Someone shouted, who turned out to be the Second Concubine of the Hua"s Mansion.
Others were all also shocked, with their eyes glaring at the painting and their facial expressions all changing when they saw the picture.
The Changlong Emperor looked at the picture, only to see eight horses, which were of splendid momentum, intending to gallop ahead from the picture, and the painting style was so awe-inspiring that it seemed to have been painted by the Painting Sage.
Of course, the Emperor couldn"t be more familiar with this painting. He once painstakingly begged the Painting Sage to give him this painting, but afterwards, he had to give it to the Cheng"s, who had made great contributions, as a reward.
Afterwards, the Cheng"s gave this painting to Hua Liting. The Emperor once joked that he wanted his painting back, but it was just a joke which properly showed the Emperor"s affection to this painting.
As for the painting, many people had heard about it but few of them had ever seen it.
As for those who were present, n.o.body had ever seen this painting except Hua Qiyue, Second Madame, Hua Mengshi, Old Madame Hua and several sevants.
But now, the Second Madame"s scream ignited a bout of whispering from the people present.
"It"s truly the painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead!" The Changlong Emperor"s facial expression became a little serious, and the Second Madame tremblingly stood and knelt down.
"Your Majesty, this painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead was the gift that I gave to First Miss, but it"s unexpected that... that..."
Second Madame said in a quavering voice. Hearing this, Old Madame Hua"s face became severe and a complicated look pa.s.sed over her eyes.
Since Second Madame was also involved in this, this thing didn"t seem very simple.
In the meanwhile, that eunuch held the fire and swept the back of the painting with it, suddenly, lines of small characters, which were in extremely fine handwriting, appeared to the people. Lv Xin and Youshui had to cover their mouths to halt the screams that were going to come out.
"Steal the west city"s tactical secrets from the palace on July, 18th, and then hand it to me. Inscribed by Hua Qiyue."
It was really Hua Qiyue"s handwriting.
"What is it? It"s really our Miss"... Miss" handwriting..." Youshui said in a low voice, but Hua Qiyue raised her eyebrows calmly without a word.
As much as Tianci was young, he still could feel that many people were looking at Hua Qiyue with an unfriendly eye, so, he tightly held Hua Qiyue"s hand.
"Mom, they look weird, is it because they dislike Mom?"
Tianci looked up at Hua Qiyue and asked. Hua Qiyue tenderly fondled Tianci"s head, "Tianci, you hope that everyone likes you, how could it be possible? The most important thing to live in this world is to have a clear conscience."
Tianci understood it incompletely, and Hua Qiyue softly fondled his head, "Tianci, you have Mom, don"t be scared."
Hearing this, Tianci grinned with his blinking eyes filled with innocence and naughtiness, "Mom, if anyone dares to bully you, I"ll beat一them down!"
Although what a child said was no offense, Hua Qiyue"s heart became very soft after hearing this.
"Your Majesty, this was the message that Hua Qiyue left to me... I actually intended to give it back to her after reading it, but I didn"t think that my whereabouts had been exposed before I returned the painting to the Hua"s Mansion..." w.a.n.g Zhong said in a low voice, and the Changlong Emperor"s facial expression was difficult to describe.
The Empress said in a quavering voice, "Your Majesty, it really is the painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead!"
All the people quieted down and looked at everything that was happening with a cold eye. The atmosphere suddenly froze just like the darkness of the night.
"Old Madame Hua, do you think that this is Princess Jinghua"s handwriting?" The Changlong Emperor was bitterly disappointed in his heart and looked at Old Madame Hua with an extremely complicated eye.
Looking at those fine handwritings, Old Madame"s facial expression looked bad and she glanced at Hua Qiyue who was very calm. She said with a lowered voice, "Your Majesty, indeed, the handwriting... looks like Hua Qiyue"s, but handwriting can also be imitated."
"Old Madame Hua, of course, handwriting can be imitated, but can the painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead be imitated? Princess Jinghua is a brilliant genius of our country, and I don"t believe that she is a spy from another country either," The Empress said regrettably and her words reminded everyone.
Indeed, handwriting could be imitated, but the painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead was the masterpiece of the Painting Sage.
n.o.body could duplicate such a painting so vividly, right?
Of course, the Changlong Emperor had thought about this, thus, he looked at Hua Qiyue with a sullen face.
Hua Qiyue slowly stepped forth and said reverently, "Your Majesty, I have some questions for w.a.n.g Zhong."
"As you wish."
"w.a.n.g Zhong, who handed this painting to you?" Hua Qiyue stared at w.a.n.g Zhong with her cold eyes and the coldness released from her eyes made w.a.n.g Zhong"s hair stand on end.
w.a.n.g Zhong straightened his back and said coldly, "You asked a man in black to hand it to me!"
Hua Qiyue shook her head slowly, "No, I"ve never seen you before. w.a.n.g Zhong, you wantonly slandered me, and I"m afraid that this morsel of proof cannot be referred to as evidence."
"Humph, slandered you? You asked someone else to give it to me half a month ago. You"re the spy! Although the one that contacted with me had not seen you before, I followed the person that night, and he entered the Hua Mansion"s gate!" w.a.n.g Zhong pointed at Hua Qiyue and screamed.
"Excuse me but twenty days ago, my hand was injured because of planting medicine. As a result, I was completely unable to write. So, that handwriting is a copy of mine." Hua Qiyue raised her fair-complexioned right hand, only to show her middle finger and her thumb all wrapped by thick gauze.
