The Splendid Brocade of the Painting Physician – Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Deceiving the Emperor?

“Young Lady, are you really going to see him?” After everyone in the room had left, Ling Ye privately came to Xiao Jinyu’s side and asked worriedly, “Could it be that he suddenly wants to see you now because of Xiao Yun’s matter?”

Xiao Jinyu shook her head.

“If it were about Xiao Yun’s matter, he would have seen you long ago. To have this intention now, I’m afraid it has something to do with the envoys from the Zhou State.”

“But these Zhou envoys don’t know Young Lady, and Young Lady has never been to Zhou territory, right?”

Xiao Jinyu then turned to Ling Ye and asked, “Are the envoys from the Zhou State acquainted with Prince of Shixing, Chen Shuling?”

Ling Ye nodded, “Naturally, they are. When Chen Xu was a hostage in the Zhou State with his princess consort and two sons, they were under the confinement and protection of Yuwen Hu. Yuwen Hu’s sons often took this Prince of Shixing, Chen Shuling, with them when they went hunting. It seems that Chen Shuling suffered a lot of humiliation and bullying from the Yuwen family’s young masters back then. Now that his status has changed from hostage to prince, his temperament seems to have become quite strange as well.

Could it be that Young Lady is worried that this prince has colluded with the Zhou envoys? Or that he wants to use the Zhou envoys to deal with Young Lady?”

Xiao Jinyu nodded.

“Once this Chen Shuling sets his mind on something, he won’t give up easily. I’m afraid it’s already like this.” Xiao Jinyu sighed inwardly, then continued, “However, the Zhou State sent four envoys, while the Qi State only sent Gao Changgong alone. That Li Mi and Cui Heng are merely here at Xu Ling’s invitation to attend the literary gathering, and cannot be considered Gao Changgong’s support…”

“Is Young Lady worried that the envoys from these two countries are not just here to attend the Pure Conversation Gathering?”

Xiao Jinyu nodded again, lost in thought.

After a while, she said, “If we want to maintain the current tripartite situation, no matter which country becomes powerful, the other two countries will adopt a strategy of alliance for self-preservation. Of course, there are also those who want to break this balance and achieve unification of the world!”

“Young Lady means that the envoys from these two countries might…”

Ling Ye seemed to have thought of something and looked at Xiao Jinyu in surprise.

“Then Young Lady must be careful at this Pure Conversation Gathering and not get involved!”

Xiao Jinyu smiled and nodded again, then instructed Ling Ye, “Help me protect the people here, especially Xiao Yuan, in case Princess Yunyin sends someone to silence them at any time to eliminate future troubles!”

“Yes, Young Lady, don’t worry, I understand!”

✿✿✿

As she walked out of the courtyard gate with Xiao Xian, Xiao Jinyu saw Xiao Jian pacing back and forth in front of the gate like an ant on a hot pan, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

Suddenly hearing footsteps approaching, Xiao Jian looked up and saw that Xiao Xian and Xiao Jinyu were both dressed in plain clothes. He couldn’t help but say angrily, “What are you doing? You’re going to see His Majesty, aren’t you adding to the gloom with these clothes and making His Majesty unhappy?”

Xiao Xian replied, “Father, you are mistaken. Our Chen State also rules the world with filial piety. A’yu is in mourning for her mother. His Majesty will not only not blame her, but will also praise her for her filial piety. Moreover, since the Wei and Jin dynasties, haven’t scholars advocated returning to nature and pursuing a life of detachment? A’yu is expressing her true feelings; there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“You—” Xiao Jian wanted to retort, but couldn’t find the words.

He suddenly turned his gaze to Xiao Jinyu, “A’yu, your grandfather is doing this for your own good. After you go there, answer whatever His Majesty asks and do whatever he tells you to do. Don’t be as arrogant as you were to Her Highness the Princess!”

“Thank you for the reminder, Regular Attendant Xiao. If there’s nothing else, A’yu will be on her way!”

With that, she signaled to Eunuch Wu to lead the way and walked briskly forward.

At this moment, Xiao Jian suddenly called out again, “A’yu, you said that if Yunlang hadn’t recovered after seven days, you would come to him. But now Yunlang, he…”

Xiao Jinyu turned back and retorted, “Didn’t you say after seven days? Has it been seven days already?”

“Oh, no, no, your grandfather is not urging…”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Xiao Jinyu toss something over. He hurriedly stepped forward and caught it in his arms. When he opened it, it turned out to be a scroll painting. But the content of this painting…

“Take this scroll painting back and show it to Xiao Yun. He should look at it every day!”

Xiao Jinyu emphasized, then turned and walked forward without looking back, getting into the carriage with Xiao Xian and speeding towards Tai City.

✿✿✿

“What does she mean by having Yunlang stare at the Buddha statue in this painting every day? Does she want my Yunlang to become a monk?”

