He had actually become Emperor Yuan of Han!
Xia Pingan looked at the portraits of the palace maids in various poses displayed in the main hall and immediately realized what was going on.
In reality, the Zhaojun in history was not as bad as it was described in later literature. Many works described the Zhaojun's departure as a humiliating marriage between the Great Han Dynasty and the Great Han Dynasty. This completely erased the achievements of the countless generals of the Great Han Dynasty.
In real history, the Great Han Dynasty was at its peak during the era of Emperor Yuan of Han. At this time, the Xiongnu had already been defeated by the previous ten emperors of the Great Han Dynasty and were on the decline. The Southern Xiongnu had already submitted to the Great Han Dynasty.
In the first year of Jingning, the leader of the Southern Xiongnu, Huhanxie, very obediently came to Chang An to pay respects to Emperor Yuan of Han.
Emperor Yuan of Han saw that Huhanxie was quite obedient and agreed to his request. Of course, facing a barbaric race like the Xiongnu, Emperor Yuan of Han could not bear to let the Liu Clan's bloodline and the imperial family's princesses and princesses marry into the Xiongnu as wives. However, at this time, he had to give face to the Southern Xiongnu and appease them appropriately. He could not slap them in the face.
Wasn't it just a woman? He could casually find a Han Dynasty ordinary family's daughter and give her to Huhanxie to marry into the Southern Xiongnu tribe. She would be the 'mother of the world' and live a life of luxury.
That was what Emperor Yuan of Han thought.
Emperor Yuan of Han was naturally reluctant to part with a beautiful woman. Thus, he wanted to casually choose an ugly woman in the palace to marry Hu Han Xie. But who would have thought that under this mistake, Wang Zhaojun would be married off.
Wang Zhaojun was, of course, not ugly. She was the most beautiful woman in the Great Han Southern County.
Emperor Yuanyuan usually chose too many women and beauties, so he was probably numb to it. In order to save time, Emperor Yuanyuan let the court painter draw a portrait of each of the beauties that entered the palace. When he wanted to choose a beauty, he let a group of eunuchs and palace maids take out the portraits and unfold them in front of him. With a glance, he could easily see who was beautiful and who was ugly, and who was most to his liking. Moreover, this choice was more suitable for the Emperor's status.
"Your Majesty, the portraits of all the palace maids in Yeting are here. Who would Your Majesty like to bestow to Huhanxie?" An old eunuch beside him couldn't help but remind him softly when he saw that Xia Pingan was still staring at the portraits in a daze.
The palace maids of Yeting had never been favored by Emperor Yuan of Han. They had never even seen Emperor Yuan of Han's face.
Xia Pingan walked down from his throne and slowly strolled in front of the portraits of the palace maids. As he walked, Xia Pingan stopped in front of a portrait. It depicted a beautiful palace maid holding a palm-leaf fan. She was standing on her tiptoes to catch butterflies among the flowers on the beach. The entire painting was very lifelike. The palace maid's figure and posture were all beautiful.
The palace maid's name was written on the portrait — Fu Yuan.
"Who painted this?" Xia Pingan asked.
The old eunuch beside Xia Pingan glanced at the painting and said, "Your Majesty, this painting was painted by Mao Yanshou!"
"Not bad, not bad, the painting is not bad …" Xia Pingan nodded.
"Mao Yanshou, hurry up and thank His Majesty for his golden words!" The old eunuch glanced to the side and said in a sharp voice. When one of the painters standing in the corner of the hall heard this, his face lit up with joy and he hurriedly stepped forward to thank His Majesty for his kindness.
This guy was Mao Yanshou, the one who framed Miss Zhaojun?
Xia Pingan glanced at Mao Yanshou. Mao Yanshou looked to be in his fifties. He looked gentle and polite, just like those "experts" who specialized in swindling people on television programs. His appearance was not bad.
I'll deal with you later!
Xia Pingan thought to himself. "Give this Fu Yuan to Huhanxie!"
The old eunuch was stunned when he heard Xia Pingan's words. His Majesty had changed. Last night, His Majesty had said that he could casually choose an average-looking palace maid to give to Huhanxie. Why did he choose a beautiful one today?
