Since they are all worn by the Qing Dynasty, you might as well be bold and choose Kangxi!

In ancient times, people were not allowed to talk while eating or sleeping, and no one spoke at the dinner table during meals.

Because Shi Nanxi's right elbow was still a little painful and she was also timid, she just quietly picked up the vegetables from the plate in front of her and ate them with a mouthful of vegetables and a mouthful of rice.

At this moment, there was suddenly a piece of candied duck on the bowl. She subconsciously looked up and saw Liang Jiugong putting away his chopsticks.

"..." Liang Jiugong saw Shi Nanxi looking at him, nodded silently and retreated, looking calm and composed.

In fact, he was in a state of confusion. Apart from the emperor, there were very few people who could personally prepare meals for him. This Second Princess Shi...

Could it be that the emperor listened to her words that she treated him as an elder and took care of the other party as a junior? But he always felt that something was wrong.

Shi Nanxi naturally knew that Liang Jiugong would not prepare food for her for no reason. It must have been Kangxi's signal. So after Liang Jiugong left, she did not look away, and happened to meet Kangxi's gaze.

Their eyes met, and finally Shi Nanxi was the first to look away. She lowered her head and silently picked up the candied duck in the bowl. Seeing this, Kangxi's mouth curled up slightly.

This scene did not attract anyone's attention, only because the prince opposite personally gave Shi Rongyue a piece of mutton, which attracted everyone's attention.

Shi Rongyue looked at the mutton in the bowl and almost couldn't control her temper. She hated eating mutton the most, but... this was in Ningshou Palace, with Kangxi and the Empress Dowager present. She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, picked it up and put it in her mouth.

A smile flashed across the prince's peach blossom eyes when he saw this. The empress dowager had been paying attention to the two of them. Looking at this scene, she smiled secretly and sighed, "It's great to be young!"

After the meal, the palace servants served tea and everyone sat down to talk and digest the food. Shi Rongyue saw that Kangxi had not left after the meal and became anxious. If Kangxi did not leave, how could she promote reconciliation between the prince and Shi Nanxi?

At this time, the prince took a sip of tea and put down the teacup. He first glanced at Shi Rongyue, then smiled and said to the empress dowager:

"Empress Dowager, didn't you say you wanted to see Baocheng's Western portrait? Baocheng specially asked someone to bring it from Yuqing Palace."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wenxi came forward from the corner holding a Western painting and carefully untied the rope.

The Empress Dowager was refreshed, put down the teacup, and looked at the slowly opening Western painting. After seeing it clearly, she was shocked:

"This, this is a Western portrait of the prince. The prince in it looks like a real person. Come closer so I can see it more clearly."

Wenxi took a few steps forward holding the painting, and stopped only when he was only one step away from the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager stared at the increasingly clear portrait without blinking.

Seeing that the prince's expression and movements were lifelike, with even each eyebrow drawn clearly, she couldn't help but reach out her hand and lightly stroke it. After a long while, the shock gradually subsided.

But when he turned to Shi Rongyue, his expression was still somewhat incredulous:

"Rongyue, this is the Western painting you drew. It is completely different from what I imagined. It is incredible where you learned it from."

Upon hearing this, Shi Rongyue subconsciously glanced at Kangxi, and once again remembered his sharpness at the banquet yesterday. His heart suddenly shuddered, and he quickly retracted his gaze, suppressed his nervousness and fear, and said modestly to the Empress Dowager:

"Your Majesty, thank you for your compliment. I was just painting for fun and do not deserve your praise." If she had known that Kangxi was here today, she would have come on another day.

"Rongyue is too modest."

The Queen Mother's face was full of disapproval. As she spoke, she couldn't help but look at the portrait again, examining it inch by inch with an expression of uncontrollable love on her face.

Kangxi remained calm from beginning to end. He just looked at the reaction of the Empress Dowager and thought for a moment.

"Since the Empress Dowager likes it so much, why not let Princess Shi draw a Western portrait for you?"

