Madam, protect me!

Li Nuo was certain in his heart.

The requirements of the Code must have been raised.

Han Zhuo's painting skills were far from being the best, and not as dominant as Zhou Yu's Imperial Examination among students.

Not to mention the champion of the last Music Examination.

A lean camel is bigger than a horse, and Liu Shang's piano skills would never fall to the level that the Code looked down upon.

It is very likely that with his breakthrough, the standards of the Code would also be improved.

Fortunately, he broke through slowly.

If he had broken through earlier, he might not even have Han Zhuo's painting skills.

This is a good thing, but also a bad thing.

The advantage is that the skills he will get in the future will be of higher quality, which can ensure that the imperial examination is foolproof.

The disadvantage is that the quality is too low, and it is difficult for him to find someone who meets the requirements of the Code.

Like Zhou Yu's Imperial Examination, to obtain Liu Shang's piano skills, he must first let Liu Shang improve himself.

But Zhou Yu still has the reason to take the imperial examination. Liu Shang is already the seventh-rank Taiyue Ling. If he doesn't practice, there is no reason to force him to practice.

Besides, his specialty has been abandoned for so long, whether he can return to the past is still uncertain.

It is more convenient to find a new candidate.

However, the current matter still needs to be explained to him.

Li Nuo looked at Liu Shang, who was still in a daze, and smiled, saying: "Sir Liu, let me introduce myself. My name is Li Nuo. I believe you should have heard of my name."

Liu Shang raised his head and looked shocked.

Of course he had heard of this name!

The son of Li Xuanjing, the Minister of Dali Temple, killed Li Yuan, the son of Yunyang Marquis not long ago. Facing the petitions of the dignitaries in the court, he was able to retreat unscathed. Who in Chang'an doesn't know?

Li Nuo continued: "I have heard that Sir Liu is proficient in music. This time, I invited Sir Liu to come here, originally I wanted to ask Sir Liu to give some advice on music theory."

Liu Shang was stunned when he heard this.

What?

The people of Dali Temple arrested him just to ask him for music?

You should have said it earlier!

Along the way, he even thought about where to bury himself after his death.

After all this time, it turned out to be a false alarm.

After heaving a sigh of relief, he hurriedly said: "No, no, I can't say I can give you any advice. If you have any questions, I will tell you everything I know."

Li Nuo didn't have anything to ask. He had no basic knowledge of music theory. Asking Liu Shang about music was like a kindergarten student asking the champion of the college entrance examination. Could he ask him what the five tones were?

The question was too childish, and it was he who was embarrassed.

He smiled apologetically at first and said: "I asked Lord Liu to come here in this way in order not to arouse any association. I hope Lord Liu will not blame me."

Liu Shang hurriedly said: "No, no..."

After being in the officialdom for so long, he was no longer a rookie.

He had also stepped into the circle of the powerful. If he had any relationship with the Dali Temple, he would probably be in trouble after returning.

It must be said that people were very considerate of him. If they arrested him on the charge of visiting a prostitute, no one would suspect that he had any collusion with Li Xuanjing.

Li Nuo spoke again: "For the sake of Lord Liu, please stay in the Dali Temple for one night and let you go tomorrow. I hope Lord Liu understands."

Liu Shang immediately said: "I understand, I understand!"

The room here is quite comfortable. Anyway, he would be bullied if he went home. Instead of going home to see that slut cheating on him, it is better to stay here. At least it is more comfortable than the official office of the Taiyue Bureau.

Although he was arrested in the Dali Temple, he had a good impression of the son of the Dali Temple Minister.

Not only does he do things flawlessly.

He is also a man with a unique vision.

He has been preparing for the top scholar in the music exam since he was born, no, before he was born.

When his mother was pregnant, she had to listen to the "Six Musics" for several hours every day.

Others use "Shuowen" to learn to read, and he uses "Yunmen" to learn to read.

For twenty years, regardless of the cold and hot weather, he has been practicing day and night without interruption, just to become the top scholar in the music exam one day.

The Dali Temple Minister found him, and he found the right person.

Liu Shang was organizing his words, intending to share his experience in the music section of the imperial examination.

However, Li Nuo turned around and walked outside, asking Zhang Sizheng: "Master Zhang, do you know if there are any people in Chang'an who have good attainments in music..."

Liu Shang's skills have been abandoned, and Li Nuo can only look for someone better.

He is the most recent champion of the music section. The previous champions of the music section have been in office for a longer time, and they may not be as good as him.

He doesn't need to go to the Ministry of Personnel anymore. This Zhang Sizheng seems to know a lot about music, and maybe he can give Li Nuo some advice.

Zhang Sizheng thought for a while and said: "The music section of the imperial examination is different from the music section. Master Liu is the most recent champion of the music section. When it comes to the music section of the imperial examination, I'm afraid no one knows more about it than Master Liu.

