Ink Burns

Chapter 263 Qinghui (Part 1)

(My child is in the hospital preparing for surgery, so I've been quite busy. Please forgive me. Book lovers who have posted reviews of 300 words or more can add QQ group 194690470 and contact me for my address so I can send you a physical copy of "A Thousand Pieces of Gold". Thank you very much.)
Outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple, sorghum stalks reach for the sky. The carriage stops half a mile away at Zhuangyuan Hutong. Shanyue helps himself off the horse with the help of the carriage shaft, but his hand is covered by a warm palm as hot as steam.

Recommended by Qingfeng, Shan Yue was finally about to enter the palace to paint portraits of Empress Dowager Fang, Consort Gui, and a group of former emperors and consorts.

According to the arrangement of the Bureau of Painting and Calligraphy, one must first go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to carefully study the style and spirit of the portraits of the ancestors of the Great Wei Dynasty, and then be sent to the inner palace by the Bureau of Chariots and Horses to meet Empress Dowager Fang to paint.

".Be careful in everything."

Xue Xiao lowered his voice, his brows appearing as if weighed down by a thousand-pound mountain. He showed none of the arrogance he displayed when confronting his political enemies in court, only caution and tenderness.

Shan Yue lowered her eyes to look at the back of that large hand with bulging veins and distinct bones, pressed down her lips, and recited as if reciting a text: "Didn't you tell me that Empress Dowager Fang was not of high birth, but had a clean family background and a gentle temperament, and had never had any conflicts with anyone during the Zhaode Dynasty? Whether it was the close female officials who were released from the palace by her side, or the maids who occasionally served her, they all praised her for being docile and cautious, and not easily offending anyone? If she is such a person, why should we be too afraid of her?"

"Consort Fang also punished servants." Xue Xiao's eyes darkened. "In the seventeenth year of Zhaode, she asked the late emperor to execute three female officials."

Shan Yue continued, "That was because the maidservant in the palace refused to feed Prince Yong and ordered him to cool down in the snow during the coldest days of winter. If a mother is in trouble with her son, she still needs to maintain her virtue of gentleness and virtue and remain silent. I don't know if this person is good or not, but I am certain that this person is not genuine."

Xue Xiao buried his head.

Shan Yue decisively withdrew her hand from the man's large palm. The back of her hand still held the man's lingering warmth. She unconsciously clenched her fist behind her back, raised her eyes, and her expression returned to normal: "The most important thing is that she is not 'Qing Feng'."

When Empress Dowager Fang entered the palace, she was just a seven-year-old girl from a respectable family. When she gave birth to the second prince, Prince Yong, she was only fifteen years old, long before the Duzhou dike breach incident. Judging from the timeline, "Qingfeng" couldn't have intervened so early. As for the motive, Empress Dowager Fang only had one uncle in her family who sold her into the inner palace at a young age, so "Qingfeng" had no influence over her. There is only one possibility: Empress Dowager Fang was secretly harmed and had been affected by "Qianji Yin" (a type of drug), which is why she was so obedient to "Qingfeng." However, after the resignation of the Imperial Medical Academy Director Liu and Director Sun, Director Lin, Emperor Yongping's confidant, took over and immediately checked Empress Dowager Fang's pulse, but found no abnormalities.

Shan Yue repeatedly tested Chang Lin's wife, Madam Zhou, who only said, "The Noble Consort should be 'Qing Feng.' Empress Dowager Fang is a devout Buddhist and has always been indifferent to worldly affairs, so she cannot stand in the way of the Grand Princess. But thinking about it more deeply, although she has a weak kinship with the Emperor, she is still a blood relative. If one day the estrangement between mother and son is eliminated, they might join forces against us. We cannot gamble on that, nor dare we."

Since it's not "Qingfeng", it's worth a try.

Xue Xiao kept his lips tightly pressed together, and suddenly felt a void in his palm.

But it doesn't matter, a mad dog won't give up the meat it's about to eat.

Xue Xiao reached out again, his attitude even more decisive, and grabbed Shan Yue's wrist: "I have already spoken with Wu Min. If it doesn't work out, don't force it. The two sisters should save their lives first, and then we can talk about other things."

