Chapter 65: The Painting of Rebirth Through Fire

Dong...
Dong...

The distant city bells of Yunzhou echoed through the air, and the palace gates opened one after another.

The female emperor of the Great Liang dynasty normally held court once every five days. Since there was no morning court session today, the bustling scene of civil and military officials entering the palace gates was absent. Only a few ministers awaiting summons lingered in the Qifeng Pavilion beside the Taiji Hall.

Outside the Imperial Study, located behind the Taiji Hall, eunuchs and palace maids stood in quiet, solemn attendance. Within the spacious, luxuriously gilded study, a few wisps of fine incense were burning.

Attired in a casual red dress, the Great Liang female emperor leaned sideways on an imperial daybed. A stack of memorial reports lay on a small table beside her, and she held a golden brush, reviewing them with concentrated focus.

Not far away, behind a desk, Dongfang Liren sat impeccably straight in her chair, clad in a python-patterned robe, holding a book and reading intently.

The cover of the book looked thoroughly antique and proper, and the text inside was written with a degree of subtlety, but it was accompanied by numerous illustrations detailing various postures...

A strange expression crossed Dongfang Liren’s brows. Whenever she encountered the illustrated pages, she quickly flipped past them.

Rustle...

The Imperial Study remained utterly silent, save for the faint, delicate sound of turning pages.

After reviewing several memorials, the female emperor noticed that Dongfang Liren’s page-turning frequency was off and asked softly, "Liren, what are you reading?"

*Tears of a Heroine...*

After listening to Ye Jingtang’s words, Dongfang Liren had grown curious about this widely renowned collection of folklore tales circulating through the pugilistic world, and she had specifically sought it out to see if it truly focused entirely on matters of the heart.

As it turned out, after reading it all night, it indeed dealt with romantic affections between men and women, but the illustrations were far too detailed. Even intimate acts were depicted with vivid realism, and the bizarre and exotic methods of lovemaking nearly shattered her worldview.

Yet, this unorthodox book was remarkably vivid and interesting, which was why she was sitting here this early in the morning, skipping through the pages.

Seeing her older sister grow suspicious, Dongfang Liren closed the book without haste: "Just some minor trivia compiled by the subordinates down below. Nothing of importance."

Having ascended to her current position, the female emperor was hardly someone easily deceived. Having grown up with her younger sister since childhood, she could tell from the subtle anomaly in Dongfang Liren’s demeanor that the book was by no means as mundane as mere trivia.

However, facing her own blood sister, the female emperor remained remarkably indulgent. She changed the subject and asked, "Still angry with me?"

Seeing that her sister was laying the matter out in the open, Dongfang Liren wore a displeased expression: "You know you are? I’ve only known Ye Jingtang for a few days; I merely admired his talent and wished to employ him importantly. But what happened? Without a word of explanation, you tricked both of me and him into the Canyang Pool, landing me in... Is that something an older sister should do?"

Supporting her cheek with her hand, the female emperor wore an amused look in her eyes: "Merely wanting to employ him importantly?"

Dongfang Liren said gravely, "Ye Jingtang protected me, so I genuinely appreciate him and remember his kindness. But is that reason enough for him to become my consort? What about the guards of the Black Yamen? As for matters concerning the rest of my life, I was still considering whether or not to pursue a relationship with Ye Jingtang, yet you directly added fuel to the fire and forced things along, pushing the situation to this point..."

The female emperor slightly raised a hand, cutting off her sister’s words: "Very well, consider it your sister acting on her own accord and meddling in your personal affairs. Think about this matter slowly; I won't interfere. Ye Jingtang has exceptional bone structure and is a rare martial arts prodigy. Whether you have taken a fancy to him or not, do not push him away to the outside world, lest you nurse a tiger in the house and give rise to another stubborn thorn like the leader of the Pingtian Sect."

Dongfang Liren looked slightly surprised: "Ye Jingtang has the potential to rival Xue Baijin?"

