Both Pei Yuan and Wei Yichen painted a woman with a graceful figure.
The woman was fair-skinned and beautiful, wearing a light blue dress and a simple silver hairpin. Although her attire was simple, it could not hide her beauty.
Upon closer inspection, everyone realized who the woman the two had painted was.
The only difference is that Su Muxi's attire today is exactly the same as the woman in the painting. The only difference is that the woman in the painting does not have that ugly red birthmark on her left cheek.
"So Su Muxi is this beautiful after her birthmark is gone!"
"The woman in the painting is like a celestial being. Do you think that Young Master Wei said Su Muxi was as beautiful as a celestial being because the birthmark on Su Muxi's face can be removed?"
"If it could be removed, it would probably have been removed long ago. Who would deliberately leave such an ugly birthmark on their face!"
"Indeed, I guess these two are just imagining what Su Muxi would look like without the birthmark."
"It's such a pity, it would be better if Su Muxi didn't have the birthmark on her face!"
…
Xie Xuan wanted everyone to know that Su Muxi was not actually ugly; her beauty was simply hidden by a birthmark. Although he didn't believe Su Muxi could remove the birthmark, he hoped that everyone could recognize that Su Muxi was not ugly at all, and thus stop mocking her appearance.
At the same time, this painting was specially painted for Su Muxi, hoping that Su Muxi would buy it and hang it in her house so that she could look at it every day.
Unexpectedly, Wei Yichen shared the same thoughts as him…
Fortunately, Wei Yichen's painting wasn't as lifelike as his!
Wei Yichen was also quite surprised by Xie Xuan's painting. He narrowed his fox-like eyes, trying to see something in Xie Xuan's face.
After observing for a while, he felt that Xie Xuan was unaware of the matter of the uterine fetus.
That's truly rare.
He was able to disregard appearance and genuinely like Su Muxi. If the Su family had chosen a son-in-law according to their standards, Xie Xuan would definitely have been selected. Unfortunately, the Su family is currently preoccupied with its own problems and cannot reach that far!
Whether it's his cousin Su Muxi or the entire Su family, they will all belong to him!
Although the topic for the painting was "Lake and Mountain Scenery," after seeing the two paintings of Su Muxi, everyone lost interest in the other paintings.
"I'll offer three hundred taels for Young Master Xie's painting!"
Who cares who it depicts? Such a beautiful woman is always pleasing to the eye to hang in the room!
Once one person takes the lead, others start scrambling to grab it too.
Looking at the scene before her, Su Muxi felt very strange. She felt psychologically repulsed if a strange man were to buy her portrait.
So Su Muxi immediately shouted, "Ten thousand taels for one painting, I'll take both!"
Ten thousand taels is no small sum, and since the main party has already made an offer, if they continue, it might cause some misunderstanding.
After all, Su Muxi was actually an ugly woman, not as beautiful as she appeared in the painting.
But Wei Yichen laughed and said, "I'll offer 20,000 taels for this one. If my cousin Xi'er keeps raising the price, I won't let you have it."
Su Muxi: "..."
She knew that Wei Yichen was doing this on purpose, deliberately causing misunderstandings and deliberately making his words so ambiguous.
Can…
"Twenty thousand taels!"
Su Muxi's eyes flashed with provocation.
Wei Yichen still wore a smile on his face. "Thirty thousand taels."
Su Muxi: "Forty thousand taels."
"Fifty thousand taels," Wei Yichen continued.
Unexpectedly, Su Muxi stopped after only calling twice.
"Then thank you very much, cousin, for donating the money to those poor people!"
Wei Yichen chuckled, his face full of doting affection.
Seeing this, Xie Xuan was unwilling, but he was indeed short of money.
However, the thought that his painting had been bought by Su Muxi made him happy again, and he couldn't help but show a smug look to Wei Yichen beside him.
The venue was bustling, but the two Confucian scholars did not look too well.
After exchanging a glance, the two stood up together, preparing to leave.
Seeing this, Chen Cong quickly called out to the two, "Where are you two esteemed scholars headed?"
One of them snorted coldly, "Hmph! Of course, we're going home! No literary gathering has ever been this chaotic. Besides, it seems there's no need for the two old folks like us to be here! Farewell!"
Seeing this, Bai Mengying did not stop them. Instead, after the two left, she said, seemingly to herself, "Actually, Aunt Empress only meant well, I didn't expect..."
Although Su Muxi was not mentioned at all, many people blamed her for the incident.
This year's literary gathering was truly chaotic. There were not only arguments, but also physical fights. Originally, knowledgeable people could have learned from each other, but it turned out like this.
There was no charity sale; prices were directly quoted.
The last category, where the artwork didn't follow the prompts, was actually more popular.
If they were two great Confucian scholars, they would certainly leave in displeasure.
Of course, all of this stemmed from one person: Su Muxi!
"The champion of this final competition hasn't been chosen yet!"
"Both great scholars have passed away, so who will decide the champion?"
"No matter who becomes the leader, I have no interest in it!"
…
Bai Mengying glanced around discreetly and then stepped forward.
"Now that the two great scholars have departed, I will take charge of the remaining matters of this literary gathering. What do you all think?"
No one had any doubts, after all, Bai Mengying's identity was undeniable.
Moreover, the literary gathering was indeed quite boring, and everyone was thinking of leaving. They were just waiting for the final formalities to be over before taking their leave.
Bai Mengying glanced at Xie Xuan, then at Wei Yichen, and said with a troubled expression, "The paintings created by the two gentlemen are indeed exquisite, but they do not fit the theme..."
Xie Xuan hurriedly said, "I abstain!"
Seeing this, Wei Yichen also spoke up: "I only came here to join in the fun, just to do my part for the poor people of Qi. I have no interest in the champion position. If I wanted to be the champion, I would not have given the first two opportunities to the heir of Marquis Anyang."
Qiao Ziming gritted his teeth, not uttering a word, but his flushed face said it all.
Bai Mengying looked a little embarrassed, but after a slight smile, she began to look at the other people's paintings seriously.
Finally, we turned our attention to Shen Yaxin's paintings.
"What do you all think of Miss Shen's painting?"
As soon as Bai Mengying said this, people quickly understood the meaning behind her painting and unanimously nominated Shen Yaxin as the champion of this competition.
Shen Yaxin was surprised that Bai Mengying would recommend her. While she was delighted, she was also very proud.
As a result, out of the five competitions, only Qiao Ziming and Shen Yaxin were able to go to the Lakeside Pavilion.
The small boat, which had been prepared long ago, was already on the lakeside. Everyone watched as Qiao Ziming and Shen Yaxin boarded the boat and gradually sailed towards the pavilion in the middle of the lake, feeling envious.
But halfway there, the people on the shore suddenly heard Shen Yaxin's exclamation.
"The boat is leaking!"
This sudden turn of events left everyone on edge, except for Bai Mengying, whose eyes flashed with a fleeting smile.
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