Shan Yue smiled, leaned in close to Xue Xiao's ear, her breath almost touching his: "You should trust me completely."

Believe in her strength and ability to escape.

The warm breath from my lover carries a quiet fragrance, making me feel both dazed and intoxicated.

Xue Xiao's throat tightened, and in the cramped carriage, the two breaths mingled with an unbearable heat.

Xue Xiao, wary of Shan Yue's evasiveness, slowly opened his mouth, but lowered his eyes, his gaze deep, his voice low, bringing all ambiguity back to an objective, neutral, familiar, and versatile word: "Okay, okay—my most trusted wife."
The Imperial Ancestral Temple houses portraits of the seven emperors and eleven empresses of the Great Wei Dynasty. The eunuch of the Imperial Painting Department explained to Shan Yue in turn: "The portraits of emperors emphasize capturing their spirit and likeness. There are many different styles of painting, all of which are painted according to the emperor's preferences—this is Emperor Taizong."

The person in the painting has a square face and a broad forehead. He wears a flat-topped turban and a purple dragon robe with narrow sleeves decorated with gold dragon patterns. He has a jade belt around his waist, holds the belt in one hand, and lets the other hand hang down naturally. His face is solemn and cold, and his murderous aura is vividly portrayed on the paper.

The Imperial Ancestral Temple was designed with a north-south orientation, allowing the ever-changing winds to ensure that the incense smoke of the Great Wei Dynasty circulates only within the halls and never leaks out.

Looking at them one by one, the eunuch from the Imperial Painting Department stopped in front of the last painting.

It was Emperor Zhaode.

His demeanor was similar to that of the other emperors of the Great Wei Dynasty, but his bearing was completely different. He had a thin face, graying temples, a black sable crown with pearls, and a yellow satin robe. He held a belt in one hand and let the other hang down naturally. His expression was compassionate and forbearing, more like a scholar than an emperor.

Beside the portrait of Emperor Zhaode is Empress Ji, a beautiful woman with a peach-blossom face and a slightly square jaw, exuding an air of grandeur and composure.

Shan Yue tilted her head and glanced at the portraits of the first twelve emperors. Then she turned back to examine the portrait of Emperor Zhaode closely. Her gaze fell on Emperor Zhaode's naturally drooping right hand. Her heart stirred suddenly, but her face remained calm. She looked up at the eunuch of the Imperial Painting Bureau and asked with a smile, "The late emperor preferred the ink-bone method?"

The "Ink Bone Method" was created by Zeng Jing, a painter during the Zhaode period. It involves outlining the facial features with light ink lines to form the ink bone, then covering the ink lines with ochre, and using dark brown to shade the nose and cheeks. Finally, a layer of light ochre is applied, making the figure lifelike, as if it were about to come alive from the painting.

The eunuch of the Imperial Painting Department laughed and said, "Madam is very insightful; she recognized it at a glance."

Shan Yue smiled and said, "If that's the case, then I know how to paint the Empress Dowager and the other noble ladies."

He paused, then asked seemingly casually, "I wonder which master painted the portrait of the late Emperor?"

"This painting was done by Kan Yan," the eunuch replied.

After a moment of contemplation, Shan Yue said, "How come I remember that Lady Kan passed away very early?"

The eunuch respectfully replied, "Yes. After this painting was completed, Kan Yan, due to drunkenness, slipped and fell into the lake and drowned. This portrait of the late emperor was the work of the great master Kan Guanshan."

He died after finishing the drawing.

Shan Yue pursed her lips, like a painter who was so engrossed in calligraphy and painting that he forgot all worldly affairs, and leaned forward on tiptoe to touch Emperor Zhaode's right hand that was hanging down.

The moment her fingertips touched the paper hanging on the wall, she heard the eunuch exclaim in a low voice, "Madam! How can you touch such a rare portrait of the emperor!"

Upon hearing this, Shan Yue stopped and apologized in alarm: "Seeing everyone's posthumous works, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with emotion and lost my composure. Please forgive me, sir."

The eunuch hurriedly stepped forward and used a whisk to brush away non-existent dust. He glanced reproachfully at the wife of this powerful minister who had no sense of propriety, and said in a shrill voice, "The Empress Dowager has been waiting for you at Qinghui Palace for a long time. Madam, you may go now!"