Mrs. Yun, sitting in the audience, looked worried and anxious about her daughter's marriage.
She kept glancing at the stage, her eyes filled with anxiety and anticipation.
At this moment, Yunni on the stage is displaying a landscape painting she has meticulously drawn.
The painting was magnificent and exquisite, truly an eye-opener.
This competition was unprecedented in scale, with even past champions coming to serve as judges, demonstrating its importance and influence.
Since this was the first time the palace had hosted such a gathering, everyone wanted to leave an impression on the Emperor and Empress.
On the women's side, the incomparably noble Empress herself served as the referee.
When the palace maid carefully presented Yunni's painting to the Empress, the Empress's gaze was immediately drawn to it.
She looked closely and saw a butterfly dancing gracefully in the painting, so lifelike that it seemed as if it might fly out of the picture at any moment. It was truly amazing.
Seeing this, Princess Xiang couldn't suppress her curiosity and leaned closer, asking softly, "Your Majesty, what astonishing masterpiece have you seen that you are so engrossed in?"
Before the Empress could answer, the lively Princess Qingning exclaimed, "Wow, this butterfly looks like it's about to come to life! Is it really going to fly out of the painting?"
Jiang Chuwei smiled and nodded, agreeing, "This painting is exquisite in technique and profound in artistic conception. In my opinion, it should win first place."
Princess Xiang agreed, saying, "That's absolutely right. If we show this painting to everyone, I'm afraid no one would have any objections."
Then, Jiang Chuwei loudly proclaimed, "Miss Yun's painting is undoubtedly the best of today!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, a murmur arose from the crowd.
A noblewoman, feeling resentful, expressed her dissatisfaction.
After all, everyone has different talents to showcase. It would be unfair to conclude that Miss Yun defeated everyone present simply because of the Empress's words.
For a moment, the atmosphere at the scene became somewhat strange.
Jiang Chuwei's sharp eyes easily discerned the resentment and anger deep within some people's hearts. However, due to her noble status, these people dared not openly express their dissatisfaction.
Just then, a loud shout rang out: "The Emperor has arrived!"
The sound was like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the silence in the room. Upon hearing this shout, the noble ladies present all showed joy on their faces, their excitement overflowing.
The emperor they had been eagerly awaiting finally appeared.
However, it is regrettable that their competition had already ended, and they missed the perfect opportunity to show their talent in front of the emperor, which undoubtedly made them feel extremely regretful and disappointed.
Lin Muheng walked briskly to Jiang Chuwei's side and said apologetically, "Your Majesty, I apologize for keeping you waiting. I was preoccupied with some matters today, which is why I was delayed."
Jiang Chuwei smiled slightly and replied gently, "It's alright! His Majesty's timing for coming is perfect, as he can appreciate the wonderful works of all the young ladies."
As soon as she finished speaking, she handed the meticulously drawn scroll to the emperor.
Lin Muheng took the scroll, gently unfurled it, and examined it carefully. After a moment, he couldn't help but exclaim, "What a wonderful painting! The brushstrokes are delicate, the composition exquisite, and the artistic conception profound; it is truly a masterpiece!"
Following the Emperor's praise, everyone's gaze turned to Yun Ni, their eyes filled with envy.
It should be noted that the Emperor had not even glanced at the paintings of the other noble ladies.
The Emperor has only been here a short time, yet he has already praised Yun Ni's work highly. Such an honor is bound to make others envious.
From now on, Yun Ni's reputation as a talented woman will surely spread throughout the capital.
Lin Muheng seemed to want to continue, and then asked, "What about the men's section?"
The eunuch beside him quickly bowed and replied, "Your Majesty! The competition for the male guests has ended. In the end, Minister Song's youngest son outshone all the others and won first place."
As expected, the Song family members performed exceptionally well, truly not disappointing me!
Lin Muheng smiled and said cheerfully. Jiang Chuwei, who was standing next to him, also chuckled and said, "As the saying goes, like father, like son."
Seeing the hopeful looks in the eyes of the noble ladies, Jiang Chuwei had an idea and suggested to Lin Muheng, "Your Majesty, would you like to test them again?"
Her actions were intended to give these women a chance to express themselves, while also hoping to make them give up completely.
After all, in Jiang Chuwei's view, as long as these women start dancing, the emperor will definitely find an excuse to leave immediately.
However, to Jiang Chuwei's surprise, Lin Muheng stood up without hesitation and said loudly, "Fine, I'll go and see what the leader of the men's side looks like."
After saying that, he took a step to leave.
Everyone was stunned. The Empress's suggestion had made them overjoyed, but they never expected the Emperor to immediately pour cold water on their enthusiasm.
Just then, Princess Qingning saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, saying coquettishly, "Brother Emperor, where are you going? The competition over there has already ended, what's there to see?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Muheng glared at Princess Qingning, inwardly cursing the girl for being utterly clueless. Couldn't she see that this was a trap set by the Empress?
He deliberately arrived a little late today, simply because he didn't want to see these women vying for attention here.
It's a pity that Qing Ning is so stupid and brainless!
If Jiang Chuwei could see through Lin Muheng's true thoughts, she would probably cry out in protest.
In reality, she had no such intention at all. Her original intention was simply to make those women who wanted to enter the palace understand the numerous difficulties involved, thereby completely dispelling their thoughts.
As the saying goes, it's better to guide than to block. If they are allowed to witness firsthand what kind of person the emperor really is, they will naturally back down.
Who could have predicted that even the emperor himself would misunderstand her?
"Why doesn't Your Majesty take a look at these meticulously painted works?" Jiang Chuwei said softly.
After all, today's guests are not only young ladies from prominent families, but also their respective mothers.
After all, even if the emperor didn't care about the dignity of these noble ladies, he should at least show some consideration to those noblewomen.
Lin Muheng nodded slightly in agreement, saying, "That's excellent! Then please present all the paintings!"
He then began to examine each of the works one by one. He was amazed by both the exquisite painting techniques and the beautiful poems accompanying them, and gave them extremely high praise.
Ultimately, after much deliberation, he reached the same conclusion as the Empress—to select Yunni as the champion of this selection.
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