Chapter 186 A Fake
“Too many!”
Emperor Yongde angrily threw the memorial in his hand away, almost hitting Duke Shen in the face.
After a full morning of court, he was exhausted, having handled five government matters and reviewed seven memorials. After court was adjourned, he had to return to the imperial study in the rear hall to continue reviewing.
Thinking that he might not be able to see the beautiful Concubine Xian for the whole day, and looking at the mountain of memorials in front of him, Emperor Yongde became even more furious. He glared fiercely at the eunuch who was bending over to pick up the memorials. The eunuch was so scared that he almost thought he was going to be beheaded on the spot by His Majesty.
Seeing His Majesty's fury, Duke Shen knew he couldn't force it any further, so he quickly signaled to the eunuch, "You should all withdraw for now."
The entire row of eunuchs standing in the imperial study, holding piles of memorials, were already trembling with fear. When they saw Duke Shen speak, they immediately slipped away, leaving no one behind.
With more than half of the annoying memorials gone, Emperor Yongde finally felt better. He closed his eyes and said, "My dear minister, you understand my worries. Where do all these memorials come from? I can't finish reviewing them in three days."
Duke Shen did not dare to respond directly.
In the past few months, Emperor Yongde has been inseparable from Concubine Mei Dai, and memorials have been accumulated for several months, so three days is still the least to say.
"Haha, Your Majesty is not feeling well," Duke Shen said, bowing. "How about I tell Your Majesty a joke of my own to cheer you up?"
"Oh, my dear, do you have a joke to tell?" Emperor Yongde opened his eyes and looked at Duke Shen.
This Duke Shen's hair and beard were completely white, his complexion still fair, though now covered in fine lines. It was he who first pushed his granddaughter, Shen Yuexi, to Xiao Zhuo, and then his other granddaughter, Shen Lan, to Xiao Kai. His granddaughters were his ultimate bargaining chips. In this respect, he bore a resemblance to the old King of Xiliang.
But the old Xiliang King was different. He had always treated his granddaughter Mei Dai with great care, building a mansion specifically for her and raising her like a princess until she was sixteen. Compared to how Duke Shen treated his granddaughter Shen Yuexi... it was like heaven and earth.
Duke Shen saw that Emperor Yongde's anger gradually subsided and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty knows best that I like to collect calligraphy and paintings."
"Speaking of this," Emperor Yongde leaned back in his chair, "the painting of a hundred birds by Mr. Lin that you keep at home is probably the only authentic work left by Mr. Lin."
"Hey, that's the Hundred Animals Painting I'm talking about," Duke Shen slapped his thigh. "The seller wanted five thousand taels of silver. I thought it was too high, but I gritted my teeth and bought it anyway."
Emperor Yongde smiled and said, "Isn't that wonderful? I am the Son of Heaven, and there is no authentic painting of Mr. Lin in the palace. I heard that many ministers have visited your home to see this painting."
"A lot of people saw it, and I felt proud at first," Duke Shen said with a bitter face, "until one day, Mr. Lin's grandson came to tell me that the painting was a fake."
"Ah, it's a fake?" Emperor Yongde was surprised.
Duke Shen sighed and said, "When Mr. Lin created this painting of a hundred animals, his grandson was only seven or eight years old at the time. He accidentally bumped into him while playing... Mr. Lin felt there was a flaw in the painting and tore it up and threw it away on the spot. This painting never existed in the first place."
"Then where did this fake come from?"
"Perhaps someone who admired Mr. Lin pieced the torn-up painting back together and ordered a painter to copy it."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Yongde couldn't help but laugh and said, "So many ministers have come to visit, it turns out they're after a fake."
Duke Shen laughed and said, "That's my joke. Whenever someone praises this painting, I feel like a thorn in my side, extremely embarrassed. But for the sake of face, I dare not say it's a fake..."
Emperor Yongde said, "Why is it a joke? I feel that you, my dear minister, have worked very hard."
