Chapter 273 - 273: The Empress Summoned
A man stood in front of her, indescribable…
Her beautiful face blushed, and two red flowers flew up. They were like red apples, beautiful and alluring. She suppressed the shyness in her heart and opened the painting. There was an introduction behind it.
She flipped further, and this time, the man was standing on her head…
He finished reading all three paintings.
Putting aside his moves, just his painting skills had indeed reached the sixth realm of Dao.
She thought to herself, What an innocent person. She has only been in the
Scholar Hall for a short time and has already been led astray by Ding Yi!”
They understood Zhang Ronghua’s character, and they also knew what kind of person Ding Yi was. Based on the painting in their hands, they could guess with their toes that this was Ding Yi’s idea.
The Empress’s voice rang out at this moment. She was a little more curious about what kind of painting it was that made her look at it for a while. Her face kept changing, sometimes red, sometimes embarrassed and angry.”Bring it over.”
He walked over.
Su Qiutang handed the painting over. She stretched out her hand and took the painting. She opened it and looked at the moves on it. The Empress was also stunned. Her red phoenix eyes rolled a few times and looked at her. Her gaze seemed to ask, was it really drawn by Zhang Ronghua? Seeing her nod, he continued watching.
She did not know what she was thinking, but her expression did not change. After reading it, she closed it and placed it on the bed. Su Qiutang waved her hand, and the two Phoenix Guards slashed her neck under her terrified gaze, knocking her out and taking her away…
Since there were no outsiders present, the Empress asked,’”‘Did Ding Yi do it?” “Did you guess it too?”
“Nonsense! Zhang Ronghua was someone that Shimin had taken a fancy to. He had already known what kind of character he had. Without external interference, he would never do such a thing.”
“I’ll get someone to ask around!”
Su Qiutang went out for a while. When she came back, she had already figured out the situation. She sat down on the bed and said, “’11t was indeed instigated by Ding Yi. He sold it twice and earned eight to nine hundred thousand taels of silver. It might be even more. On the second day after the second batch of paintings was sold, Ding Yi spread the word that he would not sell any more indecent paintings in the future.”
He pointed at the painting on the side.
“Including the first batch, there are a total of 400 paintings. Now that they are out of print, they are sold at one price per day.”
He voiced out his guess.
“He probably knew that this wasn’t a good idea, so he stopped.”
The Empress nodded. With Zhang Ronghua’s current status and Qingyun Inn, he was not short of money. Why would he tarnish his reputation? He looked at the painting in front of him and said, “Bring me the first and second sets.’”‘
Su Qiutang blinked her eyes as if she could see through her. The Empress
‘expression remained unchanged as she asked,””Don’t you find it interesting?”
“Alright! I’ll get someone to make it later.”
“If you can have it, can’t I?”
The Empress was too lazy to bother with her.” Call him over and let him paint for me. I’ll test him out while I’m at it!””
“Good!” Su Qiutang agreed and ordered someone to pass the message.
Scholar Hall.
Zhang Ronghua slept soundly. When he was comfortable, he even changed his position and lay on his side on the chair. There was a knock on the door. Lu Junxiu’s voice came from outside. “Your Excellency, someone from the Heart Peace Palace has arrived.”
He opened his eyes and sat up from the chair.
Moreover…
Right now, they were on the same boat. If they went too far, even she had to step down. It would not look good if news spread to the Crown Prince.
There was limited information, so he couldn’t figure it out!
Never in his dreams would he have thought that it was actually because of an indecent painting.
He got up from his chair, opened the door, and walked out.
A palace maid stood outside. Last time, he saw her, she was called Cai ‘er, a person who was close to the Empress.
Seeing him come out, Cai ‘er said,”Pass on the Empress’s orders, she wants you to go over!””
“Now?” Zhang Ronghua asked.
“Yes.”
Turning around, he looked at Lu Junxiu and ordered, “”This official will go to the Empress ‘side now. You keep an eye on the Scholar Hall. If you can’t make up your mind, you can ask Lord Li.”
“This subordinate understands!”
“Let’s go!” Zhang Ronghua said.
Cai ‘er replied, leading the way into the inner palace, towards the Tranquil Heart Palace. Zhang Ronghua followed behind, all the way to the entrance of the palace. Cai’ er said,”Wait a moment! This servant will go in and ask the Empress.”
Zhang Ronghua nodded and waited outside the hall. He was thinking about something, but he still couldn’t figure it out.
Very quickly.
Cai ‘er came out from inside, “The Empress wants you to go in.””
After entering the hall, the door was closed from the outside.
He walked inside and stopped outside the bead curtain. Standing there, he could see the blurry figure on the phoenix bed. It was barely visible. It was simply covered with a thin palace veil to cover some of the spring scenery. The more it was like this, the more tempting it was. What could not be seen and obtained was what he wanted the most.
Besides the Empress, Su Qiutang was also there. She sat by the bed with two black grapes between her fingers. She threw them into her mouth and spat out the grape skin.
“Greetings, Your Majesty and Lord Su!” Zhang Ronghua bowed.”
The empress’s cold, emotionless, and dignified voice rang out, ‘”‘1 heard that you can draw?”
Zhang Ronghua was stunned, but his thoughts turned quickly. How did the news reach the Empress ‘ears? Could it be that someone was gossiping in front of her? Something’s not right! Not many people knew that he knew how to draw. Could it be those indecent paintings?
Even Yang Hongling knew about it. With the Empress’s power, it was not surprising that she knew about it.
After figuring out the reason, he became even more puzzled. Could it be that he called him over to draw? Or was she the blueprint?
“A little! ”
He didn’t finish his sentence, leaving himself a way out.
Pa! Pa!
Reaching out her jade-like hands, the Empress clapped her hands. The palace maids parted the beaded curtains, rolled them up, and tied them together with golden ropes, revealing the scene on the phoenix bed..