Chapter 281 Heaven Can Be Earth
There is Wangshu Pavilion for female guests and Linshui Pavilion for male guests.
In Linshuixuan, the girls' paintings were spread out and hung up, and men walked back and forth in front of the paintings.
Just like the women, if I see a girl painting well, I will remember it and try to see her appearance and behavior from a distance in the crowd later.
If you see your daughter or sister's painting, you should show it off to people around you.
There are so many paintings that they cannot fit on one floor, so some are hung on the second floor.
Some people start watching from the second floor, and some start watching from the first floor.
Murong Xun, along with the people who had just been playing drinking games, looked through the paintings from the first floor entrance:
"Women's paintings are indeed more delicate."
"You can see some of the little girl's thoughts in the painting, it's quite cute."
The compliments they uttered when looking at the paintings were as if they were praising children.
I'm not expecting to see any masterpieces, just nice words.
They stopped in their tracks until they came to a painting of exquisite skill.
The painting depicts five apricot trees with twisted branches, clear bark texture, and delicate brushstrokes.
The apricot blossoms are painted using the double-hook and color-filling method. The petals are outlined with very fine ink lines, filled with light pink and light white, and the stamens are dotted with gamboge, making them lifelike.
Two colorful butterflies are perched on the branches, their wings painted with light colors, every detail visible, forming a dynamic contrast with the blooming apricot flowers.
Everyone in the group saw the signature on the painting.
It was written by Murong Wan, Princess Hengyang of Prince Gong's Mansion.
"This painting moves like a dragon, the lines flow smoothly without any sense of stagnation, the brushwork is relaxed, and the ink is applied with order. Excellent!"
"This is much better than my husband's painting."
"Not only is he better than your husband, he's even better than anything you draw!
Someone said to Murong Xun, "I've heard that Princess Hengyang is good at painting. Seeing her today, she is indeed extraordinary."
Murong Xun always doted on his daughter, and there was a hint of pride in his words:
"Thank you for your praise. I painted this hastily today. If I had more time, I could have done a better job."
They praised Murong Wan's painting again and again before moving on.
As soon as Murong Xun and others went up to the second floor, they saw several people gathered in front of a painting in the corner, talking.
"Whose daughter really created this painting?"
“It doesn’t look like…”
Murong Xun smiled: "What kind of painting is so rare? Let's go and take a look."
The people around him said, "No matter how extraordinary it is, it can't compare to the paintings of Princess Hengyang."
They looked through the gaps in the crowd and their eyes fell on the painting.
Several people fell silent.
In the painting, the sun is rising.
Several towering apricot trees stand tall, and the lush apricot blossoms on the treetops blend with the steaming clouds in the sky, turning into a pink mist in the distance.
Like flowers blooming in the clouds, and like trees growing under the clouds.
The thick tree trunk extended from the clouds to the ground, and the intricate roots lingering underground were actually drawn.
The roots twisted and turned, dug deep into the ground, and then extended majestically in all directions, almost as big as the treetops.
In this painting, the apricot tree becomes a passage connecting heaven and earth.
Murong Xun looked at it again and again and felt that the painting did not look like a little girl's painting at all.
Such a majestic painting style should be painted by a man.
"What kind of painting are you looking at?"
The voice of Master Zhang sounded from behind.
He rested at home for a few days and drank a few bowls of Fritillaria cirrhosa porridge, and his throat felt much better.
Because I am on good terms with the old Duke, I came here after receiving the post.
Everyone was very respectful to Master Zhang and made way for him.
When Master Zhang saw the painting, he was obviously surprised. He stared at the painting intently and suddenly said:
"Please hang this painting upside down."
The maid serving upstairs took down the painting as instructed, turned it upside down, and hung it up again.
Everyone looked at Master Zhang in confusion, then at the upside-down painting.
In the upside-down picture of apricot blossoms, the crown of the apricot tree growing in the clouds has become its roots, and the clouds have become land dyed with rosy clouds.
The huge rhizome, in turn, becomes the crown of the tree, empty without flowers or leaves, like a dead tree in winter.
The sky turned into earth, and the blooming flowers turned into dead trees.
After the painting was turned upside down, others could see a line of small words that were originally written upside down:
[The sky can be the earth, and the earth can be the sky. Spring comes and winter goes, and winter brings the spring.]
