Chapter 37 A Thousand Years at a Glance
Imperial study.
Chu Yunzhou was wearing a moon-white fox fur coat, with his sleeves raised lightly, and his demeanor was as graceful as jade.
"His Majesty."
"No need to be polite, please sit down."
Xuan Yi nodded slightly, his expression calm and relaxed. "I haven't seen you for two years. Xianzhi seems to be more relaxed. I hope you won't go on a long journey this time, lest your grandmother complain to the Empress Dowager all the time."
Although the two were several years apart in age, Chu Yunzhou was an outstanding writer, had served as the prince's companion, and had a good personal relationship with Xuan Yi.
Chu Yunzhou chuckled lightly, "It is indeed my humble servant's fault that my mother has disturbed the Empress Dowager. However, I still have important matters to attend to and will be leaving the capital next month. This time, I have returned with some exquisite Lingyun Mountain colored glass. I hope Your Majesty will accept them."
"Well, the glass cup you made is indeed exquisite. There is one more thing."
Xuan Yi said as he took out a picture frame from a secret compartment and handed it to him, "Xian Zhi often travels around, has he ever seen such painting skills?"
“…”
Chu Yunzhou's pupils narrowed as he stared at the portrait of the emperor. After a moment, he exclaimed in admiration, "I have never seen such a painting technique before. It is truly outstanding. Your Majesty, who painted this?"
"…To be honest, this painting was created by the newly arrived imperial concubine, Su Zhaorong."
Xuan Yi took a sip of tea with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I've seen her paint with my own eyes. Her painting style is extremely simple yet unique. It really opened my eyes."
"Su Zhaorong?"
Chu Yunzhou raised his eyebrows slightly. "Even the Miss Su family is now being talked about in and out of the palace. I never thought that a girl from the inner chambers could have such outstanding painting skills. If that's the case, Your Majesty, why don't you ask who Su Zhaorong's teacher is?"
Xuan Yi lowered his eyes, hiding a hint of doubt: "She said she taught herself and didn't have a master."
He had accidentally let Su Yan see this painting. Su Yan was amazed and admired it endlessly, but he had no idea that it was painted by Su Ci.
This also made him suspicious again.
Su Yan doted on his concubine's daughter, so why did he never know that his daughter had such outstanding painting skills?
And according to Su Yan, Su Ci has never traveled far since she was a child...
"Self-taught?"
Chu Yunzhou was astonished. He carefully examined the outline that didn't look like ink, his expression moved. "Such talent truly opens my eyes. No wonder Your Majesty is so gracious."
Xuan Yi took the portrait and changed the subject with a normal expression.
"It's rare for Xianzhi to return to the capital. Please come to the palace more often these days to talk to me about the affairs of the martial arts world."
"I obey your command."
…
Yufu Palace.
Yanyu Guyu stood outside the warm room door, looking nervous.
The master seemed to have parted ways with His Majesty in the Imperial Garden on bad terms, and when he came back he went into the warm room by himself, and hasn't come out yet.
It's almost dark...
Guyu pursed her lips and thought for a moment, then raised her hand and gently knocked on the door: "Master, it's time for dinner."
“…Yeah, here it comes.”
Su Ci came out yawning and stretched lazily: "Don't serve the main course for dinner, just two light pastries will be fine. Go get some water, I need to take a bath."
Yanyu blinked in confusion: "Master is sleeping in the warm room?"
"Yeah, beauty sleep."
Su Ci curled the corners of her mouth slightly and walked out with her hair curled charmingly.
Only when you have enough food and sleep can you display your skills and do physical work. Let's see how the Ninja Turtles can endure it.
In the bathroom, the white mist was filled with a faint fragrance and the temperature was warm.
Su Ci was sitting in warm water sprinkled with flower petals. When she saw Guyu walk in with shining eyes, she nodded slightly and curled the corners of her mouth.
"...Yanyu Guyu, tell me, is His Majesty good to me?"
Yanyu nodded suspiciously: "Of course it's good. Master is the only concubine in the harem who has slept with you twice in a row. Why is it not good?"
