mtl008 Chapter 124 The final scene of a slap in the face
Chapter 124 The final scene of a slap in the face
Although Shi Rongyue was very confident about her birthday gift, this time was different. It was related to her future plans, so she couldn't help but clench her handkerchief.
Sitting in the seat of the prince, the prince looked at Shi Rongyue with pride.
He watched with his own eyes as Shi Rongyue painted the Forbidden City using Western painting techniques. Of course, it was impossible to paint the entire Forbidden City in just a few days, so he only painted part of the beautiful scenery of the Imperial Garden and the Six Western Palaces.
But it was clear how shocking and amazing it was. The Fourth Prince next to him was holding a wine glass, his eyelashes slightly drooped, but he did not look over.
Ulanala Hesui, who had been silently observing the Fourth Prince, was not happy when she saw this scene, but instead clenched her handkerchief tightly.
If you have a clear conscience, you can look at Shi Rongyue openly with everyone else. But if you deliberately don't look at her, it will show that you have something fishy in your heart!
While undercurrents were surging here, Shi Nanxi on the other side still kept her head slightly lowered, not showing any reaction even when Shi Rongyue presented the birthday gift.
This unusual scene made people take a second look, but soon after Shi Rongyue's birthday gift was shown, everyone's attention was diverted.
"Oh my god, this is a Western painting. I didn't have the honor to attend the Crown Prince's birthday banquet last time. I only heard of it but never saw it. I thought it was exaggerated. I didn't expect that seeing it once is believing. It's really shocking."
"Haha, I've seen it once before, but I was still shocked when I saw it again this time. It's like the Forbidden City was brought into the painting."
"That's right, this Princess Shi is truly a brilliant talent!"
At this time, the Queen Mother's laughter came from the top:
"Great, great, great. I didn't expect Rongyue to be able to paint landscapes so well, in addition to self-portraits. Your Majesty, this birthday gift is great. I'll take it as a reward."
She looked at Shi Rongyue with a rosy face, full of pride and love.
She would look at the Western self-portrait that the child drew for her every day, and she liked it more and more each time she looked at it.
Although Shi Rongyue tried her best to suppress the smile on her face, she couldn't control it. She knew that her painting would shock the audience again.
She immediately looked towards the princes' area, but unfortunately the Fourth Prince still had his head slightly lowered, so her expression could not be seen clearly. She could only meet the Crown Prince's admiring and proud look.
She couldn't help feeling a little disappointed, but she quickly cheered up. It didn't matter. Didn't it say in the Qing Dynasty novels that Si Si was an iceberg? It was normal that an iceberg was hard to be moved in the early stages. In that case, if the mountain came, she would take it.
"That's right. Princess Shi taught herself Western painting and can paint so well. I, you deserve a reward. A big reward."
Kangxi said this, but his eyes calmly followed the direction Shi Rongyue had just looked. His eyes swept over the Crown Prince, and finally when he saw the Fourth Prince who was standing next to the Crown Prince, he suddenly paused.
"I would like to thank the emperor for his grace and wish him a long life."
Shi Rongyue was overjoyed and quickly stood up to express his gratitude.
Soon the Western paintings were carefully put away, and the next one was Shi Nanxi's turn.
Last time, Shi Nanxi successfully became the second person after Shi Rongyue to win the emperor's favor with a pair of red eggs. This time, Shi Rongyue amazed the audience again, and everyone couldn't help but look forward to Shi Nanxi.
And just as everyone was looking forward to it, Shi Nanxi's birthday gift was sung out:
"Princess Shi Er presented twenty hand-copied copies of the Diamond Sutra."
"What? A hand-copied Diamond Sutra! I thought it would be something amazing!"
"Haha, it's good enough to have done it once, but I want to amaze everyone every time!"
"Then her elder sister, Princess Shi, has astonished the audience for the second time, right?"
"This..." The person who spoke didn't know what to say.
At this time another person said:
"After all, one is the eldest daughter who is valued by the palace, and the other is just a sickly young daughter raised on a farm. How can they be equally outstanding? And wasn't it said that the last birthday gift for Shi Ergege was prepared by Shi Dagege?"
"Oh, there is more to it. It turns out that the one who was amazing from beginning to end was Princess Shi alone!"
"I've heard about it a long time ago, but why didn't Princess Shi Da help Princess Shi Er this time?"
“Maybe he feels that he can’t be helped up!”
The person who said this glanced at the Shi Nanxi sisters and saw that one of them was holding her head high and was very confident, while the other one didn't dare to raise her head, and shook his head secretly.
"Tsk..." At this time, a sneer was particularly conspicuous among the whispers of the crowd. Everyone looked over and saw that the Ninth Prince looked at Shi Ergege with a gloating look and said:
"This clown will be beaten back to his original form!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the place fell silent.
Shi Nanxi was already a little dazed because of Shi Mu, and only came to her senses when it was her turn for the birthday gift. She didn't expect that the birthday gift she had prepared with all her heart would be criticized by others. She felt panicked and at a loss.
When she heard the Ninth Prince's unscrupulous ridicule, it was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. Her face turned pale instantly, and if she had not been still sitting in her seat, she would have fainted.
Kangxi suddenly clasped the jade ring, and his phoenix eyes suddenly looked at the Ninth Prince. At this time, Concubine Yi's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly interrupted:
"Old Nine, you are drunk and confused, why don't you shut up!"
