Qin Yucheng helped the person up, his heart filled with surprise and uncertainty.
Back when they were classmates at Baichuan Academy for half a year, Wu Xingcheng was outstanding in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and was someone the teacher praised every day. Now, however, he can't even utter a coherent sentence and can't even walk steadily.
Could it be that he really created the portrait of Hua'er?
Thinking of this, his gaze towards the other person turned three degrees colder.
Wu Xingcheng was brushing off the mud and grime that had gotten on him when he suddenly felt the boy's sharp gaze. He immediately dared not delay any longer and said, "Young Master Qin, Miss Su, please come in."
Although the Wu family home wasn't large, it had all the necessary facilities.
After entering the gate, walk around a pebble path and you will see a simple courtyard. In the center of the courtyard is a flower hall, with two main rooms on each side of the flower hall. In addition, there is a side room, a kitchen, and a utility room.
Next to the courtyard was a vegetable garden, about four or five acres in size, with neat rows of ridges planted with vegetables.
A quick glance reveals lush green beans, cucumbers, peppers, amaranth, and bok choy, with a row of scallions, ginger, and garlic in the corner, all vibrant and pleasing to the eye, showing how much care they put into their care.
Seeing Su Hua's gaze lingering on the vegetable patch, Wu Xingcheng couldn't help but explain, "This vegetable patch was cultivated by me when I had nothing to do. My parents usually tend to it... I also look after it when I come back from my break at Qingshan Academy. This vegetable patch can completely solve the family's daily food needs."
Su Hua was surprised that he would talk to her. She subconsciously glanced at the hem of his robe. In addition to the ink stains, there were some mud stains on the hem, and the edges of his shoes were also covered with mud.
"Young Master Wu has quite the refined taste; he not only excels in his studies but also doesn't neglect farming."
This is true. Most scholars do not engage in farming, especially those with official titles. For example, Feng Zicai's family was extremely poor. From the time he went to school, he had never even set foot in the fields and could not even recognize all the vegetables in the vegetable garden in front of his house.
People like Wu Xingcheng, who achieved the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examination) with the highest score in Qingshui County, and who even specially cultivated a vegetable garden at home to do farm work, are extremely rare.
"Miss Su, you flatter me." Wu Xingcheng clenched his hands and began to stammer again, "Compared to Miss Su, I am far from being good enough."
Seeing his reaction, Su Hua didn't say anything more.
Qin Yucheng frowned slightly as he watched the man's face flush red. He subtly stood between the two, blocking the man's view. "Brother Xingcheng, it's getting late. Let's go to the study to talk."
"Huh?" Upon hearing the sound, Wu Xingcheng subconsciously glanced at the house behind him, his expression somewhat unnatural.
"The study is a bit messy right now, it might be difficult to walk around. May I ask what brings Yu Cheng and Miss Su here? Why don't we go to the flower hall first to discuss this in detail?"
Su Hua looked up and saw the man's expression. Following his gaze, she saw that the study door was half open and there were many crumpled pieces of paper scattered on the floor.
A rosewood desk stood by the window, on which lay a set of writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. The ink stick was about a third worn down, and the brush resting on the inkstone still had ink on its tip.
In the center of the desk lies what appears to be an unfinished painting.
On the wall behind the desk, there are many paintings and calligraphy works, and the faint scent of ink can be smelled from halfway across the courtyard.
However, the specific details on the painting and inscription are not clearly discernible.
Su Hua narrowed her almond-shaped eyes slightly, took out the portrait from her sleeve and slowly unfolded it. "Young Master Wu, to be honest, we came here today for this portrait."
If I'm not mistaken, this portrait was painted by Young Master Wu, isn't it?
As she unfurled the scroll, her eyes remained fixed on the man's eyes. Sure enough, the moment he saw the scroll, his pupils contracted.
Once it was fully unfolded, he was completely stunned and stood there dumbfounded.
However, the change in his complexion was rather strange, as if a piece of bright red dye had been suddenly thrown onto a piece of white paper. The man's fair face turned bright red in the blink of an eye, all the way to the roots of his ears.
He looked like a fried shrimp.
"Miss Su, Miss Su, you...please let me explain, I didn't mean anything by it, I...I...I..."
"Wait!" After a few words, Su Hua was already sweating profusely. "I'm not a monster that comes down from the mountain to eat people. Young Master Wu, you can speak slowly. You won't be skinned alive."
Qin Yucheng chimed in, "If the teacher saw Brother Xingcheng looking like this today, he might think that the real Brother Xingcheng had been replaced by a monster and that a fake one was living in the house."
Upon hearing the sound, Wu Xingcheng quickly took a few deep breaths, and his expression softened considerably. However, this time he did not look at Su Hua, but instead landed lightly on the vegetable patch beside him.
"This painting is indeed mine, but please believe me, Miss Su, I had no ulterior motives. It's just... I've never seen a woman as talented as Miss Su before, so after the Hundred Flowers Banquet, I painted a portrait of you from memory, intending to treasure it."
Su Hua frowned upon hearing this, "If that's the case, why did this portrait end up outside?"
Being kidnapped into a bandit's den is not a glorious thing, especially in an era where reputation is of utmost importance. Su Baishi had repeatedly told her on the carriage to keep this matter to herself, so she spoke very vaguely at this moment.
Speaking of this, Wu Xingcheng was also puzzled, and pursed his lips, saying, "Well, I'm not really sure either. Maybe... it was blown away by the wind."
"What? Blown away by the wind?" Upon hearing this, Qin Yucheng's previously good temper completely broke down. "There just happened to be a strong wind, right? And it just happened to blow away Hua'er's portrait, right?! Do you think this is a storyteller on a stage?"
"No, I wasn't telling stories." Wu Xingcheng was startled by the shout and quickly led the two to the window of the study. "Look, my yard is small, and this study is right next to the alley outside. On the day I returned from the Hundred Flowers Banquet, after I finished painting this picture, I put it on my desk to wait for the ink to dry before I went to work in the vegetable garden."
However, halfway through my work, a strong wind suddenly blew up, and when I returned to my study, the painting was gone.
He searched for several hours inside and outside his home that day, until the city's curfew was imposed, before finally returning home.
Therefore, he was extremely shocked when he saw the painting in Su Hua's hands.
He thought the two of them had seen through his thoughts and were there to teach him a lesson.
Although Su Hua came from an ordinary background, her talent and knowledge were definitely not limited to Qingshui County. Therefore, his little thoughts were just that—little thoughts—and he never intended to tell anyone else.
Su Hua looked up and saw that Wu Xingcheng's study was less than half a meter away from the alley, and the window was always wide open. If there was a strong wind, it was possible to blow the things on the desk away.
Moreover, she remembered that on the night she returned from the Hundred Flowers Banquet, a fierce wind did indeed sweep through Shanghe Village.
Now that she was closer, she could finally see clearly the unfinished painting on the man's rosewood desk. The face hadn't been painted yet, but the rest of the painting was almost complete. The dress she was wearing was clearly the long dress she had worn at the Hundred Flowers Banquet.
The twenty or so paintings hanging on the wall, apart from half depicting landscapes, birds and animals, were all of himself at Qichi Villa.
There were times when they first entered the Hundred Flowers Garden, times when they argued with Liu Yuxian, times when they ate seafood, times when they guessed flower riddles, times when they painted, and times when they played the zither.
Each painting was inscribed with a poem.
And those poems...
If she felt joy when she learned that the portrait of the plump beauty hidden in Xiao Jinhan's brocade box was her, then at this moment, she felt a chill for no reason.
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