At this time, Su Wenxuan, Bai Youcheng and others had already arrived at the main building of Qionglin Garden and went up to the second floor.

Under the guidance of the attendants, everyone took their seats.

Each person's seat was filled with writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstone, and various paints.

Just when everyone was wondering what was going on, someone came in and put down a large scroll.

There was a huge word "heart" written on the scroll, and nothing else.

Obviously, this is the topic of this competition.

As for whether to write poetry, songs or paint, there are no requirements, you can express yourself freely.

After thinking for a moment, everyone spread out the paper on the table, picked up the pen, dipped it in ink and started writing.

What Su Wenxuan wanted to paint was a picture.

A landscape painting.

Luonan Prefecture is famous for its scenery of Xingyue Mountain and Luojiang River. The mountains are majestic and stretching, and the water is a natural green color. When it is calm, it is like an emerald ribbon, which is breathtaking.

What Su Wenxuan painted at this time was this beautiful scenery of mountains, with the morning light of sunrise, mist lingering, a small boat floating on the water, a fisherman standing at the bow, and a fisherwoman brewing tea at the stern, all of them contented, in a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of the world.

It took Su Wenxuan two and a half hours to hand in this painting.

Many others had already handed in their poems and songs, and continued to wait for the results of the competition.

The servants came up one after another and served food to everyone.

The sun was setting in the west. Everyone had not eaten or drunk anything since arriving at Qionglin Garden that morning. Now everyone was hungry, and many were very happy to be able to eat now.

Because they were very hungry and didn't know when their next meal would be, many people ate much faster than usual.

There are quite a few people who eat voraciously.

But after filling their stomachs a little and feeling a little better, everyone resumed their usual habit of chewing slowly.

While everyone was enjoying the food, there was someone hiding in the dark, occasionally poking his head out to observe everyone while they were eating.

After the observation is very accurate, what you see will be recorded in a book.

Lord Zhang, the reader in the Hanlin Academy, smacked his lips while eating.

Lord Guo, the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, eats like he is planting rice, with rice falling everywhere.

Mr. Luo from the Ministry of Public Administration secretly picks his teeth...

The meal had not yet been finished when several people who did not pay much attention to table etiquette were immediately asked to leave.

At this time, there were only eleven people left.

Seeing this, Su Wenxuan felt slightly relieved, but also became more worried.

From the moment he left the house today, Su Wenxuan felt that the so-called exam had already begun, so he was cautious in everything, fearing that he would be eliminated due to the slightest omission.

We have already gone through three terrifying games, and now we just have to wait and see what will happen next.

The poems, songs and paintings they had just composed freely were obviously intended to test their talents.

Su Wenxuan boasted that he had been reading since he was young, and his library was filled with books.

But Su Wenxuan was very self-aware and believed that he was not a talented person. He was not outstanding in poetry, songs, calligraphy, chess, and painting.

And now there are only so many people left, all of whom are excellent in both character and learning. If they want to win...

Su Wenxuan was so nervous that even in the middle of winter, a layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Here, the emperor was personally selecting the poems, songs, paintings, etc. presented by everyone.

When he saw the picture drawn by Su Wenxuan, he nodded slightly, "This painting has an exquisite layout and good white space. It abandons the gorgeous and brilliant colors commonly used in current paintings and uses splashed ink as the base, striving for realism and lifelikeness, but also has artistic conception. It is really good."

"Indeed, it is good." The Queen agreed. "It shows that this person is not only a skilled painter, but also has great ambitions. I just wonder who painted this picture?"

"Your Majesty and the Empress, this painting was created by Lord Su Wenxuan." Minghai answered truthfully.

"So it was a painting by Lord Su." Upon hearing this, the Queen couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, her eyes filled with uncontrollable joy, "No wonder it's so good."

"Is the painting good?" After hearing that the painting was painted by Su Wenxuan, the emperor's face darkened visibly, and he placed the painting on the table. "I think it's just average. It's just that the poems and paintings done by others are not outstanding, so this painting stands out a little."

"To use the popular saying, it's like picking a general from among the lame. As long as he's a perfect person, he's good!"

His words were full of anger.

It was as if someone owed him five thousand taels of silver.

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The queen did not refute or answer, but just chuckled and handed the painting to Minghai, "Put this painting away carefully for now."

When he returned to the palace, he took it back and handed it to the fifth princess.

It must be very interesting to gain such unique experiences in the course of life.

The Queen smiled, but the Emperor was picking and choosing among the poems, songs and paintings presented by the rest, trying to find ones that he liked.

But after picking and choosing, he found nothing that could impress him as much as the painting just made by Su Wenxuan. He could only pick a few more pieces reluctantly and gave them to Minghai, asking him to take care of the next thing.

Minghai received the order and sent people to notify those who had not been selected by the emperor to leave.

At this point, there were only five left.

Su Wenxuan breathed a sigh of relief again, but the sweat on his forehead did not stop.

The Emperor had previously said that the final step in selecting husbands for the five princesses would be to narrow down the candidates to five, and then the Emperor and the Empress would personally select one.

And the emperor obviously doesn't like him now, maybe he deliberately chose someone else...

Just as Su Wenxuan was lost in thought, Minghai walked in and cleared his throat. "My Lords, today's competition has come to an end. Please go back and wait for the summons."

This means they need to go home and wait for news.

Su Wenxuan and the other four all bowed, "Yes, thank you, eunuch."

"You are too polite, my lords." Minghai raised his hand and ordered people to escort Su Wenxuan and others out of Qionglin Garden.

Su Wenxuan and four others walked out together.

It was evening now, and the setting sun was sinking slowly, dyeing the entire western sky red.

Su Wenxuan pursed his lips, and after walking out of the gate of Qionglin Garden, he said goodbye to everyone else and went to his own courtyard.

It took several days to get this so-called news.

During the past few days, Su Wenxuan went to the government office as usual to take care of the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, as if nothing had happened. However, if one were to observe carefully, one would easily notice that Su Wenxuan's eye sockets were becoming more and more sunken, and the area under his eyes was becoming increasingly darker.