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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 48 (Part 2)

Zhao Yusong seemed to have a relaxed demeanor, but in fact, he was already full of resentment, his hands already clenched into fists. What does it mean to “tie him firmly, put an end to all schemes for him, and bring the most beautiful and precious things in the world to him one by one to please him”? When he said this, His Highness, the Ninth Prince’s eyes were fixed on You Shu from beginning to end, with a solemn expression as if he was swearing an oath, as if You Shu was his sweetheart, and for You Shu, he could do everything.

What does this so-called “everything” include? Power, status, favor? The eldest uncle is just a petty person who is trapped by flies and dogs around him. If his son is favored, won’t he become more unscrupulous? At that time, how should the two legitimate families deal with each other? Zhao Yusong gritted his teeth and thought: ‘The Zhao clan must not have a shameless flatterer, and an ignorant courtier who likes to show off his beauty.’ After I go back, I will inform my grandfather about it and let him make a decision.

Although the thought seemed righteous, the jealousy in his heart was far more than the worry about the clan’s prestige.

At the same time, You Shu and the Ninth Prince had eaten two bowls of rice and were about to add a third bowl. Seeing that the food disappeared quickly, Xue Wangjing winked at the eunuch standing by the door and asked him to order some more. It’s rare that His Highness Ninth Prince is in a good mood and has a big appetite, so he must let him enjoy himself today.

As soon as the door opened, there was a loud noise from outside. It turned out that the scholars from all over the world were holding a literary meeting downstairs. In one month, there will be the triennial exam. After the triennial exam, there will be the imperial exam. If they can pass, they will immediately be able to rank among the upper class. Naturally, they are looking forward to it and want to show their talents.

These literati gatherings can not only make oneself famous, but also test out the depth of the opponent. If you meet one or two noble people by chance, you may be able to get help and support from them. Therefore, in the recent period, restaurants and tea houses in various places in Shangjing have been very lively. Among them, Wangchuan Tower is the most favored by scholars, because it is the place which His Royal Highness the Ninth Prince likes to visit. It can be heard from the scholars in Shangjing that if you come to Wangchuan Tower for dinner, you will meet His Highness at least nine times out of ten.

Today, it wasn’t clear whether these scholars are lucky or not, but they met each other, but the Ninth Prince already has someone beautiful by his side, so he doesn’t have the heart to pay attention to anything else.

Zhao Yusong felt disappointed when he saw that His Highness Ninth Prince was indifferent to the high-spirited talk outside, and wondered if he should take the initiative later and invite His Highness to come down and show off his literary talent? But at this moment, his servant came in holding a bamboo tube and whispered something in his ear. He was overjoyed, waited for His Royal Highness to eat and drink enough, and waited for You Shu to wipe his mouth and clean his hands, then cupped his hands and said, “Your Highness, my father found a pair of calligraphy and paintings of the unknown layman a while ago, would you give me your palm?”

“Oh, your father can also get the calligraphy and painting of the unknown layman, what a blessing! Your Highness loves to collect his works, so hurry up and display them for everyone to appreciate.” Xue Wangjing raised his eyebrows and smiled. Everyone else also agreed.

It was only then that You Shu remembered the task assigned by her parents. When he heard that the calligraphy and painting were the Ninth Prince’s favorite, he quickly turned to look at Zhao Yusong, and asked ignorantly, “Who is the unknown layman?”

He has always been like this. He asks when he doesn’t understand, and tells when he doesn’t know. When he gets the answer from others, he silently keeps it in his heart to expand his knowledge reserve. He never pretends to understand, let alone pretends not to understand.

Everyone was stunned at first, then amused, but they didn’t dare to reveal it in front of the Ninth Prince, their faces turned red.

Zhao Yusong was pleased with himself, and said coquettishly, “The unknown Layman was the most famous calligrapher and painter in the Ming Dynasty. He neither liked painting landscapes nor painting flowers and plants. He only copied portraits all his life. He often wandered the street with a wooden board and carved out everyone he met. At that time, people laughed at him for being stupid, vulgar, and out of the mainstream, but he persevered. From the age of sixteen to fifty, and seeing that he was about to die, Emperor Zongsheng suddenly issued an imperial decree and recruited painters who were skilled at drawing. It turned out that he wanted to depict the face of his beloved on paper and cherish it, but every time he started to paint, he often felt uncomfortable due to deep emotions and felt he couldn’t even draw up to one-tenth of the person in his heart. And he was also afraid of forgetting him over time, that’s why …”

“Why are you talking nonsense, get to the point!” Seeing that You Shu’s eyes were red again, and a few teardrops were hanging on his eyelashes, the Ninth Prince immediately scolded, with a very impatient expression.

Zhao Yusong’s face turned pale, and he said hastily, “This was just to inform the world that he is looking for a painter. Then the unknown layman was called into the palace, and only based on Emperor Zongsheng’s oral description, he vividly depicted the person’s every frown and smile, which greatly pleased Emperor Zongsheng’s dragon heart, and he personally conferred him as the title of world’s number one painter. All his paintings were collected by Emperor Zongsheng during his lifetime, and were burned in the flames of war, making it extremely rare for them to be found.” Then he opened the bamboo tube and spread a slightly yellowed painting on the table that has already been wiped clean and covered with felt[soft cloth].

