All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

The scholars, too lazy to argue with He Zongwei, continued to discuss the calligraphy and painting exhibition.

"Your Highness is renowned as a child prodigy, but his poems after the Third Song are all about beautiful women and lack a certain masculine spirit."

"He is only ten years old, and I heard that he is surrounded by women all day long, which is somewhat similar to Jia Baoyu in this book."

"When His Highness Prince Yong was one year old, he grabbed a hairpin and rouge. Now it seems he was destined to be a dissolute playboy."

"This calligraphy and painting exhibition is free, why don't we go and take a look and see what Prince Yong's calligraphy and painting are like!"

The calligraphy and painting exhibition of Mr. Sanyong and His Highness Prince Yong of Daqing lasted for a whole month.

The first floor of Sanyong Pavilion sells ordinary calligraphy and paintings as well as magazines and storybooks, while the second floor sells calligraphy and paintings by famous artists.

The vast three-story building is a venue specifically for Li Chang'an's exhibition.

In the first few days, dozens of people came to the exhibition every day, and these people described Li Chang'an's calligraphy and painting skills as something extraordinary.

Later, several great calligraphers and painters from Kyoto also came, and they all praised Li Chang'an's calligraphy and painting highly.

During the last few days of the exhibition, San Yong Ge had to limit the number of visitors in order to ensure the exhibition could close smoothly.

On the last day of the exhibition, Mr. Su, the owner of Sanyong Pavilion, announced some explosive news.

All three calligraphy and painting works will be auctioned one month from now!

The starting bid for each painting is ten thousand taels of silver!

A painting or calligraphy piece worth ten thousand taels of silver—this utterly astonished the people of the capital!

Since Li Chang'an was made a prince at the age of five, he has once again attracted the attention of the entire capital!

An ordinary house in Kyoto costs one hundred taels of silver.

Ten thousand taels of silver can buy a hundred houses in the capital!

When Fan Jian, a fourth-rank official, heard the news, he was so shocked that he dropped his chopsticks.

"Even if I didn't eat or drink for a hundred years, I still wouldn't be able to afford one of Prince Yong's paintings or calligraphy!"

His annual salary was just over one hundred taels of silver.

At this moment, Xiao Fan Ruoruo said with great certainty, "But His Highness Prince Yong's calligraphy and paintings are only worth that much money!"

"I've heard that many great calligraphers and painters, after seeing Your Highness's works, have been so ashamed that they've stopped painting altogether."

Four-year-old Fan Sizhe started counting on his fingers.

"If Your Highness paints one painting every month, you can earn 120,000 taels a year."

"My sister is six years old now. If she gets married at sixteen, she'll have ten years left."

"Father, Mother! You can ask His Highness Prince Yong for a bride price of 1.2 million taels!"

This precise calculation startled both Fan Jian and Liu Ruyu.

Fan Jian said with a dark face, "Nonsense, who said Ruoruo is going to marry Prince Yong!"

Liu Ruyu frowned and said, "Even if I'm going to get married, a million-dollar dowry is too expensive!"

"Snapped!"

Fan Ruoruo slapped Fan Sizhe on the head, her expression somewhat angry.

"What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean by a bride price! Whoever marries Prince Yong will be incredibly fortunate!"

Fan Jian suddenly felt a chill all over his body!

This little cotton-padded jacket is letting in the wind!

Royal study room.

Guo Youzhi, the Minister of Rites, was having an audience with Emperor Qing, accompanied by a master calligrapher and a master painter.

"Your Majesty, the highest price ever paid for a painting or calligraphy piece at auction was previously held by Huangshan Sanren of the Northern Qi Dynasty."

"At that time, one of his paintings and calligraphy works fetched a sky-high price of 50,000 taels of silver at auction!"

Emperor Qing said to the two scholars, "Are you sure that Prince Yong's calligraphy and paintings are worth the starting bid of ten thousand taels of silver?"

One of them replied, "In terms of the quality of calligraphy and painting alone, Your Highness's calligraphy and painting are even worth more than fifty thousand taels of silver!"

"However, the three paintings by His Highness Prince Yong contain the poems he composed to make him famous, making them of great commemorative and collectible value!"

"I estimate that His Highness Prince Yong's calligraphy and paintings could fetch an astronomical price of ten thousand taels of gold!"

Another person added, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Prince Yong is a master of poetry, calligraphy, and painting; he will surely be renowned throughout the land!"

Even if Zhuang Mohan from Northern Qi came in person, he would have to admit defeat!