At this moment, what was placed in front of Princess Yunyin was a scroll painting depicting a Buddha statue. But what horrified Princess Yunyin was that the Buddha in this painting seemed to be as majestic as a real Buddha, standing majestically before her, making it impossible not to feel awe.

✿✿✿

“There’s nothing wrong with looking at the Buddha. Back then, our Great Ancestor revered and respected the Buddha, ruling the country with Buddhist principles. Nowadays, when scholars engage in Pure Conversation, what they discuss most is Buddhism. Moreover, A’yu said that Yunlang’s physical injury is a minor issue, the main thing is to cure his heart disease!”

“What heart disease does our son have?” Princess Yunyin retorted sarcastically.

Xiao Jian pointed to a line of words on the scroll painting and said, “Isn’t it written here? ‘Absence of good and evil is the nature of the heart, presence of good and evil is the movement of intention, knowing good and evil is conscience, practicing good and avoiding evil is the investigation of things.'”

“What does that mean? Is she scolding my son for having no good and no conscience? Next time I see her, I’ll have to ask her what she’s trying to do! It’s hateful that this princess is confined and can’t even leave the house!”

After cursing through gritted teeth, Princess Yunyin asked again, “Did Your Imperial Brother really summon her to the Eastern Palace?”

“Yes!”

“Good! With that lowly servant’s temperament, she’s bound to displease Your Imperial Brother. Hopefully, Your Imperial Brother can help us teach her a good lesson!”

✿✿✿

Arriving at Crown Prince Chen Shubao’s Eastern Palace, Eunuch Wu had Xiao Xian wait outside and led Xiao Jinyu directly into the palace.

As soon as they left, Fenghuang emerged from under the carriage. Only then did Xiao Xian realize that the Northern Barbarian boy had been hiding quietly under the carriage all along, and none of them had noticed.

“You—”

Before Xiao Xian could ask in surprise, Fenghuang spoke first, “Young Master Xiao Xian, if she’s in danger, can you guarantee her safety?”

Hearing this, Xiao Xian couldn’t help but look worried: Could he? With his current status and abilities?

“I’m not at ease, so I followed. But I can only come this far. Due to my status, I can’t enter the Eastern Palace. But Xiao Xian, you can! So I hope you can enter officialdom as soon as possible, so that at least when she needs help, you can stand by her side, instead of waiting outside like this!”

Fenghuang looked at him and spoke very sincerely.

At this very moment, Eunuch Wu, who had arrived at the Eastern Palace’s ancient Xuanpu Garden, was reporting to Chen Xu about Xiao Xian’s presence outside the palace.

“Xiao Xian, the most handsome and talented man in Jiankang, has also come?”

Chen Xu was somewhat surprised, but his gaze was fixed on Xiao Jinyu, who was dressed in plain clothes without any ornaments.

“I heard that you cured Young Master Xiao Xian’s chronic illness and his paralyzed legs for over ten years?”

“Yes!” Xiao Jinyu replied.

“Come forward and look up at me!” Chen Xu ordered at this time, and then said to Eunuch Wu, “Go and let Xiao Xian in!”

“Yes!”

Eunuch Wu withdrew, and Xiao Jinyu stepped forward as ordered, also looking up at Chen Xu sitting at the head of the room. This glance made her eyes involuntarily sharpen.

Twenty years had passed. Although for her, it was only half a year since she died and was reborn, the person in front of her was indeed different from the person in her memory. Both his appearance and temperament had undergone tremendous changes. But fortunately, those eyes, adept at concealing sinister schemes, had not changed at all.

As she looked up, the Zhou envoys and scholars around her, who had been looking at her with anticipation, couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment.

“With this appearance, how can she be called a beauty?” Someone couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.

“Where did the Zhou envoy hear that the Xiao family’s granddaughter possessed beauty like Han Zigao? He must have been deceived!”

“Exactly, exactly. With this kind of appearance, she can’t even compare to the maids in the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace!”

Yuwen Hui even took out the portrait that Chen Shuling had dropped and compared it, looking up and down and finding a huge difference. He couldn’t help but look at Chen Shuling with disappointment and annoyance.

Chen Shuling seemed to explain to Yuwen Hui, “I didn’t say she looked like Han Zigao, but she was originally a decent beauty. Why is she dressed so plainly today, and this face…”

Suddenly thinking of something, Chen Shuling carefully glanced at the skin on her neck and hands and sneered, “No, Young Lady, you’re being disingenuous. My father summoned you to meet the envoys from Qi and Zhou. This is your honor. Why are you concealing your appearance like this? The skin on your neck and hands is as fair as snow, yet only your face is dark and haggard. To deliberately conceal your beauty like this, isn’t that deceiving the Emperor?”