Siheyuan: Pushing Huairu, the Prime Minister admits defeat

Xiao Ling was suddenly grabbed by Lin Chaosheng's skirt. She was confused and shocked. For some reason, she suddenly remembered the trouble that Lin Chaosheng and her own queen mother had caused in the bathroom.

"Humph, this big bad guy wants to take advantage of me..."

While Lin Chaosheng was daydreaming, she opened her mouth, revealing two small and exquisite fangs, aimed at the cunning hand, and then bit it hard.

"Hiss! My hand, Xiao Lingying, are you born in the year of the dog?"

Lin Chaosheng was originally wandering around the kitchen, trying to find some ingredients and sauces, and add various spices to use as paint.

How could I have expected that this girl would suddenly bite people?

By the time he broke free, there were already a few shallow teeth marks on his wrist. Fortunately, he didn't tear it hard, otherwise it would have been a problem to stop the bleeding.

"And you still tell me, who told you to pull my skirt like a lecher?"

Xiao Lingying stuck out her tongue and raised her hand to tie up the hair at her temples. Although her voice was full of complaints and anger, it was also crisp and pleasant.

"I, I'm preparing things for tomorrow's dinner to help with the military expenses. You can't find a suitable canvas, and you don't even have decent brushes and paints, so I can only use the skirt gauze."

Lin Chaosheng explained his thoughts without blushing or beating his heart, sat cross-legged, and took out a miniature brush from his arms.

This pen is only about an inch long, made of rosewood as the main body, and the ink-dyeing part is made of upper-layer deer hair.

He usually uses this pen to deal with minor details, and now it can be used as a temporary measure in an emergency.

"Hey, using the skirt as a canvas and the sauces and seasonings as colors, can this really be painted?"

This was the first time that Xiao Lingying had heard such a novel statement. After hesitating for a moment with her head tilted, she timidly took off her skirt.

"Well, your dress is as thin as a cicada's wing. After you draw the picture on it, it will be easy to copy and print it. Wait until tomorrow and find a meticulous carpenter to carve it according to the seal."

Speaking of delicate and thin, Lin Chaosheng realized that he had a small piece of clothing from the Empress Dowager hidden in his sleeves.

Silk is indeed a good material for dyeing ink.

But the area is not enough, and I can only draw a piece of wool with just a handful of space.

It was pitch black outside the kitchen, and the light inside the room was also dim, with only the paper-cut lantern held by Xiao Lingying casting a faint glow.

As the light flickered, Lin Chaosheng took out a paste-like solid spice, poured some flavor enhancers such as soy sauce into a bowl, and began to mix the color he wanted with a serious look on his face.

As the founder of Ukiyo-e in the Great Zhou Dynasty, Lin Chaosheng can be said to be the person who knows the most and is best at painting in this dimension, and who also likes to paint the most.

Anyway, he is a master. Even if the painting is irrelevant or eye-catching, as long as it is stamped with his little seal, everyone who sees it will praise him as Master Lin, saying that he acts spontaneously and does not care about details. This is truly the style of a master!

This, this is called the Grandmaster Effect!

"Ukiyo-e, it turns out that this is how they draw, it's so magical."

Xiao Lingying was holding a lantern, her pretty face full of surprise. Her clear eyes looked at Lin Chaosheng carefully from head to toe.

This was the first time she observed Lin Chaosheng closely and carefully, and she could even feel his steady and powerful breathing.

"Why didn't I think Xiao Linzi was so pleasing before? He looks like the hero in a vernacular novel."

Xiao Lingying only felt that Lin Chaosheng had fair and delicate skin, his eyebrows were slightly raised but not without heroic spirit, and his facial features were perfectly proportioned as if they were carved with an axe or a knife. Especially his somewhat melancholy and deep eyes, which made him look unrestrained, elegant and handsome.

For a moment, the inexperienced Xiao Lingying was stunned.

However, Lin Chaosheng's words brought her back to reality.

"What are you looking at? Why don't you add some water? It's already dry. Do you want me to season it with saliva?"

The elegant image that Xiao Lingying had worked so hard to create was shattered in an instant.

