The Perilous Palace Dream - Chapter 102
Chapter 102
When judged purely on painting technique, Cousin Ruoshan naturally excelled, but in terms of the painting’s depth of artistic concept, the young woman named Lin’er was certainly her equal.
Ruoshan had prepared to make a brilliant debut, but she unexpectedly ended up serving as a foil for the princess.
Seeing a crowd of people praising the work nonstop, the frustration in her heart was completely reflected on her face.
She stood alone on the side, her expression very gloomy.
However, Lin’er was quite modest.
She stood up, picked up her painting paper, and laughed, saying, “I only played a small trick. How dare I show off in front of all you masters? Since the painting competition is over, I must not continue to play games and make a fool of myself.”
With that, she crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the lake.
The bystanders all thought this young woman had a noble character and only acted this way because she had been misunderstood and ridiculed earlier.
A feeling of shame intensified among them.
Wei Lenghou glanced at her with a half smile.
She was someone who knew when to quit while ahead!
Nie Qinglin naturally knew when to quit while ahead.
Seeing the Grand Tutor smiling deeply at her, she knew in her heart that he had seen through the trick.
The malicious move by young Cousin Ruoshan just now had briefly ignited a rare desire to win.
Knowing that these women were all exceptionally talented, competing with them on painting skill alone would be like teaching one’s grandmother to suck eggs.
She had suddenly recalled the “Drunk Lying in the Snow” original painting by Mr. Longsi of the previous dynasty, which used to hang in the palace painting hall.
Whenever she saw this painting during calligraphy and painting lessons with the other princes, she found it interesting.
She wondered if the old man was drunk or frozen to death in the snow.
Then, she realized that if the painting was inverted, the figure of the old man resembled a distant mountain, which was very fitting.
Just now, she had simply copied it, making only slight alterations, replacing the wine pot in the figure’s hand with firewood!
However, such “plagiarism” must be done cleverly.
She had intentionally left flaws in the ink application, making it look like the work of a clumsy child.
This was because the theme perfectly matched the local conditions of Qiu Men Mountain, prompting the talented scholars to feel deep emotion and overthink the concept, preventing them from appreciating the details.
After the crowd had finished looking, she naturally had to destroy the evidence, lest the scholars come to their senses and use it to mock and embarrass her.
After the crowd chatted freely in the painted boat, they walked away in twos and threes, preparing to climb the mountain for an outing.
The Grand Tutor walked up beside Nie Qinglin and asked in a low voice with a smile, “So brazen, are you not afraid Mr. Longsi will appear in Guo’er’s dream?”
Nie Qinglin blinked her eyes and pretended to be clueless, asking, “What does the Grand Tutor mean? Lin’er does not understand.”
The Grand Tutor took advantage of the crowd’s inattention and flicked her forehead with his finger: “Is there anyone in this world as bold and ignorant as you?”
“Naturally there is,” Nie Qinglin said matter of factly.
“For example, this one who is skilled in both the civil and military arts would never be so, and in cherishing and pitying the fair sex, I am leagues behind the Grand Tutor… By the way, Cousin Ruoshan is walking a bit slowly. Should the Grand Tutor not go and look after her?”
The air in the autumn mountains was fresh, but the Grand Tutor still caught a hint of sourness.
He flicked her forehead again and walked steadily by her side.
Mr. Yuzhu walked behind the two of them, only feeling that the pair ahead was very well matched.
Moreover, the young woman’s conduct and mannerisms revealed a noble air.
She was nothing like the beauties Brother Zhenglin used to bring along to serve tea and water.
Not only did she lack the perceptiveness to serve a man, but Brother Zhenglin was often the one looking after her when drinking tea and eating snacks on the boat.
He secretly asked Wei Yunzhi, “The beautiful woman Brother Zhenglin brought this time has an unusual temperament, I wonder what her background is?”
Wei Yunzhi knew that these were all his brother’s close friends from youth, but his brother had not revealed the Princess’s background, likely having some concerns.
