Clouds and Moon Shadow

Chapter 312 Slap in the face

Gu Qingyue walked to the table and thought about it. She might lose the painting competition!

She had never studied the meticulous brushwork painting popular in the Great Chu, so she didn't know if the oil painting she liked to do in her previous life would be acceptable.

But it seems the paint isn't right, and the paper isn't suitable either; she's caught in a dilemma.

Seeing that Princess Chaoyue had already begun writing, while Gu Qingyue remained motionless, the people below the stage began exchanging glances and whispering among themselves.

In particular, Wei Shi and her two half-sisters, Gu Feiwen and Gu Feiyan, all saw worry in each other's eyes.

Meanwhile, Cui Jiaojiao, who was standing next to Madam Cui, was practically tearing her handkerchief to shreds.

Whispers began to circulate among the audience.

"Hey, do you think Miss Gu doesn't know how to draw at all? Why is she not moving for so long?"

"If you ask me, you can't keep up the act anymore, can you? A country bumpkin is just a country bumpkin. He might have accidentally stumbled upon the skill of playing the flute, but what does he know about painting?"

"That's not necessarily true. If she really couldn't do anything, would she accept the princess's challenge? Besides, her flute playing is so beautiful, she must be able to paint too!"

"You think you know so much? How do you know she can draw too?"

"I bet she only knows this one flute piece, and she definitely can't paint. Let's see how she makes a fool of herself! Humph..."

"Don't be so hasty. What if she draws turtles or loaches or something..."

"Haha, very likely..."

Gu Qingyue: You guys are pretty good at guessing! But, I'll draw you all with turtle faces, let's see if you cry!

Gu Qingyue felt helpless. After listening to everyone's discussion for a while, she wanted to twitch her lips. Was it okay to have such a dark mentality?

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On the second floor, Mu Yun Chu quietly watched Gu Qing Yue rubbing her fingers together and staring blankly at the paint at the table. A smile flashed across his face.

He gestured behind him, and a eunuch stepped forward.

Mu Yun Chu took something out of her sleeve, whispered a few words to the eunuch, who nodded and went downstairs.

The others were curious about Mu Yun Chu's actions, but didn't pay much attention.

Half an hour later, Jiang Wan walked towards Gu Qingyue with a cup of tea in her hand.

When placing the tea on the corner of the table, he placed a handkerchief next to Gu Qingyue.

Gu Qingyue was taken aback. With a flick of her sleeve, the contents of the handkerchief fell into her hand.

Gu Qingyue's lips twitched; it was a very ordinary charcoal pencil.

After a moment's thought, she knew it was someone who had sent it, and she immediately perked up.

She had just been pondering how to combine twenty-one colors to barely paint a small oil painting.

Seeing the charcoal pencils, she was surprised to realize that she had completely forgotten about her exceptional talent for sketching.

She gestured thank you at a certain angle, casually moved the paint aside, laid out the canvas, and began to paint.

When Mu Yun Chu saw someone's gesture upstairs, she couldn't help but chuckle softly. Everyone upstairs looked in his direction with horror, as if they had seen a ghost.

Yue Zhiqi couldn't see the interaction between the two from his angle, but he always felt that Mu Yun Chu's previous little actions and Gu Qing Yue downstairs suddenly starting to paint were related.

But he didn't know exactly what was going on. He glanced at Mu Yun Chu without making a sound, his eyes filled with deep thought.

No matter how the onlookers whispered and pointed at her from upstairs and downstairs, Gu Qingyue remained unmoved.

She turned her head slightly and saw Princess Chaoyue's painting. It depicted many things, and it seemed to be a picture of a peach blossom garden in spring, with the outline already drawn.

She had half an hour to paint, so she had to hurry. After thinking for a moment, Gu Qingyue lowered her head and began to paint.

Princess Chaoyue felt Gu Qingyue's scrutinizing gaze, and when she saw that her drawing paper was still blank, she almost burst out laughing!

She knew that this country bumpkin couldn't paint at all; he was just bluffing!

Now that she's shown her true colors, let's see how she laughs at her later!

Thinking of this, she painted with even more enthusiasm.

Half an hour later, the four judges in the main seat looked at each other in bewilderment.

The main reason was that they looked at the painting in their hands again and again, and were amazed to find that such a painting style existed in the world. They were speechless!