The Ninth Prince has been lying in bed for more than half a month. He went out for the first time today on the occasion of the Emperor's birthday. He was so angry that he felt very frustrated. When he saw Shi Rongyue, one of his enemies, stunning the whole crowd again and stealing the show, he felt even more frustrated.
It was not until he heard about Shi Nanxi's birthday gift that he could no longer hold it in. Since this person was not Shi Rongyue, he did not have to worry about anything, so he spoke freely and prepared to vent his anger.
However, when he met the Emperor's gaze at him, although he looked calm, he felt a chill down his spine. His legs trembled unconsciously with fear and he dared not move.
Until he heard his mother's voice, he hurried down the stairs, held his forehead, pretended to be drunk, and mumbled an apology:
"I didn't expect to get drunk the first time I drank. I said some stupid things. I really can't handle the alcohol. Don't take it seriously, Shi Er Gege. I was just joking."
Concubine Yi also apologized to Shi Nanxi on behalf of the Ninth Prince with an apologetic look on her face. How could Shi Nanxi accept the apologies from the Ninth Prince and Concubine Yi? She quickly stood up and said she didn't dare.
But as soon as he stood up, his thin body swayed, and he only stabilized himself after holding onto the table.
Kangxi, who was sitting at the top of the table, felt his heart tighten when he saw this scene and pursed his thin lips, but he didn't say anything until Shi Nanxi responded to Concubine Yi's apology.
"Show me the Diamond Sutra that Shi Ergege copied by hand."
Hearing this, the steward in charge of singing ceremonies hurriedly and carefully handed the tray to Chief Steward Liang. Liang Jiugong placed the tray on the dragon table, and Kangxi picked up the top book from a box and opened it.
The first thing you see is a page full of beautiful and elegant hairpin-shaped regular script.
The strokes are round, soft and beautiful.
Still very spiritual.
In addition to this, there is a kind of piety. Yes, piety. One can tell from her words what kind of person she is and her state of mind when she wrote.
When Shi Nanxi was copying, she thanked God in her heart for allowing her to be reborn after her death. Of course, she was absolutely pious, and her mentality was reflected in the words. When Kangxi saw this, he was deeply moved. This was the girl's love for him!
Moreover, a copy of the Diamond Sutra has more than 9,000 words, and reading it twenty times would require nearly 200,000 words. Looking at the clear and clean pages without a trace of dirt or errors, it must have taken more than 200,000 words to achieve this. Kangxi's heart was beating wildly.
However, he had been the emperor for decades, and there was no sign of anything strange on his face. Instead, he handed the Diamond Sutra in his hand to the Empress Dowager.
"Empress Dowager, you have been worshipping Buddha for many years. Take a look at the Diamond Sutra copied by Princess Shi Er."
The Empress Dowager was a little surprised by the Emperor's behavior, but she didn't ask anything. Instead, she took the Diamond Sutra and when she opened it, her face immediately showed surprise and emotion.
The emperor could see it, and she, who had been worshipping Buddha for many years, could also see it. Her hand could not help but gently brush across the page of words in front of her, and then she turned to the second page, which was still as graceful, soft and extremely pious.
After a while, she put down the Diamond Sutra, looked at Shi Nanxi with admiration, and praised:
"Yes, very good, the intention is good, the calligraphy is good, and more importantly, it is sincere. The price of a gift is not important, but the intention. Your Majesty, Princess Shi Er's intention is truly precious and deserves a reward, a great reward."
After these words were spoken, there was silence at first, and then everyone started discussing in a low voice again, but the content was different from before.
"What's going on? Isn't this just the Diamond Sutra? Why did the Emperor and the Empress Dowager both look so moved and pleased after reading it?"
"How could I have known that? That Princess Shi Er was a little unexpected. I thought she would be humiliated this time and might even displease the Emperor. But I didn't expect that she could win the Emperor and the Empress Dowager's favor with her ordinary recitation of the Diamond Sutra. It's really incredible!"
"Yes, it's just that Ninth Prince is probably going to look even worse now. He was slapped in the face just when he spoke out at the Crown Prince's birthday banquet last time, and now he was slapped in the face again by the same person."
"To be honest, although I was a little disappointed with Shi Ergege's birthday gift, it was not wrong to give her the Diamond Sutra. What Ninth Prince said just now was really too much."
"Shh, stop talking."
The Ninth Prince's face looked incredibly ugly. His previous apology had already been embarrassing, and now he seemed to be able to clearly hear the sound of his face being slapped. However, the look in the eyes of the Emperor appeared in his mind, and he could only hold the wine glass and lower his head.
Kangxi looked around, and finally his eyes fell on Shi Nanxi, smiling and saying:
"What the Empress Dowager said is true. I also like Shi Erge's birthday gift very much. I regard it as a great reward."
Shi Nanxi was in disbelief until she saw the emperor's affirmative smile. She finally reacted and quickly stood up to express her gratitude.
After sitting down again, she glanced at the ugly little face of the Ninth Prince from the corner of her eye, "You little brat, you think you are young and I can't do anything about you if you humiliate me."
Today's apology and slap in the face are just interest. From now on, I will make you kneel down and call me mother, and let your mother call me sister.