14.13

Various styles of invitations were spread out on the table, Zhou Yunsheng and Xue Yan were carefully selecting them, and a laptop computer was placed on the sofa, playing a piano song, not knowing who played it, stuttering and simply unpleasant to the ear. Xue Laoshi listened to two minutes to some can not stand, yelled, “Xiaoyi, turn off this song, okay, too hard to hear! You’re such an elegant person, the world’s best player, why do you listen to such ugly music in your private life? Who played it and posted it on the internet, not afraid of being drowned by spitballs.”

He said while handing the information of several florists to the boss. Yesterday, he said that he would bring them the invitation style was actually a joke, but he didn’t expect that before eight o’clock in the morning, the boss called and asked why he hadn’t brought the invitations yet, so he couldn’t, and had to do what he needed to do. These two people are worthy of being a pair, the character of saying wind is rain is simply the same.

“You just listen, so many words!” Zhou Yunsheng smiled and squinted at him, handing Xue Yan an ancient style invitation, “How about this?”

“Yes.” Xue Yan spread the promotional materials of a florist on the table and smiled, “Only moonflowers of various colors will be used at the wedding site, no roses.”

“Okay, I like the moon season.” Zhou Yunsheng patted the decision. They didn’t plan to make a big deal of it, just invite Xue Yan’s close friends and clan members over for a meal, and then put the genealogy on record. China does not recognize same-sex marriages, but the Xue clan does, and in ancient times there was a record of a certain patriarch marrying a male wife, and although it took some twists and turns, in the end he still got what he wanted, which shows that the Xue clan is very tolerant.

“Ai, crikey, I said which Immortal is causing the ghosts, so it’s your sister Xue Jingyi. Are you two really born of the same mother? Why does she play so badly? After listening to your playing and then listening to hers, I simply want to die!” Xue Lao Si couldn’t stand the noise pollution and ran to the sofa to turn off the computer, glancing at the screen, his eyes glaring out.

“In the past, when Xue Er held a birthday party at the Fairview Banyan Garden and had his pair of children perform on the piano, I thought at the time that the little girl was very talented and played quite well, why does it seem like she’s handicapped now?” Xue Lao Si barely listened for a while and asked, “Is this ‘My Empire’?”

“Uh, you heard it?” Zhou Yunsheng turned on the surveillance cameras he had placed in Xue’s house early in the morning to check on Xue Jingyi’s situation.

“To be honest, I didn’t hear it at all, I only realized it when I saw the words on the sheet music.” Realizing that Xue Jing Yi’s expression was twisted horribly, Xue Lao Si couldn’t help but shake his head, “Don’t play if you can’t play, it’s not asking for trouble.” Thanks to Zhou Yunsheng’s blessing, he now had a certain appreciation for classical music, knowing how “My Empire” was a masterpiece and what level Xue Jingyi’s playing was at. To put it bluntly, it was only one line better than a beginner.

“She can’t not play, I’m leaving the Xue family and she has to perform at the Ten Nations Summit in my place.”

“Pfft, going to perform for the heads at this level? Is Xue Er out of his mind? He’s tired of living.” Xue Lao Si laughed out loud.

“I’d like her to go, but Xue Li Danni and Xue Zixuan aren’t easy to fool around with and will definitely stop it.” Zhou Yunsheng shook his head with slight regret. He hadn’t originally planned to pit Xue Jingyi with the performance either; while Xue Jingyi was crazy, Xue’s family wasn’t, and would never let her play such an international joke.

Xue Yan laughed, “Then wait for Elder Xue to come over and beg you, and when he does, I’ll tell him the good news that we’re getting married.”

“Remember, I’m a pure white lotus flower, out of the mud, I don’t know anything.” Zhou Yunsheng hooped-holding his neck, nibbling on his lover’s lips while giving an account, his eyes glittering with a sly light.

“Good, you don’t know anything, you’re a little daisy blooming in a warm room, a little fledgling hiding in my wings, you just have to be good and accept my protection, you don’t need to know the cruelty of the world.” Xue Yan stuck out his tongue to pry open his teeth, murmuring vaguely.

I didn’t expect that the boss who was always violent in temper would also say such mushy love words, Xue Laoshi said that he genuinely couldn’t stand it. Also, what little daisy, little daisy bird, really describing Huang Yi? He’s clearly a wolf in sheep’s clothing, can’t you see Xue Rui’s family being fooled by him?

———–

Three days later, the Xue family.

