Chapter 11: Physical Action.

After registering their names the students were allowed to leave at their own will. Wen Xiang stayed behind intentionally insisting to help Wen Mingye to register the names. She took a few glances at Mizi Yue to see if he had noticed her presence. Wen Mingye finally finished writing down the names. He wanted to avoid Mizi Yue at all costs so when Wen Xiang offered to take the list to him,he immediately agreed.

Mizi Yue had intentionally appointed Wen Mingye to write the names but he did it in a witty way that even Wen Mingye himself couldn't suspect. When Mizi Yue saw his plan had failed,he called Wen Mingye and asked him to stay behind. Wen Xiang naturally left after handing him the name list to give them privacy.

"Sir Mizi, what is it?"Wen Mingye spoke in a serious tone maintaining a straight face.

Mizi Yue took out a white jade pendant and gave it to him.

"It's yours you left it in my room."

Wen Mingye was flustered for a moment. He slowly extended his hand and hesitated to take it from Mizi Yue's hand. Mizi Yue placed the jade pendant on the table making it easier for Wen Mingye to pick it up.

"From my observation it's one of the few things you own that isn't black,"Mizi Yue spoke in sarcasm ,"Take it ,"he gestured Wen Mingye to pick up the jade pendant his gaze still fixed at Wen Mingye.Wen Mingye picked it up,looked at it in scrutiny as if he was verifying it,said a thank you and left hurriedly.

Mizi Yue looked at the name list, carefully studying Wen Mingye's beautiful and neat handwriting. He folded the piece of paper,kept it in the scholar's chest and closed it and left. Wen Xiang entered Yuhua Hall with her face frowning a little bit. She headed straight to her room without greeting Empress Bai.

"She's experiencing moody swings again? Puberty is the hardest stage in a human's life,"Empress Bai spoke humorously.

"Maybe she's tired or the lecture wasn't to her liking or maybe the teacher was too strict,"Wan Wan deduced.

Wen Mingye entered Tianming Hall breathing heavily probably due to nervousness he felt when he was talking to Mizi Yue. He put the scholar's chest on the table and sat on the floor like he always did. Xue Yao came in shortly after and noticed something was wrong with Wen Mingye. Wen Mingye was wiping his sweaty palms.

"Your Highness are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine,"Wen Mingye replied taking in a deep breath.

"But you only have sweaty palms when you're nervous,"Xue Yao was definitely beating around the bush instead of directly asking what had made Wen Mingye so nervous.

"I'm probably sweating because of the little rise in temperatures."

"Maybe."

Several candles were lit in Meilin Hall making the atmosphere more vibrant. The servants served the dishes one by one. Wen Hai had been invited to have dinner at Meilin Hall . Consort Huan was eager to know how Wen Hai had spent his first day of study. Wen Hai and Consort Huan paid attention to trivial matters such as how well they were treated by others or gestures from other people that indicated they favoured them. Even such things were worth a celebration. Wen Hai being allowed to register his name first and leaving the class before others was a good sign that Mizi Yue had started playing favourites with him. As result Wen Hai looked forward to the next lecture with Mizi Yue.

Several loud knocks at the door followed by pleading voices of the servant girls to open the door filled the air. Yingtao Hua didn't want to go to the palace for the lecture. The servant girls turned to Yu Fengran for help. She spent some minutes at the door pleading with the servant girls.

"Hua'er if you don't go to the palace I will cut your allowance."

Allowance was the thing most noble girls valued. Without it they were the same as peasants. Yingtao Hua loved eating dumplings at stalls because she believed they tasted better than the ones at her home so she had to compromise her defiance for money.Yingtao Hua opened the door all dressed up carrying a Qi case on her back. She passed between them without saying a word and left.

Tuesday was the day they were scheduled to learn music and it mostly included learning how to play instruments especially the Qin. The students arrived early as usual and settled in Wenxue Hall and waited for Mizi Yue. Mizi Yue arrived shortly after and they all took out their Qins and laid them on top of their desks. The Qin was one of the major instruments that encapsulated the rich culture of the Southern Blossom Dynasty.

Mizi Yue began by introducing the basics which included the Anatomy of the Qin where he identified parts of a Qin including the seven strings , tuning and care for the Qin , body posture and hand positioning. Body posture and hand positioning were among the key elements in playing the Qin. He had to walk around checking their body posture and hand positioning and correcting them.

Mizi Yue walked straight to Wen Hai and rectified his posture and hand positioning by simply instructing him verbally. He then moved on to Wen Xiang instructing each of them verbally. As he leaned over to instruct the girls,some of them took advantage to sniff in his breathtaking scent greedily. It was a friendly , refreshing and invigorating fragrance of orchid essence. The girls just hoped he would hold their hands and gently help them position their fingers correctly on the strings of the Qin. To their utmost disappointment he held none of them. He felt his verbal instructions were enough as long as all of them were of sound mind.

Mizi Yue paid attention to all of them leaving none of them out. Since the hall was large enough there was still some space left at the back after the last row so Mizi Yue navigated through the space and reached Wen Mingye.

"Your body posture is wrong,"Mizi Yue gently pressed Wen Mingye's back to straighten his back to a better posture. No one paid keen attention to Mizi Yue's action because they all thought Wen Mingye's posture was the worst in the class so Mizi Yue had no other choice but to rectify it for him with physical action to save time.