c64 (1/2)

Chapter 64: To Hunt

The curtain of the night has fallen and Fu Ling was still helplessly watching attentively at the painter who was concentrating in the study room. Ever since returning from Yi Yan Palace, Mistress started to paint. Initially she thought that it was a moment of interest but she did not think that this would last for more than three s.h.i.+chen (1 s.h.i.+chen = 2 hours). She did not even take her dinner and just casually drank two mouthful of soup.

Sweeping an eye on the drawing paper, it seems that the painting would soon be completed. Fu Ling was just about to instruct Ru Yi to prepare some food when she saw a tall figure striding into Qing Feng Hall. The people in the courtyard quickly knelt down to greet, “Long live the Emperor.”

This was the second time the Emperor came without letting the eunuch announce his arrival. Fu Ling recovered herself and came forward to greet but Yan Hong Tian had already entered the room and waved his hands at her before saying softly, “Withdraw.”

Fu Ling looked into the study room at Mistress who seems to be unaware of it and then look at the Emperor’s expression before peacefully withdrawing.

The study room was brightly lit with candles, thus it was not difficult to see an elegant figure standing by the table near the curtains. Yan Hong Tian’s sharp brows slightly knitted as he walked in.

On the large study table, there were five to six different sized brushes lined up, two black jade pen wash (brush wash?) and a che (1 che = 1 yardstick)dark blue in-stone placed in the centre. The paper covered more than half the table and Qing Feng was standing behind the table and holding a wolf hair brush, with efforless strokes and intense concentration. He only saw Qing Feng’s paintings but did not see her painting. The battle energy was not small and in when she place the brush and spread the ink on the paper, it was like the she dominated everything under her brush. As Yan Hong Tian watched on he became entranced and an interesting look crossed his eyes.

Perhaps in order to facilitate her painting, she was only wearing a narrow sleeved long dress. Under the light and thin clothes, it made her abdomen conspicuous which made Yan Hong Tian frown again, “You are not feeling well and is still painting?” The voice was soft and deep but there was an evident displeasure.

Qing Feng was painting smoothly today and her mood was also quite good. Without even looking up, she smiled, “I was not unwell. It was just that the Empress was particularly interested with me recently and the Empress Dowager would be back after these two days. In order not to deal with them, I planned to feign unwell.”

Yan Hong Tian did not think that she would have said that and laughed, “You are indeed frank.”

Dipping the brush with ink and quickly was.h.i.+ng the brush with water, Qing Feng was usually very casual with her painting and always used clear water with dripping ink. During her drawing she still looked at Yan Hong Tian with some innocence and some craftiness before replying, “Isn’t lying to you means committing the offence of lying to a monarch?”

It was rare that Qing Feng would be so relaxed and poke fun at him so Yan Hong Tian also did not bother about it. Yan Hong Tian held her and asked by her ears softly, “Did Jing-er hurt you?”

He indeed knew about it! Then why did he not discipline? Qing Feng kept quiet and changed to a smaller brush before she dipped it into the ink and scoffed, “With his standards?”

Hearing that that guy actually used a sword to point at her, it was no wonder Qing Feng was angry. It seems that all her p.r.i.c.ks were standing up and Yan Hong Tian laughed out loud, “Zhen almost forgot that you have claws.” Ever since Qing Ling fell into the water, her claws seems to be moderated by a lot.

To such obvious mocking, Qing Feng just shrugged and pretended not to hear anything. Seeing her so focused on painting, Yan Hong Tian was curious to what she was painting. He lowered his head and it was a painting of… A hunt?

At the top of the large paper, there was a large patch of darkness and a crescent moon was s.h.i.+ning in the paper. There were seven or eight wild wolves that were surrounded by arrows and half of the body of the arrows were buried into the ground. This reflects the hunter’s strength in the bow. The pack of wolves were trapped in the circle of arrows and a few female wolves were agitated enough to grind the sand below their feet and a male wolf stepped out. This should be the leader of the pack of wolves and compared to the rest of the wild wolves which were restless, he was cool and his moves were calm. It’s four limbs were well-built and filled with energy. That pair of wolf eyes was staring in front as if it could see directly into the heart of the audience and that pair of dark cold eyes was flas.h.i.+ng his craftiness and calculation.

The pair of eyes were just staring at it and Yan Hong Tian had an urge to kill. The hand that was still holding Qing Feng unconsciously tightened, “How did you suddenly thought of drawing this?”

Qing Feng could feel the killing impulse from the man behind and she felt pleased. Her heart and blood was boiling as she drew it and if the person who sees it was unaffected, then it would have meant that she has failed in painting. Qing Feng smiled, “Today I heard an interesting piece of music and suddenly wanted to draw a painting of a hunting ground.” After entering the Palace, she had no interest in painting but after listening to the , a picture immediately form in her mind and once she return back to the the house, she cannot wait to paint the picture in her heart out.

Qing Feng tilted her head towards Yan Hong Tian who was standing behind and smiled, “Is it not strange why there are only games and no hunters?”

Meeting Qing Feng’s sprinted pair of eyes, Yan Hong Tian immediately smiled, “The hunters should be better in concealment then the preys. Zhen is curious what kind of hunter this is.”

“As the proverb says, seeing the servant knowing the master. Seeing these kind of preys, could it be that you are unable to see what kind of hunter this is?” If Yan Hong Tian cannot see it, then it means that she was not able to draw out the tension. In a perfect work of art, it would not only reflect what was drawn. Qing Feng sighed to herself, she had always felt that Elder Sister and Yu Han Dan was unable to bring out the true essence of and hope that her painting could render a thing or two out from it. But now it seemed that there was still something lacking.