The portrait on the table seemed off. Obviously, Jiang Sihe was also puzzled, her brows tightly knitted.
Pei Yanchao's slender fingers held the inkstick and gently ground it for her.
The young girl, dressed in a milky - white ruqun with a light - green sheer outer robe, sat upright behind his desk. She would pick up the brush to paint from time to time and sometimes ponder seriously, completely unaware of his presence beside her.
Jiang Sihe dipped her brush into the inkstone and felt that the ink was much better than before, but she had no time to care.
She buried her head and continued to paint. She couldn't make the slightest mistake in the face shape, eyebrows, and eyes of the deceased.
When the old man taught her before, she had only made a small mistake in drawing the eyebrow bone, and she was punished to draw ten more portraits.
The old man had said, "This portrait is different from others. It is the final evidence of the deceased presented to the world... We must strive for perfection. Every piece of bone and its corresponding appearance cannot be the slightest bit inaccurate..."
Jiang Sihe frowned slightly and looked down at what was wrong with the portrait...
Pei Yanchao noticed that the lamp on her side was too dim, making it difficult for the little girl to see clearly. He got up and walked around from her side.
He raised his arm, picked up a silver needle, and gently adjusted the wick to brighten Jiang Sihe's lamp.
After the wick was lit brighter, Pei Yanchao looked back and found that they were very close. The dim yellow light shone on the little girl's fair and rosy face. Her long eyelashes drooped, casting a shadow under her eyelids. Her nose was straight and delicate, and her lips were like peach blossoms...
There was a saying circulated among the literati in the Great Jing Dynasty.
Looking at the mountains from a building, watching the snow from a city wall, and admiring a beauty by the lamp were all great sights...
He didn't think much of it before, but now he deeply understood it!
Realizing his gaffe, Pei Yanchao quickly averted his gaze.
Although his gaze was averted, the fragrance of the young girl on Jiang Sihe lingered around him. Even the whole room was filled with her delicate floral fragrance.
It was like the sweet scent of plum blossoms swept by winter snow, or the faint fragrance of lotus flowers dripped on by summer rain...
His mind was slightly in a turmoil. Pei Yanchao wanted to get up and go out for some fresh air.
"It's not right. How could it be wrong..."
Hearing Jiang Sihe suddenly speak, Pei Yanchao stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the portrait on Jiang Sihe's table.
One with head down and the other with head up, they got even closer!
"Lord Pei...?"
Pei Yanchao realized that they were too close. He propped his hand on one side of the table and leaned back slightly.
"Yeah!"
His deep voice showed no emotion. Jiang Sihe also noticed that they were a bit too close at the moment. She wanted to get up and move away a bit, but she had been sitting cross - legged for too long and her legs were numb.
When she stood up, her legs went numb. She was about to hit her head on the bookshelf behind her.
Pei Yanchao quickly reached out one hand to grab her arm and the other to protect the back of her head...
This prevented her from hitting her head, but their posture was too ambiguous!
Jiang Sihe anxiously tried to stand up, but her numb legs simply wouldn't listen...
Oh no, Pei Yanchao must think she did it on purpose!
"Don't be in a hurry. I'll help you up!"
Pei Yanchao's deep voice was much gentler than usual, but unfortunately Jiang Sihe didn't notice.
After helping Jiang Sihe stand up straight, Pei Yanchao let go of her.
"Thank you, Lord Pei!"
Jiang Sihe felt so embarrassed. How could she get her legs numb and unable to stand up just by painting?
Pei Yanchao seemed unaffected. With one hand behind his back, he looked down at Jiang Sihe's painting.
This made Jiang Sihe feel less embarrassed.
"What did you say was wrong just now?"
Pei Yanchao lowered his eyes. In fact, the tips of his ears were already red, but Jiang Sihe thought he was as calm as water!
"The face shape of the bones seems to have been changed before the person's death. The portrait I drew is a bit off..."
