Straightforward Master Kang

Seeing this, the person maintaining order shouted, "Quiet!" Everyone quieted down.

It wasn't that the person maintaining order was particularly authoritative, or that everyone was very obedient; rather, Kang Shilin was already evaluating the fifth-ranked painting at that moment.

After the explanation just now, even those who didn't know before that the first-place winner Zhao Zhiwei, was Kang Shilin's apprentice now know.

Everyone was curious to know what score Kang Shilin would give his apprentice, so they all fell silent and focused their attention on Kang Shilin.

Kang Shilin always acted as he pleased, rarely caring about the opinions or thoughts of others. Therefore, despite being watched by so many people, he remained completely unaffected, walking calmly and announcing his numbers as he went.

"Five-nine."

Six points.

"Six and a half."

Starting from fifth place, he announced the scores one by one, his announcements crisp and clear, without any hesitation.

When Lin Yunshen heard Kang Shilin give his painting a score of 6.5, he relaxed completely, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

Of the several regular judges over the years, Mister Kumu was the strictest, always harsh in his scoring, and almost always gave the lowest scores. It seems that in his eyes, all these paintings were bad, just some were relatively bad and some were extremely bad.

He could now rate himself 6.5 points, and Lin Yunshen felt he had no regrets.

Zhang Xiuyan stared intently at Kang Shilin.

He wanted to see how many points Kang Shilin would give him and his own apprentice.

Kang Shilin walked over to Zhang Xiuyan's painting, glanced at it, and called out a score, "Six points and ninety cents."

Upon hearing the score, Zhang Xiuyan felt no Gao Xing whatsoever; instead, a surge of anger rose within him.

He clenched his fists and bit his lip, almost unable to contain his anger and letting it out.

Fortunately, he knew the timing wasn't right, and in the end, he held back.

Kang Shilin didn't stop walking; he walked up to Zhao Ruxi's painting and glanced at it.

During this time, Zhao Ruxi often accompanied him while he painted, and he became very familiar with Zhao Ruxi's painting style. Although he would be amazed by it, he would quickly come to his senses and point out the good and bad parts of the painting.

When he saw the painting, he was still stunned. He stood there in front of it for a while before coming to his senses.

He hesitated visibly for a moment before calling out the score, "Ten points."

Although Zhao Ruxi left the arena, she didn't leave. Instead, she stood a little further away from the crowd, observing the situation.

She knew that if she didn't get a good ranking in the competition, that would be fine, but if she did rank highly, there would definitely be people complaining.

Especially when they saw Zhang Xiuyan participating in the competition, and ranked right after her, they all felt that Mei Zhongjun and Zhang Xiuyan were bound to cause trouble.

Because of the long-standing rivalry between Gong Cheng and Mei Zhongjun over who was the foremost flower-and-bird painter, Kang Shilin had repeatedly gone to Mei Zhongjun, and Mei Zhongjun harbored deep resentment towards Kang Shilin.

Now that he has the opportunity to take revenge on Kang Shilin, Mei Zhongjun will never let this chance slip by.

So not only had she not left, but Gong Cheng and Wu Zong had also arrived long ago. The three of them stood together, watching the events unfold.

Hearing Kang Shilin shout "ten out of ten," Zhao Ruxi couldn't help but say, "Hey, didn't we tell Master to try to give us low scores?"

They had discussed their strategy beforehand.

Although they were not afraid of trouble, they were also unwilling to attract too much criticism. Especially with so many officials in the court and the complex factional struggles, even the slightest mistake could be seized upon and used to make a big fuss.

People won't confront you directly; they'll just gossip behind your back. Malicious rumors are spreading, which is no good for either Kang Shilin or Zhao Ruxi.

Even if Zhao Ruxi only gets seven or eight points, she'll still be firmly in first place. Kang Shilin giving her a low score not only silences the criticism but also serves as a pretext to "encourage her apprentice to improve and prevent her from becoming arrogant and complacent." This approach has only advantages and no disadvantages.

Therefore, the master and his apprentices agreed that no matter how good Zhao Ruxi's painting was, Kang Shilin would only give her a score slightly higher than the second place. Of course, if she made a mistake and painted poorly, she would naturally receive the full score she deserved, without any favoritism.

Kang Shilin agreed at the time.

For some reason, Kang Shilin suddenly deviated from the plan and gave her a perfect score, which puzzled Zhao Ruxi, who wondered what her master was up to.

Gong Cheng and Wu Zong, however, understood Kang Shilin best.

Gong Cheng said, "It must be because your painting is so good, Junior Sister, that Master couldn't bear to give you a low score against his conscience."

Kang Shilin was a straightforward and unscrupulous man who always spoke his mind. If he were to give Zhao Ruxi's painting a low score despite its excellence, he would likely never have peace of mind for the rest of his life.

Wu Zong nodded in agreement. "That's certainly true."

Zhao Ruxi pursed her lips, looked towards the competition area, and said nothing more.

Not only was Kang Shilin satisfied with this painting, but she herself was also extremely pleased. Just as she had hoped, she had painted what she was most satisfied with to date. If the painting she had sent to the auction house had a slight imperfection, then this painting was, in her eyes, perfect.

Now, her master is willing to risk criticism to give her painting a perfect score. This appreciation and protection moved Zhao Ruxi deeply.

Therefore, she felt that even if it caused her a lot of trouble and she had to suffer a lot of criticism, she would be happy to accept it and be full of gratitude to her master.

Meanwhile, Kang Shilin's words indeed drew discussion from the onlookers.

"Should I say that Mister Kumu of 10 is due to his overly straightforward personality or his inflexibility? If he had given him an 8 or a 7, his apprentice would still have gotten first place, right? Why give him such a high score and invite everyone's criticism?"

"That's right. The painting is indeed well done. But it feels a bit odd that Mister Kumu gives his apprentice a perfect score while giving others only a six."

"In my opinion, those with a master-disciple relationship should avoid conflict of interest during competitions, just like when we participated in the imperial examinations. If a family member had a nephew or niece participating in the imperial examinations, they would avoid applying to be an examiner."

"That's not how it works. Fang Jingye Imperial Academy have taken on quite a few students. If it were true that teachers had to recuse themselves from judging competitions if their students participated, they probably wouldn't be able to serve as judges many times in their lives. They are skilled painters and fair-minded. If they didn't serve as judges, and some people with strong personal interests took their place, you might not be satisfied, would you?"

"Whenever Fang Jingye and his group were evaluating their apprentices, they would intentionally lower the scores, and no one would complain. Mister Kumu is being far too high-profile."

Zhang Xiuyan, who was filled with anger, miraculously lost his temper when he heard Kang Shilin announce the number "ten out of ten." He was not only no longer angry, but also very Gao Xing.

Kang Shilin gave Zhao Zhiwei a "seven out of ten," and he couldn't say anything about it. But now that he gave her a "ten out of ten," he had something to say.