Chapter 90: The Strange Instrument

In the evening, Li Qing’an returned to Chongren Fang. He hadn’t been home for two days. Upon hearing his voice, the three girls rushed out excitedly. Xiao Lian and Ru Hua hugged his arms, jumping up and down.
“Big brother, we thought you didn’t want us anymore!”
“How could that be? Didn’t I send someone to tell you I’ve been extremely busy these past two days?”
Li Qing’an explained with a smile. His gaze fell on Ru Shi, who stood shyly by the door. Seeing her affectionate expression, his heart warmed. He stepped forward and said with a smile, “Ru Shi, did you also think I didn’t want you?”
Her eyes sparkled under his intense gaze, and her heart pounded. She tried to lower her head out of shyness, but her sisters and Xiao Lian were looking at her, so she hid her joy. She pouted slightly and said, “Mm! A little.”
Li Qing’an laughed heartily. “How could that be! As the saying goes, ‘A husband and wife are bound for life.’ Come on, let’s have a quick meal, and then I’ll take you all to the night market.”
Hearing about the night market, Xiao Lian and Ru Hua exclaimed in delight, their eyes shining. They hurriedly went to get bowls of rice. Li Qing’an shook his head smiling. Women loved shopping—always had. He looked at Ru Shi warmly and whispered in her ear, “A husband and wife share a bond for life. How could I ever not want you?”
“B-Big brother!” Ru Shi trembled softly, her ears turning red.
…
After a quick dinner, Li Qing’an rented a carriage and took the three girls to explore Chang’an at night. After his experience buying the Bai Cui cup last time, he decided not to go to the East Market again. Though the goods there were good, they didn’t compare to the joy of shopping.
The three beautiful faces pressed against the carriage window, chirping excitedly about the night scenery of Chang’an. Ru Shi and Ru Hua, in particular, had never been shopping before. Their joyful giggles attracted many curious looks. Li Qing’an felt proud too—such stunning twin sisters were probably even beyond the emperor’s possession!
He thought to himself that these three girls alone were a beautiful sight. Why look for beauty elsewhere? Yet, despite his feelings, he couldn’t forget the graceful figure of the Fairy of the Zither.
…

The carriage arrived at the Western Market. The three young ladies got off and started walking. Unexpectedly, as soon as the two beautiful and picturesque young ladies appeared, they caused a sensation. Shoppers gathered around them, pointing and discussing them excitedly. It was no wonder—in ancient times, twin births were often accompanied by difficult labor, and the consequences of that were self-evident. Moreover, they were such beautiful twin sisters. It was unclear where An Lushan had found them.

Even a barbarian stepped forward and blocked the way, saying, “Sir, how about selling these two young ladies to me?” Naturally, he was slapped away by Li Qing’an.

“Come with me,” Li Qing’an said with a smile, taking the two sisters’ hands and leading them into a silk shop, one by each.

“Brother Li, what do you want to buy for us?” Ru Hua asked coquettishly, hugging Li Qing’an’s arm with a radiant smile.

“What do you want?” Li Qing’an couldn’t help but pinch her delicate cheeks and laugh.

“Dresses!” Ru Hua said, winking with her big eyes. “I like dresses dyed in colors like pomegranate red and green—anything bright and colorful.”

“Good! Buy as many as you want. What about Ru Shi?”

Li Qing’an turned to look at Ru Shi. Just then, her beautiful eyes were filled with affection as she gazed at him. Their eyes met, and Ru Shi was startled. She quickly lowered her head, her cheeks turning red.

“I like anything my brother buys.”

Li Qing’an was delighted. “This young lady… is interesting!”

“Customers, what would you like to buy?” A clerk rushed over. Upon seeing the Ru Hua sisters, he was initially stunned, then his eyes lit up.

“I want dresses!” Li Qing’an knocked hard on the counter. “Bring out all your silks and fabrics!”