Xue Rui called his son to the piano room, “Your sister has been practicing for the past few days. She didn’t play very smoothly at first, but she’s much better now. You help her see where there are still deficiencies and correct them for her as soon as possible. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed me to bring her to the rehearsal tomorrow.”

Xue Zixuan had been locking himself in his room, and in just a few days, he had lost a large amount of weight, and his face was even more gaunt. His voice was hoarse, “Dad, when are you going to pick up Xiaoyi?”

“Where can he go? Xue Yan is a man with a violent temper and a heartless face, so it’s a coincidence that he’s been given a few good looks, and he’ll get tired of throwing him out in a few days. I’ll go back then and let him know what’s good and what’s bad. I provide him with food and clothing, and he still has the face to make conditions with me, a wild seed with light bones.”

Xue Zixuan was very dissatisfied with his father’s vicious words and sneered, ”What are you feeding and clothing him for? It’s to dig out his heart! How is he supposed to know what’s good for him? Take the initiative to lie on the operating table and let you guys cut open his heart?”

“What, you can’t spare it?” Xue Rui stared at his son with a skeptical gaze.

“Yes, I can’t afford to give up.” Xue Zixuan stared back frankly.

“We were trying to save your sister!”

“Then find another heart. If you touch him, I’ll go to the police and turn you in.”

Xue Rui was furious and was about to have a fit, but Xue Zixuan calmly pushed open the door and walked towards Xue Jingyi in front of the piano. Xue Jingyi was a very persevering person who would go forward when she recognized something, otherwise she wouldn’t have insisted on performing on stage even after having a heart attack in her previous life. In the past three days, she practiced day and night, and was finally able to finish playing “My Empire” smoothly. What she originally thought was absolutely impossible to do, she was actually able to ascend to a brand new level by pushing herself a little bit, which made her, who had been suppressed for a long time, feel immensely surprised.

“Listen to me play, brother.” She looked up and smiled brightly.

Xue Zixuan glanced at her indifferently and walked over to the window to pull the curtains all the way open.

Xue Rui promptly put away his furious expression and reluctantly pulled the corner of his mouth, “Jing Yi, play well for your brother. Grab some time today to practice a few more times, and tomorrow, dad will accompany you to the Congress Hall to rehearse.”

“Good.” Xue Jingyi nodded her head. During this period of time, she had been living in Zhou Yunsheng’s shadow, watching him compete during the day and dreaming of becoming him on stage in a tuxedo at night, she had almost transformed into Zhou Yunsheng’s shadow, fantasizing about being able to possess the talent and glory of her original body, and coupled with the fact that she kept reading over reports of people who’s personalities had changed drastically after transplanting a heart, she had gradually lost her mind and formed an extremely paranoid state of mind. In front of Zhou Yunsheng, she would show her shadow-like vulnerability and inferiority complex, and when Zhou Yunsheng was not around, she would think that she could replace him.

She had already stepped into the trap that Zhou Yunsheng had laid out for her long ago and became increasingly insane and paranoid, which made her unable to properly judge herself and others. She was living in an illusion, yet she thought that illusion was the real thing. In the past, she would never have been so hot-headed as to think that she could play “My Empire” perfectly and perform in front of so many heads of state on behalf of China.

Xue Zixuan stuck his hands in his pockets and stared at the confident father and daughter with a mocking gaze. They were crazy.

Xue Li Dani put off her work and rushed back because her colleagues told her that Xue Rui had accepted the invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and would bring Xue Jingyi to the rehearsal tomorrow, and that their orchestra, which was responsible for accompanying Xue Jingyi, would go along with her then. Xue Jingyi was going to play “My Empire” in front of the heads of state? What a joke! She almost fainted at that time.

When she returned home, Xue Jingyi had already played up to the third bar, she stared at the sheet music with a very serious expression, this time she did not press a single wrong note, and the melody was very coherent. Xue Rui shook his head and was mesmerized as he listened, in his opinion, as long as a piano piece was coherent it was good enough to make it to the international stage.

However, the mood of Xue Zixuan and Xue Li Dani could only be described with the word ‘ridiculous’.

Without enduring until the end of the song, Xue Zixuan walked over and pressed down the lid of the piano with force. Xue Jingyi’s hands were almost crushed, letting out a mournful howl of misery, her eyes instantly filling with tears as she looked at him with a disbelieving yet fearful and uneasy expression. Xue Rui and Xue Li Danyi snapped back to their senses from their horror and hurriedly walked over to pull him away, questioning, “What are you doing to hurt your sister like this? Crazy?”

