Concubine Zhen caught sight of the silhouettes of the two people behind the screen. She never expected that her chance visit would coincide with the emperor painting his consort's eyebrows. Hastily, she led her entourage to bow and said, "Your servant didn't know His Majesty was here. May Your Majesty enjoy good health and peace!"
Yong Yaxuan laughed upon hearing her voice. He turned his head and continued the unfinished job of painting the eyebrows, then softly said, "Rise."
Ji Feiyu also gently said, "Sister, you've been unwell recently. Instead of staying in Yixin Palace to nurture your baby, why have you come to my Qiwu Palace?"
Concubine Zhen was helped up by the maid beside her. With a shy look on her face, she said, "I've been idle lately, so I thought of embroidering something for the baby in my belly. I've heard that your embroidery skills are matchless, sister, so I've come here specially for your advice."
Matchless embroidery skills? It should be matchless skills in throwing hidden weapons! In her early years, although she had learned needlework in the royal palace of her own country, she was only above average, not matchless.
Ji Feiyu couldn't help but find it amusing. Just then, Yong Yaxuan finished painting the eyebrows. He scrutinized Ji Feiyu carefully for a moment, then turned to Concubine Zhen and said, "My dear consort, why do you have the leisure to visit your queen sister today? It's a pity that she's not feeling well. She may not be able to give you advice."
Concubine Zhen gave a flattering smile. "It doesn't matter if she can't give advice. Anyway, I've been feeling bored staying in Yixin Palace, so I've come out for a stroll with the baby in my belly."
When the emperor heard this, his stern face softened. He stepped forward and asked, "Really? Is this little guy being good recently? Has he been kicking your belly again?"
Concubine Zhen stroked her belly and smiled. "Your Majesty can come and listen for yourself."
The emperor then smiled and bent his head, putting his ear on her belly with a tender look on his face.
Seeing this scene, Ji Feiyu couldn't help but put her hand on her own belly.
—When would she be able to bear a child for him? A child that only belonged to the two of them. It had nothing to do with the world or the succession to the throne. But such a wish seemed far away from her, because he was, after all, a king. There were many things he couldn't help but do, just like the three thousand beauties in the harem.
Ji Feiyu watched as he and Concubine Zhen showed their affection in front of her. She felt a twinge of discomfort in her heart, but she suppressed this feeling. Then she smiled at Concubine Zhen and said, "Sister, weren't you asking about embroidery? I'm feeling better now. How about I give you some pointers?"
Yong Yaxuan smiled without exposing her jealousy. Concubine Zhen gave the emperor a loving look, then walked towards Ji Feiyu.
Ji Feiyu told her a few common embroidery stitches. Then she saw Yong Yaxuan yawning beside them. So she called her chief maid and whispered a few words to her, asking her to pass a message to Eunuch Li waiting outside and find a way to summon the emperor away.
The chief maid immediately understood and left. Soon, they heard Eunuch Li announcing that the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was waiting to see the emperor in the imperial study.
Yong Yaxuan smiled apologetically at them and finally managed to leave.
Ji Feiyu called an intimate embroiderer to study embroidery stitches with Concubine Zhen slowly. Compared to her, this embroiderer was truly matchless in embroidery skills! Concubine Zhen was very interested in what she said and stayed in Qiwu Palace for an entire afternoon. Before leaving, she didn't forget to ask Ji Feiyu for the embroiderer, saying that she would send her back after she learned the embroidery skills.
Ji Feiyu saw that there were no urgent embroidery tasks in Qiwu Palace recently, so she lent the embroiderer to her. Who would have thought that just as the two of them left, Concubine Xin came right after. She also heard that there was an embroiderer with excellent embroidery skills here in Ji Feiyu's place and came here specially to learn from her.
Ji Feiyu thought that the two of them must have made an appointment, so she smiled at Concubine Xin and said, "Sister, you've come at a bad time. The embroiderer was just taken away by Concubine Zhen."
