“Have you ever seen Emperor Xianzhu?”
As the carriage sped through the streets at noon, inside the compartment, Su Yan asked Shen Qi.
Shen Qi shook his head. “When Emperor Xianzhu was on the throne, I had not yet been born.”
Su Yan said, “I have seen him. His portrait hangs in the central hall of the Ancestral Temple. When Zhu Helin was still Crown Prince, he knelt there before the spirit tablet.”
Shen Qi did not know why he suddenly brought up the portrait of Emperor Xianzhu, but he knew Su Yan would not speak without purpose, so he looked at him attentively and continued listening.
Su Yan fell into a brief recollection, as if sketching something in his mind, and murmured, “We do not actually need to prove the Grand Empress Dowager’s chastity.”
Shen Qi raised his brows slightly, a look that was both questioning and encouraging.
Su Yan gave him a faint smile. As his thoughts became clearer, that composed brilliance returned to his face. “What I mean is, whether that old woman had an affair actually has no necessary causal connection to whether Emperor Jinglong is legitimate. In other words, we don’t need to prove her fidelity, we only need to prove her son’s bloodline.”
Shen Qi thought it over, still not quite understanding his intent, and asked, “How do you prove he is Emperor Xianzhu’s biological son? Blood testing is impossible, and both Emperor Jinglong and the Yu Wang resemble the Grand Empress Dowager, with almost no trace of their Royal Father.”
“The sons may not, but the grandsons do!” Su Yan said with a smile. “You’ve probably never heard of this term, skipping-generation inheritance.”
***
Ai Huaduo walked closely beside Su Yan, yet couldn’t help glancing around. The magnificent palaces made him feel slightly dizzy.
Those solemn, towering gate towers, the layers of white jade steps, even the glazed tile ridges reflecting sunlight, all made him suspect he had arrived in heaven, the heaven of heretics.
Su Yan stopped and turned to look at this thin, curly-haired Western handsome man, sneering slightly. “No need to be nervous.”
Ai Huaduo: “I, I’m not nervous.”
Su Yan: “You’re walking with the same arm and leg.”
Ai Huaduo: “…”
After hesitating again and again, Ai Huaduo asked in a low voice, “Will your Emperor be very… strict? When answering his questions, what should I pay attention to?”
Su Yan smiled. “Just speak as you do to me. However, etiquette cannot be lacking, you should at least show the same attitude as when you meet Ferdinand III. Oh right, before you came to Great Ming, he might not have been ruling Naples yet, but he is now.”
Ai Huaduo was shocked. “You, you know my hometown, and even know His Majesty the King?”
Of course, “the first king of a unified Spain”, anyone who had seriously studied European history would know. And as expected, Italy really has a tradition of being a “dependency.” But medieval Europe’s power structure was a complete mess, with tangled kinship relations, anyone who took history as an elective would get a headache…
In a single moment, Su Yan had already internally complained several times, yet outwardly he wore a calm smile. “Though Great Ming sits in the Central Plains, its gaze encompasses the world. I am merely a scholar who has read a few extra books, with only a superficial understanding of the current situation of various nations.”
“Superficial understanding”? And with your status, you still call yourself merely a “scholar”… Ai Huaduo felt somewhat speechless.
He already knew Su Yan’s identity, something like a “vice prime minister” of the kingdom, he just hadn’t expected him to be so young and handsome. What, then, would their emperor be like?
Ai Huaduo stopped asking questions. After walking down another corridor and passing through a moon gate, they finally, in a garden filled with exotic charm, saw the current emperor of Ming.
Just as young as their vice minister, but more full of masculine vigor. At this moment, the emperor was in an open space by the lake, using a bow to shoot at small bells hanging from willow branches. Not a single arrow missed; each shot was accompanied by the clear chime of the bells.
When the emperor saw him, he seemed very pleased, even enthusiastic, he set aside his bow and walked over.
Flattered, Ai Huaduo pressed his hand to his chest and bowed, hesitating whether to make it more formal and kneel on one knee, when he saw the emperor stride past him, sleeves carrying a faint refreshing fragrance, as if he had not seen him at all, heading straight for the vice minister.
