Chapter 26 Why lie to him?
Chen Qiu Nian walked all the way back to Shengjing from Tangquan Palace.
The words Su Yunyao had just said kept echoing in his mind.
"If Lin Miaomiao disagrees, then just refuse."
"There are so many women in Yanyu Tower. Whoever wants to earn this money can go."
"Now that she's received the money and gone, why is she still feeling wronged? Did someone put a knife to her neck and force her to go?"
"Huo Xiao is taller than you, more handsome than you, cleaner than you, and in better shape than you. Even a fool standing in front of you two would know who to choose!"
“…”
Are all the things the princess said true?
Why did Lin Miaomiao lie to him?
The scene of seeing Lin Miaomiao for the first time emerged in his mind...
Many years ago, at the Taifu Mansion, he was playing chess with Taifu Lin. Lin Miaomiao happened to come back from outside, holding a wounded little rabbit in her arms.
She is so gentle and innocent, just like the little rabbit in her arms, making people want to cherish and fall in love with her.
But now...
What puzzled him the most was...
Now she has fallen into prostitution. If the princess really wants to humiliate her, why would she spend money to have her portrait painted?
She is the emperor's most beloved sister.
Even if she does nothing and says nothing, just a glance from her will bring many people to serve her.
To humiliate Lin Miaomiao in a place like Yanyu Tower, it's definitely not as simple as a portrait...
The sky in the east was turning white.
Chen Qiu Nian did not sleep all night. He walked all night and was exhausted. He somehow walked to the door of Jinjing Tower.
As the shopkeeper, Xu Mubai arrived earlier than the shop assistants. As soon as he reached the door, he saw the distraught Chen Qiu Nian sitting on the steps at the door.
"Lord Shen? Why are you here so early?" Xu Mubai asked in surprise.
Hear the sound.
Shen Qiunian slowly raised his head and glanced at the man who was speaking to him.
Xu Mubai was stunned by the distraught look.
"Master Shen, are you in trouble? Don't worry, come and sit in the store."
After saying that, he knocked on the shop door, and the night watchman in the shop opened the door from the inside.
Shen Qiu Nian stood up and shook his head slowly.
"Don't bother Shopkeeper Xu. I have to go to court later. I just have one thing I don't understand..."
Xu Mubai bowed slightly, "Master Shen, please speak."
Shen Qiu Nian suddenly found it difficult to speak.
"It's not a big deal. Did Jin Jinglou hire a painter to paint your portrait yesterday?"
"It is true." Xu Mubai replied calmly, and then made a gesture of invitation, "Master Shen, please come in."
Shen Qiunian was slightly stunned, then followed Xu Mubai into the store.
The store seems different from the last time I was there.
There were many fresh flowers placed next to the shelves and outside the private rooms, but the varieties of those flowers did not seem to be common. They looked more like varieties specially cultivated by the palace gardeners for the princess's mansion.
There are many portraits hanging in prominent places on the walls. Each portrait is vividly painted, and the women in the portraits are particularly charming, wearing many gold ornaments on their heads and bodies.
But there is no portrait of Lin Miaomiao...
The words that were on the tip of Shen Qiu Nian's tongue got stuck in his throat, and he didn't know where to start.
The shop assistant poured a cup of tea over, and Xu Mubai gestured to him, "Master Shen, please."
"Manager Xu is too polite. No need to bother." Shen Qiunian pursed his lips, bit the bullet, pointed to a portrait on the wall and asked, "May I ask which portrait it is?"
Xu Mubai smiled with relief.
"These portraits were the eldest princess's idea. She asked me to find some young and beautiful women, bring our Jinjinglou jewelry, paint their portraits, and show them to the customers who come to the store to choose.
I can't believe that the store's turnover doubled yesterday.
I have arranged to meet a few more dancers today, and I think they will be here soon."
Shen Qiu Nian's eyebrows twitched slightly, "The eldest princess's idea?"
"Is Lord Shen as surprised as I am that she has such a fantastic way of doing business?"
Chen Qiu Nian swallowed deeply, the expression on his face hard to describe, "Besides this, she didn't explain anything else? For example..."
"For example?" Xu Mubai said with a smile.
The corners of Shen Qiu Nian's lips tightened, "I mean, are all the portraits from yesterday hung there?"
"No, it was my first time doing a portrait yesterday, so I didn't know how it would turn out. I just asked the madam to send a few pretty girls over to try it out."
"Whatever..." Chen Qiu Nian emphasized these two words deliberately.
Xu Mubai laughed and asked, "What else?"
He picked up the tea bowl beside him and took a sip.
"Although I am not from a high-class family, I will never set foot in a brothel. If I don't let the madam choose freely, how can I know whether the girls in the Misty Rain Tower are good-looking and willing to come?"
"What do you mean?"
"Lord Shen is also a cabinet minister. Don't you know that for a painter to paint, he must sit still for at least an hour? If the girl doesn't cooperate, wouldn't it be a waste of time? If she continues to cry and make a fuss, delaying the shop's business, wouldn't I be destroying my reputation?"
Shen Qiunian's eyebrows trembled sharply, and his face turned pale.
"The painter painted a total of ten paintings yesterday. I selected six with more outstanding women in the paintings and hung them up. There are four left. If Lord Shen is interested, I can have someone bring them over and give them to Lord Shen to take home and enjoy."
After Xu Mubai finished speaking, without waiting for Shen Qiu Nian to speak, he asked someone to bring the remaining four paintings.
One of them is of Lin Miaomiao. She has a smile in her eyes and the corners of her lips are slightly raised. In the painting, she is smiling and looks charming, without any trace of sadness or being forced.
Chen Qiu Nian's hand holding the portrait gradually tightened, and the paper beside the portrait was even deformed.
"Shopkeeper Xu, I have another question. Was this portrait made in your shop?"
Xu Mubai smiled in relief, "Jinjinglou is open for business. With so many women, how to paint in the store is naturally elsewhere, but these girls should know what the painting is used for."
Shen Qiunian's body trembled violently when he heard this.
"Ah!" Xu Mubai's eyes were startled. "The shop was too busy yesterday. I didn't go over when the woman from Misty Rain Tower was painting. I didn't even notice that the woman in one of the paintings looks so much like the woman Lord Shen brought to buy a hairpin last time. Could it be that Lord Shen's sweetheart is..."
Xu Mubai seemed to have thought of something and suddenly shut his mouth.
"I've spoken out of turn. Lord Shen, please don't blame me. There are so many people who look like me in this world. Lord Shen doesn't even care about the extremely beautiful and stunningly beautiful Princess. How could he possibly be interested in a prostitute?"
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