Chapter 125 Part 1

Amid the rolling echoes of eight hundred evening drums, a crow that had long been indifferent to such sound folded its wings and half-closed its eyelids, landing high on the roof of a tall palace. The glazed green tiles reflected the evening light, casting a shimmering veil of golden-crimson light over the crow’s dark feather.

“Didn’t Painter Zhou finish his painting today?”

A young palace eunuch in gray clothes sat while hugging his knees in the corner of a stone staircase in front of the Chongtian Hall. He squinted his eyes and looked at the half-round sunset that was about to disappear behind the palace wall in the distance, and casually asked his companion beside him.

The slanting red glow of the setting sun spilled across most of the palace steps, bathing them in light. In the dusk, the silhouette of the palace towering above appeared even more imposing and magnificent. True to its name, when the palace was opened, it would be like the stars in the sky, towering over Chang’an, receiving worship and admiration from all directions. Before such place, the figures of the two palace eunuchs who took a lazy rest here in the evening were even smaller than two tiny ants.

And yet, the vast expanse of red light, blazing like the heart of a furnace, cast no warmth upon those it touched. Instead, it was cold.

Just like Chang’an in winter, people couldn’t feel any warmth at all.

Another eunuch sitting with him pinched his cold fingers, turned his head to look at the half-open palace door with cloud and dragon patterns behind him, and said in a complaining tone: “Exactly! I guess he will paint until the middle of the night again!”

From morning to night, no matter what time it was, if the painter who was painting the murals inside did not leave, the palace eunuchs on duty here could not leave either and must be ready to respond at any time.

Because the princess attached great importance to the painting, she treated the painter with great courtesy. The order was passed down from above, and the importance of the matter was self-evident. Therefore, since the painting of the murals began, the care here had been extremely meticulous and thoughtful.

Of these two eunuchs, one was in charge of brazier, and the other was in charge of tea.

Originally, this was their duty. However, Painter Zhou had a rather aloof character. Although he did not boss these little palace servants around, he also did not hide his contempt for them. He would always speak from a distance and would not even look at them in the eye. Not only did he treat these insignificant little eunuchs like this, he also ignored the palace steward, Eunuch Cao.

Although it was natural for eunuchs to be looked down upon, when they thought about the princess’s demeanor and treatment of her servants when she was a painter, it was inevitable that the little palace servants would complain in private.

“Have you heard anyone say that His Majesty might cancel his longevity celebration?”

“I heard about it, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

“I noticed that Painter Zhou seemed a little uneasy these days, and even his painting became slower. Could this be true? He worked so hard to earn the Princess’s favor and finally got a chance to make a name for himself. If the longevity celebration is truly canceled, wouldn’t that all be for nothing?” The tea-serving palace eunuch lowered his voice to a wishper, with a tone of gloating.

The eunuch in charge of brazier was a bit timid and didn’t dare to talk about this, simply said, “Come on, let’s go. This has nothing to do with us. It’s getting dark, don’t sit around anymore! I’ll go check on the brazier and add some charcoal. The weather is getting colder, and who knows when the first snow of the year will come. If Painter Zhou’s hands get frostbitten and Eunuch Cao finds out, I won’t be able to bear the consequences!”

He stood up first, brushed his buttocks which had become icy cold from the chill of the stone steps, and called his companions to go inside, but found that he was not following him. Turning around, he saw that he had already knelt down towards the west. Looking further, he saw that the chief eunuch Yang Zai’en was coming towards this side with a small sedan chair carried by two people. The person in the sedan chair seemed to be the princess.

There were no guards or escorts, and the princess was only wearing a dark purple thick satin hooded cape. The square in front of the palace was spacious, and the evening wind was strong, so she wore the hood to block the wind. The sedan chair stopped far away in front of a staircase on the west side. She got off the sedan chair, took off her hood, and then walked up the steps to the palace.

The eunuch came to his senses and knelt down hurriedly, bowing and greeting her.

With the princess’ unexpected arrival, the silence of the evening was broken. Someone else who had seen her had reported it to Eunuch Cao, who rushed over with many palace eunuchs on duty to greet her.

Xuyu stopped in a palace corridor and gestured for everyone to stand up with a smile.

She remembered that the last time she came, the Crown Prince and Prince Kang were still doing well, but who would have thought that such an earth-shaking event would happen afterwards. Later, it was rumored that even Prince Consort was involved.

The aftermath had not yet subsided, and just recently there was another rumor in the palace that the court may cancel the upcoming longevity celebration that was originally planned.

The emperor had lost two sons in a row, and at a time when both the dragon body and the country were in turmoil, it was only natural to cancel the longevity celebration. It was just in such a short period of time, the changes were so great, as if the hot summer had turned into a severe winter. When the princess arrived, everyone in the palace, from Eunuch Cao to the little two eunuchs, could not help but feel as if they were in another world.

Eunuch Cao turned his head and found that there was one person missing in the welcoming team behind him, so he hurriedly ordered a nearby eunuch: “Go and call Zhou He to greet the Princess!” After that, he explained: “Please don’t blame me, Princess. He has a somewhat eccentric temperament. When he is painting, no one is allowed to come close. This servant followed the Princess’s previous instructions and served him according to his preferences, but he became so arrogant that he dared to disrespect the Princess under the pretext of painting!”

