Paintings with Spirit

This had almost become an unconditional reflex!

"I didn't name you specifically, did I?" Zhao Changhang raised his eyebrows with an innocent expression.

"......" Zhao Changge wanted to bite him but eventually held back, turning to Lady Xu: "Mother, who is Female Official Ning Yuan? Why does she want to come and teach me?"

"Female Official Ning Yuan is a legendary figure... As for why she chose you, it seems to be because of the painting you gave your eldest brother; she happened to see it by chance." Lady Xu said, her eyes unable to hide her pride. Her eldest son said that Female Official Ning Yuan had happened upon a painting his sister had drawn and praised it for having "spirit." When he learned she was about to leave the palace, he only mentioned it in passing, not expecting it to actually happen.

Hearing this, Zhao Changge couldn't help but be astonished. At the mention of Female Official Ning Yuan, memories of her previous life immediately surfaced in her mind. Twenty years ago, she was a "standard female lead"! Born as a daughter of an official family, her clan later committed a crime, and she was sent to the palace as a slave. Through a stroke of luck, she became a close maid to the Empress, and later the Empress Dowager. Two princes and two young masters had once sought her hand in marriage, yet for some reason, she chose none of them, deciding instead to serve by the Empress Dowager's side for thirty years, eventually becoming a fourth-rank female official.

It was just that, in her previous life, she had never heard of this person. Perhaps when she returned to the capital, Female Official Ning Yuan had already retired?

Immediately after, Lady Xu mentioned the painting she had given her eldest brother. Zhao Changge instantly remembered what those paintings were!

What do you mean "gave" to Eldest Brother! They were clearly snatched away!

She had painted countless pictures, from the "Twelve Divine Beasts" and "Fierce Map of Proud Snow and Frost" to many other works... In her previous life, after her eldest brother took them, she began to hide her paintings, drawing only for her own enjoyment and nostalgia. Before she died, she clearly remembered there were five chests full of paintings in her study. The last one she drew was a sunset, like a final period at the end of her life.

"Are you really that good at painting? Why have I never seen you draw anything?" Zhao Changhang, who had been listening all this time, turned to look Zhao Changge up and down with a skeptical gaze.

"Mother hasn't seen it either." Lady Xu also spoke up. She knew her daughter spent a lot of money on painting supplies every year, but she had never paid much attention to it, let alone taken the initiative to go and see.

"It's in my study." Seeing Lady Xu ask, Zhao Changge finally answered.

"You even have a study?" Zhao Changhang looked at his sister in surprise, as there was already a writing desk in her room.

"It's a place I use specifically for painting." Zhao Changge replied. Usually, she would practice calligraphy in her bedchamber, only going to the study to paint when she had inspiration, which happened only four or five times a month on average. How could it be such a coincidence that her eldest brother caught her? That one time he saw her painting was merely a one-in-ten-thousand probability.

"Take me to see!" Zhao Changhang immediately became excited. He had always thought his sister was just a playful little girl; he didn't expect her to have a talent for painting.

"Mother wants to see too." Lady Xu nodded. Coming from a noble background, she possessed knowledge of painting and wanted to see for herself the paintings that Female Official Ning Yuan had praised as having "spirit."

Zhao Changge had no choice but to lead her mother and second brother toward her study.

As soon as the door opened, a sense of chaos immediately hit them.

But in the next moment, Lady Xu and Zhao Changhang completely forgot about the mess in the room; their eyes were captivated by the paintings hanging on the walls.