Chapter 33 Painting Goldfish Lately, Yinreng has become extremely busy, although…
Yinreng has become extremely busy lately. Although he was busy before, you could still see him during the day, but now it's impossible to see him during the day; you can only see him in the evening. Moreover, he's not only busy now, he also gets up very early.
Back in Xian'an Palace, he used to get up earlier than Cheng Qianyue. However, after sharing a bed with her so many times, he gradually became influenced by her and started getting up around 5 a.m., sometimes even dawdling until 6 a.m. But now, he has suddenly changed his schedule and someone is waking him up before 4 a.m.
Cheng Qianyue was half asleep when she heard the rustling of clothes being put on outside through the curtain. She couldn't help but yawn and asked softly, "Master, why are you up so early?" Then she heard him say that he was going to Changchun Garden for the morning court session.
Um?
Cheng Qianyue lowered her eyes and thought for a long time. Previously, the Emperor had ordered him not to leave the palace without permission, but now he was allowed to attend court, indicating that the Emperor had lifted his ban. She guessed that his reinstatement might be imminent. However, for her, this wasn't exactly good news or bad news; after all, who knew when he would be deposed again? She lowered her head, her thoughts wandering, and finally, her mind drifted elsewhere. She whispered, "But there's no need to get up so early. Changchun Garden is just to the east of the garden; it's so close."
Yinreng heard her ask a question and then fell silent, assuming she had fallen asleep again. But after a while, she spoke again. He put on his hat and tidied himself up before replying, "I'm already considered late. If Changchun Garden weren't so close, I probably would have had to get up at three o'clock." By this time, the servants had already helped him put on his court robes. Yinreng looked at the sky outside and said, "It's still early, you can go back to sleep."
Despite saying that, Cheng Qianyue couldn't fall asleep. After lingering in bed for a while, she said to Ruoyun, "Bring me my clothes." After she got dressed and got up, she saw Yinreng leaving Donglizhai and heading forward through the window.
As Ruoyun was tying her hair up, she said, "Second Master was afraid of disturbing your rest, so he specially asked someone to bring your breakfast to your room."
Hearing her say that, Cheng Qianyue felt that Yinreng was very considerate of her, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Men who pay attention to details are always so charming. After a while, she became curious and asked, "When is the morning court usually?"
Ruoyun replied, "At the hour of Mao (5-7 AM). Fortunately, we live close to the Emperor. You don't know, some ministers live far away and get up at two or three in the morning to attend the court session."
Cheng Qianyue did the math in her head. The morning court session was from five to seven o'clock. The ministers certainly couldn't arrive on time like they do for work in modern times; they would definitely have to report in early. And since travel wasn't so convenient in ancient times, getting up at two or three in the morning was quite reasonable. Tsk, compared to them, Yinreng was like a student living near the school gate—quite fortunate indeed.
Cheng Qianyue pondered for a long time, then couldn't help but smile happily: Luckily, she didn't have to attend court, hahaha.
Seeing her laughing, Ruoyun smiled along and asked softly, "What are you laughing about, Gege?"
Cheng Qianyue naturally couldn't admit that she was gloating, so she coughed twice and said, "Thinking that our master doesn't have to go through so much trouble, I'm also glad that those ministers don't have to attend the morning court every day."
Ruoyun nodded, "That's right, but two or three times a month is enough to make you suffer."
After finishing breakfast, Cheng Qianyue went out to play. Recently, she has been particularly fond of feeding the fish in the koi pond.
There were many fish in the West Garden, some for ornamental purposes and some purely for consumption. Once, she saw a black fish as big as half an arm in it, its round belly swimming slowly, but it disappeared in a short while.
Compared to the large black carp, the smaller, brightly colored koi and goldfish were much cuter. The eunuch in charge of feeding the fish respectfully offered flatbread, which Cheng Qianyue then broke into small pieces and sprinkled down the surface. The fish scrambled to eat, splashing water everywhere.
Cheng Qianyue was delighted to see such a lively scene and started talking to the fish, saying, "Hey, don't fight over them, there's enough for everyone." After feeding them a cake, she clapped her hands, feeling a great sense of accomplishment. After a while, the sun began to rise, so she didn't stay any longer. However, the first thing she did upon returning to Dongli Studio was to paint fish.
Well, she can't paint traditional Chinese ink paintings. When she was little, her mother made it difficult for her to learn calligraphy, let alone something as difficult as painting. She can only draw simple sketches.
Use two circles for the eyes, draw an oval for the body, then draw fins on both sides in one stroke, and finally add a big wavy tail. A goldfish is now drawn looking fresh and lively.
She drew one here and one there, filling the rice paper with little goldfish. At the end, she shamelessly wrote a few words in large letters next to it: "Thousand Carp Painting".
Then when Yinreng came back that evening, he saw the painting of a thousand carp and his tense nerves relaxed. He exhaled through his nose and said, "What did you paint?"
Ah, isn't it obvious? Cheng Qianyue pointed to the three characters above and said with certainty and conviction, "It's a painting of a little goldfish."