…

After spending half an hour in the silk shop, Li Qing’an spent a hundred taels of silver—equivalent to over a hundred guan. Most Tang women bought fabric to make their own clothes, but ready-made dresses were also available. An ordinary dress here cost only a hundred wen, so his hundred taels of silver could buy thousands of dresses. Of course, there were also expensive dresses, such as those costing ten guan each or twenty guan for a piece of dragon-silk fabric. Still, Li Qing’an bought nearly a hundred dresses of various styles for the three of them. The three young ladies were both happy and complained that he was wasting money.

Rushi and Ruhua changed into different dresses at the silk shop, so that the two of them wouldn’t draw as much attention. Li Qing’an took them for another round in the Western Market. Then, without hesitation, they entered a music instrument shop—a very large store selling various musical instruments from the Tang Dynasty, including Han Chinese instruments such as the zither, flute, drum, suona, bell, chime, sheng, zhang, and wokonghou, as well as instruments from the Western Regions like shuikonghou, quxiang pipa, bili, wuxian pipa, shell, copper cymbals, clappers, and large drums—everything one could imagine.

“In Chang’an, girls at fifteen are skilled at playing the pipa and dancing.” Throughout the Tang Dynasty, whether noble or common, no one disliked music. Almost every family with some means would train their daughters to play the pipa, though at varying levels of skill. As a result, numerous music instrument shops emerged.

However, there weren’t many customers in the shop that night—only a few who came to repair instruments. The four of them entered the store, and there were no clerks or servants to serve them. Only an elderly luthier sat at the counter, carefully tuning the strings.

“Excuse me!”
Li Qing’an spoke in a low voice, reluctant to disturb the luthier’s focused work.
“Excuse me, I’d like to buy three pipas. Do you have any?”
“Would you like to buy pipas?”
A middle-aged man stepped out from the back room, bowing and smiling. “I’m the owner of this shop. No matter what kind of pipa you’re looking for, we have it.”
“Hehe! I’d like to buy three pipas made by famous masters. Do you have those?”
“Of course. Please come inside.”
Li Qing’an took Rushi and Ruhua’s hands and said with a smile, “Let’s go! Choose the pipas you like.”
Li Qing’an had heard from Rushi that the two of them were good at playing the pipa. It was a pity their pipas were left at Yang Zhao’s other residence and hadn’t been brought along. Li Qing’an remembered this and came specifically to buy pipas for them.
“Are you happy?” Li Qing’an asked Rushi softly.
Rushi nodded gently but held Li Qing’an’s hand even tighter. They walked into a passage, where the light immediately dimmed. Li Qing’an took the chance to kiss her on the cheek, smiling at her. Rushi blushed deeply but her eyes showed joy.
Ruhua saw this little gesture. She bit her lip slightly and pressed her body tightly against Li Qing’an.
Suddenly, they arrived in a spacious room filled with even more musical instruments. One wall was covered with various pipas. The owner pointed to them and said with a smile, “Sir, these over a hundred pipas were all made by famous masters. Please feel free to choose.”

The sisters’ attention was immediately drawn to the pipas. They slowly let go of Li Qing’an’s hand and walked over to the wall to examine them closely. Xiao Lian also picked up a pipa with interest and gently plucked it. She had also been sent by her father to a music school to learn to play the pipa when she was young, so she knew a bit about it.

The shopkeeper patiently explained the origin of each pipa, while Li Qing’an wandered around the room with his hands behind his back. He didn’t know anything about these instruments from the Tang Dynasty.

But in later times, he would master one instrument. At that moment, he walked up to an old luthier and said, “I’d like to order a huqin. Do you think you can make it?”

The old luthier put down his work and asked, “Do you have a design?”

Li Qing’an took out a drawn design from his pocket and smiled, “It’s this instrument. Can you make it?”

What was drawn in Li Qing’an’s design was a guitar. In later times, he played the guitar very well. If it could be made in the Tang Dynasty, perhaps he would have become a music master, or at least he could perform in the opera houses.