"yes."
Guyu gathered her master's long black hair and nodded in agreement, "Master, you've been worried for a few days. Is this what you're thinking about?"
"Um…"
Su Ci leaned against the edge of the tub and sighed wistfully, "Ever since I was little, I've envied my mother because my father loved her. But the rules are in place, and there's a hierarchy. No matter how hard my father tries to protect my mother and me, my stepmother still has a thousand legitimate excuses to make things difficult for us."
"At that time, I was thinking that in the future I would definitely find a husband who loved me and was willing to win my heart, to be with him till old age, to depend on him and never abandon him... But I never thought that the person I loved would be the emperor, a king who, according to the rules, would have a harem of three thousand concubines..."
Xuan Yi, who was standing outside the screen, paused and raised his eyes, his expression unclear.
Gu Yu pursed her lips and lowered her eyes: "Master, Your Majesty is a rare talent, a perfect husband that every woman in the world wants to marry."
"Yeah, he's fine."
Su Ci leisurely paddled the petals on the water, but her tone was gloomy: "He is the Son of Heaven, and he cares about the people and the country. He has countless concubines in his harem. Even if his heart is big, it can't accommodate so many people and things."
"At first, my stepmother wanted my third sister to enter the palace in my place. I originally wanted to play along, but I didn't expect my third sister to suddenly hurt her face. For the sake of the Su family, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to see the emperor, but I didn't expect..."
Su Ci smiled and tilted her head, glancing at the screen with the picture of thousands of grandchildren and hundreds of children.
"I searched for him among the crowd for hundreds of times, but when I turned around, there he was, in the dim light... Do you understand that feeling of a thousand years of heart-stirring glance?"
"Uh, I haven't encountered this before, so I don't understand..."
Su Ci looked at the two blushing girls with amusement, shook her head and said with a smile: "Yes, I didn't understand before I saw him, but now that I have met him, I can't escape. No matter who he is, I accept him, so I chose to enter the palace."
"But I am only a shallow and dull little woman after all. I hope that the husband I marry will have a place for me in his heart, even if it is just a small corner. I am not like other concubines, just a pastime for the king in his spare time, or a tool for bearing heirs to the royal family..."
"master…"
"Alas, I don't know if it was a good thing for me to rely on my looks and scheme to seduce him into letting me into the palace... I don't know when he'll get tired of me, and I don't dare to think about how I'll face watching him being intimate and in love with another woman in the future..."
“…”
Xuan Yi's jaw tightened slightly, and he quietly turned and left.
**
After coming out of the shower, Su Ci paused with her long, half-dried hair loose.
“…This concubine greets His Majesty.”
On the soft couch, the king sat upright, leaning against the cotton pillow she had made herself, holding the calligraphy book that she had "accidentally" dropped there.
"Well, come here."
Yanyu Guyu bowed and quickly led Shaoyao and others to retreat, leaving the beautiful room to the two of them.
Su Ci moved over hesitantly, pouting and lowering her head to play with her fingers.
"Why didn't you inform anyone when His Majesty came..."
Xuan Yi leaned sideways slightly, supporting his chin with one hand, his thick eyebrows slightly raised as he stared at the beautiful woman who was as pure as a lotus emerging from the water, with a hint of confusion in his dark eyes.
"Flowers fall and water flows, a kind of longing, two kinds of idle worries, this feeling cannot be eliminated, it just leaves my brow, but it stays in my heart..."
Su Ci quickly snatched the notebook from his hand and frowned in embarrassment.
"A gentleman follows four rules of propriety: do not look, do not listen, do not speak, and do not move. Your Majesty, why are you peeking at other people's things... Oops~"
Xuan Yi easily pulled the girl into his arms, lowered his head and buried it in her shoulder, breathing in the alluring fragrance, and sighed helplessly.
"Su Ci, what are you thinking about every day?"
"itch…"
Su Ci avoided his lips, raised her hand to pinch his itchy chin, and pouted sadly: "What about Your Majesty? Apart from the people of the world, the country and the people, do you have any place for Su Ci in your heart?"
…
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