Chapter 471 – Singing
Zhao Hai had seen a lot of written invitations, but he had only seen two of them who specifically mentioned his name. One of them was from Charlie, before God's Grace Day, and another was from Jason, sent the day before yesterday, this was the third.
The first two invitations that were given to Zhao Hai were expected, but this one came out of the blue.
He placed the invitation down and looked at Megan, "Megan, what do you think Terry wants to do? Or the Robert Family in that matter?"
Megan snorted and said, "I don't know about the Robert Family, but what Terry wants to do was actually step on your reputation, shaming you. Makes you look ugly to me. Big Brother Hai, you need to be careful tomorrow. Otherwise, their plans would affect you."
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "I'll be fine. I'm also trying to deal with him. If I were to attend the Robert Family's banquet tomorrow and all of their businesses get attacked at the same time, how could they possibly place the blame on me?"
Upon hearing Zhao Hai, Megan and the others smiled. They really wanted to know what response Terry and his family show when they receive the news that all of their businesses outside of the capital have been erased.
Laura smiled and said, "Right, I agree with Brother Hai. If we execute our plans, there shouldn't be any loose ends."
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "Now I really want to see how they plan to deal with me. It looks like they don't intend to use force, my reputation as an 8th rank mage is already widespread. Their previous plan was good, I didn't see that one coming. What methods can they use this time? Does it have to do with literature?"
Laura and Megan nodded, the two of them grew up in noble households since childhood, so they were quite familiar with how nobles act. Therefore, they thought Zhao Hai's words were quite acceptable.
Laura nodded and said, "If you can't deal with someone using force, then one can embarrass them in front of a crowd. One could make their enemy do a dance, recite a poem, or play some musical instruments. Brother Hai cannot dance, and I haven't seen you play an instrument, poem? I think that may be a bit difficult. Brother Hai's weakness really has to do with performances."
Laura didn't deliberately ignore this shortcoming of Zhao Hai. In Laura's view, there are no such thing as a perfect person. Zhao Hai cannot write poetry, cannot dance, cannot play instruments, but all of these doesn't overshadow Zhao Hai's brilliance. For a recently fallen family like the Buda Clan, poems, dances, and musical instruments aren't the talents that they currently need for a leader. They need someone who is tolerant, low-key, and decisive in his actions. And Zhao Hai was the latter.
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "They really know my weak spot. Alright, I'll sing. Is singing fine?"
When they heard Zhao Hai, Laura and Megan's eyes turned bright. They looked at each other before Megan said, "Big Brother Hai, will you really sing? Are you good?"
Zhao Hai smiled bitterly, he knew that if he was allowed to sing, he could survive this situation. But he didn't lie, although he cannot play any musical instruments, he was quite confident in his singing. This was because back on Earth, he only had three hobbies; singing, drinking, and reading books.
What Zhao Hai liked were pop songs, so it was natural that he would sing along. For drinking, he generally wouldn't drink much, but he enjoyed doing it along with his friends. As for writing, there was no need to mention it, it was Zhao Hai's most loved hobby.
To be honest, Zhao Hai was good at signing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have proposed doing it. However, since he came to Ark Continent, he didn't have any mood to do so, he had too many matters to think about.
One could say that if he was forced to write a poem, he can plagiarize one or two. But Zhao Hai didn't want that. But if he really was pushed to doing it, then he wouldn't be polite.
Man can lose face, but not in two occasions. The first one is in front of a love rival, and the other, in front of an enemy. Because if you do so, you would be losing your dignity.
When Laura said that Nobles would generally make a poem, dance, or play a musical instrument, Zhao Hai frowned. This was because these are not things that he was skilled in. So he proposed that he would sing. He wanted to know whether singing was allowed because he would prefer doing so. Naturally, if he said that he can sing, Megan and the others would certainly ask him to do so. And as expected, they did.
Laura became interested in what Zhao Hai said, "Brother Hai, you can actually sing? How come I don't know about it? Sing one song for us quickly."
Zhao Hai looked at their face and smiled bitterly, "Alright, I'll go sing one for you. Hmm, what to sing, Alright, I'll go sing 'Bed of Chrysanthemums'"
Your tears glisten with pain in their fragility
The pale crescent hooks the past
The endless night has crystallised into frost
Who is it in the loft, destitute with cold hopelessness?
