Thousands of Miles

Mama Li and Yu Gong were packing up their valuables in a hurry, when suddenly someone outside the door shouted, "The imperial decree is here!"

"Ah? So fast!" Mother Li was so frightened that her legs shook and she sat down on the ground.

"The imperial decree has arrived, and Li Shishi of Zhen'anfang will accept it!"

Hearing that Li Shishi of Zhen'anfang was calling to receive the order from outside, Mother Li and Yu Gong were too frightened to go out, so they ran into Li Shishi's room in the backyard to discuss countermeasures with her.

Li Shishi straightened her clothes and hurried out. Seeing Mother Li and Yu Gong rushing towards the courtyard, she didn't know what happened.As a prostitute, how could she still receive such a thing as an imperial decree?

"Mom, I don't know what happened?"

"You little hoof still dare to ask me, we are all going to be killed by you." Li's mother complained angrily, "Do you know who it was that drove you out of the room today? It's the official family! You put The officials got annoyed, this time it is estimated that the whole family has been copied! Oh, you loser, why do I have such a hard life, woo woo woo... I was killed by you woo woo..."

"Mom, one person should do things alone. Since I offended the officials, I will never implicate you." Li Shishi said indifferently, "Then Shishi goes out and makes it clear to them that if you want to copy and kill everyone, you can kill me alone." gone."

"Shishi, we can rest assured if you say that..."

"Li Shishi accepts the order!" The father-in-law outside shouted again.

"Mom, you guys hide, I'm going to receive the order alone." Li Shishi took a step, walked to the lobby alone, and knelt down to receive the order.

The father-in-law who delivered the decree opened the imperial decree with a smile and read out: "Li Shishi in Zhen'anfang has both talents and looks, with a beautiful quality and orchid heart, and I am very happy with him. Hearing that he was not feeling well when he came in, he specially ordered the imperial doctor to make a box overnight and give Shishi. Another , There is a hundred taels of gold as a reward. This is it."

Li Shishi was flattered to accept the reward, but even forgot to thank her.

Li's mother, who was hiding behind and eavesdropping, heard that she was rewarding Shishi, she laughed happily, and hurried forward to show concern for Shishi.

"Shishi, my mother knew that you are not an ordinary person, and now you are actually liked by the officials! In the future, when you become rich and prosperous, you must not forget your mother!"

"Yes, Shishi, don't forget that we have worked so hard to raise you for the past three years."

"Mom, where did you all go? The officials just rewarded me with something, am I still from the garden?" Li Shishi held the brocade box in her hand cherishingly, still immersed in the world of Zheng Guanren and herself. Extricating himself, he said to himself foolishly, "The official...he is actually an official, how could he be an official...if only he were an ordinary person..."

Although I was sitting in the same sedan chair as my master, my master ignored me along the way, and my face was not very good. Is it because I was angry when I went out of the palace without permission?Ximeng finally couldn't bear to speak first.

"Master..."

"Huh?" Zhao Ji casually raised his eyelids and glanced at Xi Meng.

"Master, I'm sorry." Xi Meng lowered her head guiltily.But not good at words, want to apologize but don't know what to say.

"Ximeng, do you think Master's work is not good?" Zhao Ji asked, "Could it be that you don't like the painting academy?"

"no……"

"So, do you think being a teacher is unreasonable?"

"no……"

"Then why did you leave the palace without permission and didn't even tell Master?" Zhao Ji was excited, and his voice became louder, "How did you get out?"

"Yes..." Ximeng was afraid of hurting the person he met today, so he didn't dare to tell about the token gifted to him by the prince, so he lied, "Ximeng came out of the wall by himself."

"Good skill." Zhao Ji nodded angrily, "It's really good skill."

"Master, Xi Meng knew he was wrong."

"You think it's common for your sister, so why don't you tell the teacher that the teacher won't let you go?" Seeing Ximeng's pitiful confession, Zhao Ji couldn't bear to blame him, so he softened his voice, " If you don’t say anything like this, you ran around, what if something happened? What if you jumped over the wall and fell? What if you were caught by the guards as an assassin? What are you, what are you..."

