Heshen grabbed Yan Ning, and seeing this, Fu Chang'an put his hands behind his back and entered Wanxiang Pavilion with a big smile on his face.
Yan Ning struggled as He Shen grabbed her hand. He Shen pulled her a step closer and said, "I have something in my residence that may be related to your visit! Come with me!" Then he released Yan Ning's hand and turned to walk back the way he came.
Upon hearing that it was related to her time travel, Yan Ning was stunned. After regaining her senses, she followed He Shen towards He Di.
The air in Heshen's study was filled with the refreshing scent of lilies from the incense burner. He dismissed his attendants, took a scroll from a painting tube, and spread it out on the table for Yan Ning to see. "I found this a few days ago when I was overseeing the cleaning of Yuhua Pavilion for the Empress Dowager's eunuch. The Fucha family is currently going through a lot of trouble, so I didn't dare to come to you so abruptly."
Yan Ning walked over, glanced at the scroll on the table, and covered her mouth in shock to keep from making a sound. Yan Ning took out the drawing paper she had found in Yi Ren Xuan from her inner garment and spread it on top of the scroll.
The person in the painting and the paper is the same; the painting is colored, making the woman's voice and smile even clearer. She is identical to Yan Ning. The painting is more than half a person's height. The woman in the painting sits gracefully, her smile like a lily blooming among a thousand flowers, pure and captivating. The spirit in her eyes seems to reflect the person she is looking at—the gaze of someone who loves another.
Seeing the bewildered Yan Ning, Heshen helped her sit down and gave her a sip of tea to calm her nerves. "The portrait is unsigned, but judging from the patterns on the woman's clothing, it was painted during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. Judging from her headdress, she was a concubine at the time."
Seeing that Yan Ning's expression had softened somewhat, Heshen asked, "Where did you get that drawing paper?"
Yan Ning quickly drank a few sips of tea. "The Yi Ren Xuan in the Fucha Mansion! It's the residence of Consort Fang, the wife of General Fu Heng!"
Heshen walked to the desk, looked at it carefully for a while, and then turned around. “The painting and the portrait are not from the same hand. Aunt Fang’s painting was based on this scroll. I think Aunt Fang must have seen this painting and copied it from memory!”
Both of them were wondering how Aunt Fang had come to see the painting.
Yan Ning suddenly remembered that Aunt Fang had gone mad from fright during a palace banquet. A painting wouldn't frighten anyone; Aunt Fang must have seen something that drove her mad.
Could it be that when that woman returned to the modern world, she was seen by Aunt Fang? Thinking that this was related to her own time travel, Yan Ning disregarded the proper etiquette between men and women and grabbed Heshen's hand, "Do you have any way to find out the identity of the woman in this painting?"
Heshen shook his head. "I am an official and cannot frequently enter and leave the inner palace. But you can. The Cining Palace is inhabited by the late emperor's concubines, and I am sure some of them have seen the woman in this painting!"
Yan Ning reluctantly released Heshen's hand, "The palace isn't a place I can just walk into!"
I'll help you!
On her way back from Hedi, Yan Ning's mind was filled with images of the woman in the painting, connecting her to Aunt Fang's madness. Yan Ning felt even more strongly that the woman in the painting was also a time traveler, just like herself.
When Yan Ning returned to Jian Gong Zhai, Fu Kang An was looking at her unfinished handkerchief with lily clusters. Fearing that Fu Kang An would laugh at her clumsiness, Yan Ning blushed and snatched the handkerchief away.
Taking advantage of the situation, Fukang'an pulled Yan Ning close and whispered in her ear before she could struggle, "I didn't touch her, and I didn't even exchange more than ten words with her."
Yan Ning felt a warmth on her ears as Fu Kang'an finally abandoned his domineering attitude and explained to her.
In ancient times, when concubines were common, Fukang'an was willing to speak up and explain her relationship with another woman. Yan Ning also felt relieved about what had happened during the day.
After dinner, Fukang'an was reading in his study. Yan Ning picked up her embroidery, but couldn't bring herself to put the needle in. Her mind was still filled with the woman in the portrait, so she put down her work. Yan Ning tiptoed into the study. Knowing that Fukang'an would definitely discover her, she still pretended to startle him.
Fukang'an's eyes didn't leave the book, but the smile on his lips deepened. Yan Ning leaned into Fukang'an's arms, her eyes meeting his as she looked at the book in his hands, while she pondered how to ask Aunt Fang where she had been frightened.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