The old luthier examined the design carefully. His eyes lit up, and he suddenly said mysteriously, “Please wait a moment, sir!”

He went into the back room and soon returned with a dusty wooden box, placing it in front of Li Qing’an and saying, “Sir, why don’t you open it and take a look?”

Li Qing’an opened the box doubtfully. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at the strange rose-colored instrument inside.

…

He actually saw a guitar from the Tang Dynasty. Its long neck and ‘8’-shaped body were very similar to those of guitars from later times.

Li Qing’an stared blankly at the guitar. On his 14th birthday, his father had bought him a red cotton guitar, which had accompanied him through his tedious training days. Today, he suddenly saw this familiar instrument in the Tang Dynasty, 1,300 years ago. He felt as if he were in a dream.

“Sir, have you seen this kind of instrument before?” The shopkeeper appeared in front of him and asked with a smile.

Li Qing’an’s thoughts were pulled back. He quickly asked, “Where did… this instrument come from?”

The shopkeeper took out the instrument and said with a smile, “It was brought by a Persian Turk. It’s said to be a Western instrument. They call it a Persian ancient zither, and to this day, no one knows how to play it.”

Li Qing’an nodded. That was right. He had seen it in a guitar score once—guitars appeared in Asia Minor as early as before Christ. After the White Khazars were replaced by the Abbasid Empire, the Arabic guitar entered Spain along with the remnants of the White Khazars and thrived there. With frequent exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and Arab regions, it was not surprising that this instrument also reached the Tang Dynasty.

Seeing his great interest in the ancient Persian guitar, the shopkeeper handed it to him and said with a smile, “Would you like to give it a try?”

Li Qing’an took the guitar. It was made of precious sandalwood, with well-tuned strings. However, it had five paired strings instead of the six single strings used later. Naturally, he held the guitar against his chest, and that familiar feeling arose again. Although it had five paired strings, his fingers skillfully plucked a few of them to find that feeling. In a moment, he got used to it, and a practice piece titled “The Wheel” joyfully rang out from the strings.

Everyone around was stunned, even the old luthier who had handed him the guitar stared in amazement at Li Qing’an.

“Sir… you can play… the Persian guitar?” the shopkeeper asked hesitantly.

“This guitar has been with me for years, but no one has ever been able to play it.”

Ru Shi and Xiao Lian gathered around him, their three pairs of beautiful eyes also filled with disbelief.

Li Qing’an was completely immersed in that familiar feeling, as if he were sitting on his bed in the dormitory later, using the wonderful sound of the guitar to relieve the fatigue of the day.

The music gradually stopped. Li Qing’an shook his head slightly in regret. It was a pity that due to the different string structure, he couldn’t play a complete piece.

“Brother Li, how do you know how to play this kind of guitar?” Ru Shi’s beautiful eyes sparkled with admiration.

Li Qing’an smiled and said, “I was stationed in the Western Regions and felt lonely, so I learned this guitar from a barbarian. I also know dozens of barbarian tunes you’ve never heard. But that barbarian’s guitar had six single strings, different from this one, so I need to make some adjustments.”

He then smiled at the shopkeeper and said, “I’ll buy this guitar. I’ll take it back first to figure out how to convert it into a six-string guitar. Tomorrow, I’ll give you a detailed sketch so you can modify the strings according to my requirements.”

“Of course. Just give us a drawing tomorrow, and I’ll have the luthier replace the strings.”

It was late at night. Li Qing’an sat by the bed, gently plucking the Persian zither. As he played, he drew the string diagram on paper based on his memory. Although it differed from the guitars of later times, after an hour of adaptation, he could barely play a few of those familiar melodies. A stream of notes flowed from his hands, while the mercury-like moonlight shone upon him. Li Qing’an’s emotions surged; countless thoughts of his past life left him unable to control himself.