Chapter 376: Overwhelm you

The bells and drums at the time of Si came, and an eunuch came with an order, looked around and said loudly: "He is the one who is Xuan."

I don’t know who thought about this character. It doesn’t call it a name or an identity, so it means that someone is coming soon.

Chen Ao and Cai Lun followed the eunuch, but the direction was not to talk about the martial arts palace, but to the palace city. Here, two more palace maids came towards him, looked up and down, and said to the eunuch: "The Queen Mother's decree, please ask the two to go to Jingtai Pavilion to reply."

As he said that, he led the two of them to another pavilion. The palace maid went in first to inform him, and then someone said, "Please ask the two wise men to enter the pavilion."

Chen Ao was speechless. The show was really quite big. But since it was a palace examination, why did you come to the harem? It was a disagreement. Could it be that the empress dowager wanted to choose it himself? Khan, I must be embarrassed to meet her later.

When the two of them entered and crossed the threshold, they felt the exquisiteness of the attic. They were facing a row of small black lacquer screens made of gold and silver strips, and the gold and silver bars were inlaid with Shixin Xingle's pictures. The bamboo mat inside was covered with a silk red carpet, and green, white and blue colors were weaved with treasure-carved lotus patterns. The center of the attic was set with Shixin's short table inlaid with ivory wood paintings, and next to it was surrounded by emerging white porcelain beauty pictures Crescent stools. The Xing kiln white porcelain tea sets on the low table were also scattered. There were screens and veils on the left and right, which happened to form an open space. However, after the veil, countless figures were shaking, and a chuckling came from time to time. Chen Ao looked left and right and found that there were quite a few people in the room, all of whom were concubines in the palace, and the head of the head was the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.

When the Empress Dowager saw Chen Ao, her face changed at first, but in front of so many concubines and wives, she did not say anything, but said, "The Emperor's wife will choose a marriage, and the Ai family will be the examiner. You can take the exam carefully. Which one will win? If the Emperor's wife nods, she will be considered the prince-consort."

Cai Lun smiled and said, "The Empress Dowager is in charge, and the students are flattered."

Chen Ao originally wanted to flatter, but Cai Lun snatched the line, so he had to sneer and simply stop talking.

The queen mother looked at Chen Ao deeply and whispered a few words to the destiny woman on the side. The destiny woman said, "Yes." Then she walked out gracefully and walked to the inner room of the attic. The furnishings here were completely different from the outer room. There was less luxury and a little more elegance. However, she saw An Ning sitting behind the bead curtain with a pretty face red. Through the gauze and the bead curtain, she vaguely watched the movement outside. When she saw Chen Ao coming in, she felt complicated and embarrassed. God knew that the father suddenly asked about recruiting brides and how she agreed by nature. She just hoped in her memory that if it were recruiting brides, perhaps Chen Ao would come. With his wisdom and knowledge, it would be fine to stand out.

But even though she thought so before, she heard Chen Ao's voice today, and she couldn't help but panic. She sat on the Jindun and clenched her skirt, not knowing whether she was happy or sad in her heart.

"Emperor's wife." The destiny came in, bowed to An Ning, and said, "The Queen Mother just passed the message and told the Emperor not to choose Chen Ao."

"..." An Ning raised her eyes, her eyes were as plain as water, and she said, "Why is this?"

The wife said, "Chen Ao already has a wife, and the dignified princess, how can he marry him?"

An Ning bit her lip but didn't speak. After a long time, she said, "I understand."

In the small hall, the queen mother looked at Chen Ao and Cai Lun with a smile. She admired Chen Ao. She naturally admired Chen Ao. This young man was both the top scorer in the art exam and the top scorer in the imperial examination. She made great contributions as soon as she entered the officialdom. Now she has been awarded a marquis and a minister of the Honglu Temple. Whether it is knowledge or character, the queen mother could not find any flaws; it was just...

He already has a wife, and this one alone forced the Queen Mother to discourage her.