In addition, several music teachers in Dongshan Academy have taught music for a lifetime. Although they may not be as skilled as young people due to their age, their experience is not comparable to that of young people..."

Li Nuo sighed lightly.

Music is just about the skills of the hands. Those old gentlemen, no matter how rich their theoretical experience is, it is useless if they cannot practice.

I thought it was easy to acquire the six arts skills, but I didn't expect that it was not as simple as he imagined.

It seems that we still have to choose from the students who will participate in the next imperial examination.

Their level is undoubtedly at the peak of their lives.

Liu Shang stared blankly at the few people leaving.

No, they are leaving now?

What about asking him for advice on music?

Could it be that he didn't like me after listening to the song just now?

He admitted that his zither skills had declined a lot, but a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even if he had neglected his skills in the past few years, there were few people in Chang'an who knew more about the imperial examination music than him!

Liu Shang admitted that he was not good in bed.

He refused to accept that he was not good in the music examination!

It was just that he had not practiced for a long time and his hands were rusty. As long as he was given some time, he would definitely be able to return to the peak.

Seeing that the door of the cell was about to close, Liu Shang stood up suddenly and shouted: "Wait!"

Li Nuo and others looked back at him.

Liu Shang looked at Zhang Sizheng and said: "This lord, can you leave this zither and return it to you when I leave tomorrow."

Zhang Sizheng thought about it and had someone send the zither in his arms.

Zhang Sizheng was obviously also a music lover. After walking out of the cell, Li Nuo asked Zhang Sizheng, "Master Zhang, I wonder if any of the students in this year's class have surpassed Master Liu in the music exam?"

Zhang Sizheng said without thinking, "It's impossible. Master Liu was a well-known music genius before the imperial examination. Even if his music level is not as good as before, it is not comparable to others. No student in this imperial examination is as outstanding as Master Liu in the music exam..."

Li Nuo was surprised and said, "Is it so amazing?"

Zhang Sizheng fell into memories. After a moment, he said, "Master Liu was not only the top scorer in the music exam in the previous session, but his music exam results that year were rare "excellent". Throughout the past ten imperial examinations, the only ones with excellent music exam results were Master Liu and Master Li in the past..."

It seems that Li Nuo still underestimated this Taiyue Ling.

The results of the imperial examinations have ten evaluation levels, similar to the rating of officials, divided into A, B, and C, and each level is further divided into upper, middle, and lower.

A-A is the highest evaluation in the general sense.

But above A-A, there is another level, called "excellent".

It's just that it's extremely difficult to get an excellent evaluation in the imperial examination, which means that this subject is so perfect that there is no flaw.

A full score in mathematics can get an excellent evaluation.

After all, the characteristics of the subject are there, right is right, wrong is wrong, there is nothing to argue about.

Although the mathematics of the imperial examination is difficult, there are several excellent test papers every year.

But the music subject is different. The music subject is subjective, and the examiner's preference can also affect the score assessment to a certain extent.

The significance of excellent music is no less than the full score in the Chinese language in the college entrance examination, and the difficulty is incomparable with mathematics.

Not to mention excellent, even A-A is difficult.

Most of the time, the score of the champion of the music subject is only A or A-B.

When Li Nuo left the Dali Temple, he heard a faint sound of piano coming from the Dali Temple...

Zhang Si was standing outside the cell with a look of surprise on his face.

As expected of the only two top scorers in the music department in decades, when he played the second time, it was much better than the first time.

At this time, Li Nuo was already sitting in the carriage.

Liu Shang now doesn't even look down on the law code, so there is no need to try those students.

The previous top scorers in the music department didn't have much hope.

It's better to urge Liu Shang more.

With his talent, if he practices hard for a period of time, he may be able to return to the peak.

Let's talk about it after he comes out of the Dali Temple.

Wu's driving skills have improved a lot compared to before. Li Nuo leaned on the carriage and planned to take a rest. Suddenly, a burst of music came to his ears.

Li Nuo didn't have a high appreciation ability for music, but this piece of music was quite nice.

He opened his eyes and said, "Stop."

The carriage slowly stopped, Li Nuo lifted the curtain, looked outside, and his expression was slightly stunned.

It turned out to be Yuyin Pavilion.

He thought about it, jumped off the carriage, and walked into Yuyin Pavilion.

He had no interest in listening to music before, but since he was going to take the imperial examination, it was impossible for him not to understand music.

He didn't know how good the musicians in Yuyin Pavilion were. If he could find a musician recognized by the code, he could save a lot of effort.

Yuyin Pavilion was such a big store, and it was unknown how much silver came in every day. Li Nuo didn't believe that they had paid taxes honestly for every income.

This kind of thing, it's okay if you don't check it, you will find it out once you check it.

Yuyin Pavilion's business was very good.

