Yuwen Zhi said coldly: "Is this what the princess wants to say by sending you thousands of miles to me?"
His face was flushed, his eyes were red, and he smelled strongly of alcohol. It was obvious that he had drunk a lot of alcohol and came to see him drunk.
Lan Tai smiled and waved his hand: "It's been a long time since we last met. I didn't expect that when we meet again, everything has changed. You are now the prince, and I am the princess's servant. Just now I suddenly remembered the scene of the grand archery ceremony in the past, and I was touched for a moment. It was just a joke between you and me. How could the princess say this to me?"
Yuwen Zhi slowly leaned on a soft hidden bag behind his back, looked sideways, his red eyes still full of indifference: "Why did the princess send you here?"
Lan Tai stopped joking and turned serious. He took off the letter box he had been carrying, opened it, took out a scroll that looked like a calligraphy or painting, held it respectfully with both hands, and placed it on the table nearby.
"This is the purpose of my visit. The princess asked me to pass the painting to the prince. This painting was painted by the princess herself, and she asked me to hand it over to the prince."
Yuwen Zhi's eyes fell on the scroll lying quietly on the desk. He stared at it for a moment, then raised his eyes, his lips twitching slightly, "How could I be worthy of such a favor from the princess?" He didn't even seem interested in opening it and taking a look.
Lan Tai said to himself, "More than two months ago, Eunuch Yang came over suddenly and said that the princess wanted to see me, and took me over. At that time, the princess must have been about to give birth, and she had not been seen for many days. I didn't know why the princess wanted to call me at this time, so I hurriedly followed Eunuch Yang. Prince, do you know where the princess is?"
Yuwen Zhi still had a sullen face and didn't say a word. Lan Tai also stopped talking. After a moment of silence, Yuwen Zhi moved his shoulders and finally spoke first, but his face became even colder: "If you have something to say, please tell me. If you don't have anything to say, I will send you away. It's not a good idea to keep you here now."
Lan Tai glanced at him and continued, "I never thought that the princess was in a room for worshipping blessings at the foot of the mountain behind Ci'en Temple. When I arrived, she was painting in the room copying the murals. It was already cool autumn, and she was wearing a cloak that completely covered her body, but it was still obvious that she was heavy and had difficulty moving. I was surprised who could make her come here to paint at this time."
"When I arrived, the princess's painting was almost finished. She must have been painting for a long time. I saw that she looked tired, so I didn't dare to disturb her. I just watched her painting from the side. There was a small jade bottle on the table, which was as high as a finger. It was like what women used to hold rouge and powder in their boudoirs. It must have been filled with pigments. The princess finished painting, and only the eyes of the upasika were left to be painted. I saw her open the bottle cap, pick out some powder, mix it with the pigment, and use it to paint the eyes. I had never seen such a thing before, so I couldn't help but ask about it."
As he spoke, the cruel and cold look on Yuwen Zhi's face faded slightly. When he heard this, his eyes moved secretly, as if he suddenly remembered something that happened a long time ago, which even he himself might have forgotten. There was a trace of confusion and doubt in his eyes.
Lan Tai continued, "The princess told me that this thing is a wall fish. I suddenly realized it."
"Your Highness is not a painter, so he probably doesn't know what a wall fish is. That was a story several decades ago. Painters all over the world said that Ye Zhongli's figures were so amazing that his eyes could move with the characters, thanks to this thing. So for a while, everyone was vying for the wall fish, making it so rare that it was worth a fortune."