Xuyu once again fell into her familiar dreamland: the flower forest, the moon mist, the pool, the beauty, and the voice of "Don't come back" that seemed real and illusory from somewhere deep in the darkness.
Not only that, but her dream also included an old and sickly face. His face and the face of the beautiful lady in palace dress intertwined in Xuyu's dream, sometimes overlapping, sometimes separated, looming, and finally transformed into a chaos that she couldn't see clearly, and she was completely wrapped in the center like a pupa, deeply stuck, and felt powerless to move even a finger.
She opened her eyes from her dream to the sound of rumbling street drums in the early morning, feeling extremely tired and sad.
During the next few days of rest, Pei Xiaoyuan returned to his usual self of going out early and coming back late as Qingtou had described him to be. She was busy, sending a letter to Yuwen Zhi, almost healing the abrasion on her wrist, lending money to Qingtou to buy the light gauze tent she specified, and even when she had nothing to do, she would never let herself be idle and kept painting.
Lin Mingyuan also came to visit her. The painters have begun to paint the various required colors for the halls, beams, corridors, etc. in Shenshu Palace, but the murals in Chongtian Palace have not yet been painted. The news that the emperor asked her to paint the Queen Mother of the West in Ziyun Palace has also spread. But when mentioning this, Lin Mingyuan's eyes did not show much envy, but a bit of fear, and did not dare to ask more. After all, the unfortunate experience of the previous court envoy still makes people feel scared when they think of it.
Three days later, Xuyu appeared in the West Hall of Ziyun Palace. This time she was still painting alone, and the eunuch named Yang Zaien was by her side from morning to night, providing her with everything she needed and allowing her to stay overnight in the palace.
Xuyu painted her mother. When she closed her eyes, the scenes she had spent with her mother in her childhood came to her mind. Her beautiful eyebrows, eyes, nose, and the soft lips that felt like cool jade when she kissed her hot forehead before she was summoned to leave in a hurry that night.
She was reluctant to invest too much of her own emotions in this mural.
After this mural is completed, unless there are any accidents, it will remain here and accompany that person forever.
But the owner of this palace, her Aye, the saint of today, may not be qualified to face the person in the painting day and night.
She was afraid that her mother might not agree.
But this was her mother, the one who often appeared in her dreams. Unless she didn't love her and had no feelings for her, how could she completely detach herself from her when she was painting her eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips, hair, and even a wrinkle on her clothes
Xuyu couldn't control herself. After she started, all distracting thoughts disappeared and she focused entirely on the painting.
In this boundless world constructed with indigo, vermilion, orpiment, and purple gold, her mother was transformed into the Supreme Pure Spiritual Yuanjun Yaochi Jinmu, the only and most noble goddess in the world who ruled over all the immortals. She lived in Kunlun Yaojing, where immortal trees reached the sky, Ganoderma lucidum was like a fan, and the jade towers were covered with mist all day long. A golden dragon drove her, and a colorful phoenix served as her fan. Under her feet lay a thousand-year-old spirit turtle, and around her were immortal servants. Her face was holy and beautiful, and her eyes contained gentleness and great wisdom. She had a pair of red lips like a diamond, with the corners of her lips slightly upturned, revealing a compassionate and mysterious smile. She was immortal and omnipotent. She gave birth to all things, controlled yin and yang, and promoted good and punished evil. All life and death in the world, eternity and transience, light and darkness, the sun, the moon, and the stars, were all controlled by her.