jdhmnovel Chapter 65 His Majesty's generous reward means I can leave the Marquis's residence.
Chapter 65 His Majesty's generous reward means I can leave the Marquis's residence.
"quiet!"
At the sound of a reprimand from Eunuch Qiu, who was standing beside Emperor Xiao, the audience fell silent instantly.
Qin Wan stood in the middle of the hall, under the gaze of everyone, whose burning eyes seemed to roast her alive.
Emperor Xiao's expression also darkened.
Seeing this, Qin Wan knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. The Fourth Prince and my brother are very close friends. He may have heard about the Marquis's affairs from my brother's casual conversation. However, what the Fourth Prince said is true. Although I have recovered from the caning, I cannot move around much, let alone practice dance!"
As she spoke, Qin Wan glanced at Shen Siyi beside her and said, "I wonder where Miss Shen heard that I've been diligently practicing dance music at home?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Siyi's face turned green. She had forgotten that Qin Wan had been caned recently. She had been practicing diligently at home, all to outdo Qin Wan today.
This was a trap she set for Qin Wan, but she ended up falling into it herself.
In that case, wouldn't my words just now constitute the crime of deceiving the emperor?
Shen Siyi panicked and quickly explained, "Your Majesty, this humble woman..."
"Your Majesty, as Yu'er just said, Yi'er has been so busy practicing dances for the palace banquet that she confused Miss Qin with someone else, which led to this misunderstanding."
However, I believe that even if Miss Qin hasn't prepared any dance music, she has at least made some preparations for the palace banquet. Why don't we first hear what Miss Qin has prepared?
Empress Shen interrupted Shen Siyi, fearing that she might say something unpleasant, after all, she was the future fourth prince's wife, and her words and deeds could not be wrong.
Sensing the Empress's warning, Shen Siyi immediately shut her mouth and lowered her head.
With Qin Wan's crisis still unresolved, Xiao Jingyu's face remained filled with undisguised worry as he said, "Father, Fourth Miss Qin..."
"Yu'er, everyone knows about the palace banquet. Everyone has made preparations for the banquet and wants a chance to show off. Now this opportunity has fallen to Miss Qin. How do you know she doesn't want it?"
Empress Shen interrupted Xiao Jingyu, as a warning that if he interfered again, Qin Wan would not be able to step down so easily today.
Xiao Jingyu froze for a moment, glanced at Qin Wan again, and finally sat down.
In the middle of the hall, Qin Wan remained kneeling, and Empress Shen looked at her sternly and asked.
"Miss Qin, I ask you, what have you prepared for the palace banquet? I'm giving you a chance to demonstrate your abilities. If you do well, you'll be rewarded! If you just throw something together carelessly, you'll be punished!"
Emperor Xiao remained silent, which was tacit approval of Empress Shen's decision.
Qin Wan glanced at the Qin family members below the stage; they were all worried, but none of them came to her rescue.
She knew that if she performed well, it would bring glory to the Pingding Marquis's mansion; if she performed poorly, she would be the one punished. It would be beneficial and harmless to them, so why should she step in to help them out?
Even though she had seen through it all, seeing her kneeling helplessly in the center of the hall still stung her heart.
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. Although I am unable to move around much due to my physical condition, I have not been idle. For this palace banquet, I would like to write a few words to express my heartfelt wish for the people's well-being!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Qin Ye, who was sitting in the audience, became even more worried. Qin Wan was neither good at literature nor martial arts, not to mention her handwriting.
He had searched for countless calligraphy models for her, but she never practiced them, only wanting to play around. Now she says she wants to write a few characters of calligraphy. Does she know that there are many literary masters present? Her attempt to show off her limited skills is like shooting herself in the foot.
Qin Ye felt a chill run down his spine, but he didn't know what to do.
All he could do was pray silently that Qin Wan wouldn't be too humiliated.
However, I still need to give her a good talking-to in the future, so that she knows that she can't do whatever she wants in every situation.
Shen Siyi had also seen Qin Wan's crooked handwriting and had high expectations for it. She hoped that Qin Wan would write a piece of 'utterly ugly' calligraphy.
Once she has completely lost face, Brother Jingyu will never look at her again.
Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on Qin Wan. Qin Wan rolled up her sleeves, picked up a brush with her slender fingers, dipped it in ink, and began to write with great skill on the rice paper.
Qin Wan finished writing in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Curious, everyone craned their necks to see what was going on.
His Majesty is extremely fond of calligraphy and has collected many calligraphy models. Her actions are undoubtedly like showing off one's limited skills in front of an expert, and are nothing short of mocking and ridiculing her arrogance.
Once the ink had dried slightly, Eunuch Qiu ordered two eunuchs to take the writing by Qin Wan off the desk and display it to Emperor Xiao.
No one saw any writing, but Emperor Xiao frowned and stared at it without saying a word.
They knew then that this attempt was doomed to failure, and they made no attempt to hide their mockery.
"This Miss Qin is arrogant and conceited, daring to show off her limited skills in front of His Majesty. She's courting death!"
"Her pursuit of the Fourth Prince failed, so this was simply to attract his attention. I never expected the daughter of a marquis to be so dissolute!"
"My lord, this woman needs to be disciplined more!"
"Hahaha......"
"..."
Those who were discussing the matter were all Qin Huai's political enemies.
Although Qin Huai did not see the words Qin Wan wrote, he knew they couldn't be good.
He couldn't refute their words, because he also felt that Qin Wan had been too presumptuous today and needed to be disciplined.
Emperor Xiao was stunned for a moment, but his expression did not change much. He simply waved his hand.
The two eunuchs holding the Xuan paper switched places, displaying Qin Wan's calligraphy to everyone.
The once noisy hall fell silent instantly, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the calligraphy on the Xuan paper.
The eight large characters, "May the people live in peace and the land be prosperous, and may the harvests be bountiful," seem like an invisible slap in the face to everyone.
They never expected that Qin Wan's eight characters would be so exquisite, with flowing and powerful strokes, displaying the style of a master.
Seeing that they were all silent, Qin Wan knew that the deal had been done.
There is a stone tablet outside Leishan Temple with these words written on it.
In her previous life, when she was waiting for someone from the Marquis's mansion to come and take her back at Leishan Temple, she would always see that stone tablet.
Legend has it that it was written by Master Leiming, the former abbot of Leishan Temple, and it also expressed his wishes for the people's livelihood.
At the time, Qin Wan felt that the inscription on the stone tablet was quite powerful. She thought that if she calmly wrote it hundreds of times, would the people from the Marquis's mansion take her back?
But the truth is that her idea was a joke. She wrote it no less than a thousand times, but still no one came to pick her up.
Qin Wan's handwriting was displayed before everyone, and those who knew about it recognized its power.
Xiao Jingyu led the applause, followed by thunderous applause.
Emperor Xiao was overjoyed. Master Leiming's eight characters had been sitting outside Leishan Temple for many years, and many people had tried to imitate them, but none of them had the same powerful strokes as today.
"Miss Qin's imitation of Master Lei Ming's work is truly the best I have ever seen. It is evident that she has practiced diligently. She shall be richly rewarded!"
Qin Wan's eyes widened. If she could speak of this reward herself, wouldn't that mean she could leave the Marquis's mansion?