In the woods, there was only casual whispering, lacking the intonation of ordinary people reciting poetry. It seemed that because the person was thinking and occasionally laughing, it sounded more like a joke. If it weren't for the lines "A waning moon hangs on sparse parasol trees, at the last stroke of the water clock, all is hushed," which were clearly not in colloquial style, Zhou Bangyan and Li Shishi would have found it hard to believe these were verses of poetry or song.

They stopped over there, exchanging a glance. Once understood, the antithesis in the lines was extremely beautiful, immediately recognizable as a rare gem, though they weren't sure if it was a poem or a song. In the light over there, Yun Zhu leaned against Ning Yi, listening quietly.

Years ago, at Golden Wind House, she had met many literary talents and scholars. She had experienced situations where someone would occasionally recite a love poem, hoping to move the heart of the beauty. However, she was too preoccupied with her own circumstances and had never been moved by it. Since being with Ning Yi, the atmosphere between them had always been unrestrained. Ning Yi usually didn't act like a great talent. Occasionally, he would write a few awkward poems or nonsensical lyrics. She had given her heart to him and only found it amusing. She knew Ning Yi was quite talented, but for them to seriously compose poetry together like ordinary talents and beauties was a first.

It wasn't until Ning Yi thought for a moment and recited, "Who sees a hermit wandering alone, a fleeting shadow of a solitary wild goose," that she nodded, realizing it was a *Bu Suanzi* melody.

Not far away in the woods, Li Shishi glanced at Zhou Bangyan and then softly said, " *Bu Suanzi*..." She had never heard this melody before. At first, it was difficult to place, but even just hearing the first half, she felt it was good. The artistic conception was profound, but in Ning Yi's slightly smiling voice, it became light, as if telling a story.

"Tsk, startled, it looks back, harboring resentment that no one understands. Having picked clean the cold branches, it refuses to perch… lonely on a sandbar, cold."

While the two were still carefully memorizing and savoring the lines, Ning Yi calmly spoke the second half of the melody. He paused at the line "Having picked clean the cold branches, it refuses to perch" before reciting the rest. Yun Zhu thought for a moment, her eyes slightly reddening. She raised a hand and placed it on the back of Ning Yi's hand, stroking her cheek against it. After a moment, she softly said, "Having picked clean the cold branches, it refuses to perch… lonely on a sandbar, cold. Liheng, is this melody for me?"

"Do you like it?"

"I like it."

"I don't like it very much."

"Hee..."

The two whispered to each other. Over in the woods, the two finally understood the entire melody in their minds. *Bu Suanzi*, with only forty-four characters in both halves, completely outlined a scene of desolation and longing. Usually, melodies aren't judged by their length, but longer sentences can generally depict more. However, these forty-four characters, from "A waning moon hangs on sparse parasol trees" to "lonely on a sandbar, cold," contained an immense amount of information. The two halves were perfectly antithetical, yet combined harmoniously.

Ning Yi had casually produced such verses. Both the perfection of the verses themselves and the sublimation of the artistic conception proved that the melody composer had reached the pinnacle of poetic skill. Zhou Bangyan had felt that *Ying Tianchang* should be a work that others couldn't achieve for a time. He had expressed his feelings and was inwardly proud. But in this moment, savoring this *Bu Suanzi*, he didn't know how to feel. He looked at Li Shishi, but at this time, the young lady was silently reciting the verses in her mind, trying to memorize them, and didn't have time to pay attention to anything else.

Over there, Ning Yi and Yun Zhu spoke softly for a while. The two here didn't know whether they should leave. Before they could decide, a soft singing voice sounded in their ears. Li Shishi and Zhou Bangyan weren't familiar with Yun Zhu, but they could tell she was a woman. The melody she was humming indicated that she also understood music. Li Shishi thought she was going to sing the *Bu Suanzi* that Ning Yi had just composed, but after humming for a few moments, her soft voice sang, "Ten thousand hates..."

As soon as she sang the first line, Li Shishi understood what melody this was.

"Ten thousand hates, hating to the utmost at the edge of the sky. The mountain moon knows nothing of the heart's affairs, the water wind vainly scatters flowers before the eyes. Swaying, the azure clouds slant.

Having finished dressing, alone, I lean against the River-Watching Tower. Past a thousand sails, none are he. The slanting sun warmly caresses the distant waters, my heart broken on the isle of white duckweed!"

This was a *Wang Jiangnan* by Wen Tingyun of the late Tang Dynasty, depicting a woman leaning on a tower, waiting for her husband to return. The line "Past a thousand sails, none are he. The slanting sun warmly caresses the distant waters, my heart broken on the isle of white duckweed!" had an extremely beautiful artistic conception of longing, and it was one of the songs that courtesans had to learn. Li Shishi was also very familiar with it. But to her surprise, the woman before her had a soft and melodious voice that was in no way inferior to hers. In fact, at this moment, in the expression of emotion and the beauty of her singing, she was even more captivating. Although there was no accompaniment, in this gentle singing, it seemed that the entire world was melting into the softness and warmth of her voice.

In terms of emotion, the two were a couple, so it was understandable that she couldn't compare. But in terms of voice and singing style, she felt an unmatched feeling, which surprised her. She naturally didn't know that Yun Zhu had been studying Ning Yi's favorite modern singing styles, integrating them with the singing style of this era.

Not only did she preserve the artistic conception of the melodies of this era, but in terms of beauty and melodiousness, she sang better than others. If others were to interpret it in this way, it might be dismissed as decadent and excessively vulgar, but her own skill had reached the level of a master. When she sang it at this time, it was natural and flawless.

Ning Yi's *Bu Suanzi* was a response to her dedication, taking the line "Having picked clean the cold branches, it refuses to perch." But she knew that Ning Yi thought this was a bit unfair to her, so the artistic conception of the verses seemed a bit sad. At this time, she used this *Wang Jiangnan* in response. Her singing style was relaxed and beautiful, and didn't seem mournful. Using "Past a thousand sails, none are he" to match "Having picked clean the cold branches, it refuses to perch," she conveyed the longing for him to return soon. After singing a melody, she was a little shy, leaning against Ning Yi, letting him hold her.

In the past, in Golden Wind House, when some talents recited words of praise or expressed their admiration through poetry, she had always been intelligent and literate, but she had never bothered to respond. At this time, she tasted the romance in the ink fragrance for the first time in her feelings. In her heart, she was a little intoxicated.

The two in the woods not far away were slightly moved after hearing the melody. In those legendary stories, the water towns of Jiangnan, talented scholars and beautiful women, perhaps this was what it looked like.

Ning Yi laughed after a while. "You're matching melodies with me, huh?"

"I just suddenly wanted to sing..."

"Well, it sounds good."

Ning Yi looked up at the sunlight shining down. "But... the artistic conceptions of these two melodies are a bit decadent. That's not good."

"When Liheng returns, I'll sing happy melodies."

"Hmm, let me think..." He thought for a while, and the woods became quiet. It was noon, and the sunlight shone on the grass between the trees. Small flowers that would bloom in the spring dotted the scene. After a moment, a different artistic conception rang out.

"Slender clouds weave patterns, shooting stars convey sorrow, across the Milky Way they secretly meet, golden breezes and jade dews meet once, and surpass countless encounters in the human realm... Tender feelings like water, a beautiful rendezvous like a dream..."

Over there, Li Shishi and Zhou Bangyan were stunned. They had seen many people expressing their love, and they had seen many talented scholars and beautiful women spewing poetry while doing so, but they had never seen anyone throwing out such verses like it was child's play. At this time, Ning Yi was in a cheerful mood, and the verses flowed smoothly. "...how could they bear the magpie bridge back? If love between two souls can last forever, need they be together night after night?"

This melody was easier to understand than the previous *Bu Suanzi*, and it was easier to see the level of skill. Zhou Bangyan silently swallowed. Relatively speaking, it was easier for women to be moved by such verses. Li Shishi's hand slightly clenched her clothes. As for Zhou Bangyan, he was a composer who was skilled at writing scenery and expressing emotions. He could better understand the quality of such melodies. He had also composed melodies for the Double Seventh Festival. If the release of Ning Yi's *When Will the Moon Be Clear?* meant that people no longer needed to compose Mid-Autumn Festival melodies, then if this *鹊桥仙 (Magpie Bridge Fairy)* were released, he... I'm afraid I won't be able to compose melodies for the Double Seventh Festival anymore.

If the first *Bu Suanzi* didn't give him a deep sense of Ning Liheng's previous reputation, after this one, he only thought of Ning Yi's five melodies in total.

Over there, Ning Yi laughed. "Come on, come on, do you like this one? You sing it again, and I'll come up with another one... Well, this one is really for you."

He's going to write more...

Zhou Bangyan and Li Shishi were speechless. Yun Zhu was murmuring the melody, moved for a long time. "This concubine admits defeat, isn't that enough? Actually, I also liked Liheng's previous *Bu Suanzi*..."

"They're all yours." Ning Yi thought for a moment, then sighed hesitantly. "Actually, I think the line 'If love between two souls can last forever, need they be together night after night?' is a bit despicable. Should I change it?"

"Don't change it!" Yun Zhu grabbed his hand, then blushed. "I, I like it very much."

"You didn't say you liked it before..."

"I wanted Liheng to be inspired..."

"If you like it, that's good." Ning Yi said, thought for a moment, and hugged her. "Oh, what is love in this world, that it makes one willing to die for it? South and north, flying as a pair, old wings, how many cold seasons..."

Yun Zhu squinted her eyes, her heart filled with sweetness. Then she suddenly struggled. "Don't compose anymore, don't compose anymore... If you compose so many at once, what if you're not around in the future? I won't listen..."

"Uh. You won't listen?"

The two joked and laughed, their laughter spreading through the woods.

Over there, Zhou Bangyan and Li Shishi came out of the woods. When they saw the crowd, their faces were pale. Li Shishi's hand pinched her clothes, trembling slightly. If the first *Bu Suanzi* only gave her a feeling of amazement, when the second *鹊桥仙 (Magpie Bridge Fairy)* was recited smoothly, she was already a little scared. How could there be such a thing? As for the third one...

"South and north, flying as a pair, old wings, how many cold seasons... old wings, how many cold seasons... What comes after that..."

Her heart fluttered, and her brows were furrowed...

*********

I had already thought about using *Bu Suanzi* on Yun Zhu when I wrote the second *青玉案 (Azure Jade Table)*, because the line "Having picked clean the cold branches, it refuses to perch" was so fitting. Of course, the overall artistic conception of the melody was too lonely, so I decided to use another melody to dilute it. For a love song, *鹊桥仙 (Magpie Bridge Fairy)* is naturally the best. There's a prediction post in the book review section. I didn't look at it carefully before, but when I looked at it last night, the following ones were guessed too...

Tch, you obviously didn't guess the third one ^_^ (To be continued.) Please vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)