You rascal, stop right there!

Day two.

Li Mansion Garden.

Bai Wan entered the palace with His Majesty's imperial edict and the sword-wielding guards.

The Li family was also considered a prominent family. The grandfather was a general, and the grandfather's grandfather was a marquis. Later, the family declined slightly because the emperor emphasized culture over military power.

Li Simeng was a rare person who didn't bother to take the imperial examination. In the end, he became famous and a prime minister.

But if he hadn't been nurtured by a family background and hadn't had family connections since childhood, he would never have had this possibility.

The group of people who entered Li's house were only informed briefly and nothing else happened. They were arranged in the middle of a small pavilion, and there was not even a place to sit.

Several guards looked at this man, took out a piece of rice paper from somewhere, and sat down on the ground.

"Bai Shizhao, it seems like the Li Mansion doesn't take us seriously! It's been an hour since the steward who reported the matter went in." Ayi was a little indignant.

Bai Wan sat and laughed, "Have you ever seen a phoenix look down on a pheasant?"

Although Daying Huaguan was deeply favored by His Majesty, he was still a minor figure after all, and could not compare with the official path of imperial examinations.

Therefore, a small imperial attendant was actually only an eighth-rank official in the officialdom, just slightly higher than a ninth-rank county magistrate.

Not long after, someone approached from the rockery, and a man said in a clear voice, "Bai Shizhao."

This person has pale lips, holds a folding fan in his hand, and wears a half-silver mask. Behind him are four scholars dressed in bright red, yellow, blue, and green.

Somehow, Bai Wan felt that this person looked familiar.

"Who is your Excellency?"

"I am Li Li, the steward of the Li Mansion. They are the retainers of the Li Mansion and also the painters we keep." The masked man looked at the opposite side, with some disbelief in his eyes.

In particular, the person who was extremely elegant in red clothes sat on the ground very casually, and did not mind how much dust and dirt were on the ground.

"Master Li, are you trying to test me?" Bai Wan asked knowingly.

The masked man stared at him steadily, his slender eyes narrowed slightly: "Do you dare?"

Bai Wan couldn't help curling her lips: "I'm timid and don't dare."

"I'll give you a prize!" The person opposite looked at him and said with a smile.

Bai Wan smiled, then frowned a little, very helpless: "I don't want much, one stone of rice for each person I win. If I win everyone, I will not only want four stones of rice, but also a whole pig!"

The four people nearby were furious: "Master, this kid is pushing his luck!"

They don't want gold, silver or jewelry, they just want food. Everyone knows that food in Jiangzhou is more expensive than money.

"Hey——" The masked man interrupted with a folding fan with a hint of smile, "What if you lose?"

"Money is more important than life." Bai Wan said confidently, "Beat me up, forget it. If you kill me, I'll just consider it bad luck."

The person on the other side was choked for a moment.

After all, Han Miaoran back then was not so shameless and rogue. It was as if he was wearing another person's skin.

After a long time, the masked man adjusted his mentality and said with a hint of sarcasm: "People like you are probably always conceited because of God's gift and have never lost."

Unexpectedly, the white pea on the other side was very brief: "You are wrong, I have lost many times."

He was inferior to his parents, and he was a talented painter with his right hand. He drew countless undead creatures, even Zi Chen.

The masked man didn't understand what this person said, and snorted: "Then let's get started!"

After saying this, he did not forget to ask the servants to bring him a table and chairs, and even used a silk scarf to seat the chairs and wiped them carefully.

When the wind blows, the begonias in the garden are in full bloom, and the petals flutter in the air, creating a poetic and picturesque scene.

Bai Wan, wearing a red dress, stood in the center, with a painter standing in front of a square table in the east, south, west and north. The table was filled with brushes, inkstones, rice paper and pigments.

In a one-on-four competition, most of the common painting questions are difficult to answer.

So, the competition is about painting flowers and birds, architecture, landscapes, and figures.

Although it is one of the six required subjects for painters, no one is good at it, including Bai Wan, who only has a less satisfactory left hand.

