The distant city bell rang throughout Yunan, and the palace doors opened one after another.
The Empress of the Wei Dynasty usually comes to court every fifth day. There is no morning meeting today, so the scene of civil and military officials entering the palace gate is not seen. Only a few courtiers waiting for summons are waiting in the Qifeng Pavilion on the side of Taiji Hall.
Outside the royal study at the back of the Tai Chi Hall, the eunuchs and maids stood quietly and solemnly. In the large and magnificent study, a few incense was lit.
The empress of the Wei Dynasty, wearing a red dress at home, was leaning on the imperial concubine's couch. There was a stack of memorials on the small case beside her, and she was carefully reviewing them with a gold pen in her hand.
Behind the desk not far away, Dongfang Liren, dressed in a python robe, sat upright on a chair, reading carefully with a book in his hand.
The cover of the book is very simple and serious, and the content inside is relatively subtle, but there are many illustrations to explain the postures...
Dongfang Liren's eyebrows showed something strange. When he saw someone with a painting, he quickly turned over it.
rustle……
There was silence in the royal study room, except for the slight sound of paper being turned.
The empress approved a few folds and found that Dongfang Liren was not flipping through the pages at the wrong frequency, so she asked softly:
"Li Ren, what are you looking at?"
The tears of a heroic woman...
After listening to Ye Jingtang's words, Dongfang Liren became interested in this famous miscellaneous book, and went to look for it to see if it was full of emotions.
After reading it all night, I found that it was indeed a story about the love between a man and a woman, but the pictures were a bit too detailed. Even the sexual intercourse was vividly drawn, and the weird way of having fun almost shattered her outlook on life.
But this miscellaneous book is really interesting, so I sat here and read it so early in the morning.
Seeing that his sister was suspicious, Dongfang Liren closed the book slowly:
"The people below have sorted out some trivial matters, nothing important."
The empress is not so easy to deceive to be able to sit in her current position. She has grown up with her younger sister since she was a child. Just by looking at the slight abnormalities in Dongfang Liren's behavior, she knows that the book is by no means as simple as trivial matters.
But facing her biological sister, the empress was still very tolerant and asked instead:
"Are you still angry with me?"
Dongfang Liren looked unhappy when he saw his sister clarifying the matter:
"You also know? I have only known Ye Jingtang for a few days. I just admired his talent and wanted to put it to good use. The result was great. You tricked me and him into Canyang Pool without any explanation, causing me... This is to be a sister.
What can you do?"
The empress held the side of her face with her hands, her eyes playful:
"Simply want to reuse?"
Dongfang Liren said solemnly: "Yejingtang escorted me. I really appreciate him and remember his kindness; but if you can be my consort, what about the escort of Hei Yamen? I am still considering this life-long matter.
If you want to contact the Night Terror Hall, you will directly add fuel to the fire and bring the matter to this point..."
The empress raised her hand slightly and stopped her sister from talking: "Okay, I just think that my sister has made her own decisions and interfered in your private affairs. You can consider this matter slowly and I will not interfere. Ye Jingtang has excellent skills and is a martial arts practitioner.
Regardless of whether you like this great talent or not, don’t push him away, lest you become a tiger and have another thorn like the leader of Pingtian.”
Dongfang Liren was slightly surprised: "Does Ye Jingtang have the potential to rival Xue Baijin?"
The empress blinked her eyes: "It seems that you have acted too hastily. You really don't understand the Night Terror Hall."
"Do you understand?"
"Just from the punch I punched you at Gyeongbokgung Palace that day, I figured out that you have no skills but only talent."
Dongfang Liren thought about it for a moment and looked solemn:
"Yeah?"
The empress put down the book, picked up the tea cup and took a sip, her eyes helpless:
"That's all. It's too much trouble to talk to you about this. You'd better keep reading."
"..."
Dongfang Liren sensed his sister's attitude of "can't be carved out of rotten wood". His clothes were bulging and he wanted to reply a few words, but he didn't dare. In the end, he simply put away the book and walked away.
"where to?"
"Greetings to the Queen Mother."
-----
On the northwest side of the imperial city is the Queen Mother's palace.
In summer, cicadas chirp, and the idle maids often take a nap in the verandah. The queen mother, who often goes to bed late and gets up late all year round, is still in the palace at this time.
The reason for going to bed late is because I live in a secluded palace, having no one to rely on and having trouble sleeping, but the reason for getting up late is not because I didn’t wake up and stayed in bed.
