[Qing Chuan] No pet little promise

In midsummer, Wei Rong did not fall ill because of this fall into the water.

After repeated persuasion by Yufu and the others, they still cautiously rested for a few days before going out for activities.

He promised Concubine De to draw a picture for her before, so it was naturally a top priority.

Early this morning, she packed everything up, took Yufu, and went to Yonghe Palace.

After waiting for half a cup of tea in the side hall, they entered the main hall.

Just met some concubines, please come out.Concubine De's greeting was half an hour later than Xi Concubine's.

The leader is Miss Mi. She wears a honey-colored flag dress embroidered with gold and silver patterns. She does not apply makeup. Because she is still in confinement, her body is slightly plump and her temperament is more graceful, like a ripe honey Tao, the whole person reveals a seductive atmosphere.

Seeing Wei Rong, she smiled slightly, gentle and soft, which made people feel close.

Wei Rong nodded in return.

The next few concubines who followed were all of Dou Changzai's age.

Wei Rong recalled the gossip in the palace before, Concubine De was like Concubine Yi and Concubine Xi in her early years because she was favored, she did not recruit newcomers to the palace, until she found a noble lady, she thought she was a good talent, so she recruited out of the ordinary. After entering the palace, she was indeed favored by Wushuang.

It is said in the palace that Concubine De has the insight to know people, she can spot pearls at a glance, and she knows how to figure out what she likes and match her preferences, so that she will not fade away for many years.

After entering the hall, Wei Rong bowed to salute.

Concubine De smiled and said: "There is no need to pay attention to this much, speaking of it, I still have a request from you this time."

The little maid stepped forward to support Wei Rong, and led her to sit on the chair next to her.

Such a modest attitude made Wei Rong a little flattered.She has been in contact with high-ranking concubines several times, and she is very indifferent to their little promises and little constant presence.That kind of attitude can't even be called arrogance, but it doesn't take you seriously at all.After all, except for those nobles who have roots in the capital like Li Jia, and those who are favored and can give birth to princes like secret nobles, the shelf life of the rest is too short, and it is not worth watching at all.

Is it because Concubine De is also a maid of honor?She didn't have time to think deeply, and replied: "Thank you, Madam, for your attention, but I don't dare to ask for words."

Concubine De asked: "You were frightened the day before yesterday, how are you doing now?"

"It's already great."

"That's good. What happens in the boundaries of this palace is also three-point joint responsibility."

"It's the killer who has evil thoughts in his heart, so you don't need to think about it."

Concubine De sighed, "It's like this in this palace. If you are not favored, life is difficult, but if you are favored, life is also difficult."

Wei Rong was surprised by Concubine De's straightforwardness.

Concubine De didn't say any more, and changed the subject, "I'm looking for you this time because I want a painting."

Wei Rong restrained her spirit, "I don't know what kind of painting the empress wants?"

Concubine De smiled and said: "I heard that the Western style of painting is the most realistic, and the characters depicted are vivid and fragrant. I have seen a few pictures at the emperor's place and I am very envious, so I would like to invite you to come and draw one... Ben Gong."

Wei Rong's eyes widened.

Concubine De was amused by her expression, "Why, can't believe it?"

Wei Rong declined, "Your Majesty, the servants and servants are poor painters, so they dare not take on this important task."

"There is nothing to be afraid of. I heard that the characters, flowers and birds in Western paintings are colorful and lifelike. I have been fascinated by it for a long time."

Wei Rong said earnestly: "Your Majesty knows the lesson, the servant girl's painting skills are not good, I'm afraid the painting will not look like it."

"It doesn't matter if it's not like it, as long as it's beautiful enough."

"Huh?" Wei Rong was surprised.

Concubine De smiled, "It would be even better if I could be more beautiful than myself. When I am old and young, I will feel better if I look at these beautiful paintings more, and this painting will be preserved for future generations. The palace is so beautiful, I am afraid that there are more memories than others, and maybe even some crooked poems can be written."

Speaking of the last sentence, she showed a playful smile like a girl.

Wei Rong couldn't help complaining, what "crooked poems" should be "crooked poems", right?

Besides, you will be the empress dowager in the future, so what kind of sacrifices do you need?

Wei Rong was really surprised. Before coming here, she never expected that Concubine De's painting style is like this, which doesn't match the legend.

Wait, in history, there seems to be no detailed records of what kind of person Concubine De was like, but as the biological mother of Emperor Yongzheng, she was especially valued by others.

She restrained her mood and asked, "If the empress doesn't dislike it, I can try it. I just don't know what style of painting the empress wants. Slaves refer to background actions and the like."

"Since she is a beauty, she must match the beautiful scenery. The pavilions and palaces are too rigid. You can walk around the Yonghe Palace in the past few days to find a place with spiritual energy. For example, the plum blossom forest in the backyard, the lotus pond in the east hall..."

Concubine De said with a smile, her attitude was gentle and amiable, she did not have the condescending airs of the concubines in the slightest.

Wei Rong looked at it, and suddenly thought that the Mi nobleman she suspected before was a time-traveling girl, so the real fellow is not Mi nobleman, but...

Once this idea popped up, I couldn't stop it.