The Empress Dowager's eyes fell on Cai Lun again. Cai Lun was also handsome and elegant, and was the heir of the Cai family. It is said that his talent and knowledge were also excellent. At this time, when he saw his gentle and obedient look, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but nod and had an idea in her mind.

After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke, "I heard that you both have made excellent paintings. The Ai family will ask you to make a painting today."

After the empress dowager said that, she raised her hand and gave a wink at the eunuch. The eunuch understood and immediately called a few eunuchs to bring the desk and the four treasures of the study, each placed in front of Shen Ao and Cai Lun.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager showed expectations for him, Cai Lun was secretly proud of him and asked, "I don't know what the test question is?"

The Queen Mother thought for a while and said, "Since you admire An Ning, you will draw An Ning according to your ideas. But in advance, this painting needs two feet and five inches. One more is not more, and one less is not less."

After the empress dowager finished speaking, Chen Ao and Cai Lun immediately understood that this was not only a school-based painting, but also a problem hidden behind this painting. Because the eunuch sent only about two feet and three inches of paper, two feet and three inches of paper were used to make two feet and five inches of painting. This painting was afraid it was not simple.

Cai Lun was determined, as if he had an answer in his heart, and smiled and said, "The Queen Mother is here to stay, so the student will paint a picture for Emperor Anning." Then he raised his pen, dipped it in ink, and started to write it.

"Damn it's cheating!" Chen Ao couldn't help but cursed, thinking it was really unfair. Most of these test questions were given by Cai Jing. Cai Jing told Cai Lun that Cai Lun was ready and planned to shine today; this pair of grandparents and grandchildren were so shameless.

Chen Ao thought about it and suddenly fell into hesitation. Two feet and three inches of paper were more than two inches, which was difficult. He raised his pen and fell into deep thought. Then, he smiled slightly and began to start writing.

In the pavilion, two young men held their pens, one was graceful and calm and calm when they were put on the ink; the other was smiling and confident. The concubines and women on the side held their breath, and the needles in the building could be heard.

Only half an hour later, Cai Lun was the first to write. He had the advantage. With the great-grandfather's "instructions", he was a little faster than Chen Ao. He blew the ink marks and looked at Chen Ao. Seeing that Chen Ao was still writing quickly, a hint of sarcasm appeared on his gentle face, and he respectfully bowed to the Queen Mother: "Go back to the Queen Mother, the student has already painted it!"

The Empress Dowager was overjoyed and immediately said, "Okay, come here, show it to the Ai family."

Cai Lun happily handed the painting to the eunuch who delivered it. The eunuch carefully held the painting, walked around the gauze curtain, and displayed the painting in front of the empress dowager. The concubines and women gathered to see it, and they were amazed for a moment. Cai Lun's painting happened to be two feet and five inches. Although it was two feet and three inches of paper, the diagonal distance between the two diagonals was exactly two feet, which just met the conditions of the empress dowager.

Zhao Ji's good calligraphy and painting attracted most of the concubines in the palace to appreciate calligraphy and painting. Cai Lun's paintings fell into the eyes of the concubines and immediately attracted a lot of praise. The brushwork of the painting was very delicate and exquisite. Because it was made of origami, it was quite difficult, so the layout challenge was extremely strong. Each stroke line was staggered, without a trace of chaos. A woman in the painting looked as beautiful as a fairy, stroking the hair on her forehead with one hand, smiling with a smile on her lips, and her graceful body leaning against the door frame. Although she was charming, she was not out of the ordinary. She was extremely dignified, as if she was looking at the scenery in the distance, and she seemed to be thinking about the girl's thoughts. With every frown and smile, her whole body was unconsciously noble.

This painting may not be as famous as the works of all generations, but in front of concubines and destiny, it is enough to make them amazed. I didn't expect that Cai Lun had such achievements at such a young age.

The empress dowager was overjoyed and pointed at Huaer and said, "The Ai family doesn't know how to paint, but they also know that Cai Lun's paintings make people feel comfortable. Come and take this painting to An Ning."

