Reborn to marry, the short-lived prince lived a hundred years

Meng Tingyue sat leisurely behind the desk, holding a pen and writing.

Outside the window in front of him, the maids in the courtyard carefully spread out books and placed them on the bluestone slabs to dry in the sun.

"Princess, when I was tidying up the cabinet, I accidentally found a scroll. Do you think I should take it away to dry in the sun?" Qinglan held a scroll in her arms.

In recent days, the continuous heavy rains have made Nanny Qin worried. She is afraid that the precious calligraphy and paintings in the warehouse will be damaged by moisture, so she suggested taking out the collection one by one, carefully checking and drying them.

Meng Tingyue nodded gently, "Take them all out to dry in the sun."

"Yes, sir." Qinglan heard this and walked lightly into the yard with the scroll in his arms.

Meng Tingyue wrote down the renovation plan of the escort agency in detail on a piece of paper, intending to show it to the prince for review later.

"Hey, why have I never seen this painting before? When did the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince paint it?"

Qinglan's voice, with a hint of curiosity, drifted from outside the courtyard into the inner room.

Hearing her own name, Meng Tingyue slowly raised her head, her eyes clear and calm.

painting?

Which painting?

and many more!

A thought suddenly flashed through Meng Tingyue's mind——

It can’t be that painting!

Meng Tingyue's expression instantly became serious, a barely perceptible panic flashed across her eyes, and she called out anxiously, "Wait, there's no need to expose that painting!"

After saying this, she walked out from behind the desk and hurried towards the courtyard.

When she hurriedly stepped out of the door, what came into her sight were Qinglan, Qingdian and Yanhong, with their heads huddled together to look at a spread-out painting.

Hearing Meng Tingyue's voice, the three of them looked up at Meng Tingyue at the same time.

When Meng Tingyue saw the painting, her heart skipped a beat.

"What are you looking at?"

Qinglan, holding the scroll, walked lightly to Meng Tingyue's side. Her words of joy were tinged with doubt, "When did the Crown Princess inform the Crown Prince to paint this painting? This seems to be the first time I have seen this painting."

Meng Tingyue's gaze slowly fell on the delicately outlined painting.

The painting depicts falling peach petals. The woman in the painting is leaning on the man's strong chest, with his arms gently around her. His eyes are gentle and affectionate, and his half-closed eyes are full of affection and doting for the woman.

The woman's cheeks were lightly tinged with blush, and the smile on her lips was sweet and joyful.

The woman's face was exactly the same as Meng Tingyue's, and the man standing next to her was Shen Yunheng.

Meng Tingyue hurriedly snatched the scroll back, her words filled with a hint of panic and shyness: "This... This was painted last time we were in the peach blossom forest outside the city..."

After this reminder, Qinglan Qingdian suddenly understood.

"It was actually painted at that time... It turns out that the relationship between the Crown Princess and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was so close at that time!" There was a hint of surprise in Qinglan's voice, and curiosity and amazement flashed in his eyes.

Meng Tingyue opened her lips to speak, but hesitated, and her cheeks unconsciously turned a light blush.

How could she not know that she was so close to the prince back then!

She can't even be that close to the prince now.

Although the two of them had already slept on the same bed.

But that was also sleeping on the same bed with one quilt each.

"Eh, I always feel that the brushstrokes in this painting are familiar, as if I have seen it somewhere." Qinglan frowned slightly, and a thoughtful gleam flashed in the depths of her eyes.

She muttered to herself: "Where on earth is it..."

Upon hearing this, Qingdian quietly moved to the other side of Meng Tingyue and carefully examined the painting.

After a moment, she slowly spoke, "Looking closely at the brushwork of this painting, it's very similar to the one in His Royal Highness's collection, as if it were created by the same artist."

Qingdian gently raised her finger and touched the hairpin in the hair of the woman in the painting. "I have never seen the Crown Princess wear this hairpin before. If I remember correctly, the woman in the painting also has this same hairpin in her bun."

Ever since Meng Tingyue knew what was in the painting, she no longer had the heart to look at it carefully.

After Qingdian's reminder, she suddenly realized that the hairpin on the woman's bun in the painting was indeed not the one she wore in daily life, but was exactly the same as the hairpin of the woman in the painting in the prince's hand.

It was through that hairpin that Meng Tingyue concluded that the woman in the painting in the prince's hand was not her.

Thinking of this, Meng Tingyue went back to the house again, took out the painting hidden by the prince, and examined it carefully.

"It's exactly the same." Qing Lan exclaimed, his fingers involuntarily sliding towards the painting depicting the peach forest, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes, "Could it be that the person in this painting is not the Crown Princess? But the woman that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince admires?"

As soon as Qinglan finished speaking, Qingdian glared at him.

Qing Dian said, "This painting was brought back by the Crown Princess herself. It was painted by the painter herself in the peach forest. How could the painter watch the Crown Princess paint someone else?"

"Then what do you think is going on?" Qinglan asked.

"Perhaps the artist who painted these two paintings is the same person, and the people in the paintings are the Crown Princess and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

After Qing Dian finished speaking, he gently tilted his head and looked at Meng Tingyue.

Meng Tingyue frowned slightly as she looked at the two paintings with extremely similar brushstrokes. Her gaze finally stopped on the hairpin in the woman's hair in the painting. The shape of the hairpin seemed familiar.

An inexplicable sense of familiarity came over me.

"Do you think the hairpin on the woman's head in this painting looks familiar?"

Upon hearing this, Qinglan and Qingdian both concentrated their attention and after a moment of silence, they both shook their heads at the same time.

Meng Tingyue felt even more confused.

"This hairpin doesn't have any complicated carvings, and it's hard to tell whether it's made of gold, silver, or jade." Qinglan looked at it carefully.

"This hairpin has a strange shape. Not only does it lack the graceful beauty of a semi-circle, but the edges appear jagged. If I had truly seen this hairpin, I would never have forgotten it."

Qingdian's voice was filled with speculation. "It's more like something round was split in two by a sharp blade, leaving this incomplete mark."

"A circle? Split in two?"

Meng Tingyue gently repeated Qingdian's words, and something suddenly appeared in her mind.

She slowly raised her hand, her fingertips falling on the thin red line around her neck, and gently pulled it out, causing the half jade pendant hanging on it to sway gently.

"Does it look like this?" There was a hint of imperceptible expectation in Meng Tingyue's voice, and her eyes were fixed on Qinglan and Qingdian's faces.

Qinglan and Qinglan fixed their gazes on the jade pendant for a moment, then both looked at the flower, and then both showed surprise in their eyes.

The two said in unison: "It really is exactly the same."

Hearing this, one of Meng Tingyue's doubts was resolved, and a new one arose.

Who was the artist, and why did he paint this picture? He also knew the appearance of the jade pendant she was wearing, and even painted it as a hairpin in her hair.

This seems to be intentional.

If only I could meet the artist who created these two paintings...

Meng Tingyue lowered her eyes slightly, hiding the myriad thoughts in her eyes.

Maybe I need to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

At night, Meng Tingyue waited in the house for Shen Yunheng to finish his official business and return home.

Shen Yunheng walked into the room and saw that she was not asleep, but leaning on the couch reading a book. A ripple appeared in his heart, "Are you waiting for me?"