However, the old eunuch did not dare to ask. He only had someone put away the painting and prepared to make the arrangements. Huhanxie had not yet arrived in Chang 'an. Only the Southern Xiongnu envoys were present in Chang' an. These matters had to be settled before Huhanxie arrived.
The reason Xia Pingan had chosen this palace maid surnamed Fu to give to Huhanxie was because, according to some unofficial historical records, Wang Zhaojun had offended a woman surnamed Fu in the palace. Later on, that woman was chosen by Emperor Yuan of Han to be Zhaoyi. Her status immediately rose above Wang Zhaojun's and she constantly targeted Wang Zhaojun, causing Wang Zhaojun to suffer.
Xia Pingan continued to pace, his gaze sweeping across the portraits of palace maids. Finally, in the last row of the portraits, Xia Pingan saw a familiar name — Wang Hua!
Wang Hua was Wang Zhaojun's real name.
The Wang Zhaojun in the portrait was the ugliest of all. Wang Hua's posture was slightly stiff as she stood in front of a pavilion window. Her hands were holding a pipa, her nostrils were slightly large, and there was a black mole under her eye that looked like a tear drop. Her figure was also not very graceful, as it was completely covered by the pipa.
It was this painting that had caused Wang Zhaojun's downfall.
Xia Pingan sighed. After Wang Zhaojun, in the future, there were no beauties in this world who dared to offend a photographer.
"Who painted this?"
"Your Majesty, it was painted by Mao Yanshou!" The old eunuch beside him said.
"Alright, the others can be dismissed for now. This Wang Hua is interesting. We have never seen such a strange palace maid among the palace maids. Looking at her appearance, she can even play the pipa. We just happen to want to listen to the pipa today, so we will summon her to this hall to play a song for us!"
"Yes!"
Xia Pingan calmly said. The court painter, Mao Yanshou, who had just been praised, instantly turned pale. His entire body trembled, and he left the hall in a daze with the other painters. When he reached the entrance of the hall, his legs went soft, and he even fell down, looking incomparably wretched.
Mao Yanshou would never have dreamed that Emperor Yuan of Han's temperament would change today. He actually specifically wanted to see this ugly woman.
After a while, Wang Zhaojun, who was holding the pipa, arrived and entered the hall.
Even if Xia Pingan had seen too many beauties, when he saw Wang Zhaojun at this moment, his eyes still lit up. Wang Zhaojun gracefully entered the hall. As soon as she entered, the entire hall was like a pearl rolling in, and the entire hall became lively and bright.
After entering the hall, Wang Zhaojun carefully dressed up, making her look even more luxurious and beautiful.
The Chinese people used the phrase 'Captivating Fish and Wild Geese' to describe the appearance of a peerless beauty. This allusion originated from Wang Zhaojun. When the flying geese saw Wang Zhaojun on the ground, they couldn't help but land to take a closer look.
Her hands were soft, her skin was creamy, her collar was smooth, her teeth were sharp, her eyebrows were beautiful, her smile was beautiful, and her eyes were beautiful. Even such a poem couldn't describe half of Wang Zhaojun's beauty.
The moment he saw Wang Zhaojun, Xia Pingan finally understood why Emperor Yuan of Han was so angry that he killed Mao Yanshou and the other court painters after seeing Wang Zhaojun in person. F * ck, such a rare beauty was actually painted as an ugly woman by you guys. You dare to trick me? This is the crime of deceiving the monarch. If I don't kill you, who will I kill?
Wang Zhaojun looked at Xia Pingan's burning gaze as he looked at her. Her face was a bit shy, and her rosy face made her look even more delicate than a flower. However, Wang Zhaojun still graciously bowed to Xia Pingan.
"Queen Xiu of the South Region greets Your Majesty!"
"You know how to play the pipa?" Xia Pingan asked.
"I know a little!"
"Alright, play a song for me here. I want to hear it …"
"What song would Your Majesty like to hear?"
"I'll listen to whatever you play!" Xia Pingan smiled slightly. "Come, give her a stool!"
A eunuch brought a stool over and let Wang Zhaojun sit in front of Xia Pingan. Wang Zhaojun's face turned even redder.
For Xia Pingan, it was a rare experience to be able to hear Wang Zhaojun play the pipa with his own ears. After fusing with so many realm beads, this realm bead was the most satisfying.