Emperor Qing murmured, "Ten thousand taels of gold! That's equivalent to one hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"Third brother has squeezed every last drop of value out of his famous poem!"

After Guo Youzhi and the others left, Emperor Qing pondered for a long time before speaking to Hong Sixiang, who was hiding in the shadows.

"No matter the price, I want that painting 'Ode to Snow' for me!"

"These paintings and calligraphy should be displayed in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to mark the beginning of the revival of literature in our Great Qing!"

A manor outside Kyoto.

Wei Hua, disguised as a merchant, is assigning tasks to more than a dozen secret agents of the Northern Qi Imperial Guard, who are also a fourth-rank official.

"Whoever gets the painting 'Ode to the Needle' must take it back!"

"These paintings and calligraphies, which are an insult to the national dignity, must be taken back to the capital and burned in public!"

Wei Hua is the son of Hou Wei Bi, the Butt-Eye Marquis. This matter is both a public matter and a personal grudge!

Chapter 22 Beautiful Pictures of Li Yunrui! The Crown Prince is Here to Auction Them!

Guangxin Palace.

Li Yunrui lay on her side on the couch, having just finished listening to the female official report on the calligraphy and painting exhibition.

"Could those famous calligraphers and painters be making insincere comments simply to curry favor with the royal family?"

The female official replied, "It shouldn't be. Several renowned figures who came from Northern Qi also praised Prince Yong's calligraphy and painting."

"There are even calls circulating among the people for children to compose three poems at the age of five, achieve three unique skills at the age of ten, and attain three saintly feats at the age of twenty!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunrui suddenly laughed, "What arrogance! You think you're some kind of saint!"

"My little brother is quite a remarkable person. I really want to go and see him."

At this moment, the lady-in-waiting respectfully replied, "Your Highness is so beautiful that you cannot easily show yourself to others."

“His Highness Prince Yong is your brother. Asking him for a painting shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

Upon hearing the lady-in-waiting's words, Li Yunrui replied with a dazed expression, "Who knows? Why don't you go and try it for me?"

"Yes, sir." The female official, a martial arts rank eight, bowed her head, accepted the order, and stepped back.

After the female official arrived at Prince Yong's residence, she conveyed Li Yunrui's message to Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an thought for a moment, then said, "I must carefully consider the painting to be given to the Princess."

"You must show my respect, but not be too abrupt. You may go back now; I will send someone to deliver it after I finish the painting."

After the female official left, Li Chang'an ordered Xiren to fetch paper and grind ink, and began preparing a painting for Li Yunrui.

Qingwen, standing to the side, said somewhat aggrievedly, "Your Highness's paintings and calligraphy are valued by renowned artists, with a starting price of ten thousand taels of silver..."

Although Qingwen was a bit bolder, she was still just a maid and dared not criticize the princess. However, her words implied that she was standing up for Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an's calligraphy and paintings are highly sought after. If he wanted to give them away, that would be fine, but it would be inappropriate for others to come and ask for them directly.

Xi Ren and Qing Wen stood by the desk, watching Li Chang'an paint, and then the two women's big eyes gradually widened.

Their expressions changed from confusion to fear, then to barely suppressing a laugh, and finally to unease.

After finishing the painting, Li Chang'an put down his brush and sighed, "This painting was created when I was young, and now it is the perfect time to present it to the Princess!"

Qingwen asked cautiously, "Your Highness, is this really suitable?"

The composed Xiren was somewhat puzzled, "Your Highness, you didn't paint this when you first started learning to paint."

Li Chang'an smiled calmly, "Oh, that must be something from a past life."

"After the ink dries, send it to the palace a few days later. It makes it seem like I've been racking my brains and putting in a lot of effort."

"Tell the princess that the painting I made depicts her in her madness, and that she must see it for herself."

Xi Ren and Qing Wen exchanged a worried glance, both of them hesitant.

Although Li Chang'an often uses colloquialisms like "previous life" to justify his poetry, this painting is simply too outrageous.

"Snapped!"

Li Chang'an lightly patted Xiren's shapely buttocks, feeling their amazing plumpness and elasticity.

He was extremely satisfied, but his expression turned serious. "You two have grown up now. Do you dare to disobey my orders?"

Xi Ren trembled, her watery eyes blurred, and her face instantly turned red. In the past, His Highness had only looked at her; this was the first time he had actually touched her.

She waved her hands nervously, both ashamed and anxious, "This servant dares not, this servant obeys."