Mei Zhixuan followed Yan Hong from the front hall of Wanjiao Pavilion all the way to the room located at the far end of the second floor. Yan Hong, with a shy expression, stretched out her hands, seemingly wanting to refuse but also welcoming him, to help him take off his outer clothes and serve him to rest.
However, Mei Zhixuan looked at her expression, which seemed somewhat forced, and it was as if he had seen through her heart.
Suddenly, he reached out a large, smooth hand and grabbed Yan Hong's delicate, jade-like hands tightly. Just as she was about to pull off his belt, he coldly questioned her, "Are you new here?"
Yan Hong looked up in astonishment, her clear, beautiful eyes staring blankly at the sharp, deep eyes beneath the butterfly-shaped mask on the man's face. Her already pitiful appearance now evoked even more tenderness.
So, she timidly said to Mei Zhixuan in a soft voice, "Yan Hong has only been in Wan Jiao Pavilion for a few days. I have not served you well, and I hope you will not blame me."
"This young master doesn't like to force things..." Mei Zhixuan said, offering an excuse as he returned Yan Hong's hand.
It was clear that she had lowered her head in a somewhat dejected and frustrated manner, her soft red lips slightly pursed, and a look of sadness and distress on her face.
Then, Mei Zhixuan comforted her, saying, "Alright, it's not your fault, Miss. It's just that I'm really tired today, so you don't need to serve me in the room. I'll just trouble Miss Yan Hong to help prepare some wine and dishes. I came all the way from the west of the city to Wanjiao Pavilion early this morning, and I haven't eaten a single grain of rice yet."
As he spoke, Mei Zhixuan took out a gold ingot and handed it to her. Yan Hong finally raised her head and said with a smile, "It was Yan Hong's oversight. In that case, please wait in the room for a moment, young master. Yan Hong will go and make the preparations."
After saying that, the woman turned and left happily, gently closing the door behind her.
Mei Zhixuan breathed a sigh of relief, and as soon as he came to his senses, he hurriedly went forward and locked the door from the inside.
Then, he strode quickly toward the wall in the room where the picture of the blue fox and butterfly was hanging.
After carefully examining the picture for a while, I couldn't find anything wrong with it.
Helpless, Mei Zhixuan could only do as the guards suggested and look into the eyes of the blue fox in the painting.
Just as the guard had said, the lifelike painting of the blue fox and butterfly did indeed contain a hidden secret.
Through the eyes of the blue fox in the picture, he quickly and clearly saw Yi Shangyun in the opposite room.
At that moment, Yi Shangyun was walking towards him from the next room...
Once behind the screen, Yi Shangyun immediately spotted the same blue fox and butterfly painting hanging on the wall that was identical to the one in Mei Zhixuan's room.
It turns out that the two pictures were hanging on the same wall, on different sides but in the same position.
In the painting, a blue fox, its fur color matching the blue sea, is running along a long coastline in a snowy landscape, chasing a fluttering butterfly, as if they are playing and chasing each other.
The butterfly was completely transparent, and the artist deliberately drew several black veins on its body to make the outline of a butterfly faintly visible. It was flapping its wings and showing its graceful dance. When it danced, the ice flowers scattered on the ground by its flapping wings presented a rainbow of light.
Yi Shangyun was immediately stunned by the painting in front of her. Even in the 21st century, no one could paint such a realistic picture.
After gazing at it quietly for a while, she finally calmed down a bit, but she still stared at it longingly as she slowly walked towards the blue fox and butterfly painting in front of her.
She reached out and gently touched every focal point of the painting, then peered closely to observe it closely. The painting seemed to suck in one's soul, drawing one in so deeply that one could not extricate oneself.
What puzzled Yi Shangyun was that no matter how carefully she examined it, it turned out to be just an ordinary painting. Apart from the lifelike depiction, she found nothing else that made it different.
Little did people know that among these two identical paintings, the one by Mei Zhixuan was actually a deliberate copy. This shows how much the copyist loved the painting to achieve such a high degree of similarity.
Even the most crucial and soulful part of the entire painting—the pair of blue fox eyes that were copied so skillfully—was exactly the same.
In fact, the entire essence of the mystery in these two blue fox and butterfly paintings lies precisely in the eyes of the blue fox.
Two small holes were drilled through the wall behind the blue fox's eyes, which took a lot of effort.
Moreover, apart from the blue fox's eyes, both paintings were done with ordinary paints.
Therefore, it would be difficult for anyone to see any clues.
In fact, when copying Mei Zhixuan's paintings, the pigment used for the eyes of the blue fox was an extremely special and rare pigment.
Paintings made with this pigment look no different from those made with ordinary pigments on the surface, yet allow people to see clearly through them and see the objects on the other side.