The Queen Mother's eyes lit up.

As she grew older, she wanted to leave a portrait for future generations to admire, so she once asked a palace painter to paint one. At the time, she didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but after seeing Western portraits, she felt that the previous one was too rough and not as delicate and vivid as this Western portrait.

"I wonder if Rongyue would be able to facilitate this?" she asked expectantly.

Shi Rongyue blinked her eyes. Yes, why didn't she think of that? She could draw a sketch of the Empress Dowager and deliberately draw slowly. She didn't believe that Kangxi would be waiting by her side all the time.

When Kangxi is gone, she can use an excuse to keep the prince. In this way, she can paint the portrait of the empress dowager, and the prince can legitimately push it to Shi Nanxi. Once she finishes the painting, she can catch him in the act...

The abacus in his mind was clacking, and he nodded quickly:

"Of course it's convenient, as long as the Queen Mother doesn't mind my poor skills."

"I am so happy that I don't have time to be disgusted. By the way, what preparations should I make?"

When the Empress Dowager heard that Shi Rongyue agreed to paint a Western portrait for her, she was overjoyed and could not wait any longer.

Shi Rongyue said quickly: "No, no, just a charcoal pencil and paper will be enough. Zixia prepared them for me before."

After saying this, she asked Zixia to prepare, and the Empress Dowager asked people to follow Zixia's directions.

The prince looked at the enthusiastic Shi Rongyue and took the initiative to say, "I have never seen a Western painting being painted live. Would you like to stay and watch it?"

Shi Rongyue's eyes lit up when she heard that. She was just thinking of finding an excuse to keep the prince, but he took the initiative to stay. She nodded immediately, and the prince's peach blossom eyes suddenly shone brightly.

"Thank you, Princess Shi."

"Your Highness is polite."

After Shi Rongyue finished speaking, he quickly looked at Shi Nanxi next to him and ordered:

"Second sister, you will help me later."

Help? She doesn't know how to paint, how can she help?

Shi Nanxi, who had been silent, was stunned when he heard this.

But when she met Shi Rongyue's eyes and thought about what she had promised before coming here, she was ready to agree to it even though she was afraid.

Kangxi, who was in the upper position, had been paying attention to Shi Nanxi. Seeing that the other party looked scared but did not dare to refuse, he frowned secretly.

I liked it better when the other person was eating like a little hamster just now, so before the other person opened his mouth, I spoke first:

"Need help?" He always had a gentle smile on his face. Everyone looked at him, but Kangxi turned to the prince:

"Didn't the prince say he wanted to stay and observe? If so, then you can help Princess Shi. I can't let you learn for nothing!"

This was obviously a joke. If the prince really wanted to learn Western painting, he could just give an order. Why would he need to learn it secretly? It was obvious at a glance that this was an excuse the emperor made for the prince.

The purpose was to allow the Crown Prince and Shi Rongyue to increase their understanding and communication in advance. The Crown Prince naturally understood the Emperor's good intentions and his face turned red.

The Queen Mother clapped her hands and smiled, "Yes, yes, it's the Crown Prince who should help Princess Shi!"

what?

Shi Rongyue was shocked. She needed help, but that was just an excuse. Seeing that the matter was about to be settled, she hurriedly said:

"Then what about my second sister? It takes a long time to paint a Western painting. She is timid and will be scared to be alone in Ningshou Palace."

Shi Nanxi was confused by this situation. At this moment, she twisted her handkerchief and looked anxious. Kangxi glanced at Shi Nanxi and said with a smile:

"I heard that the lilies in the Empress Dowager's back garden have bloomed, and I was just about to go take a look. Since Princess Shi Er is scared staying in the house, why don't you follow me to the back garden?"

"..." Shi Rongyue's heart instantly turned cold and she was speechless.

Shi Nanxi pretended to be stunned in shock.

A smile flashed across my mind.

Everything went as she wished.