"But then I figured it out," Duke Shen said with a faint smile. "Only I and Mr. Lin's grandson knew about this. Mr. Lin's grandson is now the same age as me, and I raised him in my mansion. As long as we keep silent, no one in this world will know. A fake is the real thing. After figuring it out, I was no longer troubled. The funny thing is that I was troubled for so long before I saw through this matter."
Emperor Yongde did not respond to Duke Shen, but lowered his head in thought.
Duke Shen didn't notice Emperor Yongde's distraction and continued to chatter, "This painting is now worth five thousand taels of gold, ten times what I paid for it. I intend to keep it as a family heirloom..."
He was still rambling when Emperor Yongde suddenly stood up, startling him. Thinking he had said something that had offended His Majesty, he quickly knelt on the ground and said, "I, your humble servant, have spoken carelessly and deserve death."
"It has nothing to do with you, my dear," Emperor Yongde said, waving his hand. "Please leave for now, my dear. I need to rest."
Duke Shen was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He kowtowed quickly and left the imperial study.
Emperor Yongde quickly walked back and forth in the room dozens of times, muttering to himself:
"I'm so stupid that I only figured this out now. Jingyun was so good, but I forced her to death in a rage... I loved Zhuo'er so much, but I was hunting him down... As long as we don't say anything, no one in this world will know... I'm so stupid!"
He slammed the table with his palm in deep regret, and the memorials on the table fell down and scattered all over the floor.
I was still too reckless. If I had waited a little longer, maybe I could have come up with a better solution.
I can't be so reckless in the future. Zhuo'er is still in Xiliang, and everything can still be salvaged.
He was still lost in thought when a eunuch entered and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Jing has arrived in the capital."
"Hmm, Prince Jing is here?" Emperor Yongde turned around in confusion. "How could I not know about this? Where is he now?"
Prince Jing came to the capital, but no one told him what he was doing there.
"Prince Jing..." The eunuch secretly observed Emperor Yongde's expression and after careful consideration, he decided to tell him the news. "He is hosting a banquet to entertain Concubine Xian."
"What!"
Emperor Yongde yelled, his hands trembling. He turned around and took down the Longquan sword hanging on the wall. He said to the eunuch, "Take me there quickly!"
He didn't mind Prince Jing coming to the capital without permission, but he actually dared to host a banquet for Consort Xian without letting him know. This was simply too much.
Emperor Yongde was furious and anxious, and he didn't even bother to arrange a carriage. He only took a eunuch and the palace maid who came to report the news, and hurried to the banquet place.
When they arrived at the place, they found that there was no guard outside the door. The soft crying of Concubine Mei Dai could be heard from inside the house, and Prince Jing was talking about something.
Before Emperor Yongde entered, the door suddenly opened and Prince Jing rushed out in a panic. The two of them collided head-on. However, Prince Jing was frail, so Emperor Yongde grabbed him by the collar.
"How dare you meet with my beloved concubine in private?"
Prince Jing's face turned pale, and Emperor Yongde grabbed his collar, strangling him so hard that he felt extremely uncomfortable. He frantically tried to defend himself, "Your Majesty, you are wronging me! I didn't mean to do this at all... It was Concubine Xian... She was the one who said Your Majesty was waiting for me here..."
Emperor Yongde was so furious that he didn't even hear what he said. He dragged him inside like a chicken, shouting, "My beloved concubine, my beloved concubine..."
Inside the house, the banquet on the table was untouched, and it seemed that Prince Jing had just arrived.
Consort Mei Dai lay on the ground, her clothes disheveled, weeping bitterly. She looked up and saw Emperor Yongde rushing in. She burst into tears, reaching out her hand and crying, "Your Majesty, save me!"
Prince Jing was in a state of panic, pointing at Mei Dai and shouting, "Your Majesty, she wasn't like this just now... She didn't..."
Emperor Yongde was so angry that he kicked Prince Jing to the ground and stabbed the Longquan sword in his hand into Prince Jing's heart.
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