The beauty of the Hou family and the king's plan

Hearing what Mr. Suzhi said, the ladies pricked up their ears curiously.

The young ladies who took part in the competition were also very serious, fearing that they would misunderstand Mr. Suzhi's intentions due to negligence.

Mr. Suzhi didn't keep anyone in suspense.

She waved her wide sleeves, closed her eyes and felt the breeze by the lake.

"Today's test question is to draw the 'wind' with Hefeng Lake as the scenery."

Painting the wind? When Mr. Su Zhi said this, the ladies looked at each other in bewilderment. How could they paint the wind when they couldn't see or touch it?

The ladies who didn't participate in the competition were all thankful that they had enough self-knowledge. The test questions were too difficult, and it would be so embarrassing if they couldn't answer them and handed in a blank paper.

The young ladies who took part in the competition, such as Shen Baozhao, Mei Ruolan, and Zhao Pingting, did not find it difficult, but they also frowned, thinking about how to stand out more.

But I saw some young ladies were so regretful that their intestines broke. If they knew it was so difficult, they would not have competed.

It's obvious that he is just here to serve as a foil. That's what Xiao Yuyao thought.

Fortunately, she felt that she was still young, and although Mr. Su Zhi would rank them one by one, he would only announce the top three. She just had to answer the questions and hand in the paper.

He no longer expected to defeat Shen Baozhao. He turned to look at the calm Su Yuheng and was full of confidence in her.

Su Yuheng, who was highly expected by Xiao Yuyao, was also unsure. She racked her brains to think about how to draw this "wind".

Everyone thought it was already difficult, but unexpectedly, Mr. Su Zhi still felt it was not enough.

"In addition, you must mention a poem that matches the painting. And although they are all written in small regular script with flower-shaped hairpins, the quality of the calligraphy will also be considered as one of the criteria for judging.

Therefore, this time the assessment is on painting, poetry, and calligraphy."

"I will comprehensively judge your masterpieces and select the top three."

"You have one hour to answer."

After Mr. Suzhi finished his story, he asked the child to put the dripping faucet aside.

Everything is ready, declare start.

There were also maids from the Princess's Mansion who informed the young masters on the other side of the lake of the questions of the competition.

The young masters were amazed after hearing this, and all said that the competition among the ladies was not easy. They all stretched their necks, looking forward to seeing who would win the championship.

Xiao Yuanhuai was naturally also at the Hefeng Lake, but unlike the other young masters, he was in a small attic on the second floor by the lake.

There was a huge window in the attic, and when you looked out the window, you could see the competition venue.

Looking from top to bottom, you can take in half of the lakeside.

The servant also informed the few people of the test questions and assessment methods.

Xue Sheng always liked talented women, such as Shishi and Luzhu, who always had one or two things to show off. So he also followed the progress of the competition.

Jin Yuxin was bored so he brought a bunch of account books to look at.

Mei Qianhe tried to lower his presence as much as possible in case someone came to settle accounts with him.

Xiao Yuanhuai was not interested in the lakeside scenery. He sat by the window, holding the chess piece in one hand and tapping the chessboard gently.

At a glance, he could distinguish the figure he had been thinking about day and night from the other ladies. He couldn't help but feel anxious.

Seeing Mei Qianhe standing aside, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Qianhe, come on, I haven't played chess with you for a long time, come over and play a game with you."

Mei Qianhe's thin body trembled, and he reluctantly sat down opposite Xiao Yuanhuai.

Take the chess piece out of the box and place it down.

He knew that if he didn't let Xiao Yuanhuai vent his anger today, one day he would be tricked even more miserably.

Only then did Xiao Yuanhuai feel relaxed. He calmly made his move while gazing into the distance.

But Shen Baozhao did not spread out the rice paper like everyone else did.

Instead, he followed Mr. Suzhi's example, closed his eyes, and felt the gentle breeze.

