Chapter 66 Ask Her to Comment on Paintings

After hearing the voice, everyone looked up and saw today's protagonist, Prince Xiao, walking towards them from a distance.

"Prince!" Princess Huayang spoke first.

The young ladies who had originally surrounded the Duke's wife also looked over shyly.

Being stared at by the prince under so many eyes, Xu Shuyao felt like she was back to the day when she was facing everyone's questions in Songhe Hall.

She bowed respectfully and then moved Ma Jingtang to her side. "It was this sister who told Shu Yao about the prince's bravery at the border. She said everyone called you the young general, and Shu Yao thought that this title was very unique."

"So that's what happened!"

The man's eyes swept over her face. Just now he was saying with horror that they were the same young lady, but now he changed his face into a respectful and unfamiliar one, and even his smile was ridiculously fake.

He snorted in his heart.

Ma Jingtang was not as shy as other young ladies. "Long time no see! Little General!"

Xiao Mo nodded, not knowing whether it was inconvenient to reminisce about the past in front of so many young ladies or what, anyway, he walked straight to the side of the Duke's wife, called her mother, and bowed to Princess Huayang.

The place where everyone was gathered was a relatively spacious pavilion.

The Duke's wife and Princess Huayang sat in the center of the pavilion, where several pots of smokeless red charcoal were burning and thick curtains covered the surroundings.

Even if the pavilion is not small, it is not enough for so many people to squeeze in one place.

Especially after this prince came.

So some of them stood on the corridor connecting to the pavilion, including Xu Shuyao.

Compared to the pavilion, the corridor has no curtains blocking the view, allowing you to see the plum blossoms on both sides.

Seeing Xu Shuyao avoid her, Ma Jingtang glanced at the man not far away, gritted his teeth and followed him.

Xu Shuyao didn't know what to say to her. They were not familiar with each other, and they had just mentioned the prince, and they were already being questioned.

She thought for a moment and then asked, "Can Sister Ma ride a horse?"

Ma Jingtang said absentmindedly, "Yes, this is necessary at the border."

"What is life like over there?" Prince Xiao couldn't bring it up, but it should be okay to bring up this!

This opened up Ma Jingtang's mouth and he started talking nonstop.

However, since it was said to be a plum blossom viewing banquet, somehow the topic of painting plum blossoms was brought up again.

Xu Shuyao had been talking with Ma Jingtang in the corridor when suddenly a maid brought a table to them.

When asked about the two of them, "Cousin and Ma Xiaoma, do you want to join us?"

Xu Shuyao shook her head. She had drawn a lot of flowery notes recently and was getting tired of it.

Similarly, Ma Jingtang, who can ride a horse and shoot arrows, can't do it either.

Seeing that both of them shook their heads, the young ladies at the nearby tables all showed a look of contempt.

As a member of the royal family, Princess Huayang is naturally a good painter.

Of course, there was another young lady in the Changle Marquis's Mansion, named Feng Shufang, who was from the Empress's family.

Like Empress Feng, Feng Shufang was also an outstanding painter.

On this chilly snowy day today, it was she who suggested painting, saying that the young ladies should paint a picture of plum blossoms in the snow and let the princes present appreciate it.

But halfway through the painting, Xiao Mo wanted to leave. "My mother asked me to come over for a cup of hot tea. Now that the tea is finished, it's time to leave."

After hearing this, the Duke's wife asked anxiously, "There are so many young ladies' paintings, don't you want to take a look?"

Xiao Mo looked at the heads that looked up from the table and said with a smile, "Mother, you don't know that I'm not very proficient in painting. Mother wants to find someone to evaluate it, and I can recommend someone to you."

"who?"

Xu Shuyao was watching the show when she saw the prince's hand pointing straight at her.

"Here, cousin Xu!"

Those who had just secretly laughed at this Miss Xu all turned pale.

Looking at the eyes around her that were glaring at her like wolves and tigers, Xu Shuyao really hated Xiao Mo.

"I...I don't know how." She stuttered.

After she finished speaking, she could hear faint snickers coming from the side.

The Duke's wife couldn't stand it anymore. This girl from the Xu family had been very much favored by the old lady recently, and it would be bad to embarrass her in public like this.

"Alright, Mo'er! If you don't want to look at it, then don't look at it! We have Princess Huayang here. No one else is more suitable to ask Princess Huayang to evaluate the painting."

Then she turned and said, "Xu family girl! Your cousin is just a human being... lazy. He doesn't mean to embarrass you, so don't think too much about it!"

Xu Shuyao forced a smile and looked up at the culprit over there.

The prince had a smile on his lips at this moment, but his eyes were extremely sharp, as if he could see through people's hearts.

Does he know something?

Xu Shuyao's heart began to beat wildly under the other person's stare.

She came to the capital just to draw some flowery paper, and yet she was discovered?

Xu Shuyao's face puffed up, and she pretended to be calm and said to the Duke's wife, "It's okay, but even if my cousin asked me to evaluate the paintings, I wouldn't be able to say whether they were good or bad. In my opinion, all the young ladies' paintings are excellent. If I give everyone an excellent grade, then I'm afraid the ranking will be impossible to tell."

When these words were spoken, everyone present laughed.

After the arrogant prince left, Princess Huayang really took over.

However, without people to appreciate the paintings, these young ladies who were originally full of enthusiasm also lost their initial enthusiasm, and a fierce competition ended in a whimper.

When the other ladies saw Xu Shuyao with a sullen face, they thought she was in a bad mood after being ridiculed by Master Xiao.

Isn't it? How can someone who doesn't even dare to touch a painting be a judge?

If this isn't a ridicule, what is it?

Xu Shuyao thought that at the very least, she would confess to the prince that the flowery note was written by her.

As a young lady living in the Duke's Mansion, is it wrong to sell her painting skills to earn money?

That shouldn’t be the case, right?

But it's certainly not something to be praised.

But she was extremely poor, and even the third daughter of the Xiao family, who didn't care about other people's lives, knew this. It should have been no secret in the Chengguo Mansion, right?

The two maids also looked worried, as they had seen their master drawing the flowery paper with their own eyes.

The way he looked at the prince just now seemed to indicate that he knew something?

The plum blossom viewing banquet ended early because the main guest was missing.

The happiest person was Princess Huayang. Not only did she get to see the person she wanted to see, but she also got the title of Lady of the Duke.

Xiao Mo's behavior was undoubtedly a loud slap in the face to those who tried their best to show off in front of him.

He didn't give face to anyone, which proved that he was not interested in anyone. This made Princess Huayang, who had been rejected by him countless times, feel comforted.

Although he didn't want to marry her, he didn't want to marry anyone else either.