The rain slowly patters on the vermilion window
My life is a tattered page battered by the winds
Far-off dreams fading into mist
Your image has been dissipated by the wind
Wilted chrysanthemums are spread across the floor; even your smile has turned faintly yellow
The falling flowers induce sadness, and my thoughts languish
In the passing of the north wind and the dusk, your shadow lingers on
And standing by the lake, I only have my own reflection for company
Responding to the dusk, the flowers shed their brilliant shine
They wilter on life’s path, meeting a tragic fate
Don’t cross the river in melancholy
You may spend a lifetime drifting, never reaching the shore
Whose empire is it now? The sound of horse hoofs thunders in the distance.
My resplendent armour decays with the hounds of time
Your soft sigh heralds the first ray of dawn
The conclusion to another restless night
Wilted chrysanthemums are spread across the floor; even your smile has turned faintly yellow
The falling flowers induce sadness, and my thoughts languish
In the passing of the north wind and the dusk, your shadow lingers on
And standing by the lake, I only have my own reflection for company…" [1][2]
This song wasn't unfamiliar to average people. Jay Chou's song has a very unique charm, and Zhao Hai really liked his works. What he liked in songs were the lyrics and the artistic style in how they were arranged.
This type of song was naturally not present in Ark Continent. What people generally listened to were songs that were like those sang in the opera. Pop songs were non-existed here.
Zhao Hai knew about this matter, but he cannot sing opera, only pop songs. He accepted Laura's request because he wanted to see how they'll receive this style of song. If the song was acceptable, then Zhao Hai can use this to deal with Terry's plan. If they can't accept it, Zhao Hai can only think of something else.
While Zhao Hai sang, Laura and Megan both wore very dumbfounded faces. From the moment he started to the end, the two's expression didn't change. This made Zhao Hai extremely worried.
After quite some time, the two somewhat recovered and stared at Zhao Hai strangely. Seeing how the two looked at him, Zhao Hai asked, "What? What's wrong?"
Laura and Megan, now fully recovered, looked at each other before running outside. Zhao Hai didn't know what was going on. He was very confident in Jay Chou's song, this song had a lot of thought put into it, and Zhao Hai also sang it very well. Was it that bad? Why did they need to run away?
With a puzzled expression, Zhao Hai turned to Meg. Meg was strangely looking at Zhao Hai as well, then she said, "Young Master, how come I didn't know that you could actually sing? When did you learn? Did you use this to attract other girls to your room?"
When Zhao Hai heard the first part of Meg's response, he couldn't help but have a cold sweat. He thought that Meg would get skeptical about his identity. But when he heard the second part, he became relieved, Meg wasn't suspicious of him.
In fact, Zhao Hai was completely overly concerned. Not only Meg, even Green didn't doubt Zhao Hai. This was because Zhao Hai replaced Adam's soul, not his body. From the time when he drank the Water of Nothingness to when he woke up, he never left Green's sight. In this case, how could they doubt his identity?
Zhao Hai relaxed, and at the same time, he turned to Meg and said, "Don't talk nonsense. This is your young master's talent, I made it myself. It's good right? So tell me what those two were planning on doing."
Meg smiled and said, "You'll know in a moment." Making Zhao Hai wait in anticipation.
Before long, Laura and Megan came back. Nier was also following behind them. Carried in their hands were musical instruments.
Zhao Hai stared, then immediately understood what they want to do. They actually wanted to play the 'Bed of Chrysanthemums", very interesting.
Zhao Hai looked at the four instruments, there was something that looked like a harp, one was a violin, one was a cello, and the last one was a horizontal flute.
Laura looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Brother Hai, your song is very nice to hear. We haven't had such a song in the Continent. We know how to play instruments, when you sing, we'll will be giving you a musical background."
Such an opportunity was rare, so Zhao Hai didn't decline. He nodded and said, "Alright, let's practice the song. If Terry wanted me to perform, then you will accompany me."
Laura smiled and said, "Alright, go sing it again." Zhao Hai nodded and then sang 'Bed of Chrysanthemums' again from beginning to end.
Including this time, Laura and the others have already heard the song twice, but they still had difficulties in playing along. But this obstacle didn't stump them, they have all grown up in noble families, they learned these instruments from childhood. For Noble families, it wasn't surprising for their descendants to learn one of two instruments, even for Adam who didn't learn anything.
Sauce – Also, easiest chapter of my life xDChapter 472 – Savage Wolf and a Malnourished Horse
Afraid that people may hear them in the courtyard, Zhao Hai immediately relocated their practice into the Space. Laura and the others were very excited, this was a new and odd style.
