I come to see Bai Yujing today

Chapter 60 The color of the world is like dust

Princess Shang Qiu walked in front, wearing a gorgeous dress. Her long skirt dragged on the ground, but it was spotless and water-proof.

For a person like her, even the ordinary clothes she wears must be sewn with mysterious techniques and extremely precious materials. Chen Zhian is no longer surprised.

But in Princess Shang Qiu's eyes, Chen Zhian seemed a little strange.

From time to time, she turned her head and glanced at Chen Zhian, and there seemed to be some doubt in her blue pupils.

Princess Shang Qiu had indeed never imagined that the painter invited by the Ministry of Internal Affairs from Sunan Prefecture was actually so young. He looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, but his eyes were calm, steady, and somewhat mature.

At the age of seventeen or eighteen, the probability of presenting a painting to the inner court and eventually having the painting sent to the Yufu Palace is actually very small.

The inner court does not collect everyone’s paintings.

First of all, one must have a good family background and achievements. Secondly, since they are employed by the palace, there are actually quite a lot of rules. For example, apart from the provincial governments, only people of quite extraordinary status are qualified to send paintings to the painters.

It is actually not easy for ordinary painters to send paintings to the imperial court.

And Chen Zhian just happens to meet all these difficulties.

"He is only seventeen or eighteen years old and has a high rank. This painting was sent to the inner court by Guiyunshi. Moreover, the words written by Wei Lingyu just now are actually very vicious. But Chen Zhian looked at it and acted as if nothing had happened..."

Princess Shang Qiu was curious, but she was even more curious about Chen Zhian's skill in painting with seven colors.

"I have asked someone to get your brush and ink. When you finish painting for my sister, please also paint a picture for me."

Princess Shang Qiu gave these instructions before entering the main hall of Yufu Palace.

Chen Zhian also looked at the young princess with some curiosity.

Princess Shang Qiu is a humble person and she doesn't put on airs when she speaks. In Xuantianjing, where there are so many powerful people, such noble people should be a minority.

As he thought about it, he followed Princess Shang Qiu into the main hall of Yufu Palace.

It is said to be the main hall, but in fact it looks more like a huge reception room. There are many tables, chairs, and cushions in the hall. I wonder what kind of wood these tables and chairs are made of. The fragrance is so strong that it makes people feel refreshed. It must be a very precious wood.

Behind a gauze curtain on the stage, Chen Zhian vaguely saw a hazy shadow sitting up and looking at him.

"Are you Chen Zhian who painted that colorful painting?" A pleasant voice came from behind the gauze curtain, with some doubt in the tone.

Chen Zhian bowed and responded.

Princess Shang Qiu walked onto the stage and went behind the curtain, where she whispered with Princess Linglong for a while.

Princess Linglong added: "This time when I came to Yufu Palace, Mr. Chen was wronged."

Just as Chen Zhian was about to respond, Princess Shang Qiu said with a smile, "This Mr. Chen is quite extraordinary. Wei Lingyu's calligraphy has not taken away his mind. I think this young Mr. Chen must also be a cultivator, and his cultivation is not low."

Princess Linglong nodded slightly, with more praise in her tone: "At a young age, although you have no imperial examination achievements, you have the rank of an eighth-rank Cheyilang, and you have good painting skills, and you even have some cultivation.

Mr. Chen must be from a prominent family?"

Princess Shang Qiu also looked at Chen Zhian with some curiosity.

Logically speaking, the identities and backgrounds of those who enter Yufu Palace should be clearly investigated.

However, this time, Princess Linglong needed the person urgently, and the court session was not far away, so she just went to Su Nan Mansion to find out whether the man was innocent. In addition, since the Ministry of Personnel had given this man the rank of eighth-rank Cheyilang, she kept everything simple.

Chen Zhian thought for a moment and said, "Chen Zhian was originally a painter at the Huangmen of the Sunan Prefecture. He was not from an aristocratic family. His father taught children's literature in the Sunan Prefecture for seventeen or eighteen years. This honor... was earned because Chen Zhian made some contributions by chance."

He told the truth. If he really wanted the identity of the court painter, he would not be able to hide his background from the two princesses. And since he had a clean background, he did not need to hide anything from others.

The two princesses were a little surprised when they heard this, but they didn't ask any more questions.

Princess Linglong said, "This kind of background can be considered a family of scholars... Then, how about Mr. Chen drawing a picture for Princess Shangqiu?"

Chen Zhian was about to speak.

Then a steward came in, bending over, and brought the bag that Chen Zhi had left in the inn.

So Chen Zhian didn't say much. He took out the canvas, paint, and three different paintbrushes from his luggage, and asked for a stand and set them up carefully.

Princess Shang Qiu is quite young and still has some girlish nature.

Chen Zhian wanted to paint a colorful portrait for her, so she excitedly walked out of the gauze curtain and sat not far from Chen Zhian.

"The ink is a little dry." Chen Zhian asked for hot water to dissolve it slightly before picking up the brush to paint.

The essence of oil painting is to paint one layer on top of another, with layer upon layer, and the paint piled up. If you look closely, it looks like mountains of paint rising from the ground and stretching across the entire canvas.

Chen Zhian painted Princess Shang Qiu's skin color with six layers, and her hair and clothes with eight or nine layers each. He painted it quite carefully.

He drew a model and said to Princess Shang Qiu: "Now Princess, please feel free to do as you please. There is no need to be so restrained."

Princess Shang Qiu stood up and stood behind Chen Zhian with her hands behind her back, watching Chen Zhian paint with surprise in her eyes.