The female emperor blinked: "It seems I truly acted too hastily. You really know nothing about Ye Jingtang at all."

"And you suppose you do?"

"Just from that single punch he threw at you in the Jingfu Palace the other day, I could roughly tell—he has no formal training whatsoever, pure raw talent."

Recalling the incident, Dongfang Liren wore a solemn expression: "Is that so?"

Putting down the memorial, the female emperor picked up her teacup, took a sip, and sighed helplessly: "Forget it. Discussing this with you is truly exhausting. You might as well go back to reading your book."

"..."

Sensing her sister's "rotten wood cannot be carved" attitude, Dongfang Liren felt her chest heave with the urge to snap back, but she didn't dare. In the end, she simply put away the book and swept out of the room with a flick of her sleeve.

"Where are you going?"

"To pay my respects to the Empress Dowager."

---

In the northwest sector of the imperial city, the Empress Dowager’s sleeping quarters.

Summer cicadas chirped incessantly. The idle palace maids mostly rested within the shaded corridors. The Empress Dowager, who was accustomed to sleeping late and rising even later, was still inside her bedchamber at this hour.

Her habit of sleeping late stemmed from dwelling in the deep palace, solitary and helpless, tossing and turning in insomnia. As for rising late, it wasn't because she hadn't slept enough or wanted to linger in bed.

Within the silent main hall, the palace maid Hongyu leaned against a partition, turning the pages of an unorthodox book with a bored expression.

Inside the bedchamber, all the furnishings were meticulously organized. Hanging on the wall was a newly finished painting by the Empress Dowager—depicting a person carrying a plump chicken, appearing rather like a petty vendor selling chickens marked with a price tag in a marketplace...

Attired in a sheer gossamer nightgown, the Empress Dowager sat cross-legged upon the magnificent phoenix bed: her head held straight, her torso upright, her lips lightly closed with the tip of her tongue pressed against the upper palate, her eyes half-closed in a downward gaze, and her hands resting naturally on her thighs.

This seated meditation posture was far more standard than whatever Ye Jingtang had clumsily figured out on his own, to the extent that the mature and stunningly beautiful Empress Dowager actually exuded a faint aura of worldly detachment.

The Empress Dowager hailed from the Qin family, a prestigious military lineage in Jiangzhou. She had practiced martial arts in her youth, and her mother, doting on her dearly, had specifically taken her to study under Lü Taiqing, one of the "Two Sages."

It was during that period that she had learned these Taoist longevity and health-preservation techniques, and it was also during those days that she had befriended her intimate confidante, Daoist Master Xuanji.

Unfortunately, Lü Taiqing eventually declared that she possessed "too much mortal attachment" and refused to let her take monastic vows. Not long after leaving Mount Yuxu, she was selected by the imperial court and became the Empress of Great Liang.

Yet, on the journey to the capital, the late emperor passed away. To pacify the Jiangzhou gentry and consolidate imperial power, the crown prince still honored her as Empress Dowager, even though she had never laid eyes on the late emperor.

Not long after, the Qin family rendered meritorious service in supporting the sovereign when the female emperor usurped the throne through a palace coup. Thus, upon ascending to power, the female emperor still honored her as Empress Mother. One might say emperors come and go like flowing water, but the Great Mother of the Nation remained as steadfast as iron.

Such a tragic life trajectory left the Empress Dowager with the mindset of "the sooner one dies, the sooner one finds release," and she had long since cast aside these health-preservation and longevity arts.

However, a few years ago, while idling about and having palace maids set up a swing beneath the ginkgo tree in the back garden, Hongyu suddenly discovered a rusted iron box buried beneath the paving stones.

Believing it to be a token of yearning buried by some concubine of a previous dynasty, she opened it only to find a sheet of gold-leaf paper inside.

