Chapter 116: Hello Chang’an
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**Chapter 116: Tiger**
A shade of green began to spread across the upper left corner of the painting paper, as a corner of the mountain forest sprang to life on the canvas.
The green mountain forest itself wasn’t particularly remarkable; what was exceptional were the technique and color used! The vibrant green was complemented by ink, skillfully balanced in intensity, capturing the deep, tranquil colors of the forest.
As the girl dipped her brush into the ink and applied it to the paper, it was as if a pair of giant hands were slowly unfolding this forest, revealing it bit by bit to the audience.
In this forest, there were towering ancient trees with gnarled branches, stately pines standing tall, and wild thickets of brambles growing in tangled profusion.
As the forest scene took up the upper half of the canvas, it gradually took on an air of antiquity amidst its profound tranquility.
Antiquity...
At the moment the term appeared in Qiao Yan's mind, he felt a jolt.
To him, capturing this sense of antiquity had always been the most challenging endeavor…
To present such an atmosphere required not only skill but also a calm and cultivated mindset from the artist. One needed to transform nothing into something, and then something back into nothing… Though it might sound convoluted and mysterious, that was indeed the essence of it!
On the third-floor railing, voices grew increasingly noisy.
"I never expected… that this young Miss Chang would possess such remarkable painting skills…"
"Just looking at this half-painted forest is extraordinary…"
Seeing Qiao Yan lost in thought for a long time, the discussions from above became more animated, and Yao Yi could not help but step forward.
However, upon taking a glance, he too was immediately taken aback.
Suppressing the sudden surge of emotions inside, he turned to Qiao Yan, feeling incredulous—how could such outstanding painting skills have gone unnoticed by him, the teacher? How had this been kept under wraps?
Perhaps due to having drunk some wine, Qiao Yan felt slightly dazed. He glanced at the girl still painting, then abruptly grabbed Chang Sui'an’s arm, pulling him aside to interrogate him.
“...Who has Sui Ning been learning from in recent years?” Qiao Yan fixed his gaze on Chang Sui'an, lowering his voice to ask, “Who has been teaching her?”
Chang Sui'an was momentarily confused. “In recent years, my sister hasn’t had a teacher.”
His sister had always preferred solitude, and the two tutors they had invited left when she was thirteen. After that, she enjoyed reading alone.
“Then how has she made such great progress?” Qiao Yan couldn’t hide his astonishment.
Though he claimed ignorance about the girl’s painting skills, that was because he hadn’t known the specifics over the past few years. However, as someone who had raised her, he couldn’t possibly be completely unaware—he had watched this child grow up. Although she had always enjoyed poetry and painting, she was never particularly outstanding.
As she grew older, he noticed that she was quiet and approached poetry and painting merely for her own pleasure, so he hadn’t intervened much.
But what he saw today truly shocked him!
Comparatively speaking, one could say she had become exceptionally gifted!
In contrast, Chang Sui'an seemed calm, presumably knowing the reason behind Sui Ning’s rapid advancement in painting—
Qiao Yan fixed his gaze on Chang Sui'an, waiting for an answer.
“Are you saying Ning Ning paints well?” Chang Sui'an replied as if it were the most natural thing. “But isn’t Ning Ning a genius? I told my father and you about it as soon as she painted her first picture when she was little.”
Qiao Yan: “…”
The kind of genius in his eyes was completely different from the sort of ‘genius’ that this kid saw in his sister!
Clearly, there was no more information to be extracted, so Qiao Yan simply hurried back to the writing desk.
In the time he was gone, the girl wielding the brush had added “living beings” to the paper—several monkeys either climbing or sitting on the ancient trees.
The girl used more brown than ink for the color of the monkeys, vividly depicting each one as clever, mischievous, and full of wild spirit.
No matter where they were or what poses they struck, all their eyes were directed toward one blank spot on the canvas, uncertain of what would be drawn there.
Then the girl switched brushes, picking up the one used for the green ink.
She painted a cluster of fine branches and green leaves where the monkeys were gazing.
Once the branches and leaves were formed, she changed brushes again, dipping it into red ink, and began to depict round, plump red beans.
Yao Xia and the others looked on in surprise.
A wave of chatter rose from the third floor as well.
Someone on the second floor glanced up and complained, “What are those people making such a fuss about? They’re disturbing the young lady while she’s painting!”
“Exactly…”
They really couldn’t stand the overreactions from those on the third floor… because they couldn’t see what was happening up there!