The painting is a single-color charcoal drawing, meticulously rendered with charcoal pencils, depicting the scene of the four judges at the head table appreciating the artwork.

Each person is so lifelike and vivid, it's as if they were real people captured in a painting.

For a moment, even the eldest princess had to admit that this completely overturned her understanding of portraits!

The painting technique is truly exquisite!

Looking at the painting of myself with slightly furrowed brows, deep in thought, it was truly a perfect depiction, capturing not only the form but also the spirit.

Princess Pei, who always prided herself on her skill in painting, was also deeply moved. In the twenty years since she picked up a paintbrush, she had never seen such painting skills before. It was truly divine!

As for Headmaster Lin and Zhang Xubai, needless to say.

I can't describe my feelings at this moment except for surprise.

The four exchanged glances, and after a moment, the painting competition ended.

Without a doubt, Gu Qingyue has won again!

Although the eldest princess hesitated for a long time when giving the score, she still gave Gu Qingyue a high score in the end.

She couldn't cheat openly in front of everyone; that would not only lose the competition but also bring shame to the Princess's residence.

Therefore, Princess Chaoyue lost both of her last two matches, while Gu Qingyue won the challenge by overwhelming her strength.

Gu Qingyue raised an eyebrow at Princess Chaoyue, who was furious, and waved her hand in a very friendly manner, "Thank you for your kind offer, Princess," before gracefully walking to her seat.

Princess Chaoyue felt as if she had been slapped repeatedly across the face! She was furious!

That damned peasant! How dare he beat me?!

Meanwhile, the audience below stared in shock at the slender figure, their expressions complex.

The women and ladies who had just mocked Gu Qingyue for not being able to paint felt their faces burning with embarrassment, having both contradicted themselves and made a fool of themselves!

Especially Zhao Lingyun, who was sitting next to the Duke of Zhenguo's seat, had a face that was originally quite handsome, but could be described as gloomy.

Gu Qingyue didn't care whether they were convinced or not; she cast a mischievous smile at Madam Wei and her two half-sisters from afar.

Seeing the excitement in the eyes of Madam Wei and her two half-sisters, Gu Qingyue felt even more elated.

Gu Qingyue glanced at Liu and Hu again. Apart from Hu nodding dignifiedly to congratulate her, Liu turned her head away to talk to her two daughters-in-law, not even glancing at her. Gu Qingyue raised an eyebrow, amused.

As soon as Gu Qingyue sat down, she saw Cui Jiaojiao giving her a thumbs-up from afar, her eyes brimming with undisguised excitement. Gu Qingyue quickly waved her hand to express her gratitude.

Gu Qingyue was in a good mood at the moment. She looked around and thought, "Hmm, I can have more of these kinds of banquets. They're so much fun!"

There are still many people challenging themselves with the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as one-on-one and one-on-two challenges.

Gu Qingyue was getting sleepy watching, not because the other people's talents were bad, but because she didn't recognize most of them, so she didn't feel anything.

After the talent challenge ended, Gu Qingyue didn't care that she hadn't participated in the morning's individual talent show but had won the challenge and received a consolation prize.

The time has finally come to stroll through the garden and enjoy the spring scenery.

Gu Qingyue, Cui Jiaojiao, Zhang Yuying, and Zhao Yunnan, accompanied by their maids, strolled into the garden, chatting and laughing.

Mei Xiaoyuan, who was also supposed to go, was taken by her mother to greet the other ladies, so she did not go with them.

Everyone was in a good mood, but after walking for less than fifteen minutes, they ran into Princess Chaoyue and a group of noble ladies, a large and impressive group.

Looking around, Gu Qingyue didn't recognize anyone except Princess Chaoyue.

I didn't see it at today's banquet either.

However, seeing the eunuchs accompanying the women, Gu Qingyue immediately understood.

The organizers of this event were the royal family, and these eunuchs were everywhere. However, ordinary families were not allowed to use eunuchs except to accompany members of the royal family.

“Those are Princess Changning and Princess Minxuan,” Cui Jiaojiao’s voice rang in my ears.

This perfectly confirmed Gu Qingyue's guess.

Today, there were two pavilions behind the Spring Appreciation Banquet where maids and guards were standing. She had been to the pavilion where Mu Yun Chu was.

She had heard that several princesses and other princes were sitting in another pavilion, but she had never seen them before.

Therefore, it's relatively easy to guess the identities of these two people.