Having seen the "Jade-Bone Qilin Scroll" in the palace, she immediately recognized it as the "Golden Phoenix Bathing in Fire Scroll" from the *Dragon-Singing Scrolls*. As for who had buried it beneath the ginkgo tree, it remained a mystery.

Legend had it that when mastered to the pinnacle, the "Bath of Fire Scroll" granted "self-healing from wounds and the regeneration of severed limbs"—so long as one wasn't killed instantly, one practically could not be killed.

Few people walking the pugilistic world reached old age without harboring hidden injuries. For those suffering from physical disabilities, a sound and intact body was of even greater consequence than immortality. The value of this scroll could well be imagined.

Upon acquiring the item, the Empress Dowager was naturally overjoyed. Every day she went to the ginkgo tree to offer prayers, thanking it for bringing a turning point to her rather unhappy life.

Yet her good fortune seemed to end right there.

Ever since she obtained the "Bath of Fire Scroll," she had never encountered another smooth or pleasant thing.

She had practiced this scroll for many years now, and while she felt she had mastered it, she could not for the life of her figure out what use this formidable-sounding secret technique actually served.

The scroll claimed it allowed for self-healing and limb regeneration, but the premise was that one had to be injured first!

Pampered and indulged since youth, she was surrounded by attendants the moment she entered the palace. Even when she slept, her maids worried the mattress was too hard and might cause her discomfort—how on earth could she ever get injured?

To test the authenticity of the secret art, she once secretly used a small knife to slice her arm.

As a result, the wound did heal remarkably fast, and it hurt remarkably much. Furthermore, it led Hongyu to believe she was trying to take her own life, causing both the female emperor and Prince Jing to rush over and fuss over her anxiously.

After much deliberation, the sole purpose of this *Dragon-Singing Scroll* was probably to leave her with a perfectly healthy corpse a hundred years from now...

And she would most likely linger on in the deep palace, free of illness and disaster, enduring until the absolute limit of her natural lifespan, likely outliving even the one-hundred-and-twenty-year-old Fengguan City...

"Sigh..."

Contemplating the long yet utterly predictable stretches of lonely years, the Empress Dowager opened her eyes and let out a faint, forlorn sigh.

Turning her gaze toward the chicken-selling vendor on the wall, her mind involuntarily recalled the stern young nobleman who had mistakenly wandered into her palace chambers a few days prior.

When he caught sight of this painting the day before yesterday, I wonder if he misunderstood anything...

Though it was merely a trivial matter that ordinary people would brush aside and instantly forget, the Empress Dowager’s life was so utterly devoid of amusement that such a minor ripple caused by an accident was enough to linger in her heart for a very long time.

Just as her mind was wandering, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the bedchamber, and a figure strode in. The footsteps were heavy, and the person appeared to be seething with anger.

Lifting her gaze, the Empress Dowager saw that it was Liren, clad in her python-patterned robe. Initially, she wanted to lean back against the phoenix bed and pretend to be asleep, but realizing how improper she looked, she scrambled up in a panic, ran barefoot toward the wall, and tried to snatch down the painting.

"Empress Dowager, what are you..."

As Dongfang Liren walked into the bedchamber, she was greeted by the sight of the Empress Dowager in her nightgown, barefoot and improperly dressed, standing on her tiptoes trying to reach the painting on the wall.

However, because the painting was hung rather high, she couldn't quite reach the hanging cord, leaving her frozen stiff against the wall.

"Uh..."

The Empress Dowager wore an awkward expression and didn't dare turn her head.

Clack, clack, clack...

Dongfang Liren walked leisurely to her side, raised a hand to help the Empress Dowager take down the scroll, and gave it a brief glance... The pent-up frustration she had suffered at her sister's hands moments ago instantly vanished by half!

*Goodness, what kind of ghostly abomination is this painted here...*

Sharing the same mediocre artistic caliber as her sister...

The mature and stunning face of the Empress Dowager was flushed with embarrassment. Not daring to meet Dongfang Liren’s gaze, she said softly, "Well... Your Majesty—er, I mean, I just had nothing to do and painted it casually..."

