Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The Society of Painting soon arrived, and Cui Zishu finally emerged from her seclusion with her finished work.

Although I didn’t know much about the arts, her painting looked far better to me than any of the scrolls by famous masters hanging in the Chen Family’s estate. I told her as much.

Cui Zishu’s face flushed, but she still let out a cold snort. “What do you know?”

Yet, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl upward. My younger brother took a look as well, putting on an air of expertise. “Sister Zishu, I think you’d better not go. You definitely won’t be selected.”

Qingshan nearly burst out laughing and had to cover it with a cough. Cui Shao didn’t seem to mind the banter, watching the two of them with great interest.

Cui Zishu snapped, exasperated, “What do you know!”

My brother scratched his head. “Why are you saying that again? Just now, my sister praised your painting, and you said she didn’t know anything-so that must mean it’s not good. Now I’m saying it’s not good, and you say I don’t know anything either. So is this painting good or not?”

“Sister-in-law, look at him!”

While the Society of Painting was a grand gathering for scholars and literati, many commoners also came to join the festivities. The streets were packed with people, and street vendors were everywhere; it felt like a major festival.

We all went along to enjoy the excitement. We soon reached Feihe Tower, where the event was being held, but Cui Zishu couldn’t even get through the door.

Because she didn’t have a “letter of recommendation” from royalty or the Noble Families, the painting she had spent a month in seclusion to create was mocked as being “worse than a beginner’s.”

I watched as she was given a hard time, but by the time we managed to squeeze through the crowd toward her, Cui Zishu had vanished.

Cui Shao began to grow anxious. Just as we were about to split up to search for her, Cui Zishu reappeared. However, the scroll in her hand was gone.

“You…”

“I sold the painting!”