Though their curiosity had been piqued by the reactions of the people on the third floor, it wouldn’t be proper for so many of them to crowd up to take a look. Fortunately, they had secretly elected someone thick-skinned for the job—this was mainly about the “pushing” part of the “nominated.”
The young scholar who had been pushed forward approached the writing desk to take a look and was immediately struck dumb.
Only when he could no longer bear the gazes of the young ladies urging him to leave did he retreat back into the crowd.
“How was it?” the others asked.
The scholar nodded. “It’s amazing…”
“In what way?”
It was as if the scholar had just come to his senses. “She also painted the red beans!”
She also painted the red beans?
They had previously guessed it would be a large ink wash painting, expecting her to avoid using colored ink—yet it turned out to be a large colored ink painting instead.
Initially, they thought she would paint a grand landscape and skip the smaller detail of the red beans, but now she was painting the red beans as well?
“But that’s not all…” The scholar lowered his voice, unable to conceal his amazement. “These red beans are not the same as the others; although they are all red beans, the artistic conception is completely different!”
Everyone listened, even more intrigued. “Please explain further…”
“It’s hard to articulate!”
In the red ink used for the beans, Chang Suining had mixed in some darker tones.
At this moment, the various sizes of red beans under her brush were lustrous and intact, but their tones leaned darker, blending more harmoniously with the surrounding deep, tranquil forest.
While the scene in the painting was extremely quiet, the atmosphere in the building grew increasingly noisy.
Listening to the growing praises from the third floor, Duan Shi could no longer restrain herself and stepped forward.
Wei Miaoqing hesitated for a moment, then steeled herself and quickly followed.
The previously pushed-out scholar felt as though he were surrounded by the scenery of the painting, and unable to endure any longer, he approached again.
As long as he shed his shame, the gazes of those young ladies wouldn’t drive him away!
At this moment, Wei Shuyi finally stood up from his mat, adjusted his robe, and stepped forward.
He slowly approached Chang Suining’s writing desk from the left side, gazing down at the half-finished painting. His smile gradually faded, and the scene in the painting seemed to penetrate his vision, deepening the shade in his eyes.
Young Master Wei, the Deputy Minister, was widely known as an eloquent speaker, able to make even the dead seem alive with his words.
But at this moment, his praise seemed subdued, almost imperceptible.
For him, compliments typically flowed from the top down.
He quietly watched the hand that was splashing ink on the paper.
She leaned slightly, her brush moving deftly on the paper, sometimes sweeping boldly, other times using finer strokes to delineate details. She devoted intense focus to the painting, and yet, each stroke was executed without hesitation, landing precisely where it was meant to be.
This required an extraordinary level of skill.
Just as a seemingly simple line, to depict it accurately, one only realizes during the act that it’s not an easy task.
In that moment, Wei Shuyi’s gaze was as tranquil as the deep mountains in the painting.
Yet internally, it was a different story, much like the rushing stream she was depicting—the sound of rapids echoed in his heart.
He was recognized by the world as a prodigy, gaining fame in childhood and entering government service as a youth. Perhaps having been exposed to too much too early, he now appeared gentle and affable on the surface, yet deep inside he was critical and proud, finding it difficult to genuinely appreciate anything. Very few people or things could evoke a sense of freshness in him.
Thus, when he first met her in Hezhou, he felt intrigued, as if a bored cat had finally come across a bold little mouse to relieve its ennui.
Wei Shuyi quietly watched that wrist wielding the brush.
But she was not a mere little mouse—he realized that the first time he saw his own arrogance reflected in her eyes.
But now, things were different.
He believed that today she had the ability to prove herself, as he happened to know that she was adept at using two different styles of brushwork, making it difficult for anyone to discern the truth. Painting was similar; even if the painting of the girl and the red beans truly belonged to her, it shouldn’t be a challenge for her to create a piece that appeared entirely different.
Though there were so many scholars present, making it hard to deceive everyone easily, she remained so composed that he presumed she must be confident in her skills.
However, he thought her confidence would lie in creating a difference in detail and atmosphere, or perhaps she was simply stalling for time, hoping to find other evidence to prove that the man was lying.
But what he was witnessing now was something he hadn’t anticipated.
She had produced such a painting, and even just half of it… already needed no one else to validate or prove anything for her.
Yet it seemed that her intentions were not just this.
She also began to sketch the outline of the girl, positioned between the cluster of red beans and the mountain stream.
More and more people were gathering around.
“Don’t push, don’t push…” Yao Xia busily tried to maintain order, secretly annoyed that young master Wei, despite his great beauty, was not a good example; seeing him come, those people followed suit!
