Setting Her Up?
Although Kang Shilin was not a member of the organizing committee for the painting exhibition, he held a prestigious position in the art world.
His voice was loud and booming. As soon as he said this, Peng Guoan and Liang Song, who were engrossed in the painting, were immediately brought back to their senses.
Liang Song was alright, but Peng Guoan was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.
The Imperial Academy, entrusted by the Emperor, was to organize the year-end talent competition. Peng Guoan, as the Imperial Academy the Imperial Academy, came to the painting competition to supervise whether it was fair and just.
If he makes a mistake now, he will lose his official position.
He was extremely grateful and bowed deeply to Kang Shilin, saying, "Mister Kumu's words were like a wake-up call for me; I am deeply grateful."
Kang Shilin waved his hand, said no more, and led Kang An forward to comment on the painting.
Peng Guoan said to the other four, "I apologize for my lapse in composure just now. Please continue, gentlemen."
Everyone was passionate about painting. If Zhou Wenbai and Fang Jingye hadn't already seen Zhao Ruxi's paintings, they might have been even more obsessed than Peng Guoan, and there wouldn't have been any way to pull them back now. Everyone was very understanding of Peng Guoan's loss of composure.
"Haha, it's easy to get excited when you see a good painting. We're all like-minded people, so there's no need for Lord Peng to feel guilty," Fang Jingye said with a smile.
He nodded and, with his servant, went to continue critiquing the paintings.
Although he was a teacher at the Imperial Academy, he was like those highly paid celebrities in modern times—he held no official position, yet enjoyed a high status and was not subject to the constraints of the Imperial Academy's own system. Despite his advanced age, he treated Peng Guoan as an equal.
It took a whole day for everyone to finish reviewing the paintings. The servant handed the tallied scores to the Imperial Academy staff member who was skilled in mathematics, and that person immediately tallied the scores.
Needless to say, Zhao Ruxi's painting naturally won first place. All five judges present gave her full marks.
They couldn't give less than a perfect score. Even Kang Shilin himself admitted that his young apprentice had surpassed him, and that he himself was inferior. Needless to say, the others were even more so.
The contestant's skill level is far superior to mine, to an almost unattainable level. In this situation, not giving them a perfect score would be nothing short of revealing my narrow-mindedness and jealousy.
Kang Shilin was very satisfied to see the perfect score under his youngest apprentice's name. He bowed to the group and then led Kang An away gracefully.
If someone doesn't give a perfect score to a painting like Zhao Ruxi's, he'll definitely spit in that person's face after the competition ends.
Back home, Kang Shilin didn't ask anyone to pass on the competition results to Zhao Ruxi.
In his view, Zhao Ruxi's level of skill was no match for a group of people's painting talents. It was like a strong man competing with a child in strength. The two were not even in the same league, and the result of the competition was not worth mentioning.
It's not that the participants were badly skilled. It's just that anyone with the skill to rival Zhao Ruxi would have already achieved great success, becoming a renowned painter in the Great Jin. Some might even be teachers at the highest academies, like Fang Jingye and Liang Song, or judges of competitions. Why would they participate in such a mediocre competition? It would be dishonorable and beneath their dignity to win.
Only a prodigy like Zhao Ruxi, at such a young age, with no reputation whatsoever and having never even participated in such a trivial competition, suddenly produced a painting that shocked the art world, soaring to great heights. This is simply an anomaly; not everyone can do something like this.
Kang Shilin thought this way, but Zhao Ruxi herself didn't.
Although she had seen paintings by Zhou Wenbai, Fang Jingye, Wu Zong, Gong Cheng, and others, she dared not say that she was better than them. After all, their styles were different, and each had their own strengths.
Therefore, she was a little nervous after submitting her painting for the preliminary round. She especially wanted to ask her teacher what ranking her painting had won. If her painting didn't win first place, it would be a disgrace to her teacher, and her teacher might be sulking at home right now, angry that she hadn't lived up to expectations.
She paced around the house a few times, but still managed to hold back.
If she weren't good enough to get first place, that would be fine; it's beyond human control. But if her careless actions tarnished her master's reputation and people said that her master was unfair, then that would be a huge sin, and her three senior brothers would definitely not forgive her.
When the notice that she had passed the preliminary round and was asked to draw another picture to participate in the semi-finals was handed to Zhao Ruxi, Zhao Ruxi did not receive much comfort.
Given her skill level, if she couldn't even pass the preliminary round, she wouldn't even need her master to get angry; she would simply leave the sect herself, too ashamed to remain under his tutelage. It would be a disgrace to him.
Although she was uncertain, she still followed her original plan and painted a roaring river for the second painting. However, this painting went through several revisions until she was most satisfied with it before she stopped.
While Zhao Ruxi was anxious about her ranking, someone else was also harboring wicked thoughts.
Ever since Xiao Yuyue ingratiated herself with Consort Jin and took over the management of the Capital Women's Academy, she had been flattered wherever she went, and had never been humiliated like Zhao Ruxi had ever done. She had always harbored resentment about this.
Upon learning that Zhao Ruxi had participated in the painting competition, she had been pondering how to ruin Zhao Ruxi's reputation. But no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't come up with a good idea.
Zhao Ruxi's paintings have been certified by the Emperor and are greatly favored by him. If Zhao Ruxi doesn't win first place in the competition, wouldn't that imply that the Emperor has poor judgment? This wouldn't be a slap in the face to Zhao Ruxi, but rather to the Emperor.
The Emperor had just warned Consort Jin not to make things difficult for Zhao Ruxi. If Zhao Ruxi didn't get first place, the Emperor would definitely investigate the matter thoroughly. No matter how serious or secretive she was about it, she couldn't withstand the Emperor's men's investigation.
If we can't manipulate the rankings, can't we at least tamper with the fairness of the judging process?
Kang Shilin goes without saying, and Zhou Wenbai and Fang Jingye both studied sketching with Zhao Ruxi and had close relationships with her. Only Peng Guoan and Liang Song from the Imperial Academy seem to have no connection with Zhao Ruxi.
"Princess, Peng Guoan Imperial Academy, is also related to Zhao Ruxi. Zhao Ruxi's older sister, Zhao Ruyu, married Peng Guoan's second son," a nanny reminded her.
"What?" Xiao Yuyue exclaimed in surprise, then overjoyed. "Haha, I never expected there to be this connection! This is truly a stroke of luck!"
"However, His Majesty just issued an order. If we make a move and the Emperor finds out, he will blame Consort Jin, and you, Princess, will likely be in serious trouble," the old woman advised. "Why don't we just forget it? There will be plenty of opportunities later; there's no need to rush."
Xiao Yuyue waved her hand. "Don't worry, Granny, I'm not that stupid. If I can't do it myself, aren't there others? The Jia family, the former Earl of Zhongqin, hates Zhao Ruxi to the bone. They certainly won't let go of any opportunity to ruin Zhao Ruxi's reputation. Besides, the Crown Prince is also very dissatisfied with Zhao Ruxi. Last time, because of this matter, he even had Zhao Ruxi's uncle beaten and expelled from the Imperial Household Department. I suppose he doesn't want to see Zhao Ruxi do well either."
Hearing that the princess hadn't acted herself, but rather used someone else to do the killing, the nanny finally felt relieved and smiled, saying, "The princess is clever. That's excellent."