The Ninth Prince looked down, and it was indeed a portrait, but it was not the person he expected. No one knows that the reason why he collects the paintings of the unknown layman is not out of love, nor is it because of art. He just wanted to see what that young man named You Shu looked like. Although there is a picture scroll preserved in the royal family, the ink has faded away, leaving only an outline.

When he was young, he often stared at that outline in a daze, and then shed tears for no reason, and he got better when he grew up. However, his obsession with complete portraits has never disappeared, and whenever he heard that there were paintings that seemed to belong to the unknown laymen, he would order people to search for them. He thought that maybe one day he could get a portrait of You Shu by chance to relieve his doubts.

But now, he suddenly lost interest, and no longer wanted to find out what the legendary peerless beauty looked like. He already has his own You Shu, who is very good, the only one in the world.

The Ninth Prince originally planned to take a quick look and return it, but saw You Shu rushing to his side, staring at the scroll with burning eyes, as if very interested, so he changed his mind, pointed to a few details and began to explain, finally shook his head and said, “The strokes are not smooth enough, the paper has signs of being old, and the last stroke of the signature is not present, so it can be seen that this is a fake.”

Zhao Yusong was greatly disappointed, and when he thought of the five thousand taels of silver that his father had spent in vain, his heart ached even more.

You Shu has a strong learning ability. After listening carefully for a while, he memorized all kinds of identification methods in his mind, and was going to go back and ask his parents for money to buy one. If he can find an authentic painting and give it to the master, he should be very happy, right? As for the fact that his father wanted to be transferred to Yangzhou, he had long since forgotten about it.

Just then, there was a knocking sound outside the door. It turned out that a group of scholars came here uninvited after hearing that His Highness Ninth Prince was having a meal here. They bowed respectfully and repeatedly asked for the advice of his Highness, and also saying that His Highness’s calligraphy is unparalleled in the world, and they really want to see it.

The Ninth Prince wanted to drive them away, but seeing You Shu staring at him with admiration and burning eyes, his vanity instantly soared.

“Come on, invite them to come in.” He waved his hands and sleeves, with a chic posture, and did not talk too much with the few people, spreading out a piece of rice paper and pen to walk along the dragon. The eunuchs were ecstatic, and hurriedly gathered around to watch, and everyone downstairs also rushed here after hearing the news, applauding constantly.

At this moment, The Ninth Prince’s appearance seemed to overlap with his master of six hundred years ago, but there were also differences. At that time, no one paid attention to him, even if he was extremely talented, he had to hide it from everyone else. But now, he can play freely and indulge as much as he wants, laugh when he should laugh, and get angry when he should be angry. Even if he shows his sharpness, even if the weather is uncertain, he can still be admired and respected by everyone.

What’s even more different is that now there is no place for himself around him. Looking at Xue Wangjing who was helping the master grind ink, and Zhao Yusong who was helping the master press paper, You Shu, who had already been squeezed to the end of the crowd, could only stand on tiptoe and stretch his neck, finally realized an extremely sad thing—— It doesn’t matter how guilty he feels, no matter how much he wants to make up for it, the master who is reincarnated no longer needs his guilt, let alone allowing him to make up for it. The only thing he can do for him is to walk away and guard him silently.

Thinking of this, he rubbed his red eyes and left quietly.

The Ninth Prince felt that someone was staring at him with burning eyes, and standing very close, even his breath sprayed on the side of his face one by one. He always thought it was You Shu, so he was even more attentive. After he finished a piece of wild writing, he heard the people around him gasp in surprise frequently.

He took the wet handkerchief from the eunuch, wiped his hands slowly, and looked at “You Shu” standing beside him with his lips curled up, hoping to get some compliments from him, but he couldn’t help but see a totally unfamiliar face.

“You’re not You Shu!” He was stunned, then searched the crowd repeatedly, and shouted in a panic, “You Shu, You shu, where are you? You Shu!”

He pushed away the crowd like crazy, but he couldn’t find the boy he loved again. His face was pale and shaky at first, and then he walked back to the private room quickly, tearing into pieces the best letter he had written in his life.

“When did You Shu leave? You can’t even keep an eye on someone. What’s the use of this king asking you? Get out! Get out of here!” He had a ferocious expression on his face, his face had already turned pale, and he wished he could draw out his sword and chop these eye-catching people into flesh and mud.

Tables, chairs, pens, ink, paper and inkstones were all smashed by him, making a loud clattering sound, causing everyone to retreat and run away in fear. Xue Wangjing and the others didn’t dare to leave, so they had to wait outside the door anxiously, and made a neck-slashing gesture to the head of the guards.

Knowing that the Ninth Prince has taken a liking to Young Master Zhao, they still didn’t keep an eye on him, why don’t they have any vision at all?

The guards were also very wronged. There were so many people at that time, they were worried that assassins would be mixed in, so they were extremely vigilant, so how could they have time to pay attention to Young Master Zhao? This group of people is also big-hearted. In order to show their faces, they squeezed away the nobles around His Highness for no reason. No one should expect to pass the palace exam this time.

After a bout of madness, the Ninth Prince finally regained his composure. He rushed out to search for someone all over the street, but when he couldn’t find him, he ran to the Zhao Mansion, but when he learned that You Shu hadn’t returned, he followed the same path again to look for him. Eventually, he passed by his sweetheart only to be kidnapped back to the Eastern Palace by the guards sent by Emperor Zhongkang.

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