There was a hint of annoyance in Jiang Sihe's tone. She blamed herself for not being proficient enough. The old man had once told her that if the bones had been severely hit or modified before death, the drawn portrait would be inaccurate.
The portrait she drew was wrong, so the portrait on her table looked a bit strange...
Each part seemed to be deliberately pieced together.
But at that time, she was young and thought she wouldn't be engaged in the work of examining corpses, so she didn't pay much attention.
Hearing this, Pei Yanchao stepped towards the bones, squatted down, and reached out to touch the bones. There were indeed traces of modification on the skull and cheeks...
"I can reshape the deformed parts with clay. I wonder if Miss Jiang can restore her original appearance?"
Jiang Sihe was very surprised. How could Pei Yanchao, with such a noble status, know these methods of examining corpses?
In the Great Jing Dynasty, examining corpses was actually considered inauspicious. The reason she didn't pay attention back then was that she thought she was already disliked by her step - mother and younger sister. If they knew she had learned such an inauspicious thing, they would surely ignore her even more.
"Lord Pei also knows these things?"
Jiang Sihe couldn't help but voice her thoughts.
Pei Yanchao's cold eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"If I want to clear the grievances of the deceased, I have to learn some of these things!"
These words surprised Jiang Sihe. She thought it was an inauspicious thing, but for Pei Yanchao, it was just a skill to clear the grievances of the deceased!
He seemed different from what she had thought!
"Can you draw it?"
Not getting an answer, Pei Yanchao asked in a low voice again.
"Yes. As long as your lord can restore the bone shape with clay, I can draw it!"
Pei Yanchao nodded and looked up at the sky outside.
"It's too late today. Wait until I restore the bones tomorrow, and then I'll pick you up!"
This time, Jiang Sihe didn't refuse at all. She quickly nodded and said, "Okay!"
During their conversation, Jiang Sihe noticed that he didn't look at her once. He even kept a long distance from her to avoid suspicion when talking to her.
Did he dislike her so much?
"Thank you for your trouble today, Miss Jiang. I'll take you back!"
Jiang Sihe wanted to say there was no need, but she swallowed the words. This man didn't mention the evidence he promised her at all?
Just right, she still needed to ask him to help find a imperial physician in the palace.
Maybe she could ask him on the way back.
The two got into the carriage one after another. Just like last time, Pei Yanchao leaned against the carriage and closed his eyes without saying a word to her.
"Lord Pei?"
Jiang Sihe tentatively called out.
"What's the matter?"
"I wonder if your lord knows any imperial physicians in the palace?"
Jiang Sihe asked euphemistically. Pei Yanchao didn't know what the little girl needed an imperial physician for, but he still answered her.
"Yes!"
Hearing this, Jiang Sihe was overjoyed. She knew it was right to ask him.
Jiang Sihe took out Jiang Ningwei's medical record from her sleeve.
"This is my elder sister's medical record. I'd like to ask your lord to help find an imperial physician to take a look..."
Jiang Sihe left some room in her words. It was normal for her to want an imperial physician to check her elder sister's condition.
Pei Yanchao looked down at the medical record Jiang Sihe had brought. "Okay. Leave it here!"
"Thank you, Lord Pei!"
Jiang Sihe obediently placed the medical record on the small table and then asked again.
"The thing we agreed on yesterday, did you bring it?"
Pei Yanchao lowered his eyes, reached into the drawer of the low table in the carriage, took out a brocade box, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Jiang Sihe.
Jiang Sihe happily reached out to take it and even couldn't wait to open the brocade box...
A cyan silk ribbon. She picked it up and immediately recognized that it was the one she had lost that night. So this was the evidence she had lost...
Huh? There was also a red coral hairpin.
The red coral hairpin looked a bit familiar...
Suddenly, she remembered that this red coral hairpin was the one she saw in the night market last night!
Why was it in the evidence Pei Yanchao gave her?
Was he hinting at something to her?
"My lord, this silk ribbon is indeed mine, but this hairpin isn't..."