“Am I crazy? It’s you guys who are crazy! Such a level also wants to enter the Congress Hall to perform, do you all think that everyone else is deaf?” He slowly and methodically took off his gloves and spoke in a cold voice, “Get out of the way and I’ll play it for you again.”

Xue Jing Yi was so frightened that her heart was throbbing, she hurriedly covered her red and swollen fingertips and shrunk into Xue Li Dani’s arms, her eyes blinking as she snapped and dropped many teardrops. Originally, Xue Li Dani also wanted to chide her for her whimsical thoughts, but when she saw her wretched and pitiful appearance, her heart instantly softened.

Xue Rui had been exasperated by his son twice in a row, and had long been impatient, but the performance was a big deal and couldn’t be sloppy, and since his son had said no, there was no harm in him staying to listen, even if he thought his daughter’s playing had been perfect.

Xue Zixuan took a deep breath and pressed down hard on the keys. He tried to bring his mind back to the time when the war was raging, tried to understand the feelings of the countrymen in distress rising up to defend their homeland, but still failed. This was the only piece he could not perform, and even after five years of practice, he still dared not play it in public.

However, his level was placed there, no matter how, he was countless levels higher than Xue Jingyi. The sound of his zither was very firm, and contained an unyielding power that even the most unappreciative person could easily recognize the difference between him and Xue Jingyi. His zither sound was like a stone that could be used to knock at the heart, while Xue Jingyi’s zither sound was like a soft candy that was more sweet than firm. But “My Empire” was not a romantic and sweet round dance, but a tragic hiss and cry.

In this way, Xue Jingyi’s previous performance was like a joke.

Sensing her husband’s ignorance, Xue Li Dani searched out My Empire on her cell phone and handed it to him to read, silently shaking her head and sighing. She also used a euphemism to tell her husband that her daughter couldn’t do it.

Xue Rui’s unimpressed expression slowly became grave, and when his son finished playing, his temples began to ache with a twitch. It turns out that playing the piano is not just about being smooth.

Xue Zixuan was silent for a moment, placing his cell phone on the music stand and speaking faintly, ”Can you hear the difference between Xue Jingyi and me? Now I’ll let you listen again to how Xiao Yi and the original author of this piece played it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know music, as long as you’re not deaf, you should be able to hear the advantages and disadvantages.”

He sarcastically raised the corners of his mouth before clicking the play button. This was a small short movie edited by a certain netizen of the Levin Empire himself. He edited the video of Ivanov playing in the trenches back then together with the video of Zhou Yunsheng playing in the final, the two playing two bars each, a staggering one-three, two-four, together but without any sense of incongruity. The violent sound of the piano shook the crystal lamp overhead, if Xue Zixuan’s performance was like a stone, the two men’s performance was a symphony of blood and fire, steel and lava, life and death, and that kind of devastating power can pierce the eardrums of the human being, shake the soul, and set the blood on fire.

Prior to this, Xue Rui had never seen Zhou Yunsheng perform, and did not know that sitting in front of the piano he was in such a state, as if he was indestructible, as if he was omnipotent. He walked over to the sofa and sat down, his expression slowly becoming twisted and hideous.

So this was the reason why the head of the Levin Empire had specified for Zhou Yunsheng to perform, he finally realized. Luckily, his son had stopped him, otherwise, if he had let his daughter venture to the Congress Hall to rehearse, how could he still have the face to hang out in the Imperial Capital? Even he, who knew nothing about music, could hear the difference between three, no, technically four zither tones, let alone others.

Xue Jingyi hid in Xue Li Dani’s arms, covering her cheeks with her red and swollen hands, not daring to look at her father’s expression. As soon as the video was played, it was like a slap slapped over hard, snapping her out of her self-puffed-ness. The current her hated to dig a hole in the ground. Why did she have to replace Huang Yi before? She was simply obsessed!

“Jing Yi, didn’t you say you would be able to do it? If I take you to the halls of parliament tomorrow, I’ll be the joke of the entire empire! Do you have any brains left, huh? Is this kind of thing something you can just agree to?” Xue Rui questioned furiously.

“She’s been sick, where does she get the time to practice the piano. Why are you so loud? Wasn’t it your idea to have her perform instead of Huang Yi? Why are you blaming her now? You should hurry up and call back the Foreign Ministry and solve the trouble you’ve caused yourself!” Xue Li Dani shielded her shivering daughter behind her.

Xue Rui’s eyes were bulging out, pointing at the colluding mother and daughter two old half a day unable to speak.

