Chapter 28: The Crown Prince's Portrait and the Competition
Shen Shi's illness was like pouring out all the fatigue that had accumulated for a long time when he was trying to seize the family property. It lasted for a week before it completely subsided.
Pei Heng also breathed a sigh of relief.
The reason is simple: Shen Shi during the illness was just too much of a bother.
They were always clinging to each other, their eyes were moist, and they spoke in a nasal voice and acted coquettishly. Xiao Pei, who had never been in a relationship, had never seen such a scene.
Being stuck to the point of being helpless, feeling annoyed and soft-hearted, he thought Chen Shi was very hateful, and had unintentionally developed this new and irresistible way of "chasing people".
After the last professional class that afternoon, Lin Qingyuan had just turned off the lecture notes on the projector and was talking about the recent National College Students Calligraphy Competition when the classroom door was pushed open.
Taifu Yan Ke has already integrated very well into modern retirement life and walked in carrying a thermos cup of strong tea.
"Teacher Lin didn't explain it in detail enough."
Yan Ke spoke with a smile, seemingly glancing casually at Pei Heng, who was sitting in the front row. With a smile on his face, he continued to speak to the entire class, "This National College Student Calligraphy Competition is nominally a student activity, but in reality, it's much more complex."
"Many of the industry's veterans' disciples will be participating, for no other reason than," he deliberately kept the topic a secret. "The organizer is a leading figure in the antique collecting world, and he's invested heavily this time, offering valuable treasures from his private collection as the ultimate prize."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Qingyuan tacitly turned on the projector again.
A scanned image of an ancient painting popped up on the screen.
The painting shows a young man in a moon-white gown, a man of noble birth, standing sideways in front of the window, with gentle eyes and a naturally noble demeanor, as if the first snow on the mountaintop is shining brightly under the bright moon.
"Wow!"
"It's the handsome prince of the Pei Dynasty. His portrait in the history textbook is so handsome in the high-definition version!"
"The real person is even more amazing than the portrait. Wow, wow, wow, I hate that I was born a few hundred years earlier."
There were low exclamations and discussions in the classroom.
Pei Heng turned his head to look at Shen Shi beside him, only to see that Shen Shi was a little surprised and was staring at the portrait on the screen, looking a little absorbed.
Pei Heng also took a closer look.
After this period of subtle influence, he had come to accept the so-called identity of the crown prince in a strange way.
However, when the classmates were praising the prince in the painting for being "gentle as jade" and "noble in temperament", Pei Heng himself didn't notice anything, but he saw Shen Shi next to him blushing, then lowered his head and laughed out loud.
Pei Heng: “?”
He turned sideways and gently nudged Shen Shi's arm with his elbow, "What are you laughing at? They're praising me...and the prince, isn't that okay?"
Chen Shi raised his head, a hint of smile still lingering on his eyelashes, and leaned close to Pei Heng's ear, his voice lowered to a very low level with a hint of teasing intimacy.
"There aren't many portraits of Ah Heng left behind. This one..." He paused, his eyes sweeping across the moon-white robe worn by the young man on the screen, the smile in his eyes deepening. "The court painter kept urging you that morning, but you were half asleep, and the maids weren't allowed to serve you in the bedroom, so you just grabbed a piece of clothing and put it on."
"That moon-white gown... is mine."
The prince was always valued and precious, rarely wearing such plain clothes, but by some strange coincidence the portraits that have been passed down have a different style.
He was dug up early in the morning and his portrait was found wearing Shen Shi's clothes.
The meaning behind this is self-evident.
Pei Heng's eyes drifted away and he muttered quietly, "...Oh."
"It's all the painter's fault. Who made him choose to disturb people's sleep so early in the morning?"
On the podium, Lin Qingyuan and Yan Ke continued.
"The first place winner of this competition," Lin Qingyuan pointed at the prize list at the bottom of the screen with a laser pointer, "in addition to a generous prize and certificate, will also receive a set of extremely precious relics of the Crown Prince of the Pei Dynasty, including an authentic calligraphy piece once used by the Crown Prince, a white jade Chilong paperweight, and..."
An image of a smooth jade ring was enlarged on the screen.
"A jade ring of great historical and collectible value, a gift from the emperor."
"Wow!!!"
Now the exclamations in the classroom became even louder.
Putting aside the value of the competition, these three antique-level relics alone are enough to make everyone's eyes jealous and their hearts beat fast.
That is a priceless treasure!
Lin Qingyuan: "According to the competition rules, we will first conduct an on-campus selection."
"Each school can only nominate one champion to participate in the national finals. Interested students can come to me to sign up after class."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Ke's true intentions were revealed.
He held the thermos cup in his hand and looked at Pei Heng intently, with anticipation on his face that he could not hide no matter how hard he tried.
"Classmate Pei Heng, do you want to sign up and try it out?"
The Grand Tutor and the Grand Master exchanged a knowing look.
This time, I must help His Highness get back what belongs to him!
Pei Heng's eyes fell on the picture of the jade ring, and an inexplicable throbbing spread from his heart without warning.
It was as if they were supposed to belong to him, but had been wandering outside for too long.
"Okay." Pei Heng nodded.
Since you want to participate in the competition, you must have a mentor.
"Student Pei Heng," Yan Ke cleared his throat, trying to appear more impartial and selfless. "So, between me and Teacher Lin, who is more suitable to be your instructor?"
The students around laughed and cheered as if they were enjoying a show.
"Wow, what a difficult problem!"
"Teacher Yan and Professor Lin, how will Miss Pei choose?"
"This is not embarrassing for our little Pei!"
Pei Heng raised his eyebrows and asked frankly, "Who do I choose? Will the other one be angry with me for it?"
Yan Ke and Lin Qingyuan immediately shook their heads and said in unison, "Of course not!"
"That's it." Pei Heng was very confident and didn't want to cause trouble for himself.
"Why do you have to make me choose? You can discuss among yourselves and decide who is more suitable."
The two old ministers, who had worried about the prince's studies in their previous lives, were unable to reach a conclusion in the end, and neither of them was willing to give in.
The final result is: two teachers provide joint tutoring.
After class, Yan Ke enthusiastically said that after dinner, Pei Heng could go directly to his special calligraphy room in the school to practice, and he left a key for him.
Chen Yu then took away Pei Heng and Shen Shi's books.
Zhou Jingming heard this and patted Pei Heng on the shoulder, "My spirit is with you, Pei Hengheng, we'll prepare some delicious food in the dormitory and wait for you to come back."
Pei Heng yawned and clapped back.
It is mid-autumn time.
On both sides of the asphalt road in the campus, the leaves of the tall sycamore trees began to turn yellow, and occasionally a few of them swirled and fell.
As a bicycle passed by, the blades spun up and then slowly fell back to the ground.
The air is slightly cool and fresh, it is perfect weather.
Pei Heng and Shen Shi walked side by side on the road, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun.
Shen Shi lowered his hand, and in the cool autumn breeze, he gently hooked Pei Heng's fingers.
Pei Heng curled his fingertips slightly, but did not dodge, allowing the slightly cool touch to wrap around him.
Shen Shi turned his head to look at him. The sunset light softened his coldness, and there was a soft light in his eyes. "Ah Heng, let's practice tonight. I'll grind the ink for you, okay?"
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