He had to admit that the Duke of Dai's paintings were truly impressive. The emperor had heard his ministers mention before that the Duke of Dai not only excelled at poetry, but was also an exceptional painter.
But back then, the emperor had only heard about it. When he saw the Thousand Blessings Painting with his own eyes, he could not help marveling at it.
In all fairness, it was no worse than the work of great masters whose names lived on in history.
This painting now seemed to show yet another measure of improvement.
Never mind that the painter was his own grandson-even if he had been an ordinary minister or scholar, the emperor would have admired such talent. Excellence in any art was enough to earn praise.
So it was the Duke of Dai's advice. He didn't want the rumors of an ambiguous relationship with Xinping to keep fermenting either.
After looking through it, the emperor understood something. He asked Eunuch Zhao, "What do you think of Xinping wanting to enter the Dao?"
Eunuch Zhao's eyelid twitched. He glanced at the emperor and answered cautiously, "This old servant begs leave to speak. After the princess was confined, I visited her on Your Majesty's verbal orders, accompanied by palace matrons. We can confirm that the princess remains an unblemished jade."
After saying this, he paused. Seeing that the emperor had not grown angry, he continued, "Clearly, the princess committed no wrongdoing. She merely did not know the Duke of Dai's identity before. As a princess who values talent, she simply felt some admiration for a gifted scholar."
"In this old servant's view, the Duke of Dai's intentions in this painting are sound. It shows that he, too, hopes to quell these rumors quickly."
"As for the earlier rumors, they