Although Eunuch Cao was also a eunuch, he held considerable status in the Palace Office. Previously, because of the princess, he served Zhou He wholeheartedly. But when the painter faced him, although he was not as rude as he was to ordinary eunuchs, there remained an undeniable sense of detachment. He was not a stupid person, how could he not notice? More than once, he had secretly mused that though Zhou He had no scholar’s pedigree, he still carried himself with the same arrogance, looking down on eunuchs like him. Resentment had long simmered in his heart, and now, given the chance, he seized the opportunity to lodge a complaint.

Xuyu stopped him: “No need to disturb him. You don’t need to follow me, go and rest if you need to. I just came here to see the progress of the mural.”

She stepped into the Chongtian Hall. Immediately, her eyes were drawn to a massive curtain that hung from the ceiling beams all the way to the floor, concealing the unfinished murals behind it.

Although she or her grandfather did not have the habit of painting in this way, it was normal to have such a setting out of protection of new paintings, or the painter simply did not want people to see his unfinished works.

No matter what kind of bloody storm had occurred outside, in this quiet hall, behind the curtain, lay a world of brilliance and sanctity woven from lines and pigments. Here, the painter wandered between heaven and earth—what an existence of quiet beauty.

Not wanting to disturb Zhou He who was concentrating on painting, she walked behind the curtain, gently lifted a corner and looked inside.

She hadn’t been here for a while, but today she finally had time to come back. Just as she thought, the mural was more than half completed. What was in front of her was a work that was almost finish, with the central composition already in place and the colors more than halfway applied.

She was indeed right about him; Zhou He was an extremely talented painter who had the ability to fully express his ideas through his brush.

Before he officially put brush to paper, he described to her in detail all his ideas for the mural creation, and based on this, determined the general framework of the creation.

Xuyu approved of this concept and framework. Once she approved it, out of mutual appreciation and confidence in her own vision, she did not interfere and allowed him to create as he pleased.

Although the mural in front of her was not yet fully completed, the layout of the group of gods and the depiction of the mountains, rivers and cities were all very well done. The overall look was magnificent, and the details were also well drawn. In a trance, Xuyu saw a little bit of her grandfather’s style of paintings.

There was only one thing that surprised her. Zhou He was not painting as Eunuch Cao claimed. There were several used paintbrushes scattered on the ground. He sat on the ground in front of his work table, head bowed, motionless. At first glance, it seemed as though he was merely resting from exhaustion. But upon closer look, his posture carried a sense of dejection and lethargy, as if he were lost in deep thought. Suddenly, he seemed to be aware of someone behind him. At first, he thought it was a palace eunuch. He turned around with a visible irritation—only to freeze the moment he saw it was her.

Soon, he came to his senses, quickly got up from the ground, and bowed down quickly.

“I didn’t know the Princess was here. I’m sorry for being so rude! Please forgive me, Princess!”

He looked much more haggard than when he first entered the palace, with messy hair and a beard. His hands and clothes, which had not been changed for several days, were covered with dried paint residues, and his eyes were bloodshot.

After such a long time, he was able to finish this work to this level. Without asking, Xuyu knew that he must be working hard. She smiled and asked him to stand up.

Zhou He finally got up from the ground as he was told. He noticed her eyes fell on the mural, and quickly pointed at the mural behind him and introduced: “Princess, please take a look, this is what I painted these days. I had wanted to ask you to come and give me some advice, but I knew that you must be busy recently. I didn’t dare to disturb you, but I also didn’t dare to delay the progress. I could only bite the bullet and paint it carelessly, not knowing whether it would be useful. Your arrival at this time is like a blessing from heaven. If there’s anything that does not suit your taste or is not painted well, please feel free to give me some advice. I will modify it immediately until you’re satisfied.”

Since she had first come to know Zhou He, Xuyu had always had a certain impression of him. Though he had long endured frustration and obscurity—at one point even reduced to being thrown out of an inn—he still seemed to carry a measure of pride within him. More than that, the greater a painter’s talent, the more confidence they often had in their brushwork. They understood why they placed each stroke and what they intended to express. Blindly following others’ suggestions for revision did not necessarily improve a painting; on the contrary, it could sometimes make it worse.

With his attainments in painting, he would surely know this principle.

She said nothing, merely listening as Zhou He explained, taking in the entire mural at a slow, deliberate pace. At last, she said: “Your painting is excellent. Just complete the whole painting according to your previous idea. From a glimpse, one can perceive the whole. I believe that once it’s finished, this hall will, through your art, mirror the heavens and the earth, absorbing the myriad atmospheres of the capital, standing as a supreme and unparalleled sanctuary.”

Zhou He listened, bowed his head, and after a deep kowtow, he hesitatingly said, “Recently I heard that the court might cancel His Majesty’s longevity celebration. I’m just a humble person and know that this matter is not my business. It’s just it related to the murals, so I took the opportunity of the Princess’s arrival today to ask, and I beg the princess to tell me. Is this true?”

Xuyu paused and nodded slightly.

“I came here today not only to see the progress of the mural, but also to tell you this. The longevity celebration was originally agreed upon by His Majesty in response to the request of the deposed Crown Prince. Now the situation has changed and His Majesty is no longer interested in it, so it has been temporarily cancelled.”

She saw that Zhou He’s eyes, which were originally full of expectations, suddenly became dim and gray because of her words, like a candle extinguished by the wind.

Xuyu could understand Zhou He’s disappointment.

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