The emperor not only grasped the vice minister’s arm and checked the scabbed wound on his neck, but also asked whether he could stay and dine with him later.
Standing beside them, Ai Huaduo watched this scene blankly, suddenly feeling like an unnecessary person. Somewhat embarrassed, he stepped back a few paces.
It was the sound of him stepping on gravel that finally made the emperor turn his head and cast a glance at him, full of scrutiny and inquiry.
That glance was as sharp as a blade, making his heart tighten. He felt that this emperor of Ming might not be as young and inexperienced as he appeared.
“There are already several bearded Westerners in the palace who can teach foreign languages and play Western instruments. What tricks does this young one have?” Zhu Helin did not find Westerners particularly novel; he quickly withdrew his gaze and asked Su Yan in a casual tone.
Su Yan said, “He can paint.”
Zhu Helin was momentarily startled, then burst into laughter. “I can paint too. If my beloved minister likes, however many paintings you want, I can paint them for you.”
You only know how to paint erotic pictures, if you have the ability, learn proper Chinese painting like your Royal Father! Su Yan suppressed the urge to hit him and explained, “Western painting techniques are quite different from Chinese painting, it’s called oil painting, and portraiture is especially lifelike. Young Master might as well take a look.”
He gave Ai Huaduo a look, and the latter hurriedly unfolded the oil painting he had brought.
Zhu Helin took one look and saw that the style was indeed entirely different. He didn’t know how it was done, but the face in the portrait was as lifelike as if reflected in a mirror, even the texture and spots on the skin were clearly visible. Looking at the portrait of this official, it was as if the person stood right before him.
“Why is it that in Western oil painting, the face is not flat, and the features can appear so raised and defined…” Zhu Helin examined it with great curiosity.
Seeing his interest, Ai Huaduo grew excited as well, and in clumsy Ming speech, tried his best to explain the principle of perspective in painting.
After discussing for a while, Zhu Helin said readily, yet also somewhat dismissively, “Very well, your paintings are interesting. Stay in the palace painting academy as a painter, I’ll grant you the title of… Attendant Painter of Wenhua Hall.”
A court painter! With an official title, meaning a salary! Instantly freed from the predicament of wandering around trying to sell paintings, Ai Huaduo was overjoyed. He bowed repeatedly in thanks, and finally even knelt on one knee, lifted the hem of the dragon robe to kiss it, and loudly swore, “I pledge loyalty to Your Majesty the Emperor!”
Zhu Helin was somewhat surprised and pulled the hem of his robe out of Ai Huaduo’s hands with distaste. “It’s good to have the will to be loyal, but there is a distinction between ruler and subject. A subject must not offend the sovereign, you need to study the etiquette of Great Ming more.”
Ai Huaduo stood up and brushed the dust from his knees. Thinking of how, just now, when the emperor saw the vice minister, he not only grasped his arm but had also intentionally or unintentionally placed his hand on his shoulder and waist… could it be that Ming etiquette meant that subjects must not offend the sovereign, but the sovereign could freely draw close to his subjects?
His gaze unconsciously shifted between the emperor and the vice minister, feeling that the boundaries of Ming etiquette were rather flexible.
Su Yan’s teeth ached from that look, so he left Ai Huaduo aside and said to Zhu Helin, “I didn’t bring him here to seek an official position, but to paint oil portraits for Young Master, for His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus, and for Emperor Xianzhu.”
“For my Royal Father and imperial grandfather?” Zhu Helin was somewhat surprised.
Su Yan nodded and stepped back half a pace, carefully examining Zhu Helin’s face.
The last time he had examined him this closely was when he had just arrived in Nanjing, discovering that Zhu Helin’s overall face shape, brows, eyes, and lips did not resemble Emperor Jinglong at all; he had almost no inherited traits from the Empress Dowager’s side.
In fact, Zhu Helin looked more like his grandfather, Emperor Xianzhu.
