Xiao Rongyan was led by Bai Qingyan into the inner chamber. At the front of the light gauze curtains hung several famous paintings. When he saw the one in the center, his steps halted.
In the painting, his mother, Consort Ji, wore her hair in a casual style, adorned with white peony jade hairpins, dressed in a tea-white upper garment and a madder-red skirt embroidered with white butterflies. Her belly was slightly showing, with jade cicadas hanging from her waist. She was surrounded by his brothers and sisters, all within this Qiuhua Pavilion with its hanging wisteria curtains everywhere.
Xiao Rongyan’s eyes grew hot, and the smile at the corners of his lips deepened. He raised his hand to lift the gauze curtain and unconsciously quickened his pace toward the painting, as if seeing his mother standing at the end of the layers of gauze curtains hanging from the sandalwood beams, smiling gently at him.
He finally stood before the scroll, gazing intently at the figures within. Thirty-six swaying lotus lamps illuminated the slightly faded painting.
When this painting was made, Xiao Rongyan had not yet been born, but his elder brother and sister were there. Looking at the smiles of his mother, brother, and sister in the painting – all genuine happiness and joy – gradually clarified the contours of his mother’s smile in Xiao Rongyan’s mind, who had no memory of her smiles since he could remember.
“The painting was lost in the depths of the storeroom during the Jin Dynasty and suffered some moisture damage, but fortunately, the pigments used originally were of the finest quality, so you can still see the original colors.” Bai Qingyan stood beside Xiao Rongyan. “The painting bears no signature, so clean it doesn’t even have a seal. It doesn’t look like the work of a famous artist either, but it probably appeared in the imperial palace… so it was thrown into a corner of the storeroom by Jin Dynasty palace servants. Nanny Qin, who serves Mother, found this painting while searching through things. She thought it looked good and originally wanted Mother to see whose famous hand it came from. I happened to be with Mother at the time. When I saw this jade cicada, I guessed Consort Ji’s identity and asked Mother for this painting.”
“Thank you…” Xiao Rongyan gazed unblinkingly at the painting, as if he could imagine those joyful times his brother had described.
It was said this painting was made by his father, that Yan Emperor… when he was still clear-minded, painted it for Mother and them. At that time, Mother was undoubtedly happy. Before Father became confused, Mother loved Father wholeheartedly, and Father loved Mother wholeheartedly as well.
The various unsavory rumors about Mother from the outside world – as Bai Qingyan had said at that palace banquet… whether it was grasping power and having a serpent’s heart, or being an enchantress who bewitched the ruler, his mother was merely a small consort with no power in the palace or influence in court, carrying a foolish emperor through treacherous waters seeking survival!
Initially, Mother sought to keep herself and Father alive. Later, she pushed Great Yan to the position of hegemon with her resilient mind… She was absolutely not the seductive empress who used her beauty to manipulate power as the outside world claimed.
Bai Qingyan smiled and grasped Xiao Rongyan’s hand, standing with him as she said in a low voice: “Between you and me, there’s no need for thanks. But the world’s legends are indeed true – Consort Ji’s talents were not only unmatched under heaven, her beauty… was also unmatched in the mortal world.”
“Beauty lies in bone, not skin…” Xiao Rongyan gently squeezed Bai Qingyan’s hand and said, “When Mother was alive, she often said… this so-called bone refers to character and backbone. Yan believes… whether in appearance or character, both Mother and A’Bao are unmatched in this world!”
“Would you like me to have painters restore this painting before you take it back?” Bai Qingyan asked.
“A’Bao needn’t trouble herself further. I’ll restore it myself…” Xiao Rongyan turned to look at Bai Qingyan. “After the matter of the two nations’ gambling is settled, I’d like to spend a day… painting a portrait of A’Bao and the two children. Can A’Bao spare the time?”
“That would naturally be wonderful!” Bai Qingyan turned to look at Xiao Rongyan, probably able to guess who had painted this scroll. She moved half a step closer to Xiao Rongyan and said in a low voice, “Everyone says my painting skills are poor. I imagine A’Yan’s paintings must be excellent. When A’Yu and the others return, I’ll push A’Yan forward to compete with them and see who still dares to mock my poor artistic standards.”
Xiao Rongyan gazed at Bai Qingyan’s serene smile and water-like beautiful eyes, seriously responding: “We husband and wife are one body. This husband should naturally win back this dignity for my wife.”
“Then I thank my husband.” Bai Qingyan’s laughter was soft and low.
·
Because Fan Yugan had been beaten by Yan’s Minister of Revenue from the Yan embassy, the eloquent Minister of Revenue could no longer go to Honglu Si.
Originally, everyone had guessed that this time Great Zhou would definitely take full advantage in the gambling matter. However, unexpectedly… among the Yan embassy, Wang Hanbing, who only held an envoy title without serving in Yan’s court, turned out to be even more difficult to deal with than Yan’s Minister of Revenue.
But even so, Great Zhou still demanded that Yan send Regent Prince Murong Yan, Second Prince Murong Li, and General Xie Xun as hostages to Great Zhou.
In Honglu Si, the Great Zhou and Yan embassies had been going back and forth on this matter for several days without reaching agreement.
Wang Hanbing knelt across from the desk, looking at the Great Zhou envoys as he spoke unhurriedly: “Our Yan can present all the cities conquered in Xiliang with both hands to Great Zhou, but we absolutely cannot send our Regent Prince as hostage to Great Zhou, much less send our General as hostage to Great Zhou. If Great Zhou is uneasy about us, we’re also willing to let our Second Prince be held hostage in Great Zhou to give Great Zhou peace of mind and show Great Zhou our Yan’s sincerity…”
“Yan’s greatest sincerity would be sending your Regent Prince and General along with the Second Prince as hostages to Great Zhou! Only then would it count as your Yan sincerely gambling the nation with our Great Zhou, rather than trying to delay time so your main forces can return to defense and catch our Great Zhou off guard!” the Great Zhou official said.
“After all…” Lu Fenglang, dressed in official robes with a slender, tall figure, clasped his hands in his sleeves and spoke slowly, “The Second Prince need not be mentioned, General Xie Xun need not be mentioned either, but Yan’s Regent Prince… besides being your Yan’s Regent Prince, is also a fierce general skilled in warfare. This point our Great Zhou deeply experienced in the Xiliang battles! Moreover, with the piercing pain of being stabbed in the back by Yan before, Yan hopes our Great Zhou will lower our guard, yet hides the general Great Zhou truly fears and refuses to show sincerity. You can’t expect all the good things in the world to be monopolized by your Yan!”
Lu Fenglang’s round eyes, similar to Lu Yuanpeng’s, carried a hint of killing intent: “Yan must not forget that this time… Yan has come not only to discuss gambling the nation, but also to give our Great Zhou an explanation for Yan’s Empress Dowager stabbing us in the back!”
“Master Lu speaks correctly!” Hearing Lu Fenglang say this, the smile in Wang Hanbing’s eyes deepened. He nodded, “Then let’s divide this matter into two and discuss it. Since our Yan’s backstabbing of the Great Zhou came first, let’s first settle this matter.”