Chapter 369 Her eyes are so similar to the Crown Prince's
The painter in the capital was surnamed Su. His family had been scholars for four generations, but by his generation, they had fallen on hard times and could only make a living by painting for others.
When Du Wanchun and Zhou Ruiyuan first met him in the capital, he was still selling paintings in a small alley.
The painter, Su, really liked the picture of the golden boy and jade girl that he painted for Xiao Mianmian and Xiao Qing'er, so he painted another one when he came back.
He hung the finished paintings in his shop and would glance at them from time to time every day.
That day, an old eunuch from the palace came to his shop to pick up a painting.
Several months ago, the emperor, missing his three sons so much, specially sought out the painter Su and, based on Su's description, had his three sons painted.
"Painter Su, how is that painting?" the old eunuch asked as he approached.
"Eunuch Zhang, wait a moment, I'll go get the painting right away." After saying that, the painter Su immediately turned around and went to the inner room to get the painting.
The old eunuch stood inside the room, looking around, his gaze inadvertently falling on the portrait of Xiao Mianmian.
He didn't know why, but the people in the painting gave him a strange sense of familiarity, making him unable to resist being drawn to the painting.
"Eunuch Zhang, it's finished."
The painter, Su, came out from the inner room and handed him the painting.
The old eunuch was still staring at the painting of Xiao Mianmian, not yet recovered from his daze.
The painter Su called out a few more times, "Eunuch Zhang, paint."
The old eunuch then came to his senses, glanced down at the scroll in his hand, and pointed to the painting of Xiao Mianmian, "Painter Su, who is the child in this painting?"
The painter Su looked up and smiled, "This is the daughter of an old friend of mine."
The old eunuch's eyes remained fixed on her. "I feel like I've seen her somewhere before."
Little Mianmian looks like her mother. The painter Su smiled and said, "This child looks like her mother. I guess you met her once when they were in the capital."
The old eunuch quickly asked, "Who is this lady?"
The painter, Su, replied with a smile, "It's Manager Du from the Zhou family."
The old eunuch suddenly realized, "Oh, it's Manager Du! No wonder she looked so familiar, she's her daughter."
Although Xiao Mianmian looks like her mother, her eyes, especially her brighter and clearer eyes, are more like her father's as she grows up.
Although the old eunuch said that, when he looked into Xiao Mianmian's eyes, he felt a chill run down his spine.
That sense of familiarity remained, and it wasn't broken by the fact that the painter Su mentioned Du Wanchun.
He felt really uncomfortable, so he quickly shook his head and accepted the painting handed to him by the painter, Su.
The painter Su saw him out the door.
Before the old eunuch could even open the painting, he returned to the palace.
The emperor's condition worsened, and the imperial physicians used thousand-year-old ginseng to keep him alive, but he seemed to be in much better spirits.
He sat up and reached out to the old eunuch, asking, "Well, did you get the portrait?"
The old eunuch respectfully handed him the portrait, saying, "Your Majesty, the portrait has been brought."
The emperor, his hand trembling slightly, took the portrait handed to him by the old eunuch and slowly opened it. Three children slowly appeared before them.
"Yuan'er! It's Yuan'er!"
The emperor was thrilled to see a child inside who was unusually tall.
The old eunuch was stunned for a moment; the child looked exactly like the Crown Prince when he was young.
The emperor's eyes were bloodshot as he gently stroked the face of the child in the painting. "It really is him, my Yuan'er."
The old eunuch then looked at the other two children.
The other two are somewhat similar to the Second Prince and the Third Prince, but not as much as the Crown Prince.
He couldn't help but praise, "Painter Su is truly amazing. He managed to paint the young Crown Prince based on just a few words from us."
The emperor carefully held the scroll, wiped away his tears, and said, "Reward him, reward him. Later, give him all the finest writing implements from my study."
The old eunuch bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
The emperor held the painting tightly in his arms, his face full of regret, his red eyes already streaked with tears.
The reason why the painter Su was able to paint Zhou Ruiyuan's childhood portrait so accurately was because he saw Du Wanchun's children being well-behaved in Cheng'an County that day.
The three children in the painting were drawn based on the likeness of Yi'er and Yu'er.
Yi'er already resembled Zhou Ruiyuan, and with the addition of elements by the painter Su based on the emperor's description, they looked even more alike.
The emperor was so delighted to have the portrait that he did not suspect anything.
The old eunuch, however, still felt that there was something strange about Xiao Mianmian's portrait.
That night, the old eunuch dreamed of Xiao Mianmian's paintings, and also of Zhou Ruiyuan's paintings from when he was a child.
He suddenly woke up, clutching his chest and panting as he muttered to himself, "Yes, yes, those eyes, they're exactly the same as His Highness the Crown Prince's, so alike, so very alike."
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