In his youth, because his features had not fully developed, there was still a trace of his mother, the late Empress Zhang, in his expressions and demeanor. The Empress Dowager, already suspicious by nature, the more she looked at him, the more she felt he resembled the late empress, and she disliked him all the more.
Now that his youthful softness had completely faded, the bright, heroic, even domineering sharpness in Zhu Helin’s features had become more pronounced, making him look increasingly like the Emperor Xianzhu in the ancestral temple portrait.
“Yes. I want Ai Huaduo to reconstruct his appearance based on Emperor Xianzhu’s old portrait, then paint an oil portrait that reflects his true appearance to the greatest extent possible.”
Because Chinese painting lacks perspective techniques and three-dimensionality, the facial features appear flat, resulting in lower realism. Su Yan continued, “For parts that are difficult to restore accurately, adjustments can also be made based on the oral accounts of elderly palace attendants.”
Zhu Helin seemed to grasp his intention somewhat.
Ai Huaduo, however, showed a troubled expression. “This is much harder than painting a portrait from a live model. If the restoration is not accurate enough, it will leave incorrect historical records for future generations. Besides, I am a painter who seeks truth…”
“Look here.” Su Yan interrupted him, turning Zhu Helin to face him directly. “This is our Great Ming Emperor, His Majesty Zhu, the Fifth. He resembles his own grandfather, His Majesty Zhu, the Third, by at least eighty percent. This is your live model!”
Only then did Ai Huaduo understand. “You mean for me to reference Ming paintings, the accounts of palace attendants, and the appearance of His Majesty the Fifth, to reconstruct the appearance of His Majesty the Third, then present it as realistically as possible in oil painting? And to make all viewers of the painting recognize the blood relationship between the Third and the Fifth.”
“Quite clever, Italian,” Su Yan said with a smiling gaze. “And there’s also His Majesty the Fourth. He doesn’t resemble his Royal Father or his son, but that’s fine, just paint him truthfully.”
“So, I need to paint three oil portraits in total?”
“No, you need to paint at least fifteen copies of each, forty-five in total.”
Ai Huaduo’s legs went weak; he quickly steadied himself against a nearby stone table to avoid losing composure.
Su Yan adopted the tone of a superior persuading a new subordinate. “Actually, only the first three will require more effort. The rest will be technical reproductions, which will be much easier. Besides, our emperor is a very generous person, on top of your salary, he will also pay a considerable bonus for these portraits…”
At the mention of a bonus, Ai Huaduo’s legs stopped trembling, and he straightened his back, saying solemnly, “Praise to His Majesty’s generosity! This subject will certainly do his utmost.”
“The deadline is one month.”
“This… could it be a bit longer? I am a careful and meticulous painter…”
“If it exceeds one month, for each extra day, the bonus is reduced by 5%.”
“Rest assured, my lord, I am a skilled painter. Even if I neither eat nor sleep, I will complete it within one month!”
Zhu Helin had an attendant lead him to the painting academy to settle in, prepare canvases, pigments, and other tools, and also fetch the portraits of Emperor Xianzhu and Emperor Jinglong for his study and reference.
After Ai Huaduo left, Zhu Helin curled his lip. “This Westerner is far too greedy for money, he practically lives for it. Can he really be relied upon?”
Su Yan smiled. “In truth, most people are greedy for money, it’s just that this Westerner is relatively straightforward and doesn’t hide it. As for whether he’s reliable, once he paints your portrait, we’ll know.”
Zhu Helin asked, “Why paint fifteen copies of each?”
Su Yan countered, “Shall you guess what I’m thinking?”
Zhu Helin thought for a moment. “The two capitals and the thirteen provincial administrations, fifteen in total?”
Su Yan nodded. “Exactly! In two months, it will be the death anniversary of Emperor Xianzhu. Taking advantage of that occasion, I plan to hold a seven-day collective memorial ceremony in both capitals and in the prefectural cities of the thirteen administrations. In addition to local officials, gentry in the cities and some commoners will also be invited to participate.”
