GTB Chapter 4
by VolareChapter 4: Choosing Paintings, This One Won’t Do, Neither Will That One
The Empress Dowager took the stack of portrait albums from the painter’s hand, looked at the lifelike portrait on top, and nodded in praise, “Hmm! Well-painted, reward him.”
The painter received the reward and respectfully retreated.
Shí Qingya curiously asked, “Imperial Grandmother, what are you doing…?”
The Empress Dowager flipped through the portraits in her hand, “It’s for an important purpose,” she said, then looked at Governess Cui, “Did Yan’er say yesterday what time he would come to see me today?”
“Responding to the Empress Dowager, the Seventh Prince said he would come in the morning.”
Shí Qingya immediately understood. If she was favored by the Emperor, then her seventh brother, who was a year older than her, was the Empress Dowager’s darling.
Look at this treatment, the daughters of officials above the third rank have all been drawn, comparable to the Crown Prince choosing a consort.
“Ya’er, these young ladies are not much younger than you. Do you know any of them well? Tell Grandmother about their character and talents.”
“Grandmother, I’m not familiar with everyone. Some people I’ve only met briefly, so I don’t really know their character.”
Shí Qingya didn’t want to give any comments. It’s not that she didn’t know everyone, but even if she did, she wouldn’t say much.
After all, the noble ladies of Kyoto all act dignified and generous in public, but how many can truly be the same inside and out?
Besides, her seventh brother, apart from his stunningly handsome face, his personality, his style… uh… she didn’t know how to describe it.
Anyway, if she were one of these noble ladies, she definitely wouldn’t marry him.
“It’s alright, just tell me about the ones you know. This one, the eldest daughter of General Sun, what’s she like? Do you know anything about her?”
“Not familiar, I’ve only heard… she seems a bit domineering.” Shí Qingya answered truthfully. After all, it wouldn’t be good if she said nothing, her grandmother was a shrewd one!
“Hmm, then let’s put her aside for now. After all, Yan’er’s personality is also a bit assertive.”
Shí Qingya pursed her lips and didn’t speak, thinking, Imperial Grandmother is somewhat aware of her darling’s personality, but… not much.
The Empress Dowager held the portraits, asking about each one, and finally said dissatisfied, “Don’t you know anyone? Anyone you play well with? It’s either ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’ve heard, I’ve heard’.”
Seeing this, Shí Qingya quickly acted coquettishly and explained, “Imperial Grandmother, I really don’t know them very well! The ones I play well with are basically all married.”
As she spoke, she caught sight of a figure entering the courtyard gate and quickly said, “Imperial Grandmother, Seventh Brother is here! Let him look for himself. Our discussions are useless; Seventh Brother has to like them himself.”
Hearing this, the Empress Dowager raised her head and looked towards the courtyard gate, and a look of loving-kindness overflowed from her eyes.
“Imperial Grandmother.” Shí Yan came up to the Empress Dowager, cupped his fist in greeting, and wore a warm smile that he only had in front of the Empress Dowager.
Shí Qingya, who was on the side, was stunned and called out blankly, “Seventh Brother.”
She didn’t have much contact with this seventh brother. It was the first time she had seen her seventh brother with such a refined and elegant appearance, completely without his usual indifference or arrogant,wan ku: playboy air.
Shí Yan gave a soft “hmm” to Shí Qingya, then walked over and sat down opposite the two of them. His pair of phoenix eyes casually swept over the stack of portraits in front of the Empress Dowager. He picked up the tea poured by a young maidservant on the side and slowly brought it to his lips.
The warm spring sun shone on his body, and the silver silk patterns on his moon-white brocade robe shimmered in the sunlight, making his dazzling appearance even more striking.
When the Empress Dowager saw him sit down, she quickly picked up the top portrait on hand and placed it in front of Shí Yan.
The ones on top were all the girls she thought were pretty good.
“What do you think? Isn’t this girl very beautiful?”
Shí Yan slowly put down the teacup and glanced at it casually, “It’s alright, but her nose is a bit big.”
Shí Qingya’s hand, which had just picked up the cup, paused slightly and couldn’t help but glance at the portrait of the Second Miss of the Marquis’s mansion. Was her nose… big?
Seeing him say this, the Empress Dowager didn’t argue. She immediately picked up the second one and passed it over, thinking, anyway, there are many girls! If this one doesn’t work, we’ll change to another one. There will always be one that catches his eye.
“Then what about this one? What do you think?”
Shí Yan shook his head slightly, “Her waist is a bit thick.”
The Empress Dowager was speechless. Was this waist thick? Okay! It wasn’t thin enough, at least not as thin as her waist when she was young.
“What about this one!”
“This body is like a little bean sprout, flat as a board. Does the Zhang family… have a very poor diet?”
The Empress Dowager and Shí Qingya both paused, unable to refute for a moment.
The Empress Dowager continued to hand over one with tireless patience, thinking that with her grandson’s appearance, it was understandable for him to be picky.
Shí Yan nodded, “Hmm, this one looks like she has a pretty good diet. She should switch diets with the previous one, merge them, and it should be more balanced.”
The Empress Dowager’s joyous expression, which had just been revealed, immediately retracted because of Shí Yan’s words.
She endured the headache and directly took out a trump card:
“What about this one? This is the granddaughter of Tutor Fan, the number one talented woman in Kyoto, with both character and appearance.”