Concubine De said a few places before she asked with a smile, "What do you think?"

Wei Rong hesitated and said, "The places you mentioned are very good, such as the Plum Blossom Forest. The slaves used to be in their hometown, and I heard people say that there are still beautiful flowers and branches on the cliffs of hundreds of feet of ice."

Concubine De nodded slightly, "It really sounds beautiful."

Wei Rong carefully looked at her expression, nothing unusual.Did I guess wrong?Otherwise, it is impossible not to know this famous poem.

After explaining a few more details about the painting, Concubine De said, "You need to use a real person as a mirror image to make a painting. These days, you can come and go as you please in front of my palace."

"In addition, the emperor said that you should hand over one painting a month, right? I will tell the emperor tomorrow that I will give you three months. The paintings that should be handed over to the emperor in these three months will be replaced by the paintings here in the palace. one pair."

This is where everything is arranged!What else can Wei Rong say, but obediently agree.

***

In the afternoon of that day, Wei Rong returned to Changchun Palace with many rewards from Concubine De.

With Concubine De's will, from the next day, Wei Rong began to go to Yonghe Palace to clock in and go to work every day.

Concubine De also sent someone to greet Xi Concubine.

When paying her respects, seeing Concubine Xi's expression, she didn't care at all, and she didn't know if the people sent by Concubine De were effective, or she didn't care about Wei Rong in the first place.

After all, she is now favored by Wushuang, and Kangxi called her to accompany him five or six days out of ten.But Song Qing'er's concubines could only eat leftovers.

According to Concubine De's will, Yonghe Palace also cleaned up a cubicle early on, and used it as Wei Rong's special studio.

All kinds of tools imitate her appearance in Changchun Palace, and they are all ready.

The person in charge of the reception was a court lady named Qiuyi, with a sweet mouth, and directed the two young maids to take over the large and small painting utensils in Yufu's hands, and said courteously: "Chang Zai is really an expert, look at this easel and canvas. , just different from those clichés.”

He laughed again, "Chang Zai doesn't know, our empress has been wasting away on this painting for several years, and I haven't been able to find one that suits my heart."

Wei Rong also knew about this. A few years ago, Concubine De wanted to paint herself, so the painting academy immediately sent several painters over. It stands to reason that with her position, the painters who came here should be the ones who are best at portraits of ladies.It's a pity that Concubine De was not very satisfied with the portraits that were drawn, so they had to put them on the shelf.

"My lady despises those portraits very much, saying that people are drawn old for no reason. How can she be so old?"

Wei Rong wanted to laugh, the painting style popular in the court nowadays advocates dignity and uprightness, young girls can paint you with seriousness, not to mention Concubine De who is in her early thirties.In addition, the flag outfits of the Qing Dynasty are not as fairy-like as the Hanfu, and it is even more dull when it falls on the painting.

"Your Majesty gave up at first, but last time I saw Western paintings at the Emperor's side, I thought about it again, and invited Chang Zai to come over." Qiu Yi said with a smile.

In fact, some of Douerma's Western missions were also good at painting.It's a pity that Kangxi's style is conservative, and it is impossible to allow the concubine to contact Westerners without authorization.

In this regard, Qianlong of later generations was better, and several concubines left Western pictures.

Concubine De gave three months, which was very plentiful.According to the plan, Wei Rong began to walk around the Yonghe Palace, looking for places to enter the painting.

It is said that she can go to Yonghe Palace at will, and Wei Rong will not be so blind as to wander around casually.

I only found a few small bridges and flowing water with excellent scenery, and looked for the angle carefully in front of the trees and flowers.

After two days, the place was almost seen, and I started to make drafts in the studio.

She was going to type up a few simple drafts of the scenery first, and Concubine De would choose one, and then officially start the work.

This morning, she just entered the studio, ready to mix the color she wanted, but the moment she opened the paint, she exclaimed.

There is no paint box these days, the dozens of paints used by Wei Rong are all placed in white porcelain cups, neatly arranged in two rows, when used, they need to be dug out with a small silver spoon, mixed with water and oil liquid for preparation.

The original clean and neat paints of various colors in the white porcelain cup are now in a mess, most of them are pitch black and can't be used at all.The appearance was obviously mixed up deliberately.

Surprised, Wei Rong blurted out, "Who did it?"

No one answered her.In order not to disturb her painting, the maids did not serve in the palace.

Wei Rong came back to her senses and was about to go out to talk to Qiu Yi, when she just walked to the door, she suddenly heard a slight rustling sound from under the table behind her.

She was startled, and turned around to look, the top of the table was covered with a dark green flannelette and there was no wind.

Someone is hiding underneath!

She approached slowly, and suddenly lifted the hanging curtain, but there was nothing underneath.

Wei Rong's eyes widened. How could it be possible? The table is surrounded by open spaces. Could it be that I heard it wrong just now?

She put down the curtain, and suddenly heard a slight click, yes, it came from under the table.

She opened it again, still nothing.

She took two steps back, frowned and said, "Could it be a mouse?"

"Squeak... squeak!" As soon as the words fell, a sound came from under the table.

Wei Rong's black line.

