Drunken Exquisiteness Vol 1 Chapter 9.1

Part 1 - The Cloudy Sky Within The Sound of Flute

Purple silk covering the bed, pillow made of fine white tallow jade, Qingchen sit up on the bed, but her body was weak, swaying .

A pair of hollow silver incense b.a.l.l.s were hung on the bed, emitting a calming effect from the fragrance of the herb, not surprising that she slept for so long . She forced herself to get off the bed then looked around .

There was no complicated decoration in the room, but everything was placed at the right place . A jade bamboo brush shelf was placed on the long table, a few sheets of snow colored paper, a wide mouthed gla.s.s vase was filled with clear water . A leaf of water lily floating on it, green leaves and white petals, a n.o.ble air within the cleanliness, complementing the elegant air in the room . Warm light coming through the clear windows, s.h.i.+ning on the fine woven bamboo mat, reminding her of the person who put her here . Burning summer heat was in the air, but her heart was strangely cold . She looked around, then stopped her gaze at the painting on the wall .

A painting of a pond filled with lotus on a moonlit night . She stood on the area where the sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly within the room, feeling the soft wind pa.s.sing through the room . This painting seemed to carry the silver glow of the moon, cool and elegant . It was painted in light green color with freehand style, free and smooth, carrying the shadow of the moon and the wind within the carefree brush, emphasizing the night color, light and darkness made in great detail, then slowly fading away . Gentle breeze floats through, dreamy waves of light, an elegant central forward stroke, yet the closing strokes were made in fine detail, tiny green leaves, bright swaying lotus, a little pink on the whites, as round as pearls and smooth as jade, gently swaying along with the light green light from the moonlit night, which is fine and intoxicating .

Floating brightly from afar, thousands of scenes at close view, standing in front of the painting, as though existing within the painting, like standing within the moon colored lotus, enjoying the breeze and celebrating the moon, an ultimate elegance .

Advertis.e.m.e.ntShe stood in front of the painting for a while, silently praising, only to see a few lines of the poem at the side of the painting, seems like it was about the scenery on the painting:

Smoke floating on the light moon,
Moving moon inviting the light breeze,
Reflection of the wind sending the green lotus,
Green waves creating jade smoke .

The start of the poem matches the end, using the trick of coincidental matching, but it does not rhyme, and it does not flow when read . She frowned after reading it once . Suddenly, a flash of surprise appeared in her eyes .

In inscription adhered to the poem: On the midsummer night of the year of Xin You** following royal edict to record the poem made by eldest brother, fifth younger brother, ninth younger brother, and eleventh younger brother at Ning Cui Pavilion, to remember the beautiful artwork of seventh younger brother .

     **This is a calendar system based on the Ganzhi . More information here 

It was signed with only one word - Ling .

She raised her hand to touch the last character, a sharp writing, proud and firm, slightly sharp compared to the gentle and beautiful moon lotus, as though a little cold and hard . Just like unfolding a painting, a calm river flow that suddenly meet a b.u.mp, the river flow was cut off abruptly, causing splashes towards the river bank . However, as the mountain reflected on the water, the water carrying the mountain, yet they cannot be said to have the same character .

This writing, this signature, as though she could clearly feel the sharpness of the characters with a touch of her hand, like being sliced by a knife, reminding her of someone . While she was thinking, she did not hear someone entering the room .

“Miss Feng, you are awake?” a beautiful gentle greeting voice was heart, Qingchen turned around in surprise .

The person who spoke was tall and thin woman, gently walked towards her while smiling at her . The handmaid next to her said: “This is Consort Jin of our manor . ”

Qingchen curtsied: “Greetings to Prince Consort . ”

Consort Jin instructed the handmaid: “Go and invite Doctor Zhou, just say to come for an examination here . ”

Qingchen said: “I do not dare to trouble Prince Consort, I know a little on the art of healing myself . It's just a little illness, not a big problem . ”

Consort Jin was slightly surprised: “Not only is Miss Feng good playing zither, you are even knowledgeable in the art of healing . Such a kind and talented person really makes people like upon meeting . However, for a.s.surance, it is still better to get a look . His highness left you to me, I cannot be careless . ”

Qingchen smiled, but did not reject her anymore: “I only know both skills a little, knowing but not outstanding . In that case, I have to trouble Prince Consort . ”

Consort Jin replied with a smile: “The song you played on Chu Yan river even caused our Highness to admit defeat . At the moment, it has become the topic most talked about within the whole Yige city . His flute has never fall to number two . How can it be a common song if it received praise from him?”
Qingchen was reminded of the scenes before, as though falling into a strange chaos scene, back into a role in the plot like a turning lantern causing her to feel overwhelmed .

The feeling when her finger touched the zither string, as though she was going to the feeling of pain and stuffiness that she had suppressed the days before were entirely released into the song, breaking through the clouds in the sky . When the sharp chord cut into her finger splas.h.i.+ng out blood, she felt indefinitely satisfied . She gently held her hand, the wound at the tip of her finger felt slightly painful .
Qingchen sighed silently and looked towards the painting: “Painting is an artistic conception, the sound of zither represents the heart . I was only anxious to help, the rise and fall of the tone was exposed . I was lost in the anger and sadness, I think his Highness was not serious . ”

Consort Jin said: “Even though I did not hear the song, but since he commented 'gut of a sword and the heart of a zither', I think it should be sad for not hurt, excited but not aggressive, causing him to really appreciate it . ” Seeing that Qingchen was looking at the painting, she continued: “This was painted by his Highness . It is a painting of the lotus on the Xian Yu pond within the manor . If you feel bored, you can take a walk there . The lotus are budding these few days, they should bloom really soon . ”

Qingchen said: “The painting and the poem did not seem to be the work of the same person . ”
Consort Jin looked at the poem and said with a smile: “About this poem, it was actually a fun story . This was the year when the Emperor and the other princes were invited to come and enjoy the lotus at the Xian Yu pond . Everyone was happy so they drank a few cups more, his Highness painted this while drinking . The Crown Prince and the other princes were watching on the side, each of them casually mentioned a few lines, but apparently was heard by the Emperor . He immediately commanded someone to 'record these lines of strange poem on the painting and hang it so that they can see it when they are sober' . Only Prince Ling was not drunk at the time so he recorded the poem on the painting . A few days later, they came to visit, upon seeing this painting, eleventh prince spurt out his tea with a laugh and immediately asked that they said so many good lines, why only this ugly and weird poem was recorded? Prince Ling looked at him, and gave him two words, 'following order' . In the end, they don’t want this painting to be hung at the front pavilion no matter what, so we can only hang it here . Actually, it has been a few years, the lotus on Xin Yu pond bloom beautifully every year, but it has never been that lively anymore . ”

Qingchen read the poem again, then said with a smile: “So it was Prince Ling, I thought this 'Ling' was the name of the author of the poem . ”

Consort Jin said: “The current Royal Clan of Ye, Prince Ling is fourth in line, 'Tian' as the generation name**, a single word of 'Ling' as his name . ”

   **The generation is not surname and not a name either . It is the name used by all the child who are of the same gender and same generation within the family . This system is still used by my family nowadays even though they are diminis.h.i.+ng . You will notice that all the princes’ name starts with Ye Tian .