The more Zhao Ji thought about it, the more afraid he became, and Zhao Ji couldn't help feeling a headache.

"Master, Ximeng knows it's wrong." Ximeng hurriedly supported Zhao Ji, and begged weakly, "It won't happen next time. Please don't be angry, Master."

"No, no, I'm not angry, no." Seeing Ximeng kept admitting his mistakes and apologizing, Zhao Ji couldn't help but feel distressed, and quickly supported Ximeng in his arms, and said softly, "Forget it, Master doesn't blame you this time."

"Master..."

"Xi Meng, if you want to leave the palace in the future, don't sneak over the wall." Zhao Ji said, "You come to see Master, Master will let you out."

"Where can I find you..." Xi Meng whispered, "Xi Meng can't find you."

It was only then that Zhao Ji realized that he had overlooked a serious problem, and he didn't seem to tell Ximeng where to find him.There is no painter surnamed Zheng in the palace at all, and if Xi Meng asks for it by himself, he will never be able to find him.

"Yeah." Zhao Ji thought for a while, and said, "In the future, if you want to find a teacher, you can go to the Hall of Condensation and Harmony. The teacher often paints there."

"Eh?" Xi Meng nodded, looked at Master curiously, and smiled, "Master, I asked a lot of people today, and they said that there is no painter named Zheng in the palace, but there are a few father-in-laws..."

Ximeng didn't have the nerve to say the latter words.

"Huh?" This little guy thinks he is a eunuch?Zhao Ji's heart was as messy as being trampled by [-] galloping horses, he raised his forehead and said, "Xi Meng, do you want to see if the teacher is a man?"

"No need, no need..." Xi Meng shrank back timidly.This kind of gender-related question sounds very vague and scary to him as a child.

"Hahaha." Zhao Ji patted Ximeng with a smile, "Come here, get closer to Master, I won't eat you as a teacher."

Xi Meng glanced at Zhao Ji cautiously, and moved towards him.

"Hahaha." Just as he got off the sedan chair, Zhao Ji took Ximeng's hand and walked towards the Hall of Ninghe, "Ximeng, Master will take you on a side road now, you remember to find Master in the future, the way is like this Let's go."

"En." Ximeng nodded, paying special attention to the surrounding environment.

"Master, why doesn't anyone in the palace know about you?"

"Because... because they are ignorant." Zhao Ji babbled nonsense, "As a teacher, I only help officials to paint, and their ignorant people must have never heard of me."

"Master only paints for officials? It's amazing." Ximeng looked up at Master adoringly, "Will Master teach Ximeng how to paint in the future?"

"Of course." Zhao Ji said with a smile, "Xi Meng is very talented. In the future, he will definitely be favored by the officials just like being a teacher. In the future, he only needs to paint for the officials."

"Hey, it's so boring to only paint for the official family." Ximeng said seriously, "I want to paint for Master."

"Hahaha, what a good apprentice. Hahaha." Zhao Ji was so happy that he laughed so hard that tears almost popped out, "Okay! From now on, I will paint for Master alone!"

"what?"

"Huh? What's the problem?" Zhao Ji asked.

"Ximeng still needs to learn. If he paints for Master alone, will he not be able to paint without Master?" Ximeng said, "How can we improve?"

"That makes sense." Zhao Ji nodded, "You do need a lot of practice now, you should first draw how you like, and draw for whomever you like."

"Yes." Ximeng nodded, "Master is right."

"Here we are." Outside the Ninghe Hall, Zhao Ji deliberately stopped, and pointed to the plaque in front of the hall door to show Xi Meng, "Remember it."

"Yeah." Ximeng nodded, "I remember."

"You haven't had dinner yet, have you? Are you hungry?" Zhao Ji dragged Ximeng into the Hall of Condensation and Harmony, "Have dinner first, and I will send you back to the painting academy as a teacher."

Xi Meng nodded.

After entering the Ninghe Hall, Zhao Ji ordered someone to prepare a large table of dishes, pointing to Ximeng to taste them one by one.Xi Meng had been tired all day, and with Zhao Ji's diligent supervision, he actually ate two bowls of rice under the attention of his master.