In the silent hall, the palace maid Hong Yu was leaning in the passage, holding a miscellaneous book in her hand and reading through it boringly.
In the dormitory, everything was packed away in an orderly manner, and there was a painting that the Queen Mother had just finished hanging on the wall - a person was carrying a fat chicken, it seemed that he was a hawker selling chickens in the market...
The Queen Mother, wearing a gauze nightgown, sits cross-legged on a gorgeous phoenix bed, with her head straight and body upright, her mouth slightly closed, her tongue touching the roof of her mouth, her eyes slightly closed behind the curtains, and her hands naturally hanging on her legs.
This meditating posture was much more standard than Ye Jingtang's blind speculation, so that the originally mature and beautiful Queen Mother actually showed a trace of a worldly atmosphere.
The Queen Mother was born in the Qin family, a family of Jiangzhou generals, and she also practiced martial arts when she was young. Her mother loved her very much and took her to learn martial arts from Lu Taiqing, one of the "Two Saints".
It was at that time that I learned these Taoist methods of self-cultivation, and it was also during those days that I met my close friend Xuanji Zhenren.
Unfortunately, in the end Lu Taiqing said that she was 'too ordinary-minded' and did not let her become a monk. Shortly after leaving Yuxu Mountain, she was selected by the court and became the Queen of the Wei Dynasty.
Then on the way to Beijing, the late emperor passed away. In order to win over the Jiangzhou nobles and consolidate the imperial power, the prince still honored her as the queen mother, who had never even met the late emperor.
Not long after, the Qin family had the merit of following the dragon when the empress forced the palace to usurp the throne. Therefore, when the empress ascended the throne, she still respected her as the mother queen. She could be said to be a flowing emperor and the iron-clad mother of a country.
This experience was so tragic that the Queen Mother, in line with the mentality of dying early and being relieved soon, had long forgotten these things that could nourish her body and prolong her life.
But a few years ago, when she was bored and asked the palace maid to set up a swing under the ginkgo tree in the back garden, Hongyu suddenly discovered a rusty iron box buried under the floor tiles.
She thought it was a lovesick object buried by a concubine from the previous dynasty. When she opened it, she found a piece of gold paper inside.
She had seen the "Jade Bone Kirin Picture" in the palace and recognized it at that time. It was the "Golden Phoenix Bathing in Fire Picture" in "The Singing Dragon Picture". As for who buried it under the ginkgo tree, she didn't know.
.
It is said that after practicing the "Bathing in Fire" skill, you can "self-heal from wounds and regenerate broken limbs." As long as you are not beaten to death, you will not be beaten to death at all.
There are few people who walk around the world without hidden wounds. In the hearts of many people with physical disabilities, a intact body is even more important than immortality. The weight of this picture can be imagined.
After the Queen Mother got this thing, she was naturally happy and went to the ginkgo tree every day to pray for blessings and thank the ginkgo tree for bringing a turnaround in her unhappy life.
But her good luck seems to be limited to this.
Ever since she obtained the "Bathing in Fire Picture", she has never had anything go her way.
She had been practicing this diagram for many years. She felt like she had mastered it, but she couldn't figure out the use of this powerful-sounding secret method.
This picture says that wounds can heal themselves and broken limbs can be reborn, but only if they are injured!
She had been pampered since she was a child, and when she arrived in the palace, she was hugged and hugged. Even when she was sleeping, the palace maids were afraid that the bed would be too hard and pinch her, so how could she be injured.
In order to verify the authenticity of the secret technique, she secretly scratched her arm with a knife.
As a result, the injury healed very quickly, and the pain was really painful. It also made Hong Yu think that she wanted to commit suicide, and the empress, Prince Jing, all came to greet her.
After thinking about it, the only function of this "Singing Dragon Picture" may be to leave her a healthy body a hundred years later...
And she will most likely have to live in the deep palace, without any illness or disaster, until she reaches the limit of her lifespan before she dies. It is estimated that she will live longer than the 120-year-old Fengguancheng...
"well……"
Thinking of the lonely years that were long but could be seen at a glance, the Queen Mother opened her eyes and sighed quietly.
Turning his head to look at the chicken vendor on the wall, his mind couldn't help but recall the cold young master who accidentally entered the palace a few days ago.
I came across this painting the day before yesterday, and I don’t know if I misunderstood it...
Although it was just a small thing, most people would forget about it immediately, but the life of the Queen Mother was so boring. The small waves caused by such an accident are enough to be remembered in the heart for a long time.
While he was thinking wildly, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the dormitory, and a figure strode in. The footsteps were heavy and he looked angry.
