After parting with Yang Lingqi, Hu Xiaotian returned to Long Xiyue's side.
Wen Boyuan snorted coldly. "Why were you gone so long, Eunuch Hu? You kept everyone waiting here for you."
Long Xiyue gave Wen Boyuan a displeased look and said softly, "Mind your words, Young Master Wen. We are out in public, after all."
Wen Boyuan grew even more resentful. What trick did Hu Xiaotian use to bewitch the princess? She defends him at every turn. I can't even say one word against him.
Hu Xiaotian smiled at Long Xiyue. "Sorry. I just felt sorry for that scholar, so I chatted with him a little longer. Sorry for the wait."
Long Xiyue smiled. "I saw you buy two paintings. Let me have a look."
"I'll show them to you once we're back, so you can appreciate them properly," Hu Xiaotian said.
Long Xiyue nodded, but Wen Boyuan sneered disdainfully from beside her. "Crude and clumsy. Unfit to enter the halls of refined art."
Hu Xiaotian nearly brought out the painting that showed Yang Lingqi's true skill, but on second thought, he decided it was better not to make trouble for him. He gave a cold laugh. "What you call crude and clumsy looks to me like great skill concealed beneath simplicity. It's certainly far better than the paintings of certain people who fancy themselves elegant and only seek to please the crowd."
With the insult thrown straight in his face, Wen Boyuan could endure no more. "Do you know anything about painting?" he demanded angrily.
Hu Xiaotian smiled. "Not much, and I'm not much of a painter either. Still, I feel I'm just a little better than you."
Wen Boyuan believed the fellow was deliberately trying to provoke him, so he laughed instead of getting angry. "Anyone can talk.