He dared not say too much, only smiling and saying, “She is likely from an extraordinary background. My brother did not explicitly say, and I dare not ask too much.”
Yuzhu instantly understood in his heart that the young woman was probably a member of the royal nobility or a similar figure, but had been secretly brought out by the dashing Brother Zhenglin, perhaps for fear of tarnishing her reputation.
He stopped asking further.
Although the path on Qiu Men Mountain was paved with bluestone due to the many tourists, walking for a while still made one feel tired.
Nie Qinglin had always lacked physical endurance.
Although dressed in a spirited and heroic manner, her forehead was already glistening with a slight sweat, and her breathing was becoming uneven.
Nanny Shan saw her like this and intended to step down and call for a sedan chair, but the Grand Tutor waved his large hand and said, “No need.”
After speaking, he half crouched down, extended his arms, and actually carried the Princess on his back.
Amidst Nie Qinglin’s slight gasp of surprise, he straightened his body and quickly climbed the steps, disappearing in just a few strides.
Fortunately, the people present were generally uninhibited.
This shocking act in front of others only drew a faint smile from them.
The two men who had brought their wives were not to be outdone.
They also half crouched down and invited their wives to “mount up.”
Then, carrying their respective wives, but lacking the Grand Tutor’s good stamina, they walked up the mountain with slight panting and constant laughter.
Because Yuzhu’s wife was pregnant, she did not follow them, which made him happy to climb the mountain alone, leaving only Wei Yunzhi and Cousin Ruoshan.
Wei Yunzhi did not dare to offend the cousin, knowing that once involved, she would be impossible to shake off.
He said to Ruoshan, “Why don’t I call a sedan chair for you, Cousin?”
Ruoshan looked forlornly at the figures in the distance that were about to disappear among the dense green trees, and said petulantly, “I have legs, I can walk up the mountain myself!”
Since the cousin insisted on proving herself, Wei Yunzhi was also content to relax.
He walked a few steps away from her, accompanying her and a few maids up the mountain.
Qiu Men Mountain was not high, but because most of the path was winding, it was quite physically demanding.
However, Lord Wei carried Nie Qinglin all the way, his steps steady, as he climbed to the summit.
By the time the two of them reached the top, besides Nanny Shan, whose big feet gave her good walking speed, and a few accompanying guards, everyone else was left behind on the mountainside.
At the summit, there was a flattened stone slab inscribed with a large chessboard, and next to it was a pavilion complete with stone chairs and a stone table.
The Grand Tutor instructed the entourage to wait by the mountain road and led Nie Qinglin by the hand into the pavilion to rest.
A strong wind had blown the night before, and a few fallen leaves hung in the pavilion.
The Grand Tutor reached out to brush the leaves from the stone bench, but suddenly his arm quickly shook, and he let out a low cry of “Ah.”
Nie Qinglin was right behind him and naturally saw clearly that nestled within the pile of yellow and red leaves was a small green snake.
It seemed to have been resting comfortably in the leaves, and when its sweet dream was disturbed by a large hand, it showed no mercy, fiercely biting the palm.
Wei Lenghou’s action was swift, shaking off the small snake, then raising his foot and kicking it to the side.
The green snake was a young grass snake, nonvenomous and good to eat.
In the past, when Wei Lenghou climbed Qiu Men Mountain with his friends, they often caught some, skinned them, and roasted them to go with wine, finding the taste quite good.
However, thinking of the fair lady behind him, and knowing she had been frightened by the poisonous snakes in the Southern Frontier while in the palace, he was about to turn around to comfort her when he saw his Guo’er’s face turn pale.
She immediately grabbed his large palm, which the small snake had bitten, brought it to her mouth, and began to vigorously suck it.
The instant she saw Wei Lenghou bitten by the snake, Nie Qinglin’s mind did not overthink it.
Instead, she remembered the tale of him being bitten by a poisonous snake in the Southern Frontier and needing the venom sucked out immediately.