"How interesting." Princess Shang Qiu opened her eyes wide. "Layer after layer, layer after layer, the more you draw it, the more it resembles you."

Just as Shen Haohao said before, although this oil painting is not as lingering and majestic as the ink and color painting, and has infinite charm, it is better in that the portraits have more colors and layers, are more vivid, quite pleasing to the eye, and can better depict the beauty of women.

Princess Shang Qiu watched Chen Zhian carefully as he painted. Chen Zhian spent half an hour painting, and Princess Shang Qiu's face appeared on the canvas. Princess Shang Qiu's eyes sparkled, and she nodded, "It's really very beautiful, and quite special."

In fact, it makes her look more beautiful.

Chen Zhian changed a brush and outlined the painting while saying, "Time is tight, so this painting is also done hastily. In fact, this kind of painting method is still slow. After the base is done, you should wait for it to dry thoroughly before painting the second and third layers.

So the painting doesn’t look transparent.”

"Can you draw better?" Princess Shang Qiu's eyes lit up, and she walked closer and said to Chen Zhian, "Then you should carefully memorize my appearance, and when you return, you can draw a good one for me."

Chen Zhian looked at Princess Shang Qiu. This princess should be a mixed-race. Her skin color was different from the white of the Dayu people. Her pupils were blue and her lips were bright red.

He took a quick glance and continued to paint until he finished.

A palace maid carefully placed the canvas behind the gauze curtain. Princess Linglong looked at the painting and was silent for a few moments before finally speaking...

"it is good."

"Please draw another picture for me, Mr. Chen, but...make me look happier."

Palace maids immediately opened the gauze curtains.

Chen Zhian looked up. In his memories of his past life, there were countless faces of beauties, whether they were seen with his own eyes or were forced into his eyes after multiple modifications during the information explosion.

But even though he had seen so many beauties, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he saw Princess Linglong's face...

Beautiful indeed.

Phrases like "She is so charming in the crowd that the world seems like dust at a glance," or "her eyes are as bright as water and her skin is as white as jade," or "she may be a fairy descended to earth" are not enough to describe the beauty of Princess Linglong.

However, Chen Zhian still only took a glance and lowered his head.

This is the imperial palace. If we can't control ourselves, someone will die.

Seeing that Chen Zhian was a polite man, Princess Linglong nodded with satisfaction and felt relieved.

Chen Zhian set up a new canvas and continued painting.

While painting, I can actually appreciate the beauty of Princess Linglong openly.

Chen Zhian didn't have any evil thoughts. The memories of his past life were so chaotic and complicated that he felt as if he were in another world now.

"A red and pink skeleton, white bones and flesh... but it's not bad to use it to feast your eyes."

Princess Linglong was extremely beautiful and pleasing to the eyes, so Chen Zhian enjoyed painting her and it was a good opportunity for him to cultivate his eyes.

Another half hour passed and the portrait of Princess Linglong was completed.

The palace maid handed over the portrait. Princess Linglong looked at it carefully and saw that she was smiling peacefully in the portrait. Her face was like that of a celestial being, but without so much sorrow.

"it is good."

Princess Linglong said "OK" again, and the gauze curtain on the platform was closed again.

But her voice coming from behind the gauze curtain was much more cheerful: "Mr. Chen's words are very satisfying to me. I have come all the way to summon you to the palace to paint for me. I am sorry to bother you.

The court ceremony is not far away, sir, why don't you get a title as a court painter in my Yufu Palace and receive the salary from the Ministry of Internal Affairs... If you find anything else you need, just ask Shukui girl."

As soon as Princess Linglong finished speaking, a palace maid with her hair tied up in a bun walked out from the darkness of the high platform and saluted Chen Zhian from a distance.

Chen Zhian returned the gift.

Princess Shang Qiu rolled her eyes and asked, "Where is Mr. Chen staying now?"

"The Sunan government arranged for me to rest in an inn for a while." Chen Zhian answered truthfully.

Princess Shang Qiu looked behind her and told a eunuch to take charge, "Don't I have a house on Fusang Street? I originally planned to give it to General Hongye as a separate house for practicing calligraphy, but the general was in a high position and was afraid of suspicion, so he refused to accept it.

The house is not big, it is empty anyway, and it happens to be close to the palace, so Mr. Chen can move in for the time being and wait until the court ceremony is over... Mr. Chen was wronged by Wei Lingyu today, so this small favor should be regarded as compensation."

Chen Zhian bowed and thanked him calmly.

The reason why he handed in the portrait and wanted to get a job in Xuantianjing was that he wanted to live as close to the palace as possible.

Just as Chu Muye said, there are whirlpools of swallowing people everywhere in Xuantianjing. Especially Chen Zhian's purpose of coming to Xuantianjing is not simple. He always has to be wary of behemoths like the Li family and the Si family.

Being closer to the Xuantian Palace, if things really get to the point of a falling out, I think it would be possible to avoid some of the dangers in the dark.

Even if Princess Shang Qiu did not reward him, with the status of a court painter, he would be eligible to live in any of the thirty-two alleys of the eight streets of Xuantian Palace at his own expense.

After painting a picture and getting benefits, Princess Shang Qiu left for something, and Chen Zhian was about to take his leave.

Princess Linglong suddenly opened her mouth and said, "Mr. Chen, I have something else to ask you."

"The clouds resemble clothes, the flowers resemble faces... Where did Mr. Chen get such poems?"

(End of this chapter)