Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 1359

Chapter 1359: Chapter 1354: Explanation

Xiao Rongyan, led by Bai Qingyan, entered the inner room. In front of the thin gauze curtains hung several paintings by renowned artists. He paused when his eyes fell on the one in the center.

In the painting, his mother, Empress Ji, wore a simple household hairstyle, adorned with a white peony jade hairpin, dressed in a tea-white top and a deep red skirt embroidered with white butterflies, her slight belly showing. A jade cicada hung from her waist, surrounded by his siblings, in this Qiuhua Pavilion draped everywhere with wisteria curtains.

Xiao Rongyan’s eyes grew warm, and his smile deepened slightly. He lifted the curtain with his hand and couldn’t help but quicken his pace toward the painting, as if seeing his mother standing at the end of the silk curtain hanging from the agarwood beam, smiling gently at him.

He finally stood before the painting, staring intently at the figures within, the sway of the thirty-six lotus lamps casting light on the slightly faded painting.

When this painting was created, Xiao Rongyan had not yet been born, but his elder brothers and sisters were. Looking at the smiles of his mother, brothers, and sisters on the canvas, they were genuinely happy and joyful. This made Xiao Rongyan, who had no memory of his mother’s smile, gradually form a clear image of her smiling face in his mind. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"This painting, during the Jin Dynasty, was left in the depths of a warehouse and suffered some dampness. Fortunately, the pigments used back then were excellent, so its original colors can still be discerned," Bai Qingyan stood beside Xiao Rongyan, "There’s no signature on the painting, not even a seal, and it doesn’t seem like a famous artist’s work. But since it appeared in the Imperial Palace, it was left in a corner of the warehouse by the royal servants who entered the Jin Dynasty. Nanny Qin found this painting and commented on its quality. She originally wanted Mother to see which famous artist it was, but since I was with Mother, I recognized the jade cicada and guessed Empress Ji’s identity, so I asked Mother for this painting."

"Thank you..." Xiao Rongyan gazed at the painting intently, as if envisioning the joyful times his elder brother spoke of.

It is said that this painting was created when his father, the Emperor of Yan, was not yet clear-headed, for his mother and them. At that time, his mother was undoubtedly happy, loving his father wholeheartedly before he regained his senses, while his father loved her wholeheartedly as well.

The various unfavorable rumors outside about his mother, in fact, as Bai Qingyan once said at the palace banquet... Whether being power-mad and venomous, or enchanting and bewitching, his mother was merely a small consort within the palace, powerless within the court. She struggled to survive in the treacherous waves with an incapacitated emperor, and that’s all!

Initially, what his mother sought was survival for her and his father, and later she elevated Yan to a hegemonic status, displaying resilience of mind—by no means the seductive consort manipulating power as portrayed externally.

Bai Qingyan held Xiao Rongyan’s hand with a smile, standing with him, and softly said, "Between us, there’s no need for thanks. However, the world’s legends aren’t false. Empress Ji’s talents are unmatched, and her beauty... also unparalleled."

"Beauty is in the bone, not the skin..." Xiao Rongyan gently held Bai Qingyan’s hand and said, "When Mother was alive, she often said... This ’bone’ refers to the essence. In my opinion... Mother and Kid are unmatched in both appearance and essence!"

"Shall I find an artist to restore this painting before you take it back?" Bai Qingyan asked.

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