After Shen Miao left the plum forest, both Gu Yu and Jing Zhen let out a sigh of relief. Jing Zhen looked around and didn't see anyone, feeling somewhat puzzled: "How is it that no one is here?"
Shen Miao also turned her head to take a look, the plum tree's branches and leaves were lush and dense, gently swaying in the wind, where was there any human figure? Xie Jingxing was someone with martial arts skills, probably he had also disappeared by flying over the eaves.
"Let's go."
As soon as he returned to his seat, Feng Anning hurriedly ran over and complained: "Didn't I tell you to wait for me? As soon as I turned my head, I couldn't see you anywhere. When I came back, I didn't see you here either. Where did you go?"
"Enjoy the chrysanthemum blooming freely, take a stroll at will." Shen Miao raised her eyes to look at the stage: "Has it started yet?"
"You've been gone for a long time, and the men's draw is over." Feng Anning curled his lip: "Now it's the men's selection."
The young men on the stage are competing, the first round of "drawing" has passed, and Shen Miao is not paying attention to the result. The second round is "choice", choosing their own strong subjects.
Shen Miao's gaze fell on the young man wearing a lake-green robe at the far left of the opposite seat.
This young man was born with a sturdy build, and his facial features were not bad, but because of his overly robust body, he looked a bit rough. He insisted on wearing green clothes, which made his skin tone even darker. Moreover, he combed his hair into a high bun, wrapped around with jade-inlaid bamboo pins, seemingly trying to emulate the elegance of ancient gentlemen. However, because he couldn't bear to give up his luxurious attire, he ended up looking somewhat incongruous. In short, although he tried his best to appear refined and detached from worldly desires, his overall demeanor was still marred by a hint of vulgarity.
This is the height of Gao Yan's arrogance. Gao Yan was still young, only sixteen years old, and his wings were not yet fully grown. It wasn't until later when Fu Xiuyi ascended to the throne that Gao Yan rose to prominence by riding on the coattails of Gao Jin, bullying men and women in Dingjing, even daring to covet Yuwen Yu, truly a display of extreme audacity.
As soon as she thought of Yuwen being teased by Gao Yan in the palace, Shen Miao became furious. She stared at Gao Yan from afar, as if watching a prey walking into a trap.
Gao Yan suddenly looked delighted and was saying something to Gao Jin.
He was naturally delighted to have obtained such a uniquely worded strategy, and just now in the "drawing" he had drawn out the essential meaning, which was quite ordinary. But for the next "selection", as long as he took out this strategy, he would surely shock the whole audience.
Shen Miao sneered inwardly, go ahead, take this strategy and go to Fu Xiuyi's side! Before Gao Jin's promotion, entering the official career, I believe that with Gao Yan's means, he will surely personally destroy the entire Jingdian history.
This is the great gift she gave to Jingdian Shi.
As for Pei Lian, she glanced again at the man in a green shirt sitting not far from Fu Xiuyi. From now on, you will start to repay the debts of your past, slowly but surely!
"Shen Miao, after the men's group, it's the women's group's turn for 'selection', will you choose?"
"I won't," Shen Miao replied.
In the examination, "drawing" is a must for every student. "Selection", on the other hand, is based on one's own will, and if one does not want to choose, they can choose not to. Therefore, it would be more accurate to say that "selection" is the easiest part of the examination where one can showcase their strengths. If there is something that one excels in, they can naturally display it in this section. As a result, people tend to show more enthusiasm for "selection" compared to "drawing".
Because the "election" shows, are very confident things. But if it's like Shen Miao in the past, there's no particular advantage, then simply don't participate in the "election", because going is just embarrassing.
"Why?" Feng Anning was somewhat disappointed. She said, "You're painting is quite good now, and the other categories should also have their own strengths, why not just show them off?"
"It doesn't matter." Shen Miao started to arrange the chess pieces on the table again, without lifting her head, she replied to Feng An Ning: "Whether or not I show off, it's all the same to me. Besides, I'm not proficient in any of the four arts - zither, chess, calligraphy and painting. Just now was just a fluke."
"You..." Feng Anning's face turned red with anger: "Who talks about themselves like that?"
"Wu Mei Mei." A voice interrupted their conversation, Shen Yue stood in front of them, her face worried: "Wu Mei Mei, the next 'selection', you really won't participate?"
"Does Second Sister really want me to attend?" Shen Miao asked back.
Shen Yue was taken aback by what she said, and for some reason, Shen Miao seemed to have made up her mind to tear her face off. Shen Yue couldn't understand why. Could it be that the incident of falling into the water was a pretext for venting anger on the second and third branches? Although she was suspicious, she had already accumulated anger in her heart towards Shen Miao's repeated ingratitude. Shen Yue bit her lip, seemingly with some grievance, and said softly: "I naturally hope that Fifth Sister will participate. The painting just now was extremely good, since Fifth Sister has such great talent, why not continue to choose 'painting' in the next round? It would avoid people gossiping behind our backs. If she paints well again, the rumors will be self-defeating."
Shen Yue's voice was not low, and the surrounding ladies all listened attentively. This sentence seemed insignificant, but it actually openly expressed the doubts that everyone had in their hearts. Shen Miao's previous painting of white chrysanthemums, although it won first prize, she had been mediocre for so many years, and people's impressions wouldn't change easily, so they naturally wouldn't believe that this painting was done by her. They thought perhaps someone had guided her in secret.
Shen Yue also thought so in her heart, so she thought that as long as Shen Miao painted another painting in the second round, without anyone's guidance, how could she paint something good, and she would definitely make a fool of herself.
Feng Anning caught the drift and immediately retorted, "It's easy for Miss Shen to say that, but painting also requires consideration of composition. Even if Miss Shen were to paint herself, it would be impossible to produce two consecutive masterpieces."
"It's because I saw how much Fifth Sister has improved that I'm asking this, right?" Shen Yue smiled warmly: "You were able to paint such a good painting just now, what's wrong with painting another one?"
Shen Miao never lifted her head from start to finish, only picked up a chess piece and placed it on the board with a sincere tone, saying: "Not interested, thanks for your hard work."
Shen Yue did not expect that in front of so many people, Shen Miao would dare to answer so indifferently. For a moment, her face was somewhat embarrassing. Probably the most infuriating thing in this world is to set up a trap and have the other party refuse to take the bait.
Shen Miao didn't accept her own conjecture even when faced with everyone's suspicion, which made Shen Yue more certain that the intention of the painting was not what Shen Miao thought. The idea of making Shen Miao lose face became more entrenched in her mind, she paused for a moment, then suddenly continued to smile: "Since fifth sister insists, I won't say anything else." She turned around and returned to her own seat.
On the men's side, Cai Lin had been secretly glancing at Shen Yue, but saw that Shen Yue suddenly looked over from afar, seemingly smiling gently at him.
Cai Lin was taken aback, and then became somewhat agitated. But Shen Yue lowered her head again, seemingly in distress.
He suddenly tensed up.