There is a faint fragrance floating at the tip of the nose, mixed with the freshness of lotus leaves, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.

Perhaps it was all quiet scenery, which felt a bit monotonous. Mr. Su Zhi ordered his servants to bring a few ducks from the big kitchen of the princess's mansion.

Put into the Hefeng Lake, the white-feathered, red-faced ruddy duck flapped its wings a few times, rinsed its neck, shook off water droplets, spread its webbed feet happily, and swam freely in the lake.

It adds a bit of wildness to the beautiful scenery.

"Tick, tick." Halfway through the time, a rough outline of the scenery has appeared on many people's rice papers.

But Shen Baozhao has not started writing yet.

Just when Su Yuheng sneered in her heart and thought she had a sure win.

Shen Baozhao opened his eyes, took out the goat-hair brush, and began to draw carefully.

Xiao Yuanhuai upstairs breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this and wiped his slightly damp palms.

He ignored Mei Qianhe who was deep in thought opposite him and focused on admiring Shen Baozhao's focused expression.

He picked up the brush, mixed the colors, and painted, all without a pause, all in one go.

When the painting is dry, change to a wolf-hair brush and write the poem into the blank space. The action is pleasing to the eye.

Xiao Yuyao, Su Yuheng and others who were secretly watching Shen Baozhao were dumbfounded when they saw this scene.

Looking at his unfinished painting again and listening to the 'tick-tick' sound of water drops, he suddenly became anxious and irritable.

Su Yuheng, in particular, was so anxious that sweat broke out on her forehead and she couldn't help but speed up.

"Time's up!" The little boy looked at the dripping faucet and shouted loudly.

Maids then collected everyone's paintings one by one, and several children sorted and sealed them.

After a while, everyone's paintings were in Mr. Suzhi's hands.

Mr. Suzhi did not avoid the crowd, but asked someone to bring a large desk and carefully reviewed each painting.

The ladies participating in the competition all held their breath, fearing that their heavy breathing would disturb Mr. Suzhi's thinking.

And noble ladies such as the eldest princess were also quietly drinking tea, waiting for the final result.

In the time it took to burn an incense stick, most of the paintings had been reviewed. Only three or four were selected and placed aside, while the rest were stacked together.

Gradually, more and more things were stacked on top of each other.

Ten paintings were initially selected and awaiting final ranking.

Mr. Suzhi was also a little tired, so Lady Duanning ordered someone to serve him a bowl of red dates, angelica and longan soup to help him relieve his fatigue.

Although everyone was anxious, no one rushed them. After Mr. Suzhi finished his soup, he continued with the next round of ranking.

Soon, six to ten people were ranked in order.

As for the remaining five paintings, Mr. Suzhi frowned and picked out two more and ranked them fourth and fifth.

Finally, only three remained.

Mr. Suzhi handed one of them to the little boy beside him.

The little boy revealed the name and sang along: "Third place, Zhao Pingting."

The painting will be unfolded towards the crowd, displayed slowly, and embedded on a special screen for everyone to appreciate.

Zhao Pingting was not surprised to hear the name. She was confident that she could be selected. Although the third place was not satisfactory, she was not very disappointed.

Her family background was good enough, and the ranking in the competition was just icing on the cake. Even if she won the first prize, she might not be the best candidate for the crown prince's cousin.

If you want to enter the East Palace, you still have to find another way. Last time, I was too reckless and pushed Princess Duan Ning out of the Colosseum.

Having been scolded by her father, she could no longer act rashly.

The ladies who had rejected Zhao Pingting before gradually figured out what she meant.

The princess not only did not make things difficult for her, but also allowed her to participate in the competition and won a good place. This shows that Zhao Pingting is more capable than they thought and cannot be offended.

A few people walked up to Zhao Pingting hesitantly and congratulated her.

Zhao Pingting didn't say anything in her heart, but her face remained calm.

I'm just curious about which two people can beat her.