The day slowly passed as they practiced non-stop. However, their efforts weren't wasted. Now, when Zhao Hai sang, Laura and the others can already keep up with their tunes.
When the skies slowly turned dark, the group started to groom themselves. In the banquets that Zhao Hai attended in the past few days, aside from Jason's banquet, Zhao Hai didn't bring Laura and the others, only Megan. He was afraid the Megan would get shamed if he were to bring his other fiances.
One must know that noble women were not so polite. Megan was always placed beside Lizzy, being one of the Twin Flowers of the Capital. Because of this, there were a lot of women who were very jealous of her. If Zhao Hai brought Laura and the others to the banquets, those women might act on Laura and the others in order to embarrass Megan. Zhao Hai didn't want such a matter to happen, so when he went to such banquets, he didn't bring Laura and the others.
Naturally, Zhao Hai not bringing them doesn't mean that he left them behind in the Calci Family. Laura and the others were inside the Space whenever he went out, not accompanying Zhao Hai while at the same time not appearing in the banquet.
But in today's banquet, all of them were going to appear together. Zhao Hai had no choice, it was clear that Terry wanted him to bring Laura and the others along so that Zhao Hai can lose face in front of them as well.
Zhao Hai still used his bull-pulled carriage. His carriage may look good elsewhere, but not here. This was the Rosen Empire's Capital, in here, Zhao Hai's carriage was quite common.
However, it doesn't matter if his carriage looked good or bad, it was still Zhao Hai's own carriage. He was already very used to sitting on this one, being uncomfortable on other carriages would be no good.
The carriage slowly headed to the Robert Family's castle. The Robert Family's castle was a short distance away from the Calci Family. If one were to walk, it would take four hours; two hours if you walk fast.
When Zhao Hai left, he let the carriage slowly head forward while he went to the Space to observe the situation outside. At the same time, he was also preparing their action tonight.
Zhao Hai cannot personally take charge of tonight's operation, so he can only delegate the task over to Cai'er, making her take charge of Zhao Hai's Advanced Level Undead. Since these undead were created by the Space, there was no problem in transferring their control over to someone else.
In fact, there was no need to take command on all these undead. Zhao Hai had already found all of the Robert Family's shops. He can just transfer a group over to finish the job quickly before withdrawing. If a problem arises, Zhao Wen and Cai'er can just support them anytime. Zhao Hai's plan was to finish everything in one hour, after that period, everyone must retreat. Moreover, they should make their actions as silent as possible, not making any large commotions.
As for those vassal nobles of the Robert Family, Zhao Hai decided to not include them in his plans. In the end, those nobles are nobles of the Rosen Empire. If he decides to touch them, he might incur the anger of the whole empire's nobles. When that happens, their gains wouldn't justify their losses. One must know that the collective strength of Rosen Empire's nobles was very strong.
To further ensure the success of the operation, Zhao Hai went to Iron Mountain Fort to ask Green and Kun to supervise. With them and Cai'er er taking charge of the undead, there was no way for this plan to fail.
Zhao Hai had to ensure this plan's success. He had to get rid of all the family's shops without leaving anybody alive. This was to make sure that nobody finds out that the shops were attacked by the undead, leaving the Robert Family with no way to suspect Zhao Hai.
After discussing everything with Green and Kun, the two elders couldn't help but stare strangely at Zhao Hai. They didn't believe that Zhao Hai could really sing. Seeing the look on their faces, Zhao Hai knew that they were thinking about him wanting to sing. This made him smile bitterly, how can his singing become a wonder in this world? If all those who loved karaoke in Earth were to be transported to the continent, their numbers would be enough to establish an independent country.
Green looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Young Master, can you really sing? Is it a good idea for you to sing?"
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "I can sing a little. I don't know any other thing aside from singing. There was no way for me to practice an instrument in one or two days. If Terry really wanted to embarrass me tonight, then I have no choice but to sing."
Green smiled and said, "I really didn't expect that Young Master can actually sing. Haha, good. Right, I must talk with Merine later. When Young Master comes next time, we'll have you study an instrument as well as work on your dancing."
Zhao Hai felt quite down, he wasn't really interested in those things. If they really wanted him to learn, then he didn't know whether he can last very long.
Kun agreed as he nodded, "You should study, study. A noble that can't dance is quite a loss of face. Hmm, I think it would be better if we have Laura and the others teach him."
Upon hearing Kun's suggestion, Zhao Hai's eyes couldn't help but turn bright. Although Zhao Hai was very polite and really loved Laura and the others, this didn't mean that he didn't have any thoughts about them. In the past, his health wasn't very good, but now, he was already very healthy. He's an 8th rank expert, he can kill an elephant in one, naturally, his basic instincts were much stronger as well.
But since he didn't want to destroy Laura and the others' impression of him, he didn't make any excessive actions. Ark Continent wasn't the same as Earth. On Earth, if you were with a girl and didn't make any moves after several days of dating, people would judge you as incompetent. But Zhao Hai was in the Ark Continent now, if one was too anxious, then they wouldn't have any good reputation among the people.
Because of this, Zhao Hai did his best to practice self-control. He tried his best to suppress these evil thoughts.
At this time, the bull-pulled carriage had already arrived at the base of the Robert Family's hill. The emblem of the Robert Family was a wolf with only one eye. Their family's badge was named the Savage Wolf emblem.
Everybody knows that a savage beast is the most difficult one to fight. This was because a savage beast was more ruthless. The Robert Family choosing this emblem has this reason behind it.[1]
Savage Wolf, Savage Wolf Fort, Savage Wolf emblem, all of these symbolize the Robert Family. Moreover, Zhao Hai had also heard that the Robert Family ancestors always advocated their descendants act as thought they were savage wolves at all times.
Savage wolves are ferocious, but they were sly as well. Someone who had that temperament was very scary. And each and every one of the Robert Family members practice this kind of mindset. Even if generations of the Robert Family had good relations with the Calci family, the two families were always on guard against each other.
And you have to realize that with the Robert Family always acting like sly wolves, they were still able to arrive at their current height today.
When Zhao Hai's carriage arrived at the foot of the hill, he was greeted by the servant in charge of the roadblock and upon inspecting the invitation, allowed Zhao Hai passage. The styles of the castles around Carson City were really similar, there were no special trait to any of them.
Zhao Hai knew that people from the Ark Continent didn't like to pursue beauty, they were leaning towards having things that are practical. Looking at the long history of the continent, Zhao Hai knew that humans aren't the only people waging wars with each other, there were also battles between humans and Magic Beasts. Now that the human population in the continent was increasing, the population of Magic Beasts in the mountains was increasing as well. When humans start to expand their territories again, they would be getting in contact with those Magic Beasts, which would lead to war. And in wars, beautiful castles have no use, thus, practical structures were deemed more important.
When Zhao Hai looked at the Calci Family's fort before, he saw that the castle was constructed quite well, it was well suited for battles. Moreover, after years of modifications and additions, this type of has reached its peak potential, making it the most suitable place for the humans to fight in. This was the reason why forts looked very much the same, they were already designed to have the most effective defensive and offensive capabilities.
The bull-pulled carriage slowly arrived at the front door of the Savage Wolf Fort. There, two servants were present to greet the guests. Seeing Zhao Hai's carriage, the two servants surprisingly didn't come forward. But Zhao Hai didn't care, when he disembarked along with Laura and the others, only then did the two servants give a bow, "We welcome Count Zhao Hai."
Zhao Hai stared, he had attended a lot of these banquets, there weren't a lot of people who call him by his title, most of them referred to him as 'Mister Zhao Hai'.
But Zhao Hai recovered quickly, he knew that this was a ruse that Terry had planned. Terry wanted to borrow his title to embarrass him, reminding Zhao Hai frequently that he was only a count, so there was no reason for him to be proud.
Zhao Hai's eyes flashed a cold light, but he didn’t say anything. Now is not the time to cause a scene, he needed to endure. So instead of being angry, he decided to behave, the more behaved and calm he was, the more Terry would get annoyed. Because of this, Zhao Hai just smiled faintly at the servant and said, "Thank you."
The servants certainly didn't expect Zhao Hai to have that response, they stared slightly before one of said, "We invite Sir Count." Then he lead Zhao Hai towards the castle.
There was a carriage waiting for Zhao Hai and the others inside, but evidently, this was in a way worse situation than what was normally used. This carriage was very small, the horse pulling it was also very malnourished.
When Megan and the other women saw this, they looked very angry. Megan was about to reprimand the servant before Zhao Hai stopped her. He just smiled faintly and got on the carriage.
The character used in this one is 残 which has both the meanings of savage and injured.