Ink Burns

Chapter 85 What You See Is What You Get

Gu was very tactful. She just stood at the door and did not go in. She was wearing a crimson horse-faced skirt and a rabbit fur jacket embroidered with Suzhou lotus flowers. She looked like a pure lotus flower blooming on the green brick ground in the warm winter moon.

She smiled gently, her eyes trembling, and held the food box in both hands, waiting for Shanyue to take it.

She looks like a gentle and polite girl.

Shan Yue took it with both hands, opened the door a little more, looked a little uneasy, and made way for him: "Miss, would you like to come in and sit down?"

Gu waved her hands repeatedly, stuck out her tongue, and pointed to the other two rooms helplessly: "No, no, Dad told me and my sisters to take care of them - those two sisters also have to send lotus root powder meatballs!"

I was about to leave when I remembered something and turned around to remind her: "Don't eat too much of this at night. It will make your stomach runny and feel stuffy."

Shanyue bowed his head repeatedly to express his gratitude, seeming a little embarrassed.

After the door closed, the talkative Qiu Tao sighed, "As expected of a daughter of the headmaster, born in a family of scholars, she is dignified, amiable and gentle." Qiu Tao added, "You too, you are the niece of the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, born in a prominent family in Jiangnan—"

Qiu Tao sighed as she helped Shan Yue fetch water: "This is the first time I've seen so many fairy-like young ladies from official families! In the past, I worked in restaurants and oil shops."

Shanyue wrung out the towel and washed his face, then calmly looked at his blurry self in the bronze mirror.

There is a high possibility that the title of Gu's headmaster's daughter is as suspicious as her identity as the prefect's niece.

After all, what father would be able to send his own daughter away neatly after seeing the words "died suddenly and no one is pursuing her" on the post?

After a while, the voices of the girls greeting each other and laughing could be heard again in the corridor.

After Shanyue had applied the white jade cream that Cheng Xingyu had brought her, she carefully closed the lid of the porcelain box, then leaned over and pushed open the window lattice. In the dim evening light, she looked around, and saw bare mountain walls. Zhenjiang Prefecture was further north, so it was more prone to snowfall than Songjiang Prefecture. She didn't know when the first small snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

There is no possibility of hiding people on the endless cliffs.

Shanyue was holding a reed dipped in bamboo salt, gargling his mouth while walking casually around the hut, occasionally raising his hand to touch the wall and the back of the cabinet: there were no beams in the house, no dark rooms, and no bricks or tiles that could be pried open.

Shanyue turned her gaze to Qiutou, a little girl of about eleven or twelve years old, who was still following her and chattering away excitedly.

Shanyue put down the reed and reached out to take the porcelain cup of water to rinse his mouth. His hand shook and the porcelain cup fell to the ground and broke into pieces with a "crack".

Qiu Tao's voice suddenly stopped, and she screamed "Ah——!" and subconsciously took a step back. Then she reacted, patted her chest, and leaned over to ask Shan Yue: "Miss Liu, you didn't get scratched by the porcelain fragments, did you?"

Shan Yue shook his head: "No."

Qiu Tao breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, and said with a sad heart: "What a pity! This cup is worth a lot of money if it is sold. It would be worth at least twenty copper coins!"

Well, if the person sent by "Qingfeng" to spy on her secretly is Qiu Tao, then this young girl can go on stage to sing and become a famous actress by performing reciting, acting and fighting.

Shan Yue roughly judged that it was an indoor activity and no one was monitoring it.

In other words, the final choice will be determined by the performance during the day.

Shanyue figured this out and slept well that night. He got up early in the morning, washed up, and was led to a bright main room in the center of the fortress. There were four large wooden tables, as wide as an adult man's arm, on which were placed wool felt for absorbing ink, sandalwood pen holders full of pens, inkstones, ink, four-foot-long rice paper, and twelve colors of mineral pigments.