"I can tell."

"Ah? You can tell? Well..."

Dongfang Liren really couldn't bear to crush the Empress Dowager’s newfound artistic enthusiasm. Sweeping her eyes over the scroll with an expression of full approval, she said:

"Though it was a casual stroke born of idle time, it possesses a grand master's flair. The artistic conception of 'common folk struggling through the hardships of daily life' practically leaps off the paper..."

?

The Empress Dowager froze for a moment, cast a sideways glance at her own masterpiece, and then looked at Dongfang Liren, whose face radiated approval. Her expression shifted from relief to gradual grievance and resentment:

"Liren, this painting is supposed to be modeled after the one in your study—the one with the very handsome young gentleman carrying a large bird..."

??

Dongfang Liren’s approving expression stiffened as she examined the scroll once more...

What did this have to do with that?

Aside from having a person and a bird, did the composition, artistic conception, or brushwork share even the slightest resemblance?

If Ye Jingtang looked like this, he probably wouldn't have been able to walk out of the Canyang Pool on his two feet the other day...

However, seeing the Empress Dowager bite her lip, looking on the verge of falling into depression, Dongfang Liren reacted with lightning speed and nodded slightly:

"I can tell. Hmm... When I painted that piece, Ye Jingtang had just entered the capital with only two taels of silver in his pocket, struggling even to afford a meal. Ah... My original intent was to paint 'the difficulty common folk face making a living upon first entering the capital.' Regrettably, my artistic style was far too lofty and aloof, remaining too distant from ordinary people and lacking the touch of the common folk, so I failed to capture it. But this piece by the Empress Dowager hits the mark precisely. Marvelous."

"..."

The Empress Dowager was not a fool and possessed a basic sense of self-awareness; she could tell Liren was merely flattering her.

Yet even with flattery, out of ten parts, surely at least a tiny fraction must be true?

Flustered and delighted, the Empress Dowager leaned in to inspect it closely: "Really? Can you tell who it is?"

*I really don't think anyone can...*

Dongfang Liren had no wish to displease the Empress Dowager, who had endured years of lonely suffering deep within the palace. After a moment of thought, she said:

"Appreciating paintings requires a certain standard, and everyone has their own perspective. But I could recognize it at a glance."

Half-convinced, the Empress Dowager mused, "Hmm... If the person depicted in the painting were to see it, do you think he would be able to recognize himself?"

*I think absolutely not...*

Not wanting to dampen the mood of the Empress Dowager, Dongfang Liren considered her words and replied:

"He is merely a martial artist; how could he possibly comprehend the artistic conception within the Empress Dowager's painting? Still, upon close inspection, he would probably recognize it."

Ah...

Pondering this for a moment, the Empress Dowager smiled again: "I still think your painting looks better. I've always wanted to learn, but I can never grasp the essence. Why don't you call that guard over and have him stand outside so I can practice my painting skills?"

Seldom did she see the Empress Dowager take an interest in the arts of the qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting, so Dongfang Liren did not refuse: "Ye Jingtang has matters at home and needs to leave the capital for a while. Once he returns, I will summon him here so the Empress Dowager can paint him to your heart's content for a few days."

Delighted by the flattery, the Empress Dowager was in no rush. Perhaps fearing she would make a fool of herself when the time came, she linked her arm through Dongfang Liren's and led her toward the garden:

"That works too. I've grown quite fond of painting lately. Why don't you stand still for a moment so I can practice sketching a few portraits of beauties? It will be just the right opportunity for you to critique and guide me..."

*Portraits of beauties...*

Dongfang Liren wasn't entirely certain that once the Empress Dowager finished painting, anyone would even be able to tell if the subject was male or female.

Still, experiencing a sense of superiority as a powerhouse here was far better than lapsing into brooding self-doubt before her sister or Ye Jingtang, so she raised no objections...