Yinreng was both amused and exasperated. "Even a child who has just begun to learn can scribble something better than this."
Cheng Qianyue was unhappy and snorted, saying, "No way, a five or six-year-old child can't even hold a pen properly, how could he possibly draw better than me?" She pointed to the goldfish's round belly and said, "I think I drew it pretty well, you can tell it's a goldfish at a glance."
Yinreng showed a hint of disdain and said, "The lines are rough and straightforward, lacking any spirit." He had the idea of educating her and wanted to teach her to paint himself. The two stood in front of the desk. Cheng Qianyue held the brush loosely, and Yinreng guided her hand, first dipping it in red paint and applying it to a patch of rice paper. Then he rinsed the brush to make the color lighter and then smoothed it down from the previous patch.
Yinreng then asked, "Do you know what this is?"
He just smeared two red spots on it, who knows what they are? They look like flower petals. Wasn't he supposed to be painting fish? Cheng Qianyue shook her head in confusion, staring at him dumbfounded.
With a smile, Yinreng smeared the red mark again, leaving blank spaces on both sides. Then he picked up his brush, changed the color, and dipped it in ink to add two dots in the blank areas. Now Cheng Qianyue knew he was drawing the body of a fish. Then, little by little, the fish scales were outlined, and a bright red koi carp leaped onto the paper.
To be honest, it was quite beautiful. But Cheng Qianyue didn't think her painting of a thousand carp was bad. Besides, comparing ink painting with a simplified painting was simply unfair, wasn't it? So she started to argue, "These are two different painting styles. Yours is ink painting, and mine is simplified sketching."
Yinreng was amused by her theory and flicked her forehead, saying, "Nonsense."
Cheng Qianyue grumbled and whined, refusing to admit that her drawing skills were lacking! She thought the matter was over, but the next afternoon, Jing Shun brought her a fish tank for viewing.
Jing Shun said, "Second Master instructed that you observe the swimming fish." He added that it would also cultivate your taste, and by seeing more real fish, you wouldn't be able to paint those so-called mimicry fish. Of course, he didn't say his master's words so bluntly, but rather, "Second Master said that once you get used to seeing fish, you'll be able to paint them better."
Cheng Qianyue: ......
Although Jing Shun spoke eloquently, it couldn't hide Yinreng's disdain for her aesthetic sense and painting. Cheng Qianyue thought to herself, "You all don't understand art, huh. If this were modern times, some so-called masters would scribble a few lines and still have people chasing after them!" Thinking this, she simply considered herself the Picasso of the Qing Dynasty.
However, the fish tank that was delivered was quite beautiful. It was a round tank with a thick bottom, white base and blue floral pattern, with an ebony stand underneath. Inside, there were artificial rocks, aquatic plants, and pebbles covered in moss. Of course, the highlight was the goldfish; several small red and yellow goldfish with large, flowing tails swam around inside.
Cheng Qianyue sat there playing with the fish. She asked someone to go outside and break off some reeds, using the thin blades of grass to tease the goldfish. She gently poked their tails, and they would dart away to other places. She poked all the fish in the tank, and then asked someone to bring them fish food.
Half a day passed just like that.
When Yinreng returned from Changchun Garden after dark, he saw Cheng Qianyue happily telling him how cute the goldfish were, so he asked, "Did you figure out anything about it?"
Cheng Qianyue was momentarily speechless. Yinreng shook his head and was about to teach her how to draw fish again, but Cheng Qianyue quickly said, "Your Highness hasn't eaten yet, has he? Shall we eat first?" She waved to the distance, signaling them to hurry up and serve the meal, and then changed the subject with a smile, saying, "Today I specially asked someone to make a crucian carp and tofu soup."
When the meal was served, she personally ladled a bowl of milky white fish soup and placed it in front of him, hoping that he would stop tormenting her for this sake. But clearly, Yinreng had no intention of letting her off the hook. After she finished eating and cleansed her mouth, he pulled her back to his desk.
Cheng Qianyue had no choice but to follow his lead and draw traditional Chinese goldfish on the paper, until her hand holding the pen ached. Even after they got to bed, Cheng Qianyue was still rubbing her hand.
No, even learning to draw isn't something you can rush into!
The next day, Yinreng left early as usual. Even though he didn't attend court, he would go to Changchun Garden to read memorials to Kangxi and meet with ministers with Kangxi. But he didn't come over tonight. Cheng Qianyue thought he might have gone to rest earlier or to his wife's place. She couldn't help but cheer inwardly: Oh yeah, I don't have to draw fish today!
A short while later, Ruoyun came over and whispered to her that it wasn't that Yinreng had rested somewhere else, but that he hadn't come back at all.
Didn't they come back?
Cheng Qianyue frowned in confusion, her gaze involuntarily drifting eastward. Could something have happened at Changchun Garden?
A major incident did indeed occur in Changchun Garden. The Third Prince, Cheng, deliberately chose to come over in the evening, avoiding people. As soon as he arrived, he knelt down before Emperor Kangxi and then cried bitterly, saying, "Father, I want to accuse Prince Zhi of colluding with a lama to bewitch the Crown Prince!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com