When Concubine Xin heard this, she was a bit unhappy and said, "If the queen sister doesn't want to lend her, it's okay. Why do you have to shift the blame to Concubine Zhen? Although she's pregnant with the emperor's child, it can't be such a coincidence that just when I was about to ask sister to lend me the person, she took the person I wanted first!"
Ji Feiyu was a bit unhappy to hear this, but considering that she was pregnant and moody, she didn't argue with her. Instead, she smiled and said, "Sister, you're really joking. It's just a maid, and it's a matter of inquiring about embroidery. Why wouldn't I lend her? If sister doesn't believe me, you can send someone to ask in Concubine Zhen's palace. Or you can even search my Qiwu Palace directly!"
When Concubine Xin heard Ji Feiyu's serious words, she immediately put away her unhappiness and replaced it with a smile. "Look at what sister said. I was just joking with you. But if the embroiderer was really taken away by Concubine Zhen, then she must have deliberately made things difficult for me. Because I just said a few days ago that I wanted to embroider a picture of the mountains and rivers as a birthday gift for the emperor. Today, she took away the person I needed. No wonder I wrongly thought that sister didn't want to lend her."
Ji Feiyu caught the key point in her words. Her heart skipped a beat. She pretended not to care and asked, "What did sister just say? A picture of the mountains and rivers? Where did sister get this?"
When Concubine Xin heard this, she took out a long scroll of brocade painting from the hand of the attendant behind her and slowly unfurled it. The painting showed magnificent mountains and rivers and charging horses. Ji Feiyu felt a pang in her heart when she saw the familiar brushstrokes on the painting. Unexpectedly, it was really the picture of the mountains and rivers painted by her first love. For a moment, she was filled with emotions.
"This painting was originally painted by Lord Ningwu. It symbolizes the peace of the Great Yong Empire. Sister, you and Lord Ningwu used to have a very special relationship. I thought sister would lend me the embroiderer for the sake of this painting, but unexpectedly, someone beat me to it."
Ji Feiyu stared fixedly at the painting. It seemed that she could see again the scene of her first love holding her hand and painting. For a moment, she felt so sad that she asked anxiously, "Where did sister get this painting?"
Concubine Xin rolled up the painting and smiled. "Sister doesn't need to know about this. I'm tired from coming out today. It's time for me to go back. Sister doesn't need to see me off."
After saying that, she swayed her body and left with a large group of palace servants in a grand manner, showing no respect for Ji Feiyu at all.
Thinking of the picture of the mountains and rivers, Ji Feiyu chased after her when she saw her leaving. She stood there stupidly in the long corridor for a long time. It wasn't until a thunderclap sounded overhead that the chief maid in the palace called her back that Ji Feiyu suddenly realized how time had flown.
Cheng Xuan, I didn't expect that after so many years, the painting you lost would come back in such a way.
Back then, the former emperor sent the then-prince Yong Chengxuan out of the palace to travel and paint pictures of the mountains and rivers so as to actually understand the vastness of the land under his rule and create another great cause for thousands of years. Therefore, the picture of the mountains and rivers contained the ambition of the king. Unexpectedly, a few years later, on the day when the painting was completed, it mysteriously disappeared! The former emperor was furious and secretly sent Yong Yaxuan out of the palace to assist Yong Chengxuan in searching for it, but they never found it.
Later, after Yong Yaxuan ascended the throne after a military coup, he also ordered people to secretly search for it many times, but still without any result.
So how did Concubine Xin get this painting? And what price did she pay?
The sudden appearance of the painting made it impossible for her to think clearly. Why did Concubine Xin have two different faces in public and in private? Why did she dare to come and ask for the embroiderer so aggressively? And why did she bring the painting here?
The summer thunderstorm finally arrived at dusk. The stuffiness in the air was washed away by the heavy rain. Ji Feiyu stood in front of the curtain of rain. She only felt dizzy. Ignoring the calls of everyone around her, she finally fainted. She had been so tired these days, really tired.