Chapter 787: Chapter 785: Trade

Xie Jingchen, fearing he couldn’t control his joyful mood, turned and left.

Before leaving, he glanced at the painting, a trace of reluctance in his eyes.

Seeing him leave the courtyard, Xingxing sidled up to Su Jin and said, “It seems the young master really likes this painting.”

Su Jin felt something was not quite right.

She could tell that Xie Jingchen liked this painting.

But when she said she wanted to ask the Emperor for a painting, he actually agreed?

However, it seemed he had no choice but to agree; how could one easily destroy a painting bestowed by the Emperor? That would be a great disrespect to the Emperor.

If he informed the Emperor that the painting was ruined, the Emperor would definitely scold him.

Thinking about how Xie Jingchen was often scolded by the Emperor, it was highly likely he was afraid of being reprimanded.

The painting was definitely ruined; drying it out wouldn’t be a remedy.

As for the authenticity of the painting, Su Jin certainly couldn’t discern it, let alone Xingxing.

Xingxing was heartbroken.

A painting bestowed by the Emperor must be worth thousands of taels, maybe even priceless.

Just as she was pained by this, Bi Zhu came running over and said, “Young Master, the Emperor has sent Eunuch Fu to deliver a decree.”

At this moment, the decree must be the imperial edict conferring Su Jin as a princess.

Although the Emperor declared Su Jin as a princess in front of all the officials at the Political Discussion Hall.

But an oral proclamation was not enough; there also needed to be an imperial edict.

Xingxing put down the painting and followed Su Jin to the front yard to receive the edict.

After taking a few steps, she turned back to retrieve the painting.

She intended to let Eunuch Fu take the painting back, and have the Emperor grant the young master another painting, so he could be happy sooner.

In the front yard, there was quite a gathering.

The Emperor sent Eunuch Fu to read the edict, and all the masters of the Prince Mansion had to attend.

There were those who were happy and those who were not.

Princess Nanzhang and Xie Jinyu looked as displeased as could be.

This displeasure was not directed solely at Su Jin.

The Princess Consort’s slightly protruding belly not only pricked Princess Nanzhang’s eyes but also her heart.

And then there was Su Jin—

Back then, when Xie Jinyu wanted to be conferred as a County Princess or Commandery Princess, it all ended without fruition.

Although Princess Nanzhang was just the Prince’s concubine, she at least held the title of Commandery Princess; no one dared belittle her, nor could the Princess Consort demand that a Commandery Princess attend to her morning and night.

But suddenly Su Jin turned into a princess, and the offspring of the Emperor’s most favored Consort Yun.

This completely overshadowed Princess Nanzhang.

From now on, speaking loudly to Su Jin would be a great disrespect to the princess.

The Old Prince and the Prince knew that the Emperor would be declaring the decree today, and they returned home half an hour ago.

Now, they were all kneeling on the ground, and as soon as Su Jin arrived, Eunuch Fu began to read the imperial edict.

Those words of praise made Su Jin’s face flush red.

Similar to when Marquis Dongxiang praised her for angering Xie Jingchen to the point of spitting blood, only phrased more elegantly, with more ornate language.

The meanings were the same.

And then—

Su Jin gained a new name.

Mo Jinning.

Princess Jin Ning.

The name and title were exactly as everyone speculated.

The Royal Family’s princess titles all contained the character Ning, such as Princess Shouning, Princess Shuning, Princess Yin Ning…

It was no exception for Su Jin.

The royal surname was Mo.

Her name was self-evident.

Eunuch Fu wore a smile as radiant as a flower, and with the Emperor having his wish fulfilled and in a good mood, those serving by his side were naturally in good spirits as well.

After Su Jin received the imperial edict, Eunuch Fu bowed to her, “This old servant greets the princess.”

“Eunuch Fu, please rise,” Su Jin hastily said.

The Prince invited Eunuch Fu to sit down for tea.

Eunuch Fu declined, “I won’t drink tea; the Emperor is still waiting for me to report back.”

“There will be plenty of time to come to the mansion for tea in the future.”

The Prince personally saw Eunuch Fu out of the mansion.

Manager Li handed Eunuch Fu a generous tip for the tea.

Eunuch Fu did not refuse.

Whenever a decree is a happy matter, there would be reward money as well, sharing in the good fortune.

Just then, Xingxing came out with the painting, “Eunuch Fu, the painting that the Emperor bestowed to the young master was accidentally stained by the girl.”

She unrolled the painting for Eunuch Fu to see.

The painting was in worse condition than previously seen.

