Once again, the inner residence in Lian House was graced by the appearance of the usual important personages. There were the Royal Princes, the two beautiful qin performers, the two Da Lang's famed handsome scholars, and Vice Commander Zhen. However at the moment, there was another person added to the already conspicuous bunch: Ji clan's heir, Young Master Ji SongLi.

Since they were reunited, Ji SongLi had been replying to Zhen BuFeng's barrage of questions. Being of similar military background, the latter was very interested in the situation of the Eastern Desert. But more than that, the young vice-commander of the Wolf army kept caressing his spear in anticipation, while also giving Ji SongLi's sword a longing look. There was dark anxious glint in his eyes. For the normally expressionless young man, this was a blatant emotion showing on his face.

Zhen BuFeng clearly wanted to have a spar with Ji SongLi. He had not seen Ji SongLi for a few years; who knew what leaps and bounds the younger man had overcome and new heights he had achieved. He could sense how Ji SongLi had changed. Perhaps, it was something only a fellow martial-arts practitioner would be able to sense.

First, there was that sense of rigidity and poise, that of a well-trained soldier. There was also the way Ji SongLi's eyes were now showing wariness of his surrounding. Zhen BuFeng also did not miss  his calloused right hand, his sword-wielding hand. The young man's entire being was like a sheathed sharp sword, but ready to be unsheathed to strike any moment if necessary.

This young man, Ji SongLi, had become a sword-master. As a spear-master himself, how could Zhen BuFeng not be itching to test his melee?

The oblivious Ji LanBai gleefully grabbed onto Ji SongLi's sleeve and excitedly intervened,

"Li-ge, we must celebrate your homecoming with cake!! The peach colored cake!!"She turned to look at YuLan with glittering eyes full of expectation, "Right, YuLan?"

YuLan let out a soft chuckle. Ever since Ji SongLi had left, although she had baked a few cakes, it was never the light fluffy berry chiffon cake she had made for Ji LanBai's sixth birthday years ago. She was still unable to whip her own stiff egg-whites, so she just made do with denser type of cakes and cookies for the Young Miss. 

"Of course it depends on your brother... ." Her hint was obvious.

Ji SongLi smiled at his hopeful sister and was about to reply, when Zhen BuFeng interjected, "Oh? the girly cloud-like cake you made the first time? I can help you with that."

YuLan, Ji LanBai, and Ji SongLi immediately shifted their attention to look at the stern-looking young vice-commander. Zhen BuFeng coughed, tone of embarrassment in his voice,

"I can whip the egg-whites to the snow consistency now." He added, his voice much less audible than usual, "I... have been training."

YuLan blinked her eyes a few times. There was a sudden mental image of a stiff young man, in every way looking like a sturdy looking martial artist, wearing apron, whisking egg-whites... . She could only muster in confusion, "How... . Why... ." 

Zhen BuFeng turned his neck to look at all directions, except her. Finally, he landed his eyes ruefully at the Crown Prince. There was an accusing look in his sharp eyes.

"A certain Prince had been hassling a certain subject to train his hands for this... art of egg-whites. Finally this subject succeeded to satisfy His Royal Highness!"

The Crown Prince coughed behind his fan.

Second Prince Zhang JunLi laughed,

"Ever since we left the Ji estate years ago, Miss YuLan," he explained, "Eldest Brother could not forget how wonderful your cake tasted. So he pestered BuFeng to master it." He chuckled, "After that, the rest was easy. The Palace's kitchen servants could do the rest."

Crown Prince Zhang KongJing snapped his fan against his palm, looking at his younger brother, his eyes twinkling in defensive light, "Second Younger Brother is not being fair. You and Third Brother GuoFu have also been enjoying the fruit of BuFeng's labour."

It was Prince Zhang JunLi's  and Prince Zhang GuoFu's turn to cough embarrassment, slight redness creeping up their fair cheeks.

Clearly the Crown Prince had used his Royal status to get Zhen BuFeng to do his bidding. It was beneath the Princes to do anything related to kitchen-work. They would eat and taste, but would never sweat themselves to make.

Such labor; such crude movements; how utterly not elegant!

YuLan stared in disbelief at the three Royal Princes and Zhen BuFeng who seemed to be trying very hard to keep his expression from cracking. Then she let out a bright amused laugh. Her crisp melodious voice broke the awkwardness between the young men, and they all finally smiled at each other.

"Then, we can discuss about the cake later. After all, I can pick between two helpers now." YuLan looked at Ji SongLi and Zhen BuFeng, mischievous glint in her eyes. Then she caressed the milky colored guqin on her lap, smiling at SongLi,

"To celebrate the Young Master's homecoming," she gazed softly at Ji SongLi, "Remember about your request in your letter? About a music score as your gift?"

