Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1248: Chapter 414: Birthday, the Painter Dwelling in Xia City, Soaring Population, Despondency, _3

Very soon, a maid led a young woman dressed in plain green attire, whose appearance was unremarkable, slowly to the entrance of the main hall.

The woman in green had dark skin and had been constantly scrutinizing the decor of the Yuan Mansion since entering, her eyes full of surprise, clearly awestruck. She only lowered her head when she reached the entrance of the main hall and saw Shi Lu in a luxurious dress. With a slightly nervous tone, she greeted, ”Painter Chu Yan’er, pays her respects to Lady Yuan!”

Shi Lu did not show any disdain for Chu Yan’er’s attire or appearance. Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she smiled and asked, ”Miss Chu’s name is well-known, and it’s a pleasure to finally meet you today. I have heard that you can paint with just a glance, and the paintings you create can move. May I ask if that’s true?”

”It’s merely some skills not worth mentioning. Madam, you flatter me. I have a good memory, and indeed, I only need a glance to paint. As for whether the portraits can move, it’s just some tricks of light and shadow, which were already unraveled by the painter Bai Yunzi ten days ago.”

Shi Lu didn’t quite understand, but she confirmed that the paintings could indeed move, which piqued her curiosity even more. She nodded, glanced at Chu Yan’er, and then called over two maids, saying to Chu Yan’er, ”Follow the maids to the side hall. My Shao’er and his little friends are there. Why don’t you paint a scene of children playing? Can you do it?”

Upon hearing this, a gleam flashed in Chu Yan’er’s pupils, and she nodded heavily, saying, ”Yan’er will do her utmost to satisfy Lady Yuan!”

Shi Lu revealed a trace of satisfaction on her face and continued, ”I heard that you charge 1,000 taels for a painting in the Outer City. I’ll give you 1,500 taels, and if it’s good enough, I can add a bit more.”

Chu Yan’er immediately looked delighted and bowed in gratitude, saying, ”Thank you, Lady Yuan!”

It seems that what Xiang Liang said was true. She really is someone from the Outer Realm beyond the Extreme North Domain, not knowledgeable of the world. Had she not come to Great Xia, her painting skills might have remained forever buried.

Seeing Chu Yan’er’s reaction, Shi Lu recalled what Xiang Liang had told her about Chu Yan’er before, and then nodded, instructing the two maids to take Chu Yan’er over immediately.

”Miss Chu, please follow me!”

Chu Yan’er immediately followed behind the two maids, heading toward the side hall.

Neither Shi Lu nor the two maids noticed that the moment Chu Yan’er turned around, the joy on her face vanished, replaced by a look of intense intrigue and delight deep within her pupils.

”This has come without much effort, not a waste of my hard work painting in the Outer City for over half a month. Now, I can not only probe into the Inner City but also paint for the core offspring of Great Xia’s high-levels. As long as I can capture them all in my painting...”

Underneath Chu Yan’er’s calm exterior was a heart full of joy.

On the nineteenth of last month, she and six others, including Chen Yimou, assumed the identity of travelers and slipped into Xia City. However, she found that she could only operate in the Outer City and couldn’t even enter the Inner City, let alone investigate the true state of Great Xia.

Thus, she could only showcase her painting skills to draw attention.

Being someone who preferred quality over quantity and extremely dedicated to her craft, she used to produce at most one piece in six months at Chen Cang. But over the past half a month, she had done portraits for nearly a hundred people, the psychological strain of which was evident.

Yet, when Xiang Liang came yesterday to inform her that Lady Yuan from the Inner City wanted her to paint for her son Yuan Cheng’s birthday, Chu Yan’er knew her efforts of the past half month hadn’t been in vain.

”Yesterday, it was merely a suspicion. Now, it’s almost certain. The mansion is so close to the main hall, this Lady Yuan is indeed the Director of the Garrison Department, one of the Eight Divisions of Great Xia, and Yuan Cheng’s wife.”

”Miss Chu, you see, the one ahead is my young master Yuan Shao, and the remaining twenty-seven are the young masters of various Inner City households.”

While Chu Yan’er was pondering, she was already brought to the entrance of the side hall by the two maids. Following the maid’s pointing, she looked through the window and saw a group of little children in the hall playing with weapons, and her gaze sharpened.

”Alright, I will start painting here!”

With a composed expression, Chu Yan’er opened the accompanying package, took out a blank scroll, spread it on the table prepared by the maid, and then took out a black brush from her bosom, directly starting to paint.

”In Great Xia, those with a Cold Resistance Level cultivation seem to have awakened a kind of bloodline-like special defense mechanism that blocks me from capturing their image with a brush. However, those at the Logging Realm and Earth-digging Realm basically do not, meaning those with lower cultivation do not possess this bloodline trait.

The oldest child here is only eight years old and just broke through to the Earth-digging Realm, which means, capturing their form is no problem at all!”

As her expression grew increasingly bright, Chu Yan’er’s hand movements quickened.

In less than half an hour, the previously blank scroll was detailed with everything in the side hall, even the lights and shadows of the candles were vividly clear. The twenty-eight children were depicted moving and static, jumping and speaking, jesting and playing with weapons, all their lively images vividly coming alive on the paper, with the portrait nearing completion.

The only thing missing was twenty-eight pairs of eyes.

The two maids beside her had long been observing, eagerly waiting for Chu Yan’er to add the final touches to those twenty-eight pairs of eyes.

With a flicker in her eyes, Chu Yan’er lifted the brush and first touched the face of Yuan Shao in the center of the painting, clearly intending to bring him to life first.