The hall on the first floor was full of people. On a stage surrounded by a translucent gauze curtain on the second floor, you could vaguely see a musician playing.

She played the song that Li Nuo had just heard.

Inside the counter, several women were chatting. One of them looked up and was suddenly stunned, then walked out of the counter quickly, came to Li Nuo, and said, "Sir, you are here, I will take you upstairs..."

Seeing this, other guests in the hall couldn't help whispering to the people around them.

"Didn't they say there were no private rooms upstairs?"

"It must be some big shot. This kind of place must have a few rooms reserved for those big shots."

"Who is this person? He looks unfamiliar..."

Amid the discussion of the crowd, Li Nuo was taken to a room upstairs by the woman.

He looked around and it seemed to be the same room as last time.

A charming woman was fiddling with a vase of flowers at the table. When she heard the sound coming from the door, she looked back and was slightly stunned. She immediately stood up, smiled and greeted him, and said softly: "Sir, you are here..."

After a while.

In a room on the second floor of Yuyin Pavilion, Li Nuo sipped his tea and admired a vase of flower arrangement on the table.

Unexpectedly, the expert in flower arrangement in Yuyin Pavilion turned out to be Miss Fenghuang.

So, she must also be proficient in painting.

Under normal circumstances, those who are proficient in painting will also be good at calligraphy.

She is also the owner of Yuyin Pavilion, so she must be able to play some musical instruments.

So, she is almost the kind of woman that my wife envies, proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

And her figure is not bad.

It's a pity that she can't fight.

"Squeak..."

The door of the inner room was pushed open, and Miss Fenghuang walked out.

She actually changed her clothes on purpose.

Although this long skirt is not very revealing, it makes her waist look better.

Li Nuo just took a look, looked away, and asked directly: "May I ask Miss Fenghuang, which girl in Yuyin Pavilion is the best at music?"

Fenghuang was a little surprised. Wasn't he not interested in music? Why did he ask this today?

After a brief moment of doubt, she smiled and said, "Sir, you asked the right person."

Li Nuo was slightly stunned and asked, "Is it you?"

Phoenix walked to the guqin in the room confidently and said, "I'm not bragging. In terms of military strategy, I'm not as good as Yuanyang, and in terms of archery, I'm not as good as Nightingale, but in terms of music, in the entire Yuyin Pavilion, I'm second, and no one dares to claim to be the first..."

Yuyin Pavilion is a very strange place.

It's obviously a music hall, but the girls have unique skills, either military strategy or archery.

Is this something that an undecent girl in a brothel should know?

Even a decent girl shouldn't know it!

In comparison, Fenghuang's specialty seems a little more normal.

Li Nuo complained in his heart and said, "Can you ask the girl to play a song?"

Phoenix sat down next to the guqin and said with a smile, "Of course, what song do you want to hear, sir?"

Last time she wanted to play a song for him, but he refused.

I don't know why she suddenly changed her temper this time.

He refused when he was given the music.

When he was not given the music, he asked for it.

Li Nuo thought for a moment and said, "You can do whatever you want. Any song is fine."

In fact, he didn't know the names of other songs except Liuyue.

Fenghuang thought for a moment and said, "Then I will just play a song I created myself."

Li Nuo put down his teacup and listened attentively.

She plucked the strings of the zither with her fingers, and the sound of the zither, which sounded like weeping and complaining, began to flow through her fingertips.

Li Nuo closed his eyes and was somewhat intoxicated by the music.

Miss Fenghuang really didn't brag. Even an amateur like Li Nuo could tell that she played much better than the musician outside.

But compared to Liu Shang...

To be honest, Li Nuo still felt that Liu Shang was a little better.

Both of them played the piano very well, but they were different.

Just like the difference between a pop singer and a national team, Liu Shang's music had something more inexplicable than Fenghuang's.

This was Li Nuo's intuitive feeling as an amateur.

But if he was asked to say what was more, he couldn't say it.

But this trip to Yuyin Pavilion should be in vain.

Even Liu Shang's ability is not appreciated by the law code, let alone Phoenix.

Yuyin Pavilion, while Li Nuo is intoxicated by Phoenix's playing.

Dali Temple.

A group of officials and yamen runners of Dali Temple stood outside a cell, listening to the music coming from inside, and they were also intoxicated.

Since just now, the music inside has never stopped.

Even people who don't understand music can hear that the music coming from inside is getting better and better.

Zhang Sizheng, who knows a little about music, was even more shocked.

Liu Shang really played better every time than the previous time.

Almost every time, he could hear obvious progress.

He deserves to be the music champion who can get the "excellent" evaluation.

This music talent is terrifying.

Even though it has been abandoned for a long time, from the moment he touched the piano, Liu Shang, the former music champion, is slowly returning.

Inside the cell.

