Princess Xingnan accepted her defeat wholeheartedly, but there was still one more match: painting.
For portraits, where only similarity was required, Gu Xin chose sketching.
As it turned out, the palace didn't have the paintbrushes she needed, so the emperor sent a eunuch to her house to fetch them, allowing her to rest a bit.
The emperor ordered the dishes to be served, saying the competition would take place after the meal.
Prince Xingnan and Princess Xingnan, brother and sister, had no appetite!
Prince Xingnan: "Sister, that little girl will definitely ask you for horses later. You didn't specify the number earlier; if she asks for too many, you can expect to be beaten by Father when we get back!"
Princess Xingnan was furious: "Am I really going to lose? Even if I do lose, I'll just get my revenge."
Prince Xingnan: "How do you get it back? You can fight that young girl? I'm ashamed of you! Even if the Great Zhou agrees to it, and you find someone else to fight you, if you win, it's something from the Great Zhou, not something from that young girl."
Princess Xingnan: "I'll challenge her sister to a duel! The one sitting next to her mother, she's obviously a martial artist. If they refuse, that's embarrassing for them. If she loses, I'll just ask her for her warhorse back, right? They're family! Besides, I might not even lose. I can't lose the warhorse. If I win, we'll take the silk, the cloth, and the tea! They've been asking for warhorses all along, so we'll just wager silk, cloth, and tea!"
Prince Xingnan glanced at Gu Hui: "The girls of the Great Zhou have always been aloof, and this one is probably aloof too. She's quite pretty, fair-skinned, and probably knows some martial arts. She seems pretty arrogant, probably thinking she's very powerful! The Empress was just trying to put us down, so we'll say the same thing back to her later. We're not comparing ourselves to men, we're comparing ourselves to women."
Princess Xingnan thought her brother was absolutely right.
Gu Hui, who was calmly eating, noticed that the two brothers opposite her were looking at her, and raised her eyebrows.
After the meal, the emperor and Empress Xue ordered people to bring two tables to be placed in the middle of the hall.
Then Gu Xin and Princess Xingnan were asked to paint.
The twenty-member judging panel from both sides also left.
Within one hour.
Both of them painted the eunuch Fu who served the emperor. Gu Xin only painted the eunuch Fu's facial features, which took her much less time than Princess Xingnan.
Princess Xingnan had her whole body painted.
After all the drawings were finished, the twenty people came in, ten choosing Princess Xingnan and ten choosing Gu Xin.
Each side chose their own, but Gu Xin was faster than Princess Xingnan, so Gu Xin won.
Princess Xingnan looked at Gu Xin's painting for a long time. Well, she was completely convinced of her defeat.
Princess Xingnan: "Miss Gu, is this a new painting method in your Great Zhou? I have never seen your brush and your technique before."
Gu Xin replied truthfully, "Your Highness, this was something my mother and I devised together, mainly for convenience. In the past, our family was poor, and the pens and ink we bought were for my father to practice with. My mother said that since we girls don't need to take exams, it's fine to just use these charcoal pencils to draw and write."
Princess Xingnan was full of admiration: "Madam Gu is truly skilled in managing a household and has excellent teaching abilities! Miss Gu, how about this, let's set our bet on gold, silver, jewelry, and jade, which is exactly what your family needs."
As soon as she said this, the hall fell silent.
Cai Xiaolian was certain that the Emperor and Empress Xue were definitely trying not to laugh.
Before Gu Xin could speak, Princess Jinghe interjected, "Yesterday I saw you asking where the toiletries sets at the post station were sold. Look, it's sold by the Gu family, the one you mentioned lacking gold and silver jewelry. A set isn't cheap!"
Princess Xingnan: "...You, didn't you say your family was poor?"
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