In the painting on Yi Shangyun's side, another special paint was applied to the existing blue fox's eyes. However, unlike Mei Zhixuan's ability to see through the eyes, the fox's eyes allowed people on the other side to see things on their side.
So when Yi Shangyun suddenly became curious and looked at the blue fox's eyes in the painting, Mei Zhixuan was instantly startled and hurriedly covered his own blue fox eyes with both hands.
In fact, even if he didn't cover himself, Yun on his clothes wouldn't be able to see his presence.
Seeing that there was nothing mysterious about it, she came to her senses and continued changing her clothes.
A moment later, Mei Zhixuan tentatively brought his bright, piercing eyes closer, aiming them once more at the magical blue fox eyes, peering into the other side...
Inside the mysterious and alluring wine-red gauze curtain, in front of a wooden screen adorned with a riot of colors and vibrant flowers, under the dim candlelight, Yi Shangyun slowly removed a man's snow-white cotton robe, revealing a graceful and beautiful young woman.
The young girl stood beside the screen, her jade-like feet resting on a soft carpet, peeling off layer by layer the clothes that had been soaked by the overturned pot of tea.
In an instant, her inner garment slipped off, revealing a captivating figure with curves as alluring as a budding flower.
Then, as the sash was untied, the remaining inner garment slowly fell from her snow-white, beautiful shoulders, revealing a soft, pink silk undergarment embroidered with a pattern of two fish playing.
Then her slender waist and long limbs were revealed, along with her graceful swan neck and beautiful collarbones. Her smooth and delicate skin was snow-white with a hint of pink, so tender that it seemed as if water could be squeezed out of it...
Meanwhile, Mei Zhixuan, who was watching from the opposite side, began to swallow his saliva in large gulps, and his face seemed to be on fire.
He knew he shouldn't have such filthy thoughts about her; she was his most cherished and beloved younger sister, yet he didn't know why he was so irrational at this moment.
He tried his best to suppress the turmoil in his heart, constantly telling himself that he was conducting a physical examination, searching for that little-known mark, confirming her noble identity, and doing something extremely important...
Just as Yi Shangyun's hand was about to continue with the final movement, a series of urgent knocks sounded on the door.
Mei Zhixuan seemed to instinctively look toward the door he had just locked from the inside, and was startled.
At this moment, he really didn't want to, and shouldn't, be disturbed and go to open the door.
However, the knocking suddenly became louder and more urgent, this time sounding more like banging on the door.
His eyes were fixed on the doorway, his brows furrowed, when the knocking came a third time, louder than ever before, this time even making the door seem to shake.
His heart hardened instantly, he gritted his teeth angrily, and strode aggressively toward the door.
He assumed it was Yan Hong returning with food and wine, and without even looking up, he opened the door and sternly rebuked her, "How dare you disturb my rest..."
When his gaze fell on the newcomer's feet, he looked up and saw an unfamiliar male face.
The man wore a purplish-red cotton robe, his long, dark hair half-tied up with an exquisite hairpin, with two slightly curled strands of hair hanging loosely at his temples, which he was playing with in his hand. His angular face had a pair of slender, almond-shaped eyes, and he exuded endless casualness and unrestrainedness.
The two looked at each other in silence, and after a moment, they both seemed to be surprised.
But upon regaining his senses, Mei Zhixuan first asked him in confusion, "Who are you?"
At this moment, the only one dressed so alluringly and casually was Yi Junhao, but he ignored Mei Zhixuan completely and only hurriedly asked, "Where's the girl?"
As he spoke, he ignored Mei Zhixuan's attempts to stop him and pushed him aside, then strode into the room behind Mei Zhixuan.
Mei Zhixuan was furious at being disturbed and ignored without cause. "Who are you? Why did you break into the room I booked?"
However, Yi Junhao still ignored him as if he were invisible, and hurried through the bright red room, carefully searching every nook and cranny for Yi Shangyun's figure...
Half a day later, seeing that Yi Shangyun seemed to be truly not in the room, he stopped and looked around one last time.
Immediately, his gaze fell on the blue fox and butterfly painting on the wall.
Upon seeing this, Mei Zhixuan immediately strode over and used his tall and imposing body to block the painting, as if he were concealing its secret, or perhaps protecting the beautiful woman who was changing clothes on the opposite side of the wall behind him.
Yi Junhao, however, did not walk toward the painting. He simply stood there, staring wide-eyed at the butterfly in the painting. The butterfly was completely transparent, with a few black veins deliberately drawn by the artist to make it vaguely resemble a butterfly. It was fluttering its wings and scattering specks of colorful ice flowers.
Finally, after gazing at it for a long time, he gradually narrowed his eyes, frowned, and muttered to himself in confusion, "Ice Beauty? How come there's such a painting here?"
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