"Is my sister's true appearance better than the portrait?"
Shangguan Jinnian felt that the portrait in front of him was not realistic enough. Looking closely, he found that his sister's eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Su Xingyi.
"Of course, this is a portrait, not a real person. Back then, the Emperor had the best painter in Dongjun paint your sister. It was very realistic, and looks just like the real person. Unfortunately, the portrait got damp ten years ago, and although it was repaired in time, it doesn't look as lifelike as it did back then. However, the eyebrows and eyes are still as lifelike as they were back then."
"Grandfather, do you think this person's eyebrows and eyes are very similar to my aunt's?"
At some point, Shangguan Yu and his son appeared in the room, having spread out Su Xingyi's portrait.
The old emperor looked back, his pupils trembling, "Who is he? Where is he? I want to see him!"
Before the father and son could respond, the old emperor snatched the portrait away and carefully spread it out on the imperial desk.
"He is Su Xingyi, the husband of Xiao Lingyu, the Protector of Beiyi. He is in the Protector of Huayang County's mansion and is Xiaojiu's savior."
"Yes, Father, I don't remember who I am and I still call him daddy."
"I am your father, how can you call someone else your father?" The old emperor frowned in dissatisfaction.
The person in the painting looks very much like Fu'an at first glance.
"Father, please don't be angry." Xiao Jiu said delicately, "I only think of him as my father because I have lost my memory. My nephew Yunxiao just asked you, do his eyebrows and eyes look a lot like my sister's?"
The old emperor nodded. "His phoenix eyes can be said to be carved from the same pupils as your eldest sister. If I hadn't known that your eldest sister died in childbirth, I would have really thought they were mother and son."
"Grandfather, what if they really are mother and son?" Shangguan Yunxiao felt that his guess might be true.
Hearing this, the old emperor recalled Emperor Qianyuan's face and had no impression of him.
He didn't like his son-in-law in the first place, and after Fu'an passed away, he only remembered Fu'an.
His son-in-law, whom he disliked, didn't want to remember him at all.
"How is that possible? When your royal grandfather was young, he traveled all over the world and met countless people. There are many people who look like him without being related by blood."
He couldn't believe that the person in the painting was Fu'an's child. If it was Fu'an's child, then Fu'an didn't die from childbirth, but was murdered by someone!
After so many years, he accepted that Fu'an died of childbirth complications.
Now telling him that his precious daughter might have been murdered, he cannot accept this fact.
"Father, he still has a lotus birthmark on his chest."
The old emperor's heart trembled, as Fu'an had a lotus birthmark on his chest.
"Grandfather, this is what the lotus birthmark looks like. Take a look. Have you ever seen it before?"
Shangguan Yunxiao spread out the two lotus birthmarks in front of the old emperor. "Xiaojiu said that the brightly colored lotus birthmark is what Su Xingyi looks like when he's taking a hot bath, and the lighter one is his normal appearance. This means that when exposed to heat, the lotus birthmark becomes even more enchanting."
The old emperor's heart was in turmoil at this moment, but his face was as calm as water as he looked at the two lotus birthmarks, and he didn't say a word for a long time.
Shangguan Yu saw that the old emperor looked normal, and thought that Su Xingyi's birthmark was different from that of her elder sister.
"Father, I once heard Mother mention that my eldest sister also has a lotus birthmark..."
"Not like that!" the old emperor flatly denied. "Don't speculate. Yunxiao and Xiaojiu just came back today, exhausted from the journey. They should go and rest first. We'll have dinner at Ningkun Palace. I'm tired too and want to take a nap."
The old emperor yawned and was helped to his bedroom by the palace servants, who also took the portrait away.
"Grandfather Emperor clearly denied it, so why did he take away all the paintings?"
Shangguan Yu rolled his eyes at him. How could he have given birth to such a stupid son?
It would be too arbitrary for my father to admit that Fu'an and Su Xingyi were related based solely on the portrait.
If we admit that the two had a relationship, doesn't it mean that Fu'an didn't die from childbirth complications, but was murdered by someone?
How can the two elderly people bear such a result?
"Your royal grandfather cherishes paintings. The eldest son of the Su family painted Su Xingyi and his lotus birthmark so realistically, so naturally he must keep them carefully."
After saying that, he turned around and went back to the East Palace to deal with the memorials that had been piling up for the whole morning.
"Nephew Yunxiao, it's time for us to go back."
"Wait."
Shangguan Yunxiao came to the portrait of Princess Fu'an, covered it with a white cloth, and knocked on the wall to return everything to its original place.
"Father is indeed acting strangely today. He even forgot to return my sister's portrait to its original place."
Shangguan Yunxiao tapped Shangguan Jinnian's smooth forehead and said, "With us here, of course we have to think about this."
After the three left, the old emperor went to Ningkun Palace to inquire about the lotus birthmark with the queen.
"Will the lotus birthmark on Fu'an's chest become brighter when exposed to heat?"
The Empress and the Little Emperor were six years old and were well-maintained, without a single gray hair. However, their complexion looked a little haggard, as if they had just recovered from a serious illness, and their expression was a little gloomy. "That's right, our Fu'an's birthmark will turn dark red when taking a hot bath or in hot weather. It will return to normal after calming down..."
It’s true!
He thought he remembered it wrongly.
"Why did you think of asking this?"
The old emperor said, "I just miss Fu'an. I can't remember the lotus birthmark clearly, so I came to ask you. If you are tired, you can rest first. Yu'er will bring Yunxiao and Xiaojiu to have dinner with you."
After the old emperor finished speaking, he turned around and left in a hurry. The queen looked surprised.
The emperor is very strange!
The old emperor returned to his bedroom and handed Su Xingyi's portrait to a man with an eagle head tattooed on the back of his right hand.
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