Princess Luo Yao frowned and scolded coldly, "Luo Ning! Stop being naughty!"
"Cousin! We're just playing a little game! Maybe everyone will do well in the end. Then, of course, we won't need the punishment!"
Princess He Yuan tried to persuade Princess Luo Yao.
Princess Luo Yao thought for a moment. The noble ladies present had all studied poetry and literature since childhood, so they shouldn't be too bad. Besides, wasn't she there?
As long as she said no one did poorly in the end, no one would receive the punishment.
With this thought in mind, Princess Luo Yao nodded in agreement.
Princess He Yuan and Princess Luo Ning rubbed their hands eagerly, looking forward to it.
Shen Li noticed the sinister look in Princess He Yuan's eyes when she glanced at her. She didn't need to guess to know what the latter was up to.
It was nothing more than to make her lose face in front of so many people.
There were more than thirty noble ladies present. More than half of them chose to compose poems, while only eight, including Shen Li, chose to paint.
"Everyone will start together later. When the incense burns out, those who chose to compose poems should stop. We'll appreciate their works first. After the painters finish, we'll evaluate all the works together."
Princess Luo Yao explained the rules to everyone and then gave the order to start.
Princess Luo Yao, Princess Ya Jing, Princess He Yuan, and Shen Miao all chose to compose poems, while Princess Luo Ning actually chose to paint.
As soon as the time started, those who were composing poems racked their brains, trying to come up with ideas in their minds.
Those who were painting began to mix colors. Everyone knew that half an hour was far from enough to create a good painting, so they had to seize every second.
Looking at Princess Ya Jing, who was bowing her head in deep thought, Princess Luo Ning showed a confident smile.
She knew she couldn't match Ya Jing in poetry, but fortunately, she had some talent in painting. After being guided by a famous master for three years, her paintings were quite good.
Today, she was sure to outshine Ya Jing.
The time of one incense stick passed quickly, and everyone showed their poems to others.
Shen Miao looked at the delicate and beautiful characters on the paper and was very satisfied. She was always talented and was determined to win this competition.
Everyone gathered around to appreciate the poems.
Shen Li ignored the noisy voices around her and immersed herself in her own world.
She was really not interested in poetry and had always been mediocre in this aspect. Even if she tried her best today, she was afraid of being laughed at by others.
However, in her previous life, after she got engaged to Xiao Hanzhi, the palace sent four teaching nuns to instruct her.
These four nuns were all right - hand assistants of the imperial concubine. They had been in the palace for twenty or thirty years and had seen all kinds of human feelings and worldly affairs.
On weekdays, these four nuns not only taught her court etiquette but also taught her to have a special skill so as not to disgrace the royal family.
After trying all the four arts of the scholar - piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting, one of the nuns, Nanny Cui, found that she had some talent in painting and taught her carefully.
Although the four nuns only taught her for half a year, in her previous life, in order to please her future mother - in - law, she also worked hard to learn. Although her painting skills were still limited, at least she had entered the threshold.
After getting married to Xiao Hanzhi, accompanying him to all kinds of banquets, she understood the importance of talents better. But no matter how hard she tried, painting was the only thing she was good at.
In the first two years after marrying into the prince's mansion in her previous life, she would spend one or two hours painting every day. But later, in order to help Xiao Hanzhi fight for the throne, she gave him advice and ran around every day, and had no time to paint anymore.
So until today, she hadn't touched a paintbrush for a long time.
If it weren't for today, she would have forgotten that she had once seriously learned painting in her previous life.
Half of the half - hour had passed. Shen Li was still holding the paintbrush, sketching on the paper, slowly regaining that feeling.
Jiao Yue, standing behind her, became anxious after seeing the painting on the paper.
She knew exactly what kind of person Shen Li was. Her young lady had never learned painting before. If the painting was like this, what would happen later? She was afraid of being laughed at by others.
Just now, she had advised Shen Li to choose to compose poems. At least she could make up a few lines to form a poem, which was better than blindly drawing lines on the paper like this. In the end, if there were only a few lines, it would be really embarrassing.
"Humph! She's really a fool!" Princess He Yuan stared at Shen Li, waiting to watch the show. Half of the time had passed, and she had already wasted two pieces of paper.
With the remaining time, she definitely couldn't finish a painting.
"My cousin is really self - smart, thinking that painting can buy her more time. But what's coming will come. Later, when she can't draw anything, hum!"
Princess He Yuan stared at Shen Li mockingly. Shen Miao said she had become smarter, but it seemed she was still a useless fool.
Half an hour was up!
Everyone put down their brushes. Shen Li finally finished the last stroke just in time.
Jiao Yue stood behind Shen Li, extremely anxious. The painting was always blocked by Shen Li's body, so she couldn't see it clearly.
Different from Jiao Yue's anxiety, Shen Li looked calm.
In Shen Miao's eyes, this scene just made her think that Shen Li was still pretending when she was on the verge of a disaster.
After the eight people finished their paintings, everyone couldn't hold back their curiosity and leaned in to take a look.
Princess Luo Ning, of course, was in the first position. She had painted a garden full of spring scenery, with a hundred flowers in full bloom. Especially the three peonies in the painting were drawn in great detail.
Although it was only half an hour, Princess Luo Ning had tried her best to show the beauty of the three blooming peonies.
Everyone praised it when they saw it. Even Princess Luo Yao couldn't help but say a few words, "Little Nine has really made progress today! These three peonies are really well - drawn! It seems you've put in a lot of effort on weekdays!"
Princess Luo Ning was only a ten - year - old girl after all. Now that she had received praise from her favorite sister, a big smile had already appeared on her face.
"In painting, talent is important, but diligent practice is also indispensable for improving painting skills. Little Nine, your paintings are still too immature. You must never slack off in practice!"
Princess Luo Ning nodded seriously and said, "Sister is right! Little Nine remembers."
Princess Luo Yao looked at her chubby face with amusement and gently rubbed the top of her hair.
The painting time was only half an hour. Those who chose to paint must have been quite confident in their painting skills.
So after looking at five paintings in a row, they were all quite good.
When it came to the sixth painting, someone in the crowd whispered in surprise, "What is this painting? I don't quite understand."
"Well, I don't understand either. How about we go and ask Miss He? She has a lot of research on painting."
Their voices were not loud, and were covered by the surrounding noise, so they didn't attract everyone's attention.