Xue Zixuan closed the lid of the piano and spoke coldly, “Xue Jingyi, if you touch the piano again in the future I’ll break your hands.”

“What did you say? You dare to threaten your sister like this! Just because she can’t play well now doesn’t mean she won’t be able to play well in the future, do you think everyone is like you and Huang Yi, born to play the piano?” Xue Li Dani finished dealing with her husband and started lecturing her son again.

“She will never be able to play well, her obsession with music is gone, only dirty selfish desires remain. You have heard the sound of her zither just now, you should also be well aware of her current state, she had some aura before, but now the only thing left is hostility.” Xue Zixuan spoke slowly.

The blood color on Xue Jing Yi’s face faded to nothing in an instant, and she wrapped her arms around Xue Li Dani’s waist with all her might before she didn’t let herself faint. Xue Li Dani opened her mouth, but in the end, she couldn’t find any reason to retort. She was also a musician, and could tell when a piece of music was good or bad. It does not matter if you do not have skillful technique, but you can not do without dedication and love of music, without these two things, the melody played is missing the soul, and will never be able to move the hearts of the people. If my daughter can’t adjust back to her original mentality, she won’t achieve anything in her life.

But can she adjust back? Having a Huang Yi for comparison was difficult for her. She seemed to be used to enjoying the benefits and honors that Huang Yi brought her, and had long since lost her heart, never to be found again. Xue Li Dani wrapped her arms around her daughter, her heart full of remorse. If she had brought Huang Yi back after the preliminaries, the Xue family wouldn’t be in such a mess now.

Xue Rui walked around twice in annoyance and pointed at his son, “Zi Xuan, can you perform instead of Jing Yi?”

“Do you think that the person named by the higher-ups can be replaced by you just by opening your mouth? Who are you? The president?” Xue Zixuan had had enough of such family members and took his cell phone and left on his own.

Xerui stood frozen for a moment and had to pick up his cell phone to deal with the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Change it? No, you can’t change it, the top only wants Ms. Xue, no one else is considered. No, not even Mr. Xue, we only want the best.”

“A flare-up? Is it serious? If it’s not serious you can condition yourselves for a while before coming back to rehearsal. The summit will be held in two months, there’s still time. We intend to use 3D technology to recreate Mr. Ivanov’s performance during the Patriotic War back then, and Miss Xue will be on the same stage with this musical giant at that time. The leaders love this idea of going back in time and have designated this program to be the grand finale of the evening, if Miss Xue is unable to go on stage, it will be very difficult for us to do so, so please be sure to attend. We can be responsible for helping Miss Xue condition her body if needed, please rest assured that we have the best medical technology.”

“No, no, no, don’t bother, Jing Yi this is an old – problem, not serious, just rest for a few days. I’m worried that she’s in an unstable state of health and will have an accident when she gets to the stage.”

“We will naturally take care of her health when she comes; the rehearsal hall is manned by medical personnel twenty-four hours a day, so you need not worry. Miss Xue’s performance in Vienna was wonderful, and anyone who can perform My Empire perfectly must have a will of steel like Mr. Ivanov, and we have great confidence in her.”

The more the staff pushed Zhou Yunsheng, the more Xue Rui’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat, and he realized that he no longer had any room for refusal, so he hung up the phone with a dry smile.

“No wonder you had to let Huang Yi compete for you, so it’s because you’re incapable. If you’re not capable, go back to your room and stay there, don’t come out and cause trouble. If I’m really fooled by you, my face will be lost abroad.” Turning to face his wife and daughter, he chided in a vicious voice.

Xue Jingyi pressed her face against Xue Lidani’s back and wept silently, her father had never spoken to her in such a disgusting tone.

Xue Li Dani glared at her husband, but she also knew that her daughter was in the wrong and hurriedly left with her arms around her.

“Mom, when can I have surgery?” Only after walking farther did Xue Jing Yi ask Xue Li Dani in a low voice. If Huang Yi’s heart was transplanted, what difficult piano piece could she not play? This morbid obsession had already taken over her entire mind.

“Not now.” Xue Li Dani’s eyes darkened slightly as she murmured, “We have to wait at least two more months.” Right now, her husband would definitely be on fire to find Huang Yi, waiting until the end of the Ten Nation Summit for the Xue Family to move him, otherwise who would be on stage to perform?

Seeing her daughter reveal a look of disappointment, she hurriedly consoled, “Tomorrow mom will take you to a medical checkup, it’s not bad for you to take good care of your body in these two months, you don’t need to worry about anything else.”