"full?"

"Ah."

"Really full?"

"Yeah." Ximeng nodded while rinsing his mouth.

"It's too little to eat." Zhao Ji stretched out his hand and squeezed Xi Meng's thin arm, "Forget it, I need to raise it slowly."

Ximeng didn't understand what the master said that needs to be raised slowly, and didn't ask too much, but just whispered: "Master, I have to go back."

"Well, I will send you back as a teacher." Zhao Ji ordered smoothly, "Lead the way with the lamp!"

Eunuch Zhang at the side was taken aback, and hurriedly drove away the maid who was carrying the palace lantern outside the palace to lead the way for the officials, ran to Zhao Ji and whispered in Zhao Ji's ear: "Your Majesty, you are the painter Zheng, how can there be a court lady?" Let me lead the way with the lamp, let the old slave come?"

"Oh...ok." Zhao Ji nodded.

"Master, don't send me off. I'll just go back by myself." Ximeng said, "I know the way."

"It's not good for you to know the way." Zhao Ji took Ximeng's hand and said, "You are a child, it's not safe to walk alone at night. As a teacher, I must send you back."

Seeing the master's firm attitude, Ximeng didn't say anything, so he had to ask the master to send him back.Of course, there was a father-in-law with a lamp behind him.

Ximeng and Master walked along the quiet path holding hands.Ximeng was a child, holding Master's hand just felt reassuring; however Zhao Ji was young, and being held by him felt itchy in his heart.

"Master, there is a flower there." Ximeng pointed to a small bright flower on the side of the road.

"My eyesight is really good, I can still see flowers at such a late hour." Zhao Ji nodded, "I will draw it tomorrow and give it to my teacher."

"Ah? Master, I only took one look." When Ximeng hurriedly turned his head to take another look, there was only darkness behind him, and Xiaohua's shadow could not be seen anywhere.

"Haha, it's fine if you think about it, and it doesn't mean that you should draw exactly the same." Zhao Ji said, "You can still take a second look when you are painting still lifes. When you are painting animals, don't they also pose motionless and pose for you to look at the paintings? Many Things are a matter of a moment, you have to have this vision, remember to let that sight freeze in your mind."

"It's so difficult." Ximeng scratched his hair angrily, "I knew there was a clump of flowers there if I had known."

"How do you know you can't draw it if you don't try it?" Zhao Ji said, "Don't scare yourself, some things are not as difficult as you think."

Xi Meng buried her head in silence, and gnawed on her fingers sullenly.

"You little brat, it's like killing you to give you some homework!" Zhao Ji shook his head, leaned over and hugged Ximeng, "It's really too small, and it's so light."

"No, I'm thinking about how to draw." Ximeng continued to nibble on his fingers.

"How old are you, don't bite your fingers."

"You just said I was too young."

"You..." Zhao Ji was very helpless, "Master means, I want to see Xi Meng grow up quickly."

"You will be old when I grow up." Xi Meng said with a smile, "I don't want to grow up."

"Nonsense!" Zhao Ji calculated, "You are 12 years old this year, and I am 25 years old... Even if you arrive, I will be in my early thirties, not too old..."

Zhao Ji swallowed the second half of the sentence he wanted to say "not too old, but capable".In front of a 12-year-old, that doesn't seem like a good thing to say.

"..." Ximeng lay in Master's arms and muttered softly, "There are still six years...Master is over 30..."

Zhao Ji corrected helplessly: "Master is 25 years old this year!"

"I know, I said six years later, Master will be a grandfather..."

A grandfather in his 30s?Does this still have the basic common sense of being a human being?Zhao Ji shook his head, lying next to Ximeng's ear and whispered: "Whether Master is an old man, you will know if you try it then?"

"Can the old man give it a try?" Xi Meng asked naively.

"Of course." Zhao Ji smiled slyly, "But, don't regret it."

"I don't regret it." Ximeng smiled and shook his head, "Just give it a try."

"You said it yourself. Hahaha."