The Queen Mother looked up and saw that it was Li Ren who was wearing a python robe. She wanted to lean on the bed and pretend to be asleep, but she immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly turned over and ran to the wall with bare feet to take off the scroll.
"Queen Mother, what is this..."
Dongfang Liren walked into the bedroom and saw the Queen Mother in her nightgown, barefoot and disheveled, standing on tiptoes to pick up the portrait on the wall.
But because it was hung a bit high and the lanyard could not reach it, the whole person froze against the wall.
"Well……"
The Queen Mother looked embarrassed and did not dare to turn her head.
Tap tap tap...
Dongfang Liren walked up slowly, raised his hand to help the Queen Mother take down the scroll, and held it in his hand for a moment to look at it... The feeling of cowardice that he had just suffered from his sister was half gone in an instant!
Hey, what the hell is this painting...
I'm even the same as my sister...
The Queen Mother's mature and beautiful face was full of embarrassment, she didn't dare to look at Dongfang Liren's expression, and said softly;
"What, I just have nothing to do and just draw pictures..."
"I see it."
"Ah? Did you see it? Then what..."
Dongfang Liren was really not able to offend the Empress Dowager who was interested in painting. She glanced at the scroll with eyes full of praise:
"Although it is a casual work in my spare time, it has the style of everyone. The artistic conception of 'common people living a hard life' can be said to be vividly written on the page..."
?
The Queen Mother was stunned for a moment, raised her eyes to glance at her masterpiece, and then looked at Dongfang Liren, whose eyes were full of praise. Her eyes first showed relief, and then gradually turned into grievance and resentment:
"Li Ren, this painting is an imitation of the one in your study. It's a very handsome young man with a big bird..."
??
Dongfang Liren's expression of approval froze, and he looked at the scroll carefully...
Does it matter?
Apart from one person and one bird, do the composition, artistic conception, and painting skills have anything to do with it?
If Ye Jingtang looks like this, then I saw her taking a bath the day before yesterday, and she probably wouldn't be able to walk out of Canyang Pool standing...
However, when he saw the Queen Mother pouting her lips and looking like she was about to become depressed, Dongfang Liren reacted very quickly and nodded slightly:
"I can see it. Well... when I painted that painting, Ye Jingtang had just entered the capital. He only had two taels of silver in his pocket and had trouble eating. Well... my original intention was to paint the ordinary people who had just entered the capital to make a living.
"It's not easy. Unfortunately, the style of painting is too high-minded, too far away from the common people, and not down to earth, so I couldn't draw it. This painting of the Queen Mother is just right and wonderful."
"..."
The Queen Mother is not stupid, and she is self-aware. She can hear that Li is complimenting her.
But no matter how compliment you are, there is always a pinch of truth in it, right?
The Queen Mother was flattered and came closer to look at her carefully:
"Really? Can you recognize who it is?"
Dongfang Liren wanted to praise him a few more times, but he couldn't hold it in, so he smiled and said:
"Appreciating paintings requires a certain standard. Everyone has their own opinions. I can recognize them at a glance."
The Queen Mother was dubious: "Well...if the person in the painting saw this painting, do you think he would be able to recognize it?"
I don’t think I can…
Dongfang Liren really didn't want the Queen Mother, who had been lonely in the palace all the year round, to be unhappy, so she thought for a while and said;
"He is just a martial artist, so he cannot understand the artistic conception in the Queen Mother's paintings. But if you look carefully, you can still recognize it."
ah……
The Queen Mother thought for a moment, then smiled and said:
"I still think your paintings are beautiful, and I have always wanted to learn them, but I can't get the essence of them. How about you call the guard over and let me practice my painting skills while standing outside?"
It was rare for Dongfang Liren to see the Queen Mother being interested in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, so she did not refuse:
"There is something going on at Ye Jingtang's family. I have to leave Beijing for a while. When he comes back, I will ask him to come over and let the Queen Mother paint well for a few days."
The Queen Mother was very happy to be coaxed, and she was not in a hurry. Perhaps she was afraid of being embarrassed, so she took Dongfang Liren's arm and walked towards the garden:
"That's okay. I'm very interested in painting recently. You can stand here and let me draw a few pictures of beauties. I just happen to be able to help you with the tasting..."
Beauty pictures...
Dongfang Liren was not sure that the Queen Mother could distinguish between male and female.
But it’s better to experience the superiority of being a strong person here than to be autistic in front of my sister or the Night Terror Hall, so I didn’t refuse...