Chapter 280: Su Zhizhi
Wangshu Pavilion in the Mingguo Mansion has windows on all four sides.
There are views from the windows on all four sides.
There are apricot blossoms in the east, plum trees in the west, a pond in the south, and rockery and green bamboo in the north.
You can enjoy the scenery and paint in it all year round.
A group of teenage girls in Wangshu Pavilion were concentrating on painting. The only sound in the room was the sound of paper and pens touching each other.
Su Zhizhi became more and more excited as she painted. When she painted, it seemed as if her whole mind was immersed in the painting.
While others were drawing, they stood still. But she kept changing her position, sometimes standing on one side of the table and sometimes moving to the other side.
Yuan Caiwei frowned and thought for a while, then decided to draw a few strokes and pretended to be drawing in class.
Gu Qingning is good at painting these romantic scenes, but she didn't paint them.
She knew that she was just here to see the world and would not stay in Chang'an for long. She would return to Lingnan after a while.
She had no intention of climbing the social ladder here. It would be bad if something got involved because of painting.
But Gu Qingning was not idle either.
Ever since she was amazed by the ladies' conversation and dress, she has been observing every detail around her.
Observe the layout of Wangshu Pavilion, the layout of the landscape in the courtyard, the behavior of the maids, and the demeanor and conversation of the mistresses of the noble families.
Learn some and return home to Lingnan, maybe you will find them useful in the future.
After everyone finished painting, they handed the paintings to the maid and sent them to the male guests.
Not long after, several maids brought over the other party's paintings and unfolded them one by one.
Everyone walked over to look at the painting and commented as they looked:
"This painting is beautiful, the flowers are as dense as clouds."
"It's good, but the painting is too bright, it's a bit tacky..."
"It's better than the one next to it, which is calm and elegant, with flowers drifting with the water."
"Not necessarily. This is too plain, lacking the spirit of spring..."
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone likes different things.
A painting reflects its creator. By looking at a person's paintings, one can get a better idea of that person's character.
When you see a painting you like, look at the name signed, remember who it is, and then ask about it later.
Not only the little girls were looking at the paintings, but mothers were also looking at the paintings.
After all, although it was the girls who were engaged, it was their mother who made the decision.
He Yan pulled Murong Wan to stop in front of the paintings one by one.
"This painting is good, and this one is also good. What do you think, Wan'er?"
Murong Wan's reaction was very indifferent.
Is the painting good? Yes, there are some good ones.
At first glance, Murong Wan thought only two or three of the paintings were beautiful.
But when I got closer and took a look at the painter, I was disappointed to find that his family background was too mediocre.
Murong Wan didn't take any notice of the paintings of those who came from good family backgrounds.
When He Yan saw her daughter like this, she knew that she was not satisfied with anyone:
"Although some of them may have lower family backgrounds, they are extremely talented and have an immeasurable future. When we select people, we must not only look at the present."
He Yan didn't know whether her daughter had listened to her or not.
As they walked forward, they saw a circle of people gathered around a painting in front of them.
Some people covered their lips and smiled, some showed sympathy, and some looked embarrassed.
Yuan Caiwei's voice erupted from the crowd:
"Who did this?! That's too much!"
Yuan Caiwei was pulling at a painting, her eyes full of anger.
The painting showed two sick trees with sparse flowers, like bald old men.
Under the sick tree, there is a cat with its mouth wide open, short legs and a fat body, and the claws at the ends of its limbs are painted very sharp.
There was a whip wrapped around the cat, and the whip was blood red.
It is a cat that is so ugly that it makes people feel disgusted when they see it.
Next to the cat was a line of words:
[Su Zhiye is as ferocious as a tiger]
Gu Qingning's eyes welled up with tears, but she tried hard not to let them fall:
"How can you be so insulting?!"
If this were an ordinary private painting, it could be considered a joke.
But today, with so many people around, a woman who is about to get married is burdened with the reputation of being "as vicious as a tiger" and is being vilified and ridiculed by outsiders. Doesn't the painter know what this means?
The mistresses of those wealthy families would certainly not like to have such a person as their daughter-in-law when they saw that the woman had a bad reputation.
Yuan Caiwei was angry and Gu Qingning felt aggrieved.
The most angry one was of course Su Zhizhi.
Su Zhizhi looked at the painting again and again, her eyebrows raised in anger:
"You drew my whip so dirty! And you drew the tiger so ugly."
Su Zhizhi actually doesn’t mind being drawn as an animal, because she is sometimes curious about what it feels like to be an animal.
She still dreams of herself turning into an eagle, a tiger, or a crocodile in a distant foreign land.
It must be very impressive to be a ferocious tiger and the king of the forest.
However, this person's painting skills are too bad, and the paintings are so ugly!
She can't stand it.
