He rubbed his sore wrist, carefully finished the last stroke, and woke up the dozing scholar on the side: "Take this outside to dry." ”

The little scholar rubbed his sleepy eyes, and while tidying up the paper, he exclaimed: "Childe's picture book is really well done, the story is interesting, and the illustrations are alive. ”

He smiled, he spent two months, searching for fresh and interesting stories everywhere, copying them on paper by hand, and adding illustrations with the content of the story, drawing until late at night every day.

His master Shen Qingyan is the most outstanding painter in Da Cao, the painter in this world, there are painting landscapes, plants and trees, insects, fish, flowers and birds, and pavilions, while the master only paints people.

"The best beauty in the world is actually people." While sketching on the scroll with a stone dai, the master said to him slowly, "Others always like to draw some Rausch objects, but how do they know that if they are separated from people, everything is dead." Jingzhi, one day you will understand. ”

He pondered Master's words half-incomprehensibly, his eyes were fixed on the tip of the Master's wanton pen, and the person's face gradually became clear, it turned out to be a woman wearing Zhai clothes, and under the strict makeup, there was a young and unfading face, and she looked no more than eleven or twelve years old. Master said, "This is our queen, think about how I put pen to paper, and you will be more handy when you take my seat in the future." ”

Empress? He looked at the childish faces of the people in the painting, and remembered that in the "Imperial Diagram" painted by the master before, the old emperor's gray hair was silent for a long time.

He thought of his sister, who was as good as her, carefree all day long, and her biggest worry was just some trivial things like hairpin ring fat powder, but she was attached to the old world supreme body, and interrupted her life in the deep palace, just like a delicate flower, which was strangled by life before it could bloom. He had never seen her before, and it was even the first time he had seen her portrait, but he knew clearly what those slightly sour emotions were in his heart.

He felt sorry for her.

Master should have the same emotions as him, otherwise he would not rack his brains to find some stories to tell her before the portrait, nor would he hide some things in his sleeve that were not in the palace to relieve her boredom. She has no more than two portraits, a birthday, a Chinese New Year's Eve, but he even remembers every slight change in her, this time it seems to be thinner, this time the facial features are longer, he watched the master paint, watched her grow slowly, as if she was close to her, witnessing her joys, sorrows, and sorrows.

His painting skills became more and more exquisite, and in the next few years, the master even only sketched a rough outline in the palace, and the rest of the things were handed over to him.

On his twentieth birthday, the master and his father crowned him together, and with a smile he handed over the official seal of the Danqing Pavilion to him, and then began to pack some luggage, saying that he was going to travel all over the world. He sent Master to the dock, folded a wicker stick and handed it to Master, who put the wicker into his sleeve and said with a smile: "Jingzhi, I have painted countless paintings in my life, but few of them I really want to paint. In the past, I was the edict of Danqing Pavilion, and I could only paint for the people in the palace, but now this burden is handed over to you, and I can get my wish, go all over the world, and make a "Map of the World". Danqing Pavilion's errand looks relaxed, and only you know the ups and downs, and there are many changes in the imperial city, so you can do it yourself. ”

There are many changes in the imperial city, and Master is indeed right. On the third day after he left, His Majesty died, and the third son of the emperor, King Ning, who had always been low-key, ascended the throne as emperor, but within a few days, the world changed hands. Danqing Pavilion has nothing to do with these court disputes, if the king's world is the supreme power, thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, then, his world is the pen and ink swaying, outlining Danqing. He took over the position of the master's decree, and on the first day of his appointment, he took over the decree of the court, saying that Qin Tianjian had chosen a date, taught him to prepare for a good life, and painted a portrait of the queen mother in Linglong Pavilion two months later.

Dowager? Yes, the first emperor died, and the new emperor ascended the throne, and she was naturally promoted from queen to queen mother. The first thing he did when he received the order was to search for some interesting gossip, just like the master had done before, and he had put a lot of thought into it. She was so lonely and pitiful in the palace, he wanted to make her happy.

On the day of painting, he was in the covered bridge outside the Linglong Pavilion early. When he painted, he had gazed at the outlined face countless times, and today he was finally able to take a good look at it, and he thought with some expectation, I don't know what she looks like now? Hopefully she will like his story and hopefully she won't hate him.

Seeing a group of people coming this way from a distance, Gong E whispered to him that it was the Queen Mother, he lifted the corner of his robe and knelt down, the blue bricks and stones on the ground were recognizable, and her shawl slid over it, reflecting a wave of purple ripples. He looked up at that familiar face, as if he had worked a painting for five years, and it was clear that every place was firmly in his heart, but every time he looked at it, he could see a different kind of scenery.

