Chapter 40

The incense in the brass burner burnt slowly.

[Translation note: An incense was burnt to determine a time frame]

With still less than half of the incense stick left to burn finish, Nan Yan confidently put down her brush pen.

She looked at her drawing delightfully and could not help but looked at Nan Baoyi.

Her seat was quite far away and she could not see what Nan Baoyi was drawing.

But her drawing teacher told her before, drawing requires enthusiasm and smooth flow. Nan Baoyi definitely could not draw anything good with her being so careful.

She was definitely winning this round!

The incense finally burnt out.

The brass gong sounded, Nan Baoyi calmly put aside her brush pen.

The reason why she wanted to participate in the “drawing” event was that she remembered the topic for this event was “Spring Flowers”.

The girls from wealthy families all loved colorful flowers and so almost all of them could draw gorgeous colorful flowers. But putting all the drawings together only seemed tacky so she had to find another way.

When the examiner came to collect the drawings, he could not help but shook his head when he saw hers, “Fifth Miss Nan, your drawing does not have a single flower, I’m afraid this is off topic!”

Nan Baoyi smiled sweetly, “It’s okay, just hand it over for me, sir.”

The drawings were displayed very quickly.

The most eye-catching drawing was Nan Yan’s “A Blaze of Colors”. It had more than ten different flowers, all striving to stand out and flourish, attracting praises from the audience.

Madam Chang delightedly pushed Madam Cheng, “See, didn’t I say betting on Nan Yan would not go wrong? Look at what nonsense Nan Baoyi’s drew, it actually looks like a complicated-looking wooden cabinet!”

“Yan’er is indeed talented.” Madam Cheng smiled widely and said to Madam Liu, “Second Young Master appreciates talent. I think to him, Yan’er would be more suited for him than Baoyi.”

It was obvious she wanted to switch the marriage proposal.

Madam Liu was grinning from ear to ear, “Being able to be looked up by Madam Cheng is Yan’er’s good fortune!”

Madam Chang also chimed in, “My daughter is incompetent. Sister Liu, you should tell me how do you teach Yan’er usually? Let us learn from you too?”

“Oh, I do not have any experience, it’s all the nature of the child.” Madam Liu said modestly, “My Yan’er is very self-conscious of her studies, waking up at 7 am every day and learn the four arts ―”

She had not finished talking when the official on the platform suddenly said loudly:

“First place in the drawing event, Nan Baoyi!”

Madam Liu smiled grew bigger, “Frankly, my Yan’er not only has outstanding skills in drawing, but her calligraphy is also very good. Among girls her age, she is considered the most superior…”

She talked and talked and finally felt something was not right.

It was silent everywhere. Everyone was looking at the platform, stunned.

She recovered and touched her ears, asking incredulously, “My Lord, who got the first place in drawing?”

“Jiaojiao, it’s Jiaojiao!”

Nan Guang thumped his chest and was full of joy and grief at the same time. His facial expression was amusing.

The entire audience finally broke into an uproar.

The thunderous discussion was all about dissatisfaction.

“Nan Baoyi did not draw a single flower, how could she get first place?!”

“Miss Nan Yan is clearly the most outstanding one, she should get first place!”

“Did they receive a bribe from the Nan family?! Unfair!”

“…”

The blood on Nan Yan’s face drained completely.

She clenched her hands in disbelief, her nails cutting into her palm without her noticing.

Clearly, her drawing was the best, how could Nan Baoyi get first place?!

The head examiner beckoned everyone to be quiet.

He touched his beard and nodded towards Nan Baoyi admiringly, “Fifth Miss Nan, please explain?”

Nan Baoyi slowly walked to the center of the platform, “I drew a weaving machine.”

“Weaving machine?!”

Everyone looked at each other.

Nan Baoyi said clearly, “Yes, a weaving machine.”

“This weaving machine is newly made by Nan family’s sifu, weaving flower patterns using thread to replace bamboos, letting the weavers who worked on the flower patterns to effortlessly follow the flower design patterns one by one accordingly, the weavers only need to step on the pedal to proceed to heddle the woven fabric to move back and fro.”

“Using this will increase the woven cycle of the flower patterns and the flower designs will also be more rich-looking, greatly improving the production efficiency in Shu brocades.”

“Nan residence is not willing to hide such a good item. I purposely share it out with everyone and enjoy it.”

This was the weaving machine that only appeared one year later in the past life and it was indeed Nan family’s sifu’s masterpiece that would be handed down for generations.

Because of it, the Nan family’s Shu brocade business got better and better, saying that they could earn 190kg of gold every day was not an exaggeration.

But it was also because of the Nan residence’s good fortune that made all the dignitaries envious.

In this life, she shared it out and let the other Shu brocade merchants earn money together. Not only for Shu County’s good reputation but also no longer let the Nan family become a lone target.

Xia Qingqing said furiously in a loud voice, “You said this very well, this weaving machine is also very good. But what does it have to do with today’s competition topic?! Today’s topic is about spring flowers!”

Nan Baoyi smiled slightly, “I call this weaving machine a flower-weaving machine.”

She faced the audience, spread her arms wide, and bowed, her gesture was modest and gentle:

“Wishing that the flower-weaving machine would weave endless blaze of colors. Shu County will produce more Shu brocades year by year and Jinguan City will bloom more riches and honor year by year!”

The little girl’s sweet voice resonated powerfully.

Her gesture was like a tough seedling breaking through rough soil.

Jinguan City produced Shu brocades in abundance, even a large part of the tax revenue relied on Shu brocades.

Even the name of their city was named after Shu brocades.

[Translation note: Jin in Jinguan City meant brocade in mandarin.]

One can only imagine the significance of Shu brocades in this piece of land and the people.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Thunderous applause and cheer broke out suddenly!

Nan Yan stepped back weakly.

She knew that she lost again this round.

She lost thoroughly, lost without means to reverse the situation.

She looked pale. The dazzling and beautiful little girl only looked extremely unfamiliar!

Seeing the platform.

Old Madam Nan was so moved she burst into tears, “Blaze of colors, bloom riches and honor! Our Jiaojiao’er is all grown up, really grown up!”

Nan Baozhu proudly made a face towards Madam Cheng, “Madam Governor, my sister is better than Nan Yan, what else do you have to say?”

Madam Cheng blamed Madam Chang, “This is the person you chose!”

Madam Chang looked slightly embarrassed and persuaded, “No worries, no worries, there are two more rounds!”

The third round, calligraphy.

Most girls participated in this event but Nan Baoyi did not sign up.

She knew that her calligraphy was not up to standard yet.

She sat leisurely on the sidelines and watched Nan Yan and the other girls writing.

Nan Yan was after all still young and could not control her temper. Losing two rounds continuously had a huge impact on her. Her hand was actually trembling slightly when she held her brush pen.

No one could write good calligraphy with trembling hands like that.

When the examiner held up the paper, Nan Yan’s calligraphy was not only messy, even the strokes were trembling, like a child who just started learning to write.

The audience laughed and pointed at her work.

Nan Baoyi took out a piece of lotus candy from her purse and put it in her mouth, raising her eyebrows sweetly, “Sister’s calligraphy is not very good, you shouldn’t sign up to participate in the calligraphy event and being disgraced for no reason.”

Nan Yan scolded in embarrassment, “A lowly person intoxicated by success!”

Nan Baoyi mocked, “It’s better than an old horse falling down.”

Nan Yan was furious, “You calling me an old horse?!”

The official’s voice sounded at the right time:

“The fourth round, chess ―”