Han Kerang left, but Pei Xiaoyuan did not leave immediately. Under the cover of the dark night, he stood alone for a while, trying to make the blockage in his chest gradually dissipate a little, and took a deep breath. Thinking about it, he was about to leave when he suddenly heard someone hesitantly calling, "Master?"
Looking up, I saw Li Hui coming. He was standing under a lantern at the intersection ahead, looking over here.
He immediately dispelled all distracting thoughts in his mind, walked towards him, and asked with concern: "It's getting late, why don't you go back and rest?"
After the banquet, Li Hui looked for him everywhere. When he got nearby, he asked a Jinwu guard and was told that the person had gone in that direction. He looked for him and when he reached the intersection, he vaguely saw a figure standing alone in a dark corner like a wooden sculpture. The figure looked a bit like his master, but he was not sure, so he did not dare to go up to him at first. He just called out tentatively, and found that it was indeed him. He hurriedly ran to meet him and said that he was looking for him.
"Master, why are you standing here alone? Are you waiting for someone?"
Li Hui looked around and said, "If Master has something to do, I will go. I don't want to disturb Master's work."
"Nothing." Pei Xiaoyuan explained, "I just passed by the area and saw that it was dark and dark. I was afraid that it would be bad for the night guards, so I came to check it out."
He finished speaking, smiling, "Do you have anything to do with me, Master?"
Li Hui immediately reached behind his waist and eagerly pulled out the round fan that had been tucked into his belt: "Master, you saw it in the palace tonight, right? This is what the princess gave me. Master, look!"
Afraid that Pei Xiaoyuan couldn't see clearly due to insufficient light, Li Hui held the fan right under his nose and said, "This painting was painted by my aunt herself! There's even her inscription on it!"
"She gave everyone else scent bags and embroidery bags, but only gave me this fan that she painted herself! Even King Kang didn't have that!"
"And, and, and! My nickname is Banzi. My mother gave me this nickname after she gave birth to me, hoping that I would grow up to be as strong as a tiger. Master, look, what is drawn on it? It's a little tiger! Could it be that the princess aunt knew my nickname and drew it for me?"
Pei Xiaoyuan used the lighting of the lanterns at the intersection to see that on the silk fan, there was indeed a painting of a small tiger, climbing up the steep mountain, and howling at the sky. The tiger in the painting was not as big and strong as an adult tiger, and its head looked a bit childish, but it looked like a king, looking up at the sky and howling majestically, making all the beasts tremble.
The apprentice was still eagerly awaiting his response.
Pei Xiaoyuan nodded and said, "That must be it. The princess must have painted it for you on purpose to encourage you to take risks and achieve something in the future."
Li Hui was overjoyed when his idea was confirmed by his master. He nodded and said, "Disciple will keep it in mind." After that, he happily put the round fan back on his waist, then took out a piece of manuscript paper from his lapel, unfolded it and asked Pei Xiaoyuan to take a look at it again.
"Didn't His Majesty say that everyone should submit a poem tonight? I also wrote one. Master, do you think it's okay?"
Pei Xiaoyuan looked again and saw that it was a palace-style poem that read:
"The green hills and the red towers are shining, and the bright light of the precious bun shakes the purple sky.
The Wind Green Lady of the Nine Heavens descends, and the Jade Blessing prospers as the sun and the moon shine brightly. "
"What? Master, do you think I'm flattering you too much?"