As the saying goes, beneath a beautiful appearance hides a dull soul, but Lin Chaosheng obviously does not conform to this logic.

He is one of those unusual and funny anomalies.

At the same time, in the imperial study where the current Emperor Yang Rong of the Great Zhou was, candlelight was bright. Yang Rong was kneeling on a felt desk reading a letter, his gloomy face showing his mood.

A white dove with clean feathers, long legs and a sharp beak quietly perched on his shoulder, looking around with its dark eyes.

Finally, the emperor, who had always been calm and wise, became angry and cursed angrily:

"Is Lingling Governor Zhu Zhen commanding with his ass? Five thousand county soldiers, seven hundred yamen runners, plus thirty thousand households in the city, and they couldn't even hold the city for three days!"

"This beast deserves to be killed!"

"Zhao En, you must reply quickly and have the Southern Governor Yin Zhen bring the guilty minister Zhu Zhen back to the capital. I want to personally watch him being tortured to death!"

Unable to suppress his inner anger, Yang Rong's face turned red and he frantically flipped over the desk, causing papers and memorials to scatter all over the floor.

Zhao En, who was serving beside him, picked up the letter in surprise, squinted his eyes and read it for a while before saying in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, there may be something fishy about this matter. Gongsun Yonghao is just a poor doctor, how can he use military tactics?"

"You mean there's a problem in Lingling Mansion?"

Yang Rong looked at his most trusted companion and felt more and more that the eunuch was useful and much better than those dry old men who were always talking nonsense in the court.

"Your Majesty, what I mean is that Lingling City is a barrier between our dynasty and the ancient Yue Kingdom. It has deep trenches and high fortifications, and is as solid as a rock. The soldiers in the city are all elites who have fought many battles, and they are all brave and valiant generals. It is impossible for them to be defeated so quickly."

Zhao En was obese, but he spoke succinctly and concisely: "So, I dare to think that the trouble in Lingling City was caused by internal strife. I'm afraid Zhu Zhen has already betrayed the country!"

Silence, deathly silence followed.

Yang Rong looked solemn. He bent down to pick up the memorial on the ground, smoothed out the wrinkles on it, and forced a smile: "How is the matter with the retired emperor going?"

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is still under strict guard, and the daily food is provided by the Empress Dowager. I can't find any opportunities, but there has been some progress with the Empress Dowager."

Zhao En knew that Yang Rong was in urgent need of good news, so he didn't keep him in suspense and called out to the outside of the room a few times.

Soon, a tall and pretty woman in a plain white outfit flashed in. It was none other than Song Junwan, who had just come back to report the news after eavesdropping in the corner.

"Your Majesty, in accordance with your instructions, I deliberately created an opportunity for Lin Chaosheng to see the Queen Mother bathing, and the matter went smoothly. In order to prevent any mistakes, I also made a detailed report. Please review it, Your Majesty."

Song Junwan took out the small notebook in which she had made previous notes from her waist and handed it over respectfully.

"Report?"

Yang Rong took the notebook with suspicion, and after just a few glances, he felt unhappy and his eyes hurt. He quickly handed the notebook back to Song Junwan, cleared his throat and said awkwardly.

"Hey! My dear, it's a good thing to be meticulous, but you can't be too serious about everything. This kind of record makes people feel uncomfortable."

Song Junwan didn't realize what the problem was, and put the small notebook back into her arms: "Your Majesty, I know, it must be too obscure. Next time I will try to write vividly and let Your Majesty feel as if you were there."

Yang Rong: ...

He rubbed his brows with a headache, and asked Zhao En: "Has your companion informed the Queen Mother about the donation banquet to be held in the palace tomorrow night?"

What Zhao En said made him feel much less worried: "I have asked the eunuch Zuo Feng to handle this matter. I think the Queen Mother will definitely bring Lin Chaosheng to attend the meeting tomorrow night."

After learning the news, Yang Rong waved his hand to signal the two to leave the group.

He sat slumped in a chair by himself, muttering to himself: "Oh, Lin Chaosheng, Lin Chaosheng, I have helped you so much, you must not let me down, and let my good brother die with a smile sooner!"