~ A Shining New Year's Gift ~
When Yue Wang took the steamed bun, Yu Yi breathed a sigh of relief. After sitting down, he heard Steward Qin secretly snort coldly. He couldn’t help but wail in his heart: The red envelope that he just obtained probably be confiscated tomorrow.
The Su residence was full of warmth and liveliness, while in the Capital also was brightly lit.
After receiving the congratulations from the princes, officials, ministers, and imperial concubines, the Emperor’s face filled with joy. He leaned back in his throne, swinging the wine cup in his hand as he enjoyed the singing and dancing below.
Seeing that the wine cup in the Emperor’s hand was empty, Xu Li hurriedly poured out the fine wine and said softly, “Your Majesty, this year is going well, and the people are in good health. This servant has heard that some of the New Year’s gifts presented in various places this year are magnificent. This servant and others are lucky enough to take a look at them and feel that they can’t move their eyes.”
“Oh? You are considered an elder in the Palace. What things have you never seen before? What things haven’t you seen before? Something that can make you so complimented is definitely unusual. In that case, let the people below move up and take a look!”
Xu Li’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly went down to ordered the young eunuch to present the selected New Year’s gifts.
“Your Majesty, look. This thing is the sacred stone of Mount Tai sent by the Governor of Ludong. Rumor says that it can bloom at night. The sacred stone also has a natural pattern and engraved with longevity, which is particularly magical.”
The Emperor looked at it and didn’t seem to care much. “A few days ago, when I celebrated my birthday, many strange stones and auspicious signs had sent over here. There’s no point in looking at them. Is there anything else?”
“I heard that Jingling City also sent a New Year’s gift. It said that it came from Ni Yun Fang that you had bestowed before. The citizens of Jingling City also participated in it.”
When the Emperor heard that the citizens of Jingling City were participating, he could not help but feel slightly displeased. “The most important thing in the year is the intention. If the citizens are worried because of the gift, wouldn’t they be chasing after their reputation?”
Xu Li was a little frightened. He just got promoted to the position of the head of internal servant, so he didn’t understand the Emperor’s temperament as well as Eunuch De’s. At this moment, he was only thinking of selling some benefits of Mu Yunyao, but he had forgotten about the Emperor’s thoughts.
The Emperor, however, had already spoken. “Bring out the New Year’s gift that had sent up from the Jingling City. I would like to see what it is like the New Year’s gift that citizens have worked to participate in it.”
Upon hearing the name of Jingling City, the officials below began to speak in hushed tones. The name of Jingling City was too famous. Judging from the Emperor’s earlier expression, it seemed as though it wasn’t over yet. Could it be that they were unlucky?
When he thought this, he immediately became spirited and looked toward the hall entrance without leaving a trace behind. Soon, two attendants carried a rack and walked up. Judging from their appearance, it should be a screen with a red cloth covering them. It was difficult to tell what the actual situation was.
Many people looked in Su Wenyuan’s direction with gloat expressions. When the Emperor’s birthday before, Su Wenyuan had given him a screen to take credit. However, in the blink of an eye, they never thought that the beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers would turn into an ominous bloody omen.
For this reason, the Su family had left out for quite a while. For the past half a year, he had tried his best to erase the shadow brought by the screen. Just as he was about to succeed, who knew that Jingling City would actually send over another screen?
Su Wenyuan remained calm and collected with a gentle smile on his face. However, the wine cup in his hand shook slightly, giving off a cold light.
When the Emperor saw the rack, he obviously remembered the screen that Su Wenyuan gave on his birthday, and the unpleasant expression in his expression became deeper: “What can it hide? Take off the red cloth?”
Seeing the Emperor’s anger, the attendants below shrank into a ball in fright, shaking their hands and pulling down the red silk.
The lights in the main hall lit brightly. Suddenly, everyone felt a burst of light shining in front of them, almost blinding them. When they came back to their senses, they couldn’t help but focus and take a deep breath.
On the main hall, although the items presented by Jingling City were similar to a screen, they seemed more like embroidery with shelves mounted on them. At this moment, due to the attendant’s actions being too big, the piece of embroidery swayed slightly. The four golden characters were written on it, emitting a dazzling divine light.
Under the illumination of the candle flame in the hall, the auspicious cloud slowly moved under the large character. The four golden characters seemed to fly in from the sky and firmly stood within it. — blessing, longevity, safety, health! (Fu, Shou, An, Kang)
Even the Emperor couldn’t help but widen his eyes as he focused on the embroidery beneath. He felt a sense of righteousness surge through his chest, causing him to laugh out loud. “Good!”
As he spoke, he got up and walked down the stairs to take a closer look at the embroidery. The closer he got, the more mysterious it felt. “The four characters Fu, Shou, An, and Kang actually all consisted of small characters with different handwriting. These things have about tens of thousands of them, right?”
When Xu Li saw the Emperor’s expression change from gloomy to bright, he secretly wiped away the cold sweat on his palms. He knew that his gamble had been correct, and upon hearing the Emperor’s question, he hurriedly stepped forward to answer. “Reporting to Your Majesty, Governor Huainan, Zhang Boyong, sent over a greeting letter, which records in detail the origin of the embroidery.”
“Come up. I want to take a look at who made such amazing embroidery.” Soon, Governor Zhang’s letter carried over to the Emperor. After the Emperor finished reading, his expression became even more joyous. “These small words of good luck and good health actually come from the hands of elder Quan Fu in Huainan, and there are a total of more than sixteen thousand of them, which really makes one exclaim in amazement. Zhang Boyong said that all the papers collected together carried in. Where are they now?”
Xu Li hurriedly replied, “This servant will immediately send someone to fetch it.”
Not too long after, a few guards came over with two large boxes. Xu Li quickly ordered people to open them, and inside the boxes were neatly folded pieces of a white paper written with the words Fu, Shou, An, and Kang.
Xu Li took a few pieces and placed them in front of the Emperor. “Your majesty, please take a look.”
The Emperor took out one of the papers and examined it conscientiously. There were four characters of Fu, Shou, An, Kang. It was written in different shapes and sizes. It was really tough to find the corresponding letter.
“All of you, my officials, please come up and take a look as well. Might you be able to find the corresponding handwriting?”
A few of the old officials quickly came forward and took the paper to compare them carefully. Suddenly, someone exclaimed, “It’s here, Your Majesty. This official has found it. Take a look at this place.”
“Yes, indeed.”
“This subject has found it too. Your Majesty, please take a look.”
For a while, the entire Golden Hall became bustling with noise and excitement. Everyone held the slip of paper and looked for corresponding handwriting on the embroidery materials. They were all on the same page. The key is that this handwriting did not show any difference. They looked a little different except for the size. The others are precisely looking the same.
“The craftsmanship of this embroiderer is just like a heavenly work.”
“That’s right. These tens of thousands of characters are all written in different handwriting and arranged in an orderly manner. The four big words appear majestic and powerful, truly rare.”
“Indeed, as expected of Ni Yun Fang that bestowed with great rewards by the Emperor. Its craftsmanship is unrivaled in the entire world.”
wowwww i wish i could see it too!!
ReplyDeleteMe, too!
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