What about cheating ghosts?Can't hear when she's deaf? Is this a fake?

She stepped forward again and directly tore off the dark green flannel on the table.The people below finally showed their true colors.

It turned out to be a child, only about three or four years old. He used both hands and feet to firmly hold the carved baffles around the table. No wonder Wei Rong didn't see him when he opened it twice just now.

It was rare for him to be able to maintain such a difficult movement without falling at such a young age.

Wei Rong was angry and funny, especially since she had already lifted the tablecloth, and he still maintained a stiff posture, as if he felt that if he didn't move, he would not be discovered.

It's just so cute.

Wei Rong simply grabbed the two table legs and turned the whole table over slowly.

The little boy's eyes widened, looking at Wei Rong in disbelief.Probably, I have never seen such a female man who flipped the table at a disagreement in this life.

The table turned into four legs, and he also turned into a supine posture, lying in the center of the table.

Seeing his little face clearly, Wei Rong burst out laughing.

His face was colorful, as if he had knocked over a paint tray.There are only occasional gaps to reveal fair skin.

Like a painted-faced cat, a pair of big eyes are clear and bright, and it is still a very cute painted-faced cat.

Wei Rong is not stupid, she guessed the identity of this person almost immediately, the only boy of this age in the Yonghe Palace is the youngest son of Concubine De, who is loved like a treasure, the Fourteenth Elder Brother.

The future general king is very cowardly at this time.

Looking at Wei Rong, she said timidly, "You...what are you going to do?"

Wei Rong squatted down and stared at him with squinted eyes, "Why did you damage my paint?"

"I don't, I'm not, I..."

"Hmph, you still dare to tell lies." Wei Rong stretched out his hand and scratched his creaking nest twice.

Elder Fourteen couldn't stand it anymore, he laughed and turned over and over to avoid it, but unfortunately he was lying in the middle of the table, the four legs and the baffle restricted his range of motion, and he couldn't escape Wei Rong's claws at all.

"I said, I said... I didn't want to come here, I just wanted to see the newborn little brother." Elder Fourteen sobbed twice, and said quickly.

Little brother, do you mean elder brother fifteen?Wei Rong recalled that Qiu Yi had mentioned before that the studio next door to her used to be the residence of Migui.Later, when she gave birth, she was afraid of the wind, so she moved to the east end of the apse.

"I couldn't find my little brother. I wanted to go out the window, but I accidentally stepped on the pot."

From the description of the fourteenth elder brother Dundon Kaka, Wei Rong finally deduced the whole process.

This person probably sneaked out without telling the nanny and maid beside him. He wanted to see his newborn little brother, but he didn't expect that Migui no longer lived in the original place. He searched around and entered his cubicle by mistake.When I wanted to go out, I stepped on the paint pot and overturned it.

Thinking of those messy paints, Wei Rong's eyebrows twitched, if she didn't know that it was Elder Fourteen in front of her, she really wanted to pick up this little thing and beat him up.

Also, most of the paints on the table are useless.It will destroy so much, it is obviously not something that can be done by simply stepping on a few.I'm afraid that the bear child found the things here interesting, and started playing with them out of novelty.

Wei Rong of the later generations has seen the huge lethality of bear children, and in comparison, this era is not far behind.

Should I go outside and ask Qiu Yi and the others to come in and take this little bear away, or should I clean him up first?

Just as he was hesitating, Elder Fourteen smiled flatteringly at her, "Don't call me, I don't want Erniang to know, she will scold me."

Wei Rong was speechless, looking at his colorful little face.

It's better to take someone to wash it up first, otherwise Concubine De might get angry at herself when she sees his appearance.

There is a well at the north end of the studio, which is crystal clear, and the water for washing her brushes is drawn from there.And the surroundings are quiet, very few people pass by.

He led the little bear out the door, and soon reached the edge of the well.

Putting the man aside, Wei Rong quickly poured out a bucket of water, then took out a soft cloth, dipped it in water, and scrubbed his face carefully.

After wiping it a few times, the light blue soft cloth turned pitch black, and she wiped it while washing.

Fortunately, this little bear is quite smart, knowing that Wei Rong is helping him, and cooperating obediently.

However, in the middle of the rubbing, the little bear suddenly jumped up, "No, someone is coming!"

His big black eyes scanned the surroundings, and quickly drilled under a bush of flowers and trees at the foot of the east wall.

After he hid well, Wei Rong heard footsteps coming from the west end.

This brat has a keen sense of hearing, like a puppy.

Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, a tall and thin figure came down from the corridor in the distance.

When someone approached, Wei Rong opened his eyes wide in surprise.

It's Yinzhen!

Seeing someone in front of him, Yin Zhen was also quite surprised and slowed down his pace.

Looking intently, she was a young and beautiful young girl, somewhat familiar, but she didn't remember where she saw her.

Her two sleeves were rolled up, her black hair was also wrapped in a square scarf, and there were seven or eight stains mixed with water stains on her beautiful cheeks, making her extremely embarrassed.There are still two basins beside the well, which seem to be washing clothes.

The clothes in the Yonghe Palace are not washed in the Laundry Bureau, so why do you start working here?