Chapter 597: Chapter 597

Mrs. Zhang was blatantly speaking nonsense. The so-called "elegant and talented, intelligent and beautiful" persona had absolutely nothing to do with Fengyu. Back at the Imperial College, aside from abacus skills, she was usually at the bottom of the class. She was even scolded as a good-for-nothing, accused of being ignorant and shameless, and infamously obsessed with Jiang Yang. Her reputation could not possibly be worse.

And yet, the gathered ladies now seemed as if they’d never heard of her terrible reputation, eagerly echoing Mrs. Zhang’s praise—at least until Qiuxiang brought out Fengyu’s painting.

Su Yuejiao hadn’t even known that Fengyu had prepared a painting. The moment Qiuxiang unfurled the scroll, Su Yuejiao felt like her sight went dark.

The ladies and young misses leaned in to admire Fengyu’s artwork, convinced that since Fengyu seemed so confident, her painting must surely be extraordinary.

Then, silence fell upon them all.

Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Fang stared at the scroll, which featured figures that resembled shadow puppets, an unrecognizable bridge, chaotic streets, and a comically disproportionate moon. The shrewd noblewomen froze, racking their brains for ways to praise the artwork without sounding insincere or overly obsequious.

The truth? None of them could figure out what Fengyu had painted.

Princess Xue Lan, with innocent curiosity, voiced what everyone else was thinking: "Ayu, what is this?"

The Marchioness and the other ladies were equally curious.

"This is ’A Moonlit Night in Jiangnan,’" Fengyu began introducing enthusiastically. "Ayu knows you’ve been married into the Capital City for many years and must miss home. So, I specifically painted this Moonlit Night in Jiangnan for you. Look, here’s the water town, the Thousand Mile Bridge, children playing by the street, and boaters drifting along the river to admire the moon."

It was Princess Xue Lan’s first time encountering such a painting by Fengyu. "Why... why is the moon’s reflection in the river *so* big?"

The moon’s reflection in the river was so immense that for a moment, Princess Xue Lan questioned if she had ever seen a moon reflection before. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by noⅴelfire.net

"Doesn’t it look nice?" Fengyu asked curiously.

Princess Xue Lan shook her head, only for the Marchioness to cradle her head gently and chuckle, saying, "It’s very unique. Aunt loves it. Ayu, it’s very thoughtful of you."

The other ladies, finally catching on, exclaimed with sudden understanding, "Haha, yes, unique—so unique! The Third Miss truly has a distinctive style of painting."

Fengyu felt their judgment was impeccable!

Su Yuejiao took a deep breath. She felt it was imperative to return home and properly teach Fengyu how to paint something normal. Her avant-garde style was so out of step with the prevailing trends that no one could discern what she was even attempting to portray.

Thanks to Fengyu’s unexpected interlude, the atmosphere at the birthday banquet livened up again. In truth, many of the women attending the Marchioness’s banquet this time had come specifically for Fengyu.

The Third Miss truly disliked socializing. Various households had sent calling cards, hoping that Su Yuejiao would bring Fengyu out to mingle. Although Su Yuejiao attended these events, she had never brought Fengyu along. When asked about it, she merely claimed that Fengyu was too frail and needed to recuperate.

Of course, the truth became apparent when they spotted Fengyu managing stores in the Capital City, showing no signs of frailty whatsoever. Everyone understood that Fengyu simply didn’t wish to socialize. Yet, they were desperate to connect with her, to get friendly, because Fengyu would one day become the Empress.

Among noble families with daughters of marriageable age, the urgency to form ties with Fengyu was even greater. They wished to send their daughters into the palace as concubines, and to do so, they needed to curry favor with Fengyu, pledge their loyalty, and hope that she would support their ambitions.

Once Fengyu entered the palace, forming such connections would only grow more difficult.

Yet, these noble ladies—masters of strategy—would never openly display their personal ambitions. Instead, they showered Fengyu with compliments, calling her gentle, virtuous, and kind-hearted. Some even deliberately brought their daughters over to familiarize them with Fengyu.

Fengyu, being clever, fully understood their intentions. Yet, she feigned the innocence of an eighteen-year-old girl, pretending to miss the subtext of their words entirely. When praised, she simply returned the compliments. As a businesswoman, Fengyu had honed the art of tailoring her words to her audience. As a result, the atmosphere remained cordial and harmonious.