A counterfeit painting, once ruined, wasn’t worth lamenting, but Eunuch Fu found it too coincidental and remarked, “Was it really the princess who damaged it?”

The Prince frowned slightly.

It seemed there was more to Eunuch Fu’s question?

Xingxing didn’t catch on and replied, “Yes, it was the girl who damaged it.”

To clarify the situation, Xingxing recounted in detail how the painting was damaged.

Eunuch Fu’s mouth twitched.

If he guessed right, the Heir of Prince Zhenbei didn’t intend to present the Emperor’s gifted painting to the princess with such goodwill, but perhaps wanted the princess to ruin it, thus countering the Emperor.

Yet after the plan failed, it somehow succeeded in the end.

In front of the Prince and many of the servants, Eunuch Fu dared not state that the painting bestowed to Xie Jingchen by the Emperor was a counterfeit.

Xingxing hurriedly handed him the painting, and Eunuch Fu had no choice but to take it.

Thus—

The painting, gifted less than an hour ago, was returned to the Emperor’s hands.

Upon seeing the Emperor’s sulky expression, Eunuch Fu thought that the Heir of Prince Zhenbei wasn’t such an easy target after all.

“Your Majesty, the princess is still expecting you to bestow another painting to the Heir of Prince Zhenbei,” Eunuch Fu murmured.

“How should I grant it?” the Emperor glanced sideways at Eunuch Fu.

“Do we have any other counterfeits besides this one in the palace?” the Emperor asked.

“….”

If even the Emperor’s treasured paintings have counterfeits, then let alone other pieces.

But such words couldn’t be uttered.

“Go out and buy a counterfeit painting for him,” the Emperor laughed.

“….”

“I want to see if he dares to destroy it a second time,” the Emperor said.

“….”

What could Eunuch Fu do?

He had no choice but to follow the Emperor’s orders and leave the palace to buy a counterfeit painting.

Without changing his attire, Eunuch Fu went straight to the largest art shop in the Capital.

The shopkeeper served him eagerly.

Upon hearing that Eunuch Fu wanted a counterfeit painting, the shopkeeper was stunned.

Never had anyone so boldly asked to buy a counterfeit painting.

Their shop was known to sell only authentic works, wasn’t this ruining their reputation?

But Eunuch Fu’s attire clearly marked him as a senior eunuch from the palace, and the shopkeeper dared not be presumptuous.

“Pick a counterfeit painting that is indistinguishable from the real thing for me,” Eunuch Fu said.

“….”

The shopkeeper invited Eunuch Fu to sit and have a cup of tea, saying he’d return shortly.

As it happened, the shop owner was upstairs in the shop.

The shopkeeper went upstairs to ask the owner, who suggested the idea of driving them away.

“He doesn’t seem like an ordinary eunuch,” the shopkeeper said.

The owner opened the window to look downstairs.

Seeing it was Eunuch Fu, he was immediately terrified, his legs going weak.

“Owner?” the shopkeeper held him steady.

“Give him an authentic painting.”

“But he asked for a counterfeit.”

“Give him the real one!”

The shopkeeper retrieved an authentic painting for Eunuch Fu.

After looking it over, Eunuch Fu said, “It looks authentically convincing, impossible to tell it’s a fake.”

The shopkeeper felt a pang in his heart.

Of course it couldn’t be told, because it was real.

“How much?” Eunuch Fu asked.

“A hundred taels,” the shopkeeper replied.

Eunuch Fu glanced at him, “You’re quite unreasonable, charging a hundred taels for a fake painting?”

The shopkeeper panicked at heart, then calmed down, “In business, you must give customers a chance to bargain, let them enjoy the process.”

“If the eunuch doesn’t like bargaining, then let me offer a fair price, ten taels of silver.”

Eunuch Fu paid the ten taels of silver and left with the painting.

The painting was delivered directly to the bamboo house in the backyard; Su Jin, having no expertise in paintings, handed it directly to Xie Jingchen.

Xie Jingchen examined it closely.

Su Jin couldn’t help but ask, “How is this painting?”

“Your favor with the Emperor is the true value of this painting,” Xie Jingchen remarked.

Hmm.

He was being sincere.

This painting could captivate even the Old Prince for an entire night, indicating its immense value.

Eunuch Fu felt somewhat guilty.

Could the painting really not be identified as a fake at first glance?

He relayed this feedback to the Emperor, who was enraged.

This young man’s boldness was escalating.

Not only did he make use of his own daughter, but he also dared to mock his father-in-law?!

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