Chapter 589 [First Update] 589
In later generations, various lights would be placed inside the ice sculptures to highlight their shapes and reflect beautiful light.
He doesn't have the conditions now. Even if he can drill a hole in the ice sculpture and put the candle in, there will only be two results - either the candle will be quickly extinguished by the water melted from the ice sculpture, or the candle will melt the ice sculpture bit by bit and destroy it.
From the current perspective, the first possibility is more likely.
In fact, this is not his problem. The ice sculptures of later generations have clear lines and shapes even without lights. Ultimately, this is because the water used in those ice sculptures is clear enough.
The water Liu Tan uses now, even though it has undergone some simple filtration, is still white when frozen.
Liu Tan thought about it and asked someone to place some candles around the model - if the equipment was not good enough, he could only make up for it by quantity.
Even this number is not randomly put together. At least the position of the candles is important, and the shadows should reflect the entire shape of the ice sculpture.
However, no matter how you adjust this candle, part of it will become blurred.
Liu Tan thought about it and finally had no choice but to use another method - adding lines to the ice sculpture.
The tips of the phoenix's wings and tail feathers are outlined with gold lines, and even some red and gold lines are added in the middle to reflect the exquisiteness and lifelikeness of the feathers. For other birds, the wings and eyes are outlined with lines according to the differences of each bird.
Just by simply adding some lines, the phoenix and other birds instantly became lifelike. As for the phoenix tree... Liu Tan chose to ignore it. Anyway, the phoenix tree itself served as a base and was just a reference book.
Otherwise, if every leaf is painted green, not only will it take a lot of paint, but it will also overshadow the main color.
Now the whole body is translucent and it looks good.
By doing this and adjusting the position of the light source, the ice sculpture will become beautiful.
Lu Xuan stood aside, looking at the model curiously, and said in admiration, "You still have a way."
In fact, Lu Xuan already thought that the previous version was pretty good.
Liu Tan had seen better ice sculptures, so he felt that this one was not perfect. However, the natives like Lu Xuan had never seen such an ice sculpture before, so they naturally thought it was pretty good.
The effect presented now is even better than before. It can be said that it is beautiful even without light source, especially under natural light, which is more beautiful than the various light sources they have been trying to use for a long time.
The entire ice sculpture group is sparkling with bright light.
Liu Tan was finally satisfied. The only thing he was not satisfied with was that... this thing cost only a little less than a hot air balloon.
Hot air balloons require a lot of workmanship, but the raw materials are actually quite cheap. As for ice sculptures, those gold threads are actually made of gold powder! They're all gold!
In order to make the phoenix look better, he even had people mix some gold foil into the water when making the phoenix ice sculpture. In this way, tiny bits of gold would appear inside the phoenix's body, and it would look as beautiful as possible when shone with light.
But this one looks good... but it's made with money.
Liu Tan felt distressed for a moment, then turned to look at Lu Xuan and found him leaning over the table looking intently at the model of a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix. He suddenly felt a little guilty.
Over the years, he had devoted himself to making novel toys for Liu Che, beautiful things for Chen Ajiao, and even occasionally gave Liu Ju some fun gifts. However, the gifts he gave to Lu Xuan seemed a little half-hearted.
It may be valuable, but for people of their status, mere value is meaningless. What matters is the thought behind it.
Lu Xuan never seemed to think there was anything wrong and never complained, which made Liu Tan feel a little incompetent.
He originally wanted to ask Lu Xuan what he wanted, but he quickly changed his mind - when he gave Liu Che something, he never asked Liu Che what he wanted. He just made whatever he thought was novel or good.
When facing Lu Xuan, asking directly would seem insincere. When facing Liu Che, he still had to worry that the other party would not like what he made, but when facing Lu Xuan, he didn't even need to worry about this. As long as he made something, the other party would definitely like it.
Liu Tan thought about it seriously. As he said before, time was too tight and there was no time to come up with anything new. Of course, the main reason might be that Liu Tan didn't have any inspiration for the time being.
Finally, he got a little naughty and asked someone to bring over a pile of gold so that he could make a mask for Lu Xuan by hand - the kind used on the Sanxingdui bronze men.
It must be quite interesting to make it. When Lu Xuan wears it, he will probably scare a lot of people when he goes out. But when he takes it off, there will be a handsome man inside. I believe such a contrast will definitely leave a very deep impression on people.
Liu Tan thought it was interesting and started to sketch it.
Lu Xuan didn't pay much attention while he was drawing, thinking he was going to add some new things to the ice sculpture.
Liu Tan didn't start immediately. Instead, after finishing the painting, he packed up his things and said, "The Queen Mother disliked you for not paying her a visit after coming to Chang'an. I promised her that I would take you to see her. Let's go today."
Lu Xuan was very nervous after hearing this: "What? My wife is very unhappy? Then how...how can I apologize?"
He also thought it was not good for a man from outside to enter the harem, even though Chen Ajiao was actually not young anymore, at least she could be his mother.