Hua Mengshi and others were surprised. Had Hua Qiyue"s hand gotten injured? Why didn"t they hear about it?
"Then, Princess Jinghua, how can you explain the painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead?"
The Changlong Emperor said calmly with his eyes filled with sternness.
The painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead was the Changlong Emperor"s favorite painting. If it were not for the fact that Cheng Sheng, the lord of the Cheng"s, kept asking him for this painting at that time, the Changlong Emperor would have never ever given this painting to him.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Sheng should have given this painting to his son-in-law Hua Liting as a gift. But considering General Hua"s great military exploit, the Changlong Emperor had to suppress his discontent in his heart.
But anyway, the Changlong Emperor finally had complaints about the Cheng"s. And now, the Hua"s Mansion had a Qi Artist at the bottom stage of the Dragon Diagram, so, he slowly dissolved his disatisfication with the Hua"s Mansion.
Hua Qiyue raised her eyes calmly and her eyes met with the Empress" beautiful eyes which were as tranquil as the night, to say, "Your Majesty, I also don"t know the reason why w.a.n.g Zhong has the painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead."
Hearing this, the Empress was a little happy inwardly.
According to what Hua Qiyue said, it seemed that she, the Empress, would win!
This moment, she had been waiting for a long time! Her beloved daughter died because of Hua Qiyue, but she was the Empress and her special position didn"t allow her to boldly hire a Qi Artist to kill Hua Qiyue. But now, her plot made Hua Qiyue have nowhere to hide before the Emperor.
Although the Emperor was fond of geniuses and offered high positions to Qi Artists, when it came to betrayers, he would never forgive them. Tonight, would be Hua Qiyue"s day of death!
However, why did Hua Qiyue"s eyes look so calm? Besides ecstacy, the Empress dimly felt a sense of uneasiness.
"Hua Qiyue, is what Second Madame said true? If it"s true, then... what else do you have to prove your innocence?" The Changlong Emperor"s face became even more serious and severe; his stern look made the present guests surprised and glad.
Yun Shimo calmly put the teacup down. Actually, he didn"t really want to come here tonight, but somehow, he was driven to attend this banquet, arriving late for it in the end. Unexpectedly, such a great show was performed tonight and was worth his attendance.
But Yun Shimo didn"t worry because he knew that since Hua Qiyue was so calm, she must have her own solutions.
"Your Majesty, let"s put aside the authenticity of this painting. I have a question," Hua Qiyue said calmly, "I didn"t know about this w.a.n.g Zhong before, and I even hadn"t seen him before. Your Majesty, my hand was injured, and it"s not fair to believe that I"m the spy only in accordance to w.a.n.g Zhong saying so." Hua Qiyue said calmly and her face looked placid as if what happened was just a piece of cake, totally failing to trouble her.
The Changlong Emperor couldn"t help to inwardly admire her calmness.
As rich and young ladies from distinguished families, they of course were well-informed, but once they were involved in the matter of being traitors and being spies of other countries, they would probably all be in panic, right?
"Your Majesty... I have something to say, but I"m not sure about it..." A weak voice sounded.
Everyone looked to where the voice sounded, it turned out to be Hua Mengshi"s mother, the Second Concubine.
"Speak!"
"Here"s the thing, Your Majesty... when I got up to go to the bathroom at midnight, the night before last night, I probably saw First Miss leave from the back door secretly."
The Second Madame lowered her head and said in a low voice.
Hua Qiyue raised her arched eyebrows and asked, "Second Concubine, are you sure that you really saw me?"
The Second Concubine Pan paused, and she raised her eyes slightl; when her eyes met with the Empress" calm look, she nodded heavily, "Yes, indeed!"
Hearing this, Ji Jing stood up immediately but was seized by the Old Madame. Since Hua Qiyue was so calm, she must have other solutions!
Tianci blinked his moist and big eyes and looked at those who smiled complacently at Hua Qiyue. His eyes paused and his little mouth pouted, thinking about something quickly.
A playful smile appeared on Hua Qiyue"s face, "Your Majesty, indeed, Second Madame gave the painting of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping Ahead to me as a gift one month ago, but what confuses me is that I took very good care of the painting and hanged it in the hall of Cuihua Court. Moreover, in case that someone had vile schemes on the Painting Sage"s painting, I had specially taken it with me to the carriage when I went out of the mansion tonight. That is to say... Your Majesty, the painting that w.a.n.g Zhong presented is the fake one," Hua Qiyue said calmly and she coldly looked at w.a.n.g Zhong with a little pitying look in her eyes.
This p.a.w.n failed. Tonight, it wasn"t her the night of her end; it should be the night for the Second Concubine and others" to be overthrown.
Hearing this, the Second Concubine and Hua Mengshi"s facial expressions changed a little.
"The fake one?" the Changlong Emperor looked at Hua Qiyue in confusion. What happened tonight was far beyond his expectation, but somehow, he dimly felt that these things should have nothing to do with the Empress, right?
After all, the birthday banquet tonight was held by the Empress heself. Anyway, the Changlong Emperor was a wise emperor, how couldn"t he figure out the relation between these things?
The Second Madame Pan"s face suddenly became pale. She had been known for her calmness, however, at this moment, she wanted to refute Hua Qiyue"s statement because she asked the Jiangnan Robber to steal the painting from Hua Qiyue"s hall. How could it be fake?
However, concealing this had no advantage to the Second Madame, which meant to admit that she had stolen the painting and she had framed Hua Qiyue!
But what did Hua Qiyue"s words mean? The Second Madame ordered someone to steal it, how could it be fake?
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