The thoughts of the scholars were simple—since Young Master Wei started it, they could do as they liked afterward!
They tried to be quiet, craning their necks to look at the painting paper on the writing desk.
That could hardly still be called paper.
The girl had created a vivid depiction of a deep forest with her brush, and just one glance was enough to draw a person into it, as if they could truly hear the sounds of monkeys and the murmur of the stream.
But unexpectedly, the girl she painted only had a simple back view, extremely simplistic in outline, clad in an ink-colored garment, with no other colors in sight.
This was a colored ink painting, and the artist was quite skilled with color, yet she was stingy with adding any bright color to the girl in the painting.
Why was that?
But the attention of the crowd was more focused on the central blank area of the painting.
At this moment, the girl set down her brush and flexed her wrist.
Then she asked, “Is there any tea?”
“Yes, yes, yes…!” Qiao Yan suddenly snapped back to reality and hurriedly instructed someone to bring tea—if it weren’t for his aging limbs being slow, he would have hated not being able to fetch it himself!
By this point, half an hour had passed since Chang Suining started painting.
Only then did Xi’er dare to step forward to wipe the sweat off her lady, asking, “Have you finished your painting, miss? If it’s done, I’ll give you a shoulder massage!”
Immediately, a scholar answered for Chang Suining, “Not finished; clearly, it’s not done yet!”
The blank area in the painting was not small, and if completed, it would likely be the most striking part of the entire piece.
Although Miss Chang probably no longer needed to prove herself, things still needed to be started and finished properly!
Seeing the girl set down her brush and revert to a casual demeanor, the crowd inexplicably worried she might abandon her work and not finish it—having started digging this hole, she needed to fill it in!
With this concern in mind, many turned their gazes toward Qiao Yan—after all, the teacher needed to intervene!
Fortunately, as the girl took the teacup handed to her by a servant and looked toward the blank space, she said, “It’s not finished yet.”
Both the hand holding the teacup and the one raised to block her face were stained with colorful ink, the colors bright and varied, shining brilliantly under the light in the building.
She raised her head and drank the tea in one gulp.
Madam Jie looked at the girl drinking tea and couldn’t help but feel a surge of impatience called confusion rising within her.
She observed the changes in the atmosphere of the building, listening to the waves of amazed praise echoing around her.
What could be so astonishing?
How could someone who painted the longing portrait of that girl possibly possess the skill to create something truly stunning?
As for whether the painting brought by that man named Zhou was fake?
That seemed unlikely…
She understood the man’s style well; he wouldn’t just present a fake painting and then brazenly ask her to come all this way!
“Madam… do you want to take a look?” the servant girl whispered.
“What’s the hurry?” Madam Jie suppressed her impatience and said calmly, “Let her finish first.”
The servant girl responded, “Yes,” while quickly thinking through something in her mind, soon calming down.
Ming Luo remained seated, watching the crowd grow closer and closer.
Occasionally, she glanced at Cui Jing.
He stood with one hand behind his back, his figure tall and straight.
For as long as Chang Suining had been painting, he had stood there watching from afar, observing without stepping forward.
Perhaps he wasn’t particularly curious about Chang Suining’s painting, but Ming Luo suspected that he needed to keep an eye on the surroundings from outside the crowd, to prevent any unexpected changes.
So, was he guarding Chang Suining at this Tower of Ascendancy?
If this guess were true, she really wanted to ask why.
Under the watchful eyes of the gathered crowd, Chang Suining picked up her brush again.
“Grand Tutor, Grand Tutor… you should go take a look too,” an old servant beside Grand Tutor Zhu returned from the crowd, shaking the elder who had dozed off at a small table.
Grand Tutor Zhu lifted one eyelid, displeased, and said, “That young girl is being forced to prove her integrity… what’s there to see in such a mundane and decayed affair?”
With that, he waved his hand to dismiss the old servant, “Don’t disturb my sleep.”
If it weren’t for someone guarding downstairs to prevent him from leaving, even if he had to force his way out, he would have attracted some relentless follower, and he would have returned long ago!
Regardless of whether the young girl could prove her innocence, he had no desire to witness such a bothersome matter!
At this moment, the finishing touches of the girl’s painting had already begun to take shape.
Everyone was curious about what the girl would depict in the center of this painting to serve as its focal point—
And the brush in her hand quickly provided the answer.
“Is that… a tiger?”
“It’s a tiger!”
Surprised exclamations erupted one after another.
It was quite rare for a woman to paint a tiger!
(End of chapter)
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