Liu Shang closed his eyes and entered a state of complete selflessness.

The comments of the Dali Temple official and their attitude towards him deeply hurt his proud heart.

He played "Cloud Gate" over and over again.

As the beginning of the six musics, these melodies have long been engraved in his soul.

Bang!

After playing for an unknown number of times, a string on the long zither finally broke.

Liu Shang's ten fingers were bleeding, but a smile appeared on his face.

He hadn't touched the zither for a long time, and he needed some time to get back to the feeling of playing.

The last time just now, he had 70% of his strength at his peak.

70% is enough!

Even if he only used 70% of his strength back then, he was still the undisputed champion of the music department.

He looked at a figure standing outside the cell and said proudly: "The lord outside, didn't you say that my zither skills have regressed a lot? How about the song just now---Why are you dumb? Speak!"

...

Yuyin Pavilion

Li Nuo finally understood why so many people like to listen to music.

Putting aside whether they would do other happy things after listening to the music.

As far as the process of listening to music is concerned, being able to hear a high-level performance is also a kind of enjoyment that goes deep into the soul, just like tasting a glass of mellow wine.

But...

Li Nuo opened his eyes with confusion on his face.

I was listening to this piece of music very well just now.

Now, to his ears, it was all inadequate.

The wine that was mellow and fragrant one second suddenly tasted sour the next second.

It seems that the player suddenly changed.

But soon, Li Nuo realized that it was not the player who had changed.

But the people who listen to music have changed.

He looked at the code and found that the portrait of Liu Shang on the last page had lit up.

At the same time, he also had some music theory knowledge in his mind that he had never been exposed to before.

What's going on?

Can the portrait on the codex brighten on its own?

It was also the first time for him to encounter this situation.

At this time, the music in the room gradually disappeared. Miss Phoenix withdrew her hand from the strings, looked at Li Nuo with a smile, and asked, "How is your playing?"

Regarding the playing just now, although Li Nuo had countless things to complain about, he didn't want to hit others for no reason and said, "It's okay."

Phoenix was ready to hear all kinds of beautiful words of praise from him, but she only got three words: "It's okay."

This caused a big gap in her heart.

She pretended to have a sincere expression and said without giving up: "If you don't play well, please give me some advice."

Seeing that she was so sincere, Li Nuo stopped hiding it and said, "Then let me tell you straight away, there are indeed many problems with your playing."

Phoenix was slightly startled.

No, she was just being polite, but you really gave me some advice?

Doesn’t he know nothing about music?

She took a deep breath, calmed down a little, and said with a begging expression on her face: "Please give me some advice, Master."

Li Nuo looked at her, thought for a moment, and said slowly: "To be honest, your basic skills are just passable, but when you play, you pursue skills too much and ignore feelings. Music has a soul, and you The sound of music has an empty body and no soul. It is just a show of skills. It is the worst of the worst...

Barely?

No soul?

The best of the worst?

Phoenix looked at Li Nuo with a dull expression.

Who doesn't know that music should have a soul, but those who can give music a soul are all music masters who have been immersed in this art for decades. It would be too harsh to ask her to be at the level of a master, right?

She twisted her butt, moved a little away, and said a little unconvinced: "Master, can you demonstrate to me what kind of music has soul?"

Li Nuo walked to the guqin and said, "Take the piece of music you just played as an example. I can tell that that piece of music describes a woman's longing for her husband. In addition to the sad melody, it also has a few twists and turns. Fen Shengsha, this wife should have lost her husband in the war, but you only told the simplest story, and did not reveal the woman's strong feelings of longing for her husband..."

Phoenix looked at Li Nuo in disbelief.

Lovers are easy to find, but soulmates are hard to find.

At this moment, she felt like she had found a soulmate.

This song was composed by herself, and only she knew the background of its creation. Li Nuo was the first person to tell the story behind this song...

If you’re not really proficient in Le Dao, you wouldn’t be able to make such a to-the-point review.

While she was still in shock, a piece of plaintive, melancholy music came out from Li Nuo's fingertips.

Phoenix sat there blankly.

He actually only listened to it once and was able to play back the original song!

As she listened to the music, she seemed to become the woman in the story.

Childhood sweethearts finally got married. Just as they were preparing to welcome happiness within reach, war broke out between their country and neighboring countries. On their wedding night, the husband was warned to enlist in the army, leaving the bride alone with the red candle of the bridal chamber...

She thought about it day and night, waited eagerly for three years, but what she waited for was the sad news of her husband's death...

A tear rolled down Phoenix's beautiful cheek.

At first there was only one drop, and then it became a series.

She composed this music, and she knows the story behind the music better than anyone else.

This music penetrated deeply into her soul. She couldn't control her emotions at all. A nameless sorrow arose in her heart. She couldn't bear it anymore, so she lay on Li Nuo's shoulder and cried sadly...