In a moment of urgency, she pressed her mouth to his hand.
Wei Lenghou also knew she had misunderstood and had intended to explain, but the soft, delicate mouth vigorously sucking on his large palm was quite pleasurable.
He was actually reluctant to tell her the truth, letting the lovely girl work hard at “sucking out the poison.”
After sucking for a while, Nie Qinglin slowly realized something was amiss.
Nanny Shan and the others had not come over, and Wei Lenghou looked completely relaxed, watching her with a smile playing on his lips: “Grand Tutor, why are you not worried?”
Wei Lenghou extended a long finger to gently stroke her slightly red eyes, saying, “Even the deadly five step viper would be thoroughly cured by Guo’er’s fragrant saliva. What is there to worry about?”
Nie Qinglin blinked, suddenly realizing that the snake might have been nonvenomous.
Her face flushed red, and she quickly pulled her hand away.
However, the Grand Tutor was ecstatic in his heart.
This Guo’er had a hard shell and never revealed a trace of tenderness on a normal day.
Yet, a small snake had unexpectedly tested her concern for him.
He truly wished that all the grass snakes on this mountain would bite him, one after another, so that the beautiful woman’s soft lips and sweet essence could heal him with such meticulous care.
Thinking this, he could no longer hold back.
He cupped the back of her head and kissed her with intensity and heat.
Thinking of her eyes being slightly red because he had been bitten by a snake made his whole heart feel as if it were soaked in honeyed water.
It was only when Nanny Shan whispered that the people behind were catching up along the winding mountain road that he reluctantly released her lips and tongue, taking the hand of the little person, who was rendered exceptionally pliant by the kiss, and sitting down on the stone bench in the pavilion.
The Grand Tutor constantly managed state affairs, and such leisure was rare.
Coupled with being reunited with his close friends from youth, he was in a very cheerful mood.
The group arrived at the pavilion on the mountain, admired the beautiful scenery, and drank fine wine.
Soon, the sun began to set in the west.
Everyone returned to the foot of the mountain and got into their sedan chairs one by one.
This time, however, the Grand Tutor finally looked directly at his cousin.
He walked to her sedan chair and lifted the curtain.
Ruoshan’s breathing hitched, and her face flushed slightly as she looked at the Grand Tutor’s handsome face.
But Lord Wei’s expression slightly darkened, and he said, “I saw Cousin already arrive with Yunzhi just now, and I had intended to let Cousin join us for fun and lighten her mood. However, I must ask Cousin not to wander about freely in the coming days. Your father is coming to pick up you and your mother. He will naturally apologize to Aunt, and after you return this time, you two will not be ill treated. You do not need to worry too much about your marriage either. My sister, Wei Lenghou’s sister, will not lack for suitors.”
These words immediately turned Ruoshan’s face pale.
That phrase, “Wei Lenghou’s sister,” blocked all her intentions.
Her lips trembled, and her eyes instantly welled up: “Cousin… you…”
Wei Lenghou did not let her speak: “You were young at the time, your head was momentarily hot, and you acted without considering the consequences, doing some extravagant things. I did not say much then, only because my reputation, Cousin, has always been poor, so your family would not blame you. As long as you and Aunt do not spread that kind of farce, outsiders naturally will not know. Consider that my effort as Ruoshan’s brother. But in the future, I hope Ruoshan will use her head a bit. You must know that even between biological siblings, there are times when feelings run out…”
With that, he dropped the sedan curtain, turned, and left.
When they returned to the temporary residence after a day of fun, they saw carriages and horses parked in front of the gate.
It turned out that Prince Xiu Tuhong of Xiongnu was worried about his Princess and took time to visit.
Nie Qinglin knew her older sister was still angry with the Prince and had likely not resolved her emotional knot.
However, the Prince also did not seem like someone who knew how to coax people, which was truly vexing.
As she walked up, she saw Qiao’er running out in a panic, calling out, “This is bad, Shao… Princess Shaoyang has given birth early!”
