9 Inestimable Boon

These words absolutely required a response. Yan Qiu Yue whirled around, the flowy material of her robes twirling around her legs as she did so. She rounded on Song Mei Zhen. "And how would you know that Lu Li's paints were defective, hmm? Then again, you were the only person other than her who came near her paints."

Song Mei Zhen deflated, her face turning white. "That's..."

"Oh~ So you mean to say that this wasn't done on purpose?"

Yan Qiu Yue turned to see Wei Hong Sheng holding one of the small bowls of Song Lu Li's paints. As everyone watched, he tilted the bowl, allowing most of the paint to drip onto the ground. A sparkly, somewhat gritty substance remained at the bottom of the bowl.

"What is that!?" The hostess of the gathering balked. "None of the paints I provided should have anything extra added!" The paints were all water-soluble and each set of paints had been prepared to be like the others.

"I believe this is gypsum powder. I have seen it used to remove paint, but..." He chuckled lightly. "I had thought that the artist added this on purpose to achieve this unique style. Was that not the case?" Wei Hong Sheng was smiling, but Yan Qiu Yue could see no mirth in his eyes. In fact, there was no emotion there at all, as if those two eyