talent Nastasia would mete out a performance worthy of the heavens.

Turning toward the young girl, she asked quietly. "You good playing ear?"

Hearing the broken words, Jiang Ya Lin furrowed her brows. It took a moment, but she soon understood what had been asked of her. She nodded, slowly, a bit hesitantly.

"Good," Nastasia said. "Play." She commanded. Then to Paoxiao, she held out her hand. "Flute." He did not bring it along, but he remembered the design well enough, so as he stuck his hand into his wide sleeves he formed the flute before bringing it out for Nastasia to take.

As she was feeling like a hero swooping in to save the beauty, Nastasia began to play an Irish song called "My Gallant Hero." She had only begun, playing the first few notes, before the young girl on guqin began to follow along as if she often played the score. The sound was a bit hesitant and cautious at first, but as nothing happened, and the sound rang out properly she began to strum the strings with confidence.

At first, her feet were merely taping to the music, but the longer she played and the more the music filled her soul, that she found herself outright dancing along without a care. Due to the skirt being long and covering her feet from view, it was difficult to see the footwork being performed. However, the way that her sleeves and sash about her arms swayed, and the way that her hair and skirts swished to and fro, painted a graceful and breathtaking image.

It was hard to look away, especially for those watching the good show on the second floor of the pavilion.

When the song came to its end, till the last note it had been in a style that had never before graced their ears, yet it touched their hearts in a way that they could not explain. Going red in the face from holding back her anger, unable to say anything in the face of this performance that she could not criticize, she spun on her heel and marched away. The young ladies that were fawning for her favor followed after her trying to one-up the other in speaking words of comfort.

Paoxiao, the minute he could get her away from the women who strode forward to offer praise despite thinking her a demon, as quick as he could, escorted Nastasia to inconspicuous corner that did not stand out.

'Please let Li Yu Rong not have seen that debacle.' Paoxiao offered up a silent prayer in his heart, hoping that his slip in duty had not been seen.