“At that time, in the main hall of the ceremonial site, Emperor Xianzhu’s oil portrait will be hung in the center, while the portraits of the Emperor and Young Master will be displayed in adjacent side halls. After the participants pay respects to Emperor Xianzhu’s portrait, bowing and offering incense, they will also go to the side halls to perform kowtows before the portraits of the Emperor and Young Master.”
Zhu Helin’s eyes lit up. “Then they will see how much I resemble my imperial grandfather!”
Su Yan smiled and nodded. “This is a subtle psychological tactic. If it were written plainly on paper that ‘the Qinghe Emperor resembles Emperor Xianzhu,’ even if issued as an official proclamation, people might not believe it. But when two lifelike portraits are placed before them, allowing them to observe, compare, and discover for themselves, they will believe that ‘seeing is believing,’ even if they have never seen the real person.”
“These gentry families have extensive social networks, and the commoners selected to attend will be community leaders or village heads with some influence. With additional quiet promotion by government runners and agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the news will spread quickly.”
“At the same time, I will have the Embroidered Uniform Guard promote the theory of ‘skipping-generation inheritance’ among the populace. Soon, out of curiosity and verification, people will begin to find examples within their own families of grandchildren resembling their grandfathers or maternal grandfathers rather than their parents. Once this theory is accepted by the majority, it will become the foundation of our public opinion.”
“When the time comes, the court will issue a proclamation, convicting those who fabricated and spread the rumors of using demonic words to mislead the masses and intending rebellion, this will greatly reduce the public’s trust in the rumors.”
“Rumors are like poisonous weeds; once stripped of the soil in which they grow, they collapse on their own.”
Zhu Helin clapped his hands. “Well said! But Qinghe, how did you come up with this unprecedented idea of a ‘collective public memorial’?”
Su Yan smiled without answering.
After thinking for a moment, he added, “It just takes quite a long time, drawing the oil paintings alone will take a month, then there’s the time needed to send them by fast horse to the various prefectural cities, the time for the memorial ceremonies, the time for the public to spread the news, and the time to build up public opinion.” If this were modern times, a sensational piece of news could sweep everywhere within 24 hours.
Zhu Helin, however, felt no such thing. He even thought it was already very efficient, after all, people of the time were long accustomed to slowness and had never experienced high speed, so they didn’t feel themselves slow.
Su Yan said, “Once the rumors are dispelled, the opponent’s large-scale dissemination and printing will inevitably reveal flaws. If we increase the rewards, the public, having awakened, will compete to report their bases across various regions. At that time, we’ll have local authorities strike with full force and wipe out the remaining forces of the Void Sect everywhere. Once we force the opponent into having no cards left to play, he will have to come out in full force.”
Zhu Helin found the plan feasible; in the coming months of implementation, adjustments could be made based on actual conditions.
The heavy stone that had been weighing on his chest these past few days finally fell away.
So he asked Su Yan, “Then are you staying to dine with me or not?”
Su Yan gave a dry laugh. “Another day, perhaps. Lihua has been annoyed with me lately, whenever she sees me, she tries to scratch me. I’ll wait until she calms down.”
Each time Lihua tried to scratch him, it was after he had touched a cat. Zhu Helin suspected he had applied something to his hands, otherwise why would Lihua get angry as soon as she smelled them?
Without warning, Zhu Helin grabbed Su Yan’s hand and brought it to his nose to sniff… there was no strange smell. But then, sharp-eyed, he noticed a few strands of white thread caught in the seams of Su Yan’s dark sleeve. Pinching them out, he suspected they were white cat fur.
“Well, well! No wonder Lihua is angry, have you been secretly keeping another cat?” Zhu Helin frowned, indignantly seeking justice for his “daughter.”
Su Yan was startled and quickly denied it. “Nothing like that… This fur might be from idly petting someone else’s cat on the road…”
“This isn’t just betraying Lihua, you’re deliberately making her angry as an excuse to avoid staying here any longer!” Zhu Helin was so angry he gritted his teeth. “Su Qinghe, you heartless thing… you’re finished, you’re finished! Let’s see how I deal with you!”