But now that Chen Ajiao has clearly expressed her unhappiness, he only needs to apologize and there is no need to explain so much.
It was rare for Liu Tan to see Lu Xuan so nervous and confused. Lu Xuan had always appeared as calm as a rock even when his heart was in turmoil. The setbacks he faced when he succeeded to the throne at a young age made him grow up quickly, and his intelligence was many times better than his peers.
It was a rare moment for him to show an expression befitting his age. Liu Tan took his hand and said with a smile, "It's okay, don't be afraid, I'm here for you."
Well, when there is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law, the son and husband must of course be brave enough to take responsibility and mediate, otherwise, what awaits this family is either eternal rest or separation.
Liu Tan believed that he still had some sense of responsibility, and he certainly wouldn't let Lu Xuan face this kind of thing alone.
Lu Xuan didn't say much, but secretly asked someone to take out all the gifts he had prepared beforehand - everything from food and clothing to housing and transportation, all kinds of skin care products, unique clothing and accessories. Anyway, the thoughtfulness of the gifts made Liu Tan ashamed - he couldn't think of all this. Even if the gifts he sent were thoughtful enough, they were not his work, but must be a masterpiece that Miao Rui and Bigo had discussed together.
Anyway, the two of them have reached a consensus on this matter - there is no need to make His Royal Highness the King of the North upset.
Of course, the truth is that even if you ask Liu Tan, you will only get an answer like "You guys decide for yourself."
When Liu Tan brought Lu Xuan into the palace, he was followed by a huge group of gifts, which made him feel that Lu Xuan was not going to see Chen Ajiao, but to propose marriage, or that he was personally bringing him there.
After entering the palace, although Chen Ajiao had previously expressed her dislike for Lu Xuan, Lu Xuan was still the King of Wusun, so Chen Ajiao had to treat him with appropriate standards.
Lu Xuan was very honest in front of Chen Ajiao, so honest that Chen Ajiao even had the illusion that this child was a little stupid and could not beat his son.
But the problem is that if he was really honest, it would be impossible for him to go from a small Kunmi of Wusun who was looked down upon by many people to the influential King of Wusun today.
In fact, Lu Xuan's honesty was entirely due to his nervousness. Ever since he started dating Liu Tan, he hadn't seen the Queen yet.
He was more familiar with Liu Che than with Chen Ajiao, and even became more uneasy after hearing about Chen Ajiao's deeds.
In front of Liu Che, Lu Xuan was confident that even if Liu Che did not like his current relationship with him, it would at most be a warning, and he would not do anything particularly humiliating, because the Han Dynasty still relied heavily on the Wusun Kingdom. Even if they did not need the Wusun Kingdom to fight the Xiongnu for the Han Dynasty, they still needed to win over the Wusun Kingdom so that the Wusun Kingdom would not become an enemy.
As long as they are not enemies, the big man will feel less pressure.
But Chen Ajiao is different. This woman has a bad reputation. It is said that she is jealous and unreasonable.
However, after meeting her, Lu Xuan felt that the rumors were not quite right. The queen clearly looked like a very kind person.
While in the Pepper Palace, Lu Xuan also met the Seventh Prince.
He had no feelings for the Seventh Prince, but after returning, Liu Tan suddenly said, "What do you think about me taking the Seventh Prince to the Northern Border Kingdom to raise him?"
Lu Xuan looked at him in surprise: "What?"
Liu Tan laughed and said, "I was just kidding."
However, Lu Xuan always took Liu Tan's words seriously, so he asked, "Why do you have such thoughts? It doesn't seem appropriate for him to go to the Northern Territory."
Lu Xuan hadn't thought about having another burden or anything like that, but the Seventh Prince's parents... or rather, his father, were still in Chang'an, so how could it be his brother's turn to take care of him?
What's more, even if the prince needs his brother to raise him, the prince is the eldest son and he should be the one to raise him. Why should it be Liu Tan's turn?
Liu Tan paused and said, "I just feel... this child is so pitiful."
There were few people in the palace who really cared about him. Liu Tan had even paid attention to him. Even the wet nurse and maidservant around him didn't care much about him. As for Chen Ajiao... she probably just treated him as a toy to kill time. Chen Ajiao's social engagements had obviously increased recently, and the Seventh Prince received less attention.
Who would have thought that the first words this child learned were not to call his parents, but to say he was hungry?
Although he didn't know who taught him, Liu Tan tried to have someone prepare something for him to eat, and he saw the child eating it voraciously.
Chen Ajiao didn't take it to heart when she saw it. She simply fined the wet nurse and the palace maid one month's salary. If this continued, there was no telling what the child would become in the future.
He might even die quietly in this palace.
Liu Tan didn't know why, but he felt a little sorry for him, so he suddenly thought of bringing him over, but he soon felt it was inappropriate and didn't mention it again.
However, Lu Xuan obviously took this matter to heart, and the next day he went to meet Liu Che alone.
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