The Dandy's Duchess

Chapter 118: Painting Skills, Lifelike Brushwork (8)

Cailian was deep in thought when she saw Yun Qianyue rushing out of the room. She immediately chased after her. "Miss, where are you going?"

"To settle a score with that scoundrel. You don't need to come along!" Yun Qianyue's fury blazed like a fiery mountain erupting. She stormed out of the East Wing courtyard and headed toward the West Wing, an ominous chill following her every step. The nerve of that man! Not only did he steal her blanket, but he had also burned her paintings without her permission! Unforgivable. This time, she'd make sure he paid for both old and new grievances.

Inside the main house of the West Wing courtyard, Rongjing, now freshly bathed and dressed in clean clothes, was sitting at the table, eating breakfast.

"Rongjing!" Yun Qianyue's voice burst into the courtyard with such rage that it reached him before she did.

Rongjing sipped his lotus-leaf porridge, seemingly unaware of her arrival.

With a loud "bang," the door was flung open, and Yun Qianyue strode in angrily. In just a few steps, she reached the table and slammed her hand down on it. "Tell me, was it you who burned my paintings?"

The loud slap left her hand stinging, but the table remained utterly still.

"Yes," Rongjing answered with a nod.

"Why did you burn my paintings?" Yun Qianyue's eyes bored into him as if she could devour him. The audacity to admit it!

"Are you sure those were your paintings?" Rongjing arched a brow.

"Of course, they were my paintings!" Yun Qianyue snapped.

"Were they painted by you? And of Ye Qingran?" He raised his eyebrow even higher.

"Of course—what does it matter if I painted them or not? The person in the paintings was Ye Qingran!" She nearly admitted it, but remembering the reputation she'd built of being a hopeless case when it came to scholarly pursuits, she corrected herself just in time.

"If you were the one who painted those, I should send a letter to the Yun Prince's residence to inform the Old Prince. Imagine how pleased he would be to find out his precious granddaughter is a painting prodigy, surpassing even the royal court's artists. The emperor, too, would be thrilled to hear about it." Rongjing's tone was calm.

Yun Qianyue frowned. "Of course, I didn't paint them!"

"Hm, if that's the case, then as an unmarried woman, keeping paintings of a man is rather inappropriate and breaks the conduct of a proper lady. Everyone would talk, saying you have your heart set on the young prince Ye Qingran. The gossip is one thing, but if word reached the Southern Borders, where a certain tribal princess has deep affections for Ye Qingran, she might get furious and come storming into the capital. Can you imagine what would happen?"

Yun Qianyue's anger dissipated halfway, though she still replied fiercely, "They're in my room. Who would find out?"

"Well, I found out. There's no guarantee someone else won't," Rongjing replied.

"You trespassed into a lady's quarters, and now you're flaunting it. Aren't you embarrassed?" she shot back.

"You, an unmarried woman, hid portraits of a man to admire daily without blushing. I only stepped into your quarters without doing anything improper, so why should I be embarrassed?" Rongjing's tone was mild, his brows raised.

"You—" Yun Qianyue glared at him, gritting her teeth so hard she could hear them. "No matter what the reason, they were still my things. You burned my belongings without my permission. That's just wrong!"

"I was helping you. Should we go back to Prince Yun and ask for his opinion? Let's see if he thinks it was wrong of me to burn Ye Qingran's portrait or if it was wrong of you to keep a man's portrait privately. How about that?" Rongjing suggested.

Yun Qianyue felt her head throbbing. If she brought this up to her grandfather, he would definitely side against her. She glared at Rongjing. "There's nothing to discuss! It's your fault, and you have to compensate me with a new portrait."

"There's none to give," he replied calmly, returning to his meal.

Yun Qianyue glared at him, pressing her hand on his bowl to stop him. "Will you compensate me or not?"

Rongjing looked up at her, his tone slow and unhurried. "The Southern Border is known to be a land of poisonous miasmas, with deadly creatures in abundance. People there raise insects for a living, and nearly everyone has a poisonous creature or two. The Southern Border tribe's leaders are said to practice a secret type of voodoo. They raise tiny insects in human blood and send them into the bodies of their enemies, controlling them at will. There's no defense against it."

Yun Qianyue shivered. She had heard of such things before. Could the Southern Border be related to the fabled Miao people?

"So, imagine the consequences if that Southern Border girl learned you kept a portrait of Ye Qingran. If she hexes you, I won't be able to save you. Ye Qingran would likely be too disgusted to intervene, given that you'd have disrupted his romance with her. By then, death may be closer than you think," Rongjing added.

Yun Qianyue shuddered, loosening her grip on the bowl. She looked at him suspiciously. "Is it really that serious?"

"Absolutely. Possibly worse," Rongjing confirmed, returning to his meal.

Her anger faded, and Yun Qianyue reconsidered. The Southern Border people seemed best avoided; she certainly didn't want any hexes cast on her. But those paintings—such a beautiful landscape and subject—were now reduced to ashes, and her heart ached for them. Glancing at Rongjing's elegant dining, she became aware of her own empty stomach. "I'm hungry, too."

"I thought you might come over, so I prepared something for you." Rongjing pushed a soup bowl in her direction and said gently, "You drank too much wine yesterday and didn't eat anything, so some warm porridge will be good for your stomach."

Only now did Yun Qianyue notice an empty bowl and a pair of chopsticks in front of her. She sat down and ladled herself a bowl, taking a large gulp. A slight medicinal scent lingered in the porridge, and she wrinkled her nose. "Is this porridge made with herbs?"

"You've caught a chill, so this will help. I've already had medicine prepared, which will be brought here shortly. Drink it, and you'll feel better," Rongjing explained.

"Achoo!" Just as he mentioned her cold, Yun Qianyue turned her head and sneezed. She glared at Rongjing, muttering, "You took my blanket, or I wouldn't have caught this cold."