Although the people around were a bit interested in watching the fun, they also rebuked:
"Who drew this? This is inappropriate. No matter what resentment there is, this is not what a gentleman should do."
They were not familiar with Su Zhizhi, and they did not approve of women going to the martial arts hall to practice martial arts. However, anyone with a little education would know that a man who did something like vilifying a woman in public out of hatred must have bad character.
Everyone now wants to know who drew it.
Now that they know who is so petty, they can avoid him when they get engaged.
He Yan and Murong Wan also saw the painting and thought it was really indecent.
Murong Wan whispered to her mother somewhat unhappily:
"Mingguogongfu invites everyone, so some people with inappropriate behavior sneak in."
Wu Yingniang and Madam Yuan came to Wangshu Pavilion to see the paintings later.
After seeing the painting, the two of them also turned pale, and Wu Yingniang almost wanted to go home and pick up her spear.
Mrs. Yuan wanted to comfort Su Zhizhi. She estimated that any girl would be so angry that she couldn't face anyone if this happened to her.
"Su——"
Just as Madam Yuan opened her mouth, Su Zhizhi turned around angrily and went to get a pen.
She dipped some ink and drew a few strokes on the blank space above the fat cat, and a tiger appeared on the paper.
Su Zhizhi then took some ochre and gamboge to mix and color the tiger's body and head, making the tiger look majestic.
It’s not enough to just draw the tiger.
She also added a pair of wings on the tiger's back, which fluttered in the wind as if she was about to fly high.
Finally, there is a line of words on the side:
【Su Zhizhi is like a tiger with wings】
Su Zhizhi nodded: "That's right."
Yuan Caiwei excitedly grabbed Zhizhi's arm and shook it a few times: "Zhizhi, you draw so well! Zhizhi is Flying Tiger!"
Gu Qingning: ...Although it's worse than before, this really confirms Tiger's reputation.
The faces of the people around showed surprise, even He Yan was surprised.
This little girl has good painting skills. The tiger she drew with just a few strokes is very lifelike, and the pair of tiger wings she added later also has good meaning.
Although it is not as good as the painting skills of famous artists, the tiger above looks good no matter how it is compared with the sick cat below.
The most important thing is that this girl stays calm and acts with dignity.
Some people cannot develop this kind of temperament and character even if they become the mistress of the house.
He Yan looked at Su Zhizhi a few more times. It was a pity that this little girl came from a very humble background. She compared herself to Feihu and her personality was too flamboyant and rebellious. It seemed like she couldn't stand any anger.
No noble family would accept such a person as a daughter-in-law.
The old Duke's wife also heard about the farce here. When she came to see, Su Zhizhi had just finished revising the painting.
Wu Yingniang said solemnly, "Old Madam, could you allow me and my daughter to ask the maid who collected the scroll to find out who painted it?"
The old Duke's wife also felt a little sorry for what happened in her own house:
"This incident happened in the Duke of Ming's Mansion. I will definitely give Miss Su an explanation."
As she spoke, she ordered someone to investigate.
Su Zhizhi suddenly said, "I should know who it is."
Everyone looked at Su Zhizhi with confusion.
Yuan Caiwei looked at the painting for a while, thinking:
"Hmm... I think I've seen some clues."
The old Duke's wife asked, "Who are Miss Su and Miss Yuan thinking of?"
Su Zhizhi pointed at the whip on the fat cat:
"I usually only use the whip at home and in the martial arts school. Those who know that I am good at whipping are probably also learning it at the martial arts school."
"At the martial arts academy, Dr. Xiong taught us how to draw in class and even had us appreciate each other's drawings. One of my classmates there happened to be a very bad artist. His tiger drawings looked like cats, and his horse drawings looked like dogs."
Yuan Caiwei suddenly had an idea and blurted out:
"Murong Ming and He Wenhan!"
Among the female relatives present, no one except the two of them had ever been to the martial arts school, so they had never seen the graffiti that Murong Ming and He Wenhan drew in Dr. Xiong's class.
But Su Zhizhi and Yuan Caiwei have met.
Dr. Xiong was once or twice so angry with Murong Ming and He Wenhan that he posted their graffiti in front of the school for everyone to "view".
There were pictures of various chickens, dogs, cows, horses, and snakes on it, and one of them even had a picture of a snake and a cat fighting each other.
Later, Murong Ming and He Wenhan said that they painted a dragon and a tiger fighting...
When He Yan and Murong Wan heard this, their faces changed drastically.
He Yan said sternly, "Miss Su, Miss Yuan, the matter has not been thoroughly investigated, so please do not slander my son."
Murong Wan's face looked very ugly at this moment, and the arrogance in her expression was like a layer of glass that was suddenly shattered and fell to the ground.
She was a little anxious because she felt that this might be something stupid done by her brother.
Wu Yingniang looked at He Yan and said, "Whether it is true or not, we will know after the old lady sends someone to ask clearly."
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