The main room has windows on all four sides. The steep cliffs are covered with snow, but the breeze blowing through the room does not feel cold.

There is a fireplace for heating in the middle of the main room, with copper wire as the net and silver charcoal as the ignition. The fire is blazing, emitting heat in all directions.

There is a name on each large table. Shanyue’s table is at the front right, with three big characters “Liu Shanyue” on it.

The other three came one after another.

Gu's seat was in the front left. As soon as the little girl came in, she smiled at Shan Yue with a friendly attitude.

Then two girls came in. One of them had a temperament somewhat similar to He Shanyue, with a distinct jaw angle and long eye slits almost level with the eyebrows. She was wearing a plain linen jacket and skirt. She kept her head down and didn't talk much. Shanyue glanced at the name on the large wooden table, "Lan Family of Jinling Prefecture".

The other one had a lower presence and her appearance was not particularly outstanding. She had a strong scholarly air and a kind of bookish demeanor. One could tell without looking at the name card that she was the "daughter of a juren" submitted by Jiaxing Prefecture.

It can be said that each has its own characteristics.

But whether in appearance, temperament, or manners, these three people are more than enough to compare with the "Qingfeng" raised by the Cheng family.

The level difference among the "Qingfeng" can be seen from this.

Shan Yue couldn't help but think: What kind of identity is the "black" Qingfeng? What does it want? What does it want to do?

The sound of a gong brought Shanyue back to his senses.

In front of the wooden table, a fat, short middle-aged woman walked to the front of the stage, holding a gong in her left hand and a hammer in her right hand. There was another "clang" sound, like a gong being struck next to her ear. Shanyue's eardrum felt uncomfortable and she tilted her head slightly.

The middle-aged woman put down the gong, folded her hands casually in front of her belly, and sang "good" with a smile: "Good morning, ladies. According to Madam's instructions, I will take care of your food, clothing, lodging and painting skills for the first four days. On the fifth day, our Madam will be here on time to comment on your excellent paintings."

That’s right, how could a first-rank lady appear at the beginning?

"My maiden name is He, and my husband's name is Zhu. My family calls me He Wu Mama. If I have a connection with a girl, and she marries into our family, it would be a reward to me if she calls me He Wu Mama or He Mama."

He Wuma always had a smile on her face, and on her fat fingers were three or four jade rings with green and spring colors.

In the corner of the moonlight, one could see Qin, the daughter of a successful candidate, sitting diagonally behind him. Her eyes fell on He Wuma's finger in disbelief.

This person is not the old "Qing Feng". Most likely, like her, she is a candidate temporarily found by Jiaxing Prefecture to respond to the invitation: Shan Yue pondered secretly.

How could a true "Green Phoenix" of this level control her expression for a few jade rings?

Shanyue lowered her eyes slightly and listened to what He Wuma said next.

He Wuma laughed twice and said, "Alright, alright, I won't tease you girls anymore. We only need five days, time is running out, and we need to finish them one by one."

"First, let me tell you about the arrangements - one, two, three and four are all exam days, which will test your painting skills, your ability to appreciate and appraise paintings, and your ability to identify and point at paintings. It will also test your strategies and behavior."

"On the fifth day, Madam came for the final test, and the candidates were chosen and the invitations were printed on the spot."

After "Qingfeng" completes the post task, it must be stamped and finalized by the "Qingfeng" who issued the post and then returned to the center to wait for rewards and punishments to be issued.

Liu Hezhou is indeed an old fox and he guessed the time of the election accurately.

Shanyue stared at the four-foot-long rice paper on the wool felt: What will he ask you to draw?

If she didn't copy, she wouldn't be able to draw anything.

He Wuma paused and said with a happy smile: "Let's not waste any more time talking nonsense, and let's start today's test!"

"I only have one request, to draw!"

“There is only one topic: What you see!”

"What you see is what you get. Write down what you see and get with ink. Today's test is that simple!"

(End of this chapter)