While he was painting, he told her the story he had searched, and she really liked it, and she blinked her eyes and listened attentively, like a little girl who did not know anything about the world...... Thinking of this, he couldn't help laughing, she had just passed her seventeenth birthday, but she had been in the palace for too long, and the identity of the queen mother was like a shackle made of gold, giving her supreme glory, and also isolating her from the innocent and carefree years forever, teaching people to forget that she was an innocent and carefree little girl.

Halfway through the story, she asks him what he would want if there really was such a magical fish.

He thought about it seriously, his previous life was smooth, he was born wealthy, his father loved his mother, he studied under the best painter in Dacao, and now he is the edict of Danqing Pavilion, all of them are happy and peaceful, and there is nothing that is necessary. There are too many greedy people in the world, the more they want, the more they lose, he feels that he is very good, he never asks for things that are unattainable, as long as he satisfies some of the current little thoughts, he is happier than many people.

And now, he desperately wondered, why did the girl in front of him look so happy? He spent five years depicting her face, and in his heart, what was hidden in those crystal eyes should be infinite loneliness and grievances, but when he saw her today, he found that she was so eccentric, even if she stood alone in a cold place, even if she was lonely in the palace like a silk tree with no branches to rely on, she was still so happy.

Perhaps the seeds of some kind of emotion were planted at that time. He never saw her again, but always thought of her inadvertently, when he went to the study to buy a paintbrush, he often couldn't help but walk into the adjacent Linlang Pavilion to take a look, she was only twelve years old when she entered the palace, I don't know if I have ever been here, like a certain hairpin or a pair of flowers on the case? When I was at home, I could always see my sister snuggled in her mother's arms, she left home and entered the palace at such a young age, if she missed her mother, would she cry like her sister? When she was free to go to Mingyufang with her friends to eat and drink, she was also thinking when she was tired of drinking, could she have friends in the palace to accompany her to relieve her boredom?

Sometimes he wonders, what is that inexplicable emotion? There are worries, expectations, panic, boredom, all kinds of thoughts are mixed together, sinking into the bottom of the heart, it is a kind of loss and anxiety that has nowhere to focus.

At the autumn equinox, His Majesty led the royal family to Kunlun Yuan, which was the first time after His Majesty ascended the throne, and it was customary to make a "Hunting Map of the Son of Heaven", so he was also among the accompanying ministers, he stood at the end of the crowd, and saw her Luan driving next to the Son of Heaven's Imperial Palace, and the uneasy mood in his heart was stronger.

Fortunately, the army soon set up camp in Kunlun Garden, and he had to follow His Majesty far behind him every day, keeping in mind the scene of His Majesty's hunting, so that he could go back to paint. He had never traveled far, and he was not good at riding and shooting, although he moved into the palace after three days of camping, but the days of Kunlun Yuan taught him a little unbearable, so he couldn't put much thought into precipitating that emotion.

On the evening of the twelfth day of the siege, His Majesty's chamberlain went to his courtyard and told him that His Majesty's arm had been kicked by a fierce horse, and that he would not be able to go out of the siege for five days, and that he should not be followed for these five days. He went to Kunlun Yuan only to paint, and now this only errand is temporarily relieved, which is really much lighter. He had been very tired from the morning of the previous day, but the next day he had finally recuperated and walked out of the palace leisurely and walked along a river outside.

The river water is cool, and the surrounding lush trees and fragrant flowers are reflected in the river, like a misty and rainy ink painting. He followed the scroll all the way down, saw all the green mountains and beautiful waters, and at the end of the painting, on a rock surrounded by grass, a familiar figure sat impressively.

It's her.

He subconsciously wanted to avoid it, but she had already turned around and saw him, so he had to walk over and ask for peace: "The lower official sees the Queen Mother." ”

She smiled at him and moved to the side to make room for a place: "Mr. Ye sit down." ”

Naturally, he didn't dare to sit down, so he had to stand beside her, she seemed to have something on her mind today, she looked listless, and even had red eyes in front of him. For some reason, there was a slight pain in his heart, as if he had been sorting out the paper with his hands and feet when he was learning to paint, and the light and thin rice paper was scratched through his fingertips.

She loves to listen to stories, and this time was no exception. He told her a story that he liked very much. In fact, the story was a bit sad, and it didn't have a happy ending as she had guessed. He already regretted a little in his heart why he told such a story, she looked so sad, like a lonely little civet slave. He should tell her something funny to make her smile, and when she smiled, he felt like a large flower was blooming in his heart.

Fortunately, he only told the beginning of this story, and she went to dine with His Majesty. Watching her back drift away between the green mountains and green waters, it was like an ethereal wind, this gust of wind blew in his heart for five years in his dream, blowing a heart at a loss.

The next time, the next time he saw her, he would be happy to tell her a good story. Her life is not complete, he can't do anything else but find a way to make her happier.