Ji SongLi was reminded about his letter a few years ago and was elated that she also remembered.

YuLan then told him she intended to slowly play the score for him over the next few days or weeks. However, Ji SongLi insisted that she would at least show him the score at that very moment, and for him to start to learn to play it.

YuLan gave Ji SongLi's guqin back to him, wanting to show him the score that she had been trying to remember from her past life and finalize. But as the piece was quite complicated, she had a bit of trouble directing the right notes using only one guqin.

Ji LanBai was also a budding qin player, gifted with natural talent that surpassed even YuLan's. She clearly understood what YuLan was trying to do, and that the latter was having difficulties using only SongLi's guqin for her score. She silently watched Bai YuLan, who she had thought as her own older sister, and her older brother knitting their brows in front of one guqin, fingers flying all over the place to play the music.

Ji LanBai finally asked the Third Prince, "Fu-ge... ." She caressed her own guqin, the gift from Zhang GuoFu. She would hate to lend the zither to anyone else. But YuLan was definitely not 'anyone else', "Can LanBai... lend this guqin to YuLan?"

Zhang GuoFu smiled and nodded his consent. It was not really necessary for her to ask him; after all, the guqin was now Ji LanBai's. It was completely at her discretion as to what she was going to use it for, or to whom she wanted to give it to. Nevertheless, his heart warmed as his fiancee had accounted him before making her decision.

For some reason, was it also warmth from knowing that his zither was going to be used by Bai YuLan?

Before long, there were a few disjointed sounds of two zithers. Ji LanBai's guqin was being used by YuLan; the other guqin used by its original master, Ji SongLi. Sometimes, the two distinct tones melded together in harmony.

After a while, Ji SongLi plucked his string, finishing what had just been taught to him. He looked up at YuLan, his gaze was full of admiration. YuLan herself returned his smile, her own eyes slightly widened in wonder.

It was hardly half an hour since she last showed him the notes of the music score. Ji SongLi absorbed everything like a sponge. To call him just a talent in a thousand was probably still undermining him.

Ji SongLi turned towards the three Royal Princes, Zhen BuFeng, He Shan, and Sun Chen. The spectators' ears had become itchy and everyone was looking eager.

"This repertoire should be performed in nature," Ji SongLi smiled, "Let us move outside. Perhaps we can borrow a pavilion to do this piece justice."

Not long after, all of them were seated inside a small pavilion overlooking the lotus pond one one side, and flowering trees on the other.

One young man in white robes with a guqin on his lap,

One tender young woman with a guqin on her lap,

Both strumming their zithers, answering each other calls, their guqin's strings chasing each other's sounds in a seemingly never-ending chase.

Their sounds were sometimes playful, sometimes sorrowful. No one could say that one zither's sound was more prominent than the other. One tone was low, belonging to the male; the other was higher, belonging to the female. 

The butterflies of spring were also somehow irrevocably attracted, drifting from the beauty of flowers they initially fluttered around, flying to where the enchanting melody seemed to pull all forces of nature to come near.

Look, those were butterflies dancing. Listen, these were butterflies singing their love song.

 SONG LINK (YOUTUBE) || TITLE: BUTTERFLY LOVERS ¹If you have a chance, look up the tale of "Butterfly Lovers" on the internet. It's not the happiest ending, but it remains one of my most loved chinese tales/ 梁祝 (INSTRUMENTAL)

The mortals did not have any other choice but to be bewitched, drawn to silently observe the charming dance of the butterflies. They did not and could not disturb these pretty creatures who were happily flying in the midst of spring, soaring through the melody that one could almost see weaving the paths for those butterflies in the air.

It was a picture of harmony, a perfect interpretation of spring charm.

Two guqin players, three Imperial Sons, a daughter of a General, a son of a General, two scholars, peeping Lian house servants around the pavilion.

At this moment, there was no status, there was no rich or the poor, there was no master or servant.

Everyone's eyes were on the fluttering wings of the beautiful creatures in the air, everyone's ears wanted nothing else but to listen to the tune.

The smiles the two qin performers were exchanging were as pure as the dancing butterflies, as though they were also fluttering above the blooming flowers.

In the midst of enthrallment that He Shan was experiencing, he could only lament in his heart,

"How rich would I be, if I could get Ji SongLi, Bai YuLan, and Ji LanBai performing together? Three insurmountable talents of their generation, surely capable of bewitching Royals and probably even Immortals!"