While everyone was waiting for the maid to fetch the painting supplies, Lin Sayu's mother, Madam Lin, suddenly exclaimed in surprise, as if she had discovered something new. "Hey, did you notice? The clothes the Empress Dowager is wearing in this painting look like the clothes she wore during her last birthday celebration."
When everyone heard Mrs. Lin say this, they hurried forward to take a closer look.
Mrs. Wen was surprised and said, "It really is. Look at the background behind it. It really looks like it."
The Empress Dowager and the Empress also became curious and walked down to take a closer look.
The Queen Mother looked at it for a while before she smiled and said, "Yes, that's exactly what Mother was wearing that day."
The Queen Mother nodded, "This is indeed what I looked like that day. This dress was also the first time I wore it."
The Imperial Concubine spoke at the right moment, "Could it be that Mr. Xuanying was also present that day?"
Xia Tian looked up curiously and looked at the Royal Concubine. Why did he feel that the Royal Concubine had been helping him all day?
The Imperial Concubine always speaks promptly.
When Xia Tian looked at the imperial concubine, she happened to blink in one direction.
Following the Imperial Concubine's gaze, I saw Miss Shen Hui smiling at the Imperial Concubine.
I see!
She was saying, why didn't Shen Hui speak today?
It seems that the imperial concubine spoke up for Shen Hui because of her sake!
Here, the imperial concubine's words awakened the dreamer!
The others seemed to have remembered it as well and began to discuss it.
"Yes, if Mr. Xuanying wasn't there at the time, how could he have painted an identical portrait of the Empress Dowager?"
"So, Mr. Xuanying must have been there at the time."
"Yes, Mrs. Shen also attended the banquet and sat opposite my seat," said Mrs. Wen.
"Then the wife of Prince Shen said that she is Mr. Xuanying, so this should be correct."
"I remember that Prince Shen also presented a painting by Mr. Xuanying."
"That's right. At that time, my master wanted to find out who this Mr. Xuanying was! You also know that my master couldn't walk when he saw calligraphy and paintings." It was Madam Xu who said this. The master she was talking about was Prime Minister Xu.
"Hahaha, Lord Xu's love for calligraphy and painting has long been well-known!"
Just as everyone was discussing heatedly, the maids who had gone to get the painting supplies came back.
The Queen Mother had the easel placed directly in the middle of the hall, and placed various paints, brushes, brush washers, etc. on the table!
The Queen Mother saw that everything was laid out and asked with a smile, "Madam Shen, are these enough?"
Xia Tian saw that the painting tools were all ready and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, that's enough. I can start right away."
The Queen Mother glanced at the Queen Mother, and when she saw the Queen Mother nodded, she said, "Let's begin!"
Xia Tian glanced around and finally his eyes fell on the little princess in the imperial concubine's arms. The little princess should be only about one year old and looked so cute.
Xia Tian said to the Imperial Concubine, "Imperial Concubine, would you mind if I draw a portrait of the little princess in your arms?"
Today, the imperial concubine helped her, so she didn't mind doing the imperial concubine a favor.
"Oh? Do you want to draw for my little princess? That's great. Thank you in advance. However, if the drawing is not beautiful, I will not forgive you." The imperial concubine also responded with a smile.
Xia Tian looked at the Empress Dowager and the Empress again, and seeing that they both smiled and nodded, he began to pick up the brush to mix colors.
Before putting pen to paper, Xia Tian looked up and carefully examined the little princess.
The little princess was put on the ground by the imperial concubine. She could already walk. When she saw Xia Tian looking at her, she took two steps forward curiously, grinned, revealing a few white little teeth, which instantly made Xia Tian fall in love with her.
Xia Tian smiled at the little princess and began to paint.
The scene suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes were focused on the drawing board in front of Xia Tian.
Princess Yunying wanted to continue to make sarcastic remarks but was stopped by Princess Ruihua.
Princess Ruihua's smile was very forced at this moment. She said that just now because she wanted to expose in public the fact that Xia Tian could not paint.
I didn't expect this girl could really paint. Now I'm in a difficult situation and can only watch Xia Tian perform.
Liu just agreed with Princess Ruihua and had the same mentality, but unfortunately they both guessed wrong.
But they were also very confused. Who did this wild girl learn these skills from? Or was she not from the countryside at all, but a lady from a wealthy family?
But why did Shen Nian hide her identity? It wouldn't benefit him at all, would it?
Liu was confused on the inside, but she didn't dare show it on her face, for fear that others would see it, and then the image of the kind and virtuous person she had always created would collapse.
Everyone in the field had their own thoughts, but Xia Tian knew nothing about it. He was concentrating on painting. He had been painting more recently and his speed had increased a lot. In the eyes of everyone, Xia Tian just painted a few strokes and outlined the outline of the little princess.
Xia Tian was very focused when painting. She just stared at the little princess for a while at the beginning and then never looked up again. She painted entirely relying on her photographic memory.
Half an hour later, the portrait of the little princess was basically completed, but there were still some details to be painted.
Xia Tian then looked up and let everyone see her painting before she said to the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and the Imperial Concubine, "It will take quite a while for this subject to finish this painting completely.
Today is the Empress Dowager's birthday, and I can't take up too much of your time. How about I move aside and continue painting while we continue with the subsequent offering ceremony?"
What Xia Tian said was right. As the wife of the Crown Prince of Wu'an Marquis's Mansion, she was ranked relatively high in the queue for presenting gifts. There were still many people behind her who had not yet had a turn.
The Queen Mother thought so too. Someone else wanted to present a gift, and she couldn't let others wait. So she consulted the Queen Mother and agreed.
The queen asked the maid to move all the things to the side hall and then proceeded to the next step.
The ladies waiting below also breathed a sigh of relief. Although watching summer painting was quite exciting, sitting and watching others paint for a long time was also a very tiring thing.
I didn’t expect that Mrs. Shen was so considerate.
Xia Tian moved to the side hall to continue painting, leaving two maids to accompany her.
After a while, I heard the noise coming from the front hall.
After the ceremony, there will be singing and dancing performances to watch, and the ladies who are willing to perform can also show off their talents.
When the song and dance performance was about to end, the portrait of the little princess was also nearing completion. Xia Tian was processing some details when the imperial concubine came in holding the little princess, followed by the little princess's wet nurse.
"How is it? Is the painting finished?" The imperial concubine asked with a smile as she entered the room.
"It's done. I'll just put the finishing touches on it." Xia Tian answered respectfully and turned the easel slightly so that the imperial concubine could see what the painting looked like.
"Wow! This is so beautiful!" The imperial concubine exclaimed in surprise as she looked at the portrait of the little princess.
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