Painters from all over the country can be considered as masters. Their traditional freehand paintings are very free and easy, and their brushwork exudes the style of the royal painting academy.

Bai Wan frowned. Now his left hand was unable to completely draw what he had in mind.

After he stopped writing, the ripples in his eyes were like wrinkles caused by water blowing across the center of a lake. He took a step back and looked at the begonia.

At that moment, the begonia seemed to be mistaken for a plum blossom.

"Is Bai Shizhao finished painting?" the masked man asked with an unhappy look on his face.

"Okay." Bai Wan put down his pen slightly.

The masked man took one look at the indifferent expression, snorted, and walked straight between the paintings of the five people.

The first painter in red was painting a plum blossom, with simple and sparse branches and neat brushwork. Every place where the branches overlapped was dotted with fragrance, and the stamens were fragrant.

Judging from its elegance, it is of high quality, but it has a bit of artificiality.

He turned around and looked at Bai Wan's painting. It was actually a picture of five vegetables, including cabbage, green vegetables, bamboo shoots, radish and green pepper.

Very fresh and unique.

Bai Wan smiled and said, "Cauliflower is also a flower! Too many people have painted plum blossoms, and they can't be eaten. At least I can look at mine and have a full meal."

The masked man looked at the painting in confusion; it was shaded by green light and looked simple and rustic, like a sketch from life.

Although I don't want to admit it, in terms of realism and interest, this painting is better than the mechanical plum blossom painting.

"In the flower and bird competition, Bai Shizhao's "Five Vegetables" wins!"

"One stone of rice." Bai Wan reminded.

Next, comes the architecture.

The second painter naturally painted pavilions and towers, with railings around the house, and thin poles under the eaves, in a rigorous and orderly manner.

But what Bai Wan painted was a small Yaotai, with jade-inlaid railings and every lotus column platform drawn accurately and clearly.

However, the main body is added with several slender and beautiful ladies, and the scene of several people celebrating and watching the moon is lifelike.

The masked man ruled that Bai Wan won, but the painter on the other side was dissatisfied, thinking that the building he drew was obviously very rigorous and well considered.

He simply replied: "Let's not talk about the painting skills. Such a gorgeous building has no people in it. It lacks some vitality. People and buildings are mostly complementary."

Landscape painting is almost a sure win, as it is Bai Wan’s forte.

However, he did not paint the traditional ink painting of mountains and rivers, small bridges and rivers. Instead, he painted a painting called "Fishing Alone on a Cold River" which seemed to have no water.

There is no misty river in the picture, only an old man fishing alone. The fishing reel in particular shows meticulous observation in the simple brushstrokes.

"Bai Shizhao wins again!" The folding fan in the masked man's hand trembled slightly, and he gritted his teeth more and more as he looked at Bai Wan's face.

Bai Wan seemed to notice the man's gaze and smiled at him politely.

The masked man felt even more annoyed and walked towards the last figure painting in silence.

This time, he immediately noticed the similarities between the eyebrows and eyes, and choked up and asked, "Who did Bai Shizhao draw?"

Bai Wan glanced at the painting thoughtfully: "It's you, Butler Li."

Although this person is wearing a mask, his facial features are all exposed. Even half of the face shows the shape of the face and the distance between them.

The man in this painting is as handsome as a bamboo, and seems gentle and elegant. However, the anxiety and persistence in his eyes are hard to understand.

The result is obvious. The one who can draw the true face hidden under the mask is naturally the winner.

Night falls.

After four competitions, the sky had become extremely dark.

Bai Wan got the rice and ordered someone to send it to Linjia Village.

Then, he bowed and smiled, "Butler Li, when can I meet Master Li and Madam Li?"

The masked man raised his hand and said, "Today, I will arrange for you and the guards to stay in the east wing. You can start painting tomorrow."

Then, after giving the instructions, he walked to another room alone.

The window panes were mottled with light and shadow in the night, and the masked man thought of this man's smile and found it extremely eye-catching.

"I really want to rip his mouth apart so that he can't laugh anymore!"

This person must have amnesia or a brain disease.

Otherwise, how could anyone be able to laugh after going through those things?