Xue Jingyi nodded her head, barely suppressing her anxiety.

———–

Xue Rui had just changed into his suit when he saw his son standing in the doorway, “Going to pick up Xiao Yi?” He raised his eyebrows, his eyes full of mockery and certainty.

“Yeah.” Xue Rui’s face was ironic. There was nothing to do now except coax Huang Yi back.

“I’ll go with you.” Xue Zixuan put on his snow-white gloves and took the lead downstairs.

Father and son visited the Xue mansion overnight, and were led by the servants to wait in the parlor.

Xue Yan had just sat up when he heard the knock on the door, when he was tightly wrapped around the naked – nude teenager, muttering in a daze, “Where to?”

“Xerui is here, I’m going down to meet him, go back to sleep, I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll give you ten minutes.” Zhou Yunsheng opened one eye to aim at the alarm clock on the nightstand.

“Okay, I’ll definitely be back within ten minutes.” Xue Yan smiled lowly as he adjusted the alarm clock, then kissed the teenager’s round and cute shoulders. The teenager couldn’t leave him for a moment, especially at night. Xue Yan remembers that once he got up in the middle of the night to drink water and stayed in the kitchen for a few more minutes, the teenager ran out to look for him without wearing anything, and that panicked expression, eyes full of despair, and two lines of tears flowing down his cheeks can still make Xue Yan’s heart ache when he thinks back now. He cross-examined him for a long time before realizing that it was because of a nightmare, and immediately cried and laughed again.

“Why are you so clingy?” Xue Yan complained with his mouth, but in fact, he couldn’t wait for the teenager to stick to himself twenty-four hours a day.

Zhou Yunsheng grunted in dissatisfaction, seemed to remember something and struggled to sit up, rubbing his eyes, “I’ll carry you out of bed.”

“I can do it myself, you continue to sleep. When I didn’t meet you before, I did all the bathing, changing clothes, and getting in and out of bed by myself, so don’t really spoil me into an invalid.” Xue Yan laughed helplessly, using his strong arms to prop up his body, slowly moving to the wheelchair placed beside the bed, then putting on his robe and fastening his belt.

“Master Yan (Uncle).” Xue Rui and Xue Zixuan both stood up.

“Have a seat, what do you want to see me about this late at night?” Xue Yan signaled the maid to light a cigar for him.

“We’re here to pick up Xiaoyi.” Xue Zixuan opened the door.

“Take him back for what? Rip out his heart and exchange it for Xue Jingyi?” Xue Yan took a hard drag on his cigar, and the dark red fire burned fiercely for a moment, making his face even more eerie.

Xue Rui immediately sweated like a pig, Xue Zixuan clenched his fists and calmly opened his mouth, “Does Xiao Yi know about this matter?”

“I’m not going to pollute his ears with that sort of thing. You’d better stop before it’s too late, or I’ll rip out your family’s hearts for your lives. I, Xue Yan, am the type of person I am, I’m sure you guys know very well.”

Xue Rui nodded his head repeatedly, knowing too well the extent of Xue Yan’s ruthlessness, he should have thought of it, the entire Xue clan has no secrets from Xue Yan, what he wants to know, the most detailed information will be sent to his hand in less than an hour. Even if Xue Zixuan hated Xue Yan, at this moment, he had to thank him for defending Xiao Yi. He raised his eyes to look at him, then froze.

Xue Yan was only wearing a silk robe, the lapel was wide open, revealing his strong pectoral muscles, an ambiguous red mark spreading upwards from his pectoral muscles to his neck, and a few of them could even see clear teeth marks, so it could be seen how passionate the person who had left it behind was like fire.

However, Xue Yan did not have a woman or a man by his side, only Xiaoyi.

Xue Zixuan felt like he had fallen into an ice hole, his body and mind were chilled to the bone and at the same time he felt even more desperate and confused. He slowly averted his gaze and saw a bunch of invitations scattered on the table, with the top one written in a bold script: “To Mr. Xue Zhaohan, I am pleased to announce that the wedding ceremony for Mr. Xue Yan and Mr. Huang Yi will be held on Monday, August 16th of the lunar calendar, with a wedding banquet in preparation, and I would like to invite Mr. Xue Yan to the wedding ceremony. Venue: Xue Residence, Longquan Mountain.

A wedding for Mr. Xue Yan and Mr. Huang Yi? They’re actually getting married? Two men!

Along with his son’s horrified gaze, Xue Rui also saw the invitation and almost jumped up from the sofa.