Seeing the Emperor for the first time, Wang Zhaojun was slightly nervous, but she quickly calmed down. She hugged the pipa and put on the armor. With a move of her fingers, the entire hall seemed to be filled with thousands of jade beads falling onto a jade plate. The beautiful sound of the zither flowed out from her slender fingers, causing the entire hall to quiet down.
Wang Zhaojun played Li Yannian's "Beauty Song", which was a reserved piece of palace music.
With the sound of the pipa, Wang Zhaojun revealed her jade teeth and opened her red lips slightly. She began to sing, "There's a beauty in the north … peerless and independent … a single glance can topple a city … a second glance can topple a country … I'd rather not topple a city or a country … a beauty is hard to find …"
The folk songs of the Han Dynasty were sung slowly, word by word. Their voices were mellow and melodious, and there were many variations and vocal techniques between the words. Sometimes, the same sentence would be sung multiple times, unlike the fast tempo of the popular songs of the later generations.
Listening to Wang Zhaojun play and sing "Beauty Song" took a full five or six minutes.
Xia Pingan let out a long breath. This realm bead, even if nothing was left behind and it failed in the end, to be able to listen to Wang Zhaojun play and sing a song at this time, it was not in vain.
After the song was finished, Xia Pingan was immersed in Wang Zhaojun's superb skills. After Wang Zhaojun stopped for half a minute, Xia Pingan applauded and praised loudly, "This song should only exist in heaven. How many times can it be heard in the human world?"
"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty!" Wang Zhaojun shyly stared at the ground.
Xia Pingan asked the eunuch beside him to take out the portrait that Mao Yanshou had drawn for Wang Zhaojun and show it to Wang Zhaojun. It was probably the first time that Wang Zhaojun had seen her portrait like this, and her face was full of astonishment.
"How did you offend Mao Yanshou? He actually drew you like this?"
"Those painters ask for bribes when they draw the portraits of the beauties. I just refused to bribe him and didn't want to be blackmailed by him. I didn't expect …" Wang Zhaojun bit her lip and said.
My sister, you're so beautiful, but your temper is too stubborn. Moreover, the struggle in the palace, do you think it's as simple as you not giving Mao Yanshou money? Those beauties can bribe Mao Yanshou to make themselves look good, naturally they can also bribe him to make you look ugly.
Xia Pingan shook his head, and his face turned cold. "Bring Mao Yanshou here …"
A few minutes later, Mao Yanshou was brought in again. When Mao Yanshou saw Wang Zhaojun and his portrait, and then looked at the indifferent Xia Pingan, he was so scared that he wet his pants and cried bitterly. As soon as he entered the hall, he knelt on the ground and walked a few steps on his knees. He kowtowed to Xia Pingan and Wang Zhaojun like a hammer, until his forehead bled and stained the ground red. He also kept slapping himself in the face.
"Mao Yanshou, you've got guts. You even dared to deceive me. After failing to extort bribes, you actually dared to use a brush to punish others. The crime of deceiving the monarch should be beheaded …" Xia Pingan looked at Mao Yanshou and said coldly.
"Your Majesty, please spare my life. Your Majesty, please spare my life …"
Xia Pingan looked at Wang Zhaojun. "Wang Hua, this Mao Yanshou is greedy beyond measure and has committed the crime of deceiving the monarch. He's the most abominable and almost ruined you. I'll hand him over to you now. You can do whatever you want. How do you want me to deal with him?"
Wang Zhaojun looked at the court painter who was kowtowing on the ground with his face covered in blood. She couldn't bear to see him like this. She turned her face and sighed. "On account of his conscientious painting for Your Majesty in the palace all these years, I beg Your Majesty to spare his life. Don't ruin his life because of me. My heart can't be at ease …"
Xia Pingan looked at Mao Yanshou. "Apart from the fact that Wang Hua didn't bribe you, is there any other reason why you vilified Wang Hua?"
"Because Wang Hua is too dainty and beautiful, a few harem girls were afraid that Wang Hua would compete with them. They gave me money and asked me to draw Wang Hua uglier on purpose …" Mao Yanshou confessed everything. He mentioned the names of a few harem girls in one breath, including the harem girl with the surname Fu.
Wang Zhaojun's face turned slightly pale. She clenched her fists tightly, as if she finally understood something …
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