The wife took the painting and turned it to the back room. She saw Princess An Ning thinking about her thoughts blankly. The eyes of the autumn water were shining like stars in the dark night sky, making people look at it, and she couldn't help feeling pity. The wife happily spread the painting to Princess An Ning and said, "Your Highness, you can see the paintings made by Mr. Cai. It's really great, it's not worse than the painters in the palace at all."

An Ning just glanced at Hua'er, then withdrew her eyes and murmured, "The person he painted was not like me at all."

The wife was not interested in An Ning, so she said, "Young Master Cai has never seen Your Highness, so she naturally doesn't draw it like it, but this painting is still very well made."

An Ning bit her lip, a hint of redness was applied on her face, and she coughed softly, saying, "Shen Ao must be better than him."

The fateful wife was bored and had to put away the painting and return to the empress dowager to report her life.

When Cai Lun saw that everyone praised him, he was overjoyed, and his face still showed a humble look, and he stood aside with his hands behind his back. Seeing that he was not arrogant or impatient, the concubines even thought that Mr. Cai was outstanding.

On the other hand, Shen Ao was quite embarrassed that his grandmother didn't love his uncle and didn't love him. However, he was devoted to painting and had already excluded all the things around him. Only the pen in his hand and the drawing paper under his pen were left in his eyes.

After half an hour, Shen Ao left his pen and said, "The painting is finished."

Another eunuch presented Shen Ao's painting to the empress dowager, and the concubines came to see it again. Shen Ao took the same method as Cai Lun, folding the drawing paper diagonally. In this way, two feet and three inches became two feet and five inches. Everyone looked at the painting carefully and looked up and down. Then a concubine couldn't help but screamed: "Good painting!"

The other concubines nodded in agreement, and for a moment they admired it more seriously; the picture of this lady was cut in full swing without any contamination, and only outlined a woman with simple and clear mature lines.

The woman in the painting wears her hair with her hair, her eyebrows are as long as picturesque, her eyes are as twinkling as stars, and her eyes are as bright as stars. She is so narrow that she is so beautiful that she does not have the slightest smell of human fireworks. She is wearing a white-backed gauze shirt and a white pleated skirt. She sat there, dignified and noble, quiet and elegant, so pure and tender, like a budding lotus, spotless.

Just by looking at it, you can see that the painting is extraordinary. The woman in this painting does not only show a kind of playful and dignified look. After closer inspection, I saw that although the woman smiled with a fearful dignity, there was a feeling of loneliness in her eyes staring at the void. Although she smiled, her smile was a bit reluctant, and behind the force was a depressed melancholy.

Deep in the Forbidden Palace, a beautiful girl is generous and decent, weak in body, and under the jewelry spirit, the girl has a sad smile and deep eyes. Looking into the distance, what will her eyes be? Chen Ao has not drawn it, but it is enough to arouse countless imaginations.

It was just that the forced smile of the woman in the painting and the loneliness and anxiety under the happy appearance deeply moved all the concubines. They did not say a word, and each had their own thoughts. They couldn't help but sigh. Several concubines had tears in their eyes, but they held back their tears and did not burst out from their eyes.

The women in the painting can be Princess An Ning, but aren’t they? Who knows this feeling of loneliness better than them? There is only one emperor, but the concubines are like clouds and seas. Most of the time, they just guard the lonely lamp alone in the harem. Although tears have turned into thousands of lines, in front of outsiders, they have to endure loneliness and force themselves to smile.

Seeing that many concubines were crying, the Empress Dowager sighed and said, "Whatever you cry, you put away your tears, and they all became a kind of moral character." Although she vaguely hoped that Cai Lun would suppress Chen Ao, even the Empress Dowager had to admit that Chen Ao's paintings were actually in the sky and underground compared to Cai Lun; she had to say, "Go and show An Ning the paintings."
Chapter completed!