"This--" The viewers were stunned and didn't know how to comment.
I don’t know whether to say it’s good or bad.
Because it's so extraordinary, so special.
No painter in the capital would teach like this, and no one would paint like this... so wild and imaginative.
The room was silent for a moment.
Someone noticed that the signature on the painting was "Heishan Prefecture Su Zhi", so he asked:
"I wonder which family this Miss Su is from?"
Hao Ren, who had been standing among the crowd admiring the paintings, spoke up:
"She is my only daughter."
Hao Ren couldn't suppress a faint smile on his lips, and his eyes were full of pride in being a father.
Zhizhi has been drawing with him since she was a child. He taught her the detailed brushwork and techniques, but the layout and content of the paintings have always been Zhizhi's own style.
Her understanding of the interplay of reality and illusion is different from that of others.
When I was a child, I drew fish flying in the sky and birds swimming in the water. Now that I am a little older, I am going further and further on the unconventional path.
Zhang Taifu: "What a saying, 'Heaven can be earth, and earth can be heaven'!"
"Heaven and earth are connected, winter and spring return. Miss Su has a unique wisdom, which is truly refreshing for us."
Behind the crowd, Murong Ming and He Wenhan casually glanced at Su Zhizhi's painting and curled their lips in disdain.
What a bullshit.
What is heaven and earth, what is wisdom.
Isn't it just drawing two ends of a tree? They can draw it too.
Murong Ming and He Wenhan wandered up and down the stairs, showing no interest in these paintings at all.
No matter how well those women are painted, some of them might be ugly.
Who would want to marry a girl who can draw but is ugly? It would be better to just look at the portraits of those women.
"Has the painting really been delivered?" Murong Ming asked in a low voice.
He Wenhan: "I sent it over. She might be crying right now."
Murong Ming smiled with gloating pleasure.
They had originally thought about drawing erotic pictures, but their drawing skills were so poor that they couldn't do it.
He Wenhan said that if he painted a pornographic picture, it would definitely be discovered as soon as it was unfolded and then immediately taken away. The guests would not have a chance to see it at all, so it would be a waste of time to paint it.
So Murong Ming painted a ferocious tiger and wrote Su Zhizhi's name in small letters, so that everyone who looked closely at the painting would know how ferocious Su Zhizhi was.
They also hated Yuan Caiwei, but after thinking it over again and again, they still did not dare to write Yuan Caiwei's name, because they were a little afraid that General Yuan, holding a gun, might overturn the entire mansion.
After looking at the paintings, it was almost time for the meal.
Today's apricot blossom banquet is held outside the apricot forest, not far from both the male and female relatives.
This was also a process carefully arranged by the old Duke and his wife. They first let both parties look at the paintings and remember the painter they were interested in.
Then, you can take the opportunity to look at the other person at the banquet to see if you have a liking for him or her.
The old Duke brought a group of people to sit at the food table set up outside the Xinglin Garden, and the old lady also arrived with her female relatives.
Most of the male guests looked happy and relieved, while the female guests all looked unhappy.
The old lady directly ordered the maid: "Please invite Prince Gong and the young master of the He family."
The men were confused, only the old Duke laughed and said:
"Could it be that the paintings of the Crown Prince and Young Master He are so outstanding that everyone wants to see them?"
Speaking of paintings, the old Duke asked:
"I wonder who Miss Su from Black Mountain Mansion is?"
Yuan Caiwei, Su Zhizhi, and Gu Qingning were sitting together talking. When they heard the old Duke ask, Su Zhizhi took the initiative to say:
"The junior is Su Zhi."
Everyone near the old Duke cast their eyes at Su Zhizhi.
Seeing Su Zhizhi's bright eyes, the old Duke smiled and said, "We just saw your paintings. They are unique and very impressive."
Zhang Taifu was a man of high moral character and prestige, so he sat at the table next to the old Duke and asked:
"I haven't seen you for a few years. Miss Su is even more graceful than ever. I've seen your painting and would like to ask how Miss Su came up with the idea of using the sky as the ground in her painting."
Everyone heard Su Zhizhi answer:
"Because people walk on the earth, the earth is the ground. Clouds walk on the sky, so to the clouds, the sky is the ground. If the sky and the earth were reversed, wouldn't they be interchangeable?"
Zhang Taifu asked again, "How did Miss Su come up with the idea of hiding a winter scene in a spring painting?"
Su Zhizhi: "Because some trees still look winter even in spring. I saw two such trees in the apricot forest."
The old Duke thought of the garden scenery in the apricot forest and nodded, "There are indeed two dead trees in the apricot forest. They haven't sprouted this spring."
Everyone paints the scene of blooming flowers, especially the trees with the most beautiful flowers. They don't think that someone would also paint dead trees.
Master Zhang looked at Su Zhizhi with approval.
He hadn't seen such a young person in a long time. He dared to think, speak and write.
Hao Ren took in this scene, his brows softened, and he smiled gently.
However, halfway through the smile, the corners of his lips froze.
Because Murong Ming and He Wenhan had been invited by the maid to the old Duke and his wife, and at the same time a painting was unfolded.
In a painting of apricot blossoms, there is a wretched, sickly fat cat under the tree, and a soaring tiger above the tree.
When some men saw the content of the painting, they were confused for a moment and just thought it was funny.
Murong Ming and He Wenhan were a little flustered when they were invited over, and their faces suddenly turned pale when they saw the painting.
"Prince Gong and Young Master He, do you have anything to say about this painting? Why was Miss Su painted like this?"
The old lady of the Duke's Mansion spoke with a hint of coldness in her tone.
She had already called the maids who collected the scroll and checked with them one by one, and found out that the painting was collected from the two of them.
Murong Ming and He Wenhan had already made up their minds. Since there was no evidence and no names on it, they would never admit it even if they were beaten to death.
Murong Ming: "I have never seen this painting before, so I don't know what it depicts."
He Wenhan: "Junior doesn't know what to say."
"You are still pretending!" Yuan Caiwei was so anxious that she wanted to go over and beat someone up, but was held down by Mrs. Yuan.
Wu Yingniang sat at the table and exchanged glances with Hao Ren from a distance.
It doesn't matter if they don't admit it. They have plenty of ways to deal with these two idiots.
He Yan said slowly, "Miss Yuan, my son said he didn't know. Why do you keep slandering him? Could it be that the Yuan family doesn't take my Prince Gong's Mansion seriously?"
Yuan Caiwei bit her lip. She couldn't bear the burden of being put on her by Princess Gong.
Madam Yuan: "Princess Gong, you are too kind. Caiwei is just speculating. We should wait for the old lady to find out the truth."
The old lady called the maid who was collecting the scroll over.
One of the maids said, "Madam, I received this scroll from the Crown Prince Gong. I remember it because the ink on the back of the scroll has smudged in several places."
Murong Ming interrupted harshly: "This prince has never seen you, so stop slandering me. How many lives do you have left?"
The old Duke understood what was going on and said in a deep voice, "It is not someone else's turn to take care of the servants in my house."
Although the maid was a little scared, she still said in a steady tone, "I am just telling the truth."
But Murong Ming and He Wenhan still refused to admit it.
Su Zhizhi took out another pen from somewhere and added a big cockroach and a big rat to the scroll in front of everyone.
As she painted, she said:
"My hometown is in Lingnan, and there are many cockroaches and rats in the sewers. Those who are plotting behind the scenes today are just like the rats and cockroaches in the sewers. They are very proud in the stinking sewers, but when they are caught in the open, they will be scared and run away."
The giant cockroach and mouse under Su Zhizhi's pen were right under the claws of the sick cat, and looked like they were about to be slapped to death at any moment.
Murong Ming found it really irritating and thought it was disgusting that Su Zhizhi compared him to those insects and rats.
Murong Ming glared at Su Zhizhi:
"If someone draws you like this, it must be because you usually behave badly and are hated by others. Maybe you are the one who is conceited."
Su Zhizhi: "Why am I conceited?"
Murong Ming sneered: "You, a woman, transform yourself into a flying tiger and write about yourself as powerful as a tiger with wings. Isn't that conceited?"
When Su Zhizhi heard Murong Ming's words, she laughed.
The looks of some of the female relatives when they looked at Murong Ming also changed immediately.
The old Duke's wife said coldly:
"Since the prince said he had never seen this painting, how did he know that the flying tiger was added by Miss Su later?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
