199話 琵琶師、徐子
ビィーーン!
琵琶の弦から響く音が、空気を震わせる。
始まりは一音ずつ音が響き、次第に二音、三音と重なっていく。
徐が持つ木のバチが琵琶を激しくかき鳴らし、つい最近まで手が痛くて弾くのが辛い人だったとは思えない。
そして、まだあれほど激しく弾くのに耐えられる手ではないはずだ。
という琵琶師......」
そう呟いた雨妹は、ただ琵琶の音に聴き入っていただけだったのが、次第に何故だか涙があふれてきた。
雨妹は、徐の琵琶とは彼女自身のためにある音ではなく、ましてや客をもてなすために奏でられるものでもないと、そんなことをガツンと思い知らされる。
次いで恋仲になる相手が現れたら、その相手を想って弾いていた。
その音に込められた気持ちが、聴く人々の心をくすぐり、彼らの内に奥底に眠っていた想いが共感という形で揺さぶられる。
そして今、徐は魂の全てをかけて恋人を愛しているのだと、琵琶の音で訴えかけてくるのだ。
こんな気持ちに共感できる想いは、今の雨妹の中にはない。
――なんて羨ましくて、なんて苦しい生き方をしている人なんだろう。
雨妹がぽろぽろとこぼれ落ちる涙を拭うことも忘れて聴き入っている隣で、
「ふむ、また琵琶の音に艶が増したな。
徐子はまさしく天性の琵琶師よ」
杜が目を細めてそう告げる。
この言葉を、雨妹は噛みしめるように呟く。
雨妹はこれまで天才や天性というものを、ただその道を行く者として技術が優れているという意味だと考えていた。
しかし違うのだ。
これが天性というものならば、それは余人の価値観では計れない、天から与えられた力なのだと思う。
とて、もしかすると琵琶師としての腕はそれなりに高かったのかもしれないが、この徐の琵琶と比べられたらたまらないだろう。
建にとって、時代が悪かったとしか言いようがないかもしれない。
――これのどこが葬送かって言う話だよね。
これほどに恋い焦がれる音を聞かされ、冥界へと安らかに旅立てる人が果たしているものか?
徐は口とは裏腹に、たとえ恋人が冥界へたどり着いていたとしても、なんとしても引き寄せてやるという執念を、琵琶の音に乗せているように聞こえる。
葬送の琵琶なんて嘘っぱちにも程がある、と雨妹は言いたくなる。
きっと徐も本当は恋人が死んだなんて信じてもいないのに、この諦めきれない気持ちと、手紙の事実を認めるしかない気持ちとが戦って、心が疲れてしまっての昨今の成り行きだったのだろう。
徐の気迫の籠った琵琶の音に、この場に立ち会っている誰もが黙り込み、演奏の行く先を見守ろうとしていると。
杜がそう声をかけてきて目線で示されると同時に、雨妹もそれに気づく。
黙して立っている兵士たちの集団の中で、
Chapter 199: Lute Musician Xu Zi
Twang!
The resounding sound of the lute string quivered in the air.
At the beginning, the notes resounded one at a time, before gradually overlapping by twos and threes.
The wooden pick that Xu Zi was holding violently plucked the strings of the lute, and it was unbelievable that she had only recently suffered from pain in her hands.
Moreover, her hands shouldn't be ablet to endure the way she fiercely played.
"So this is the Lute Musician Xu Zi..."
Yui Mei muttered, lost in the music of the lute, then before she knew it, tears were already streaming down her cheeks.
Yui Mei was once again reminded with such gusto that Xu played the lute not for herself, much less for the guests who listened to her.
And when she fell in love, she must've played with that person in mind.
The emotions carried within each note tickled the hearts of those who listen to it, invoking the feelings that lay deep within the hearts of the listeners, shaking them up in the form of empathy.
And now, Xu was passionately playing her lute to convey that she loved her beloved with all her soul.
The current Yui Mei didn't have the emotions that could sufficiently relate to Xu's feelings.
'How envious, how painful her life must have been...'
Yui Mei was so immersed that she even forgot to wipe her overflowing tears, while Du sighed as he listened beside her.
"Hmm, the flavor of the sound of her lute has deepened again, huh. Things like good or bad techniques are all but trivial matters to her. She's truly a naturally gifted lute musician."
"Naturally gifted lute musician."
Du narrowed his eyes.
Yui Mei repeated his words as if savoring them.
She had believed that geniuses and gifted people simply meant they had superior skills and ability as a person who walked the same path as them.
However, it wasn't true.
If this was the so-called 'innate ability', or naturally gifted, then it would be a power bestowed by the heavens and cannot be measured by other people's sense of value.
Even the criminal courtesan Jiang -- she must've been an excellent lute player, but she wouldn't be able to escape the comparison with Xu.
For Jiang, it could only be said she was in the wrong period of time.
'Just what part of this ceremony is a funeral rite, I wonder?'
Who could ever travel peacefully to the underworld after listening to such a soulful, yearning song?
Despite Xu's earlier words of sending him off, her music carried her obsession; it sounded as if she was trying to pull her lover out of the underworld no matter what it would take, even if he had already set foot there.
Yui Mei was actually tempted to say that this 'funeral rites' is nothing but a sham.
Xu probably didn't even believe that her beloved had already passed away, but it sounded as if she gave up after battling against the feeling of not being able to give him up while trying to come to terms about the facts written on paper. Her heart had been exhausted.
Not a single person uttered anything. Everyone was shrouded in silence as they listened to Xu's spirited lute performance, quietly observing where this situation would lead.
Yui Mei also noticed it at that same moment when Du called out to her and gestured to a certain place.
She saw Dong, who was standing next to Ming, fell down amidst the group of soldiers quietly standing.
Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace
百花宮のお掃除係～転生した新米宮女、後宮のお悩み解決します。
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/housekeeper-of-the-hundred-blossom-palace/
Fantasy Romance Shoujo Slice of Life
Adapted to Manga Ancient China Complex Family Relationships Different Social Status Female Protagonist Imperial Harem Love Interest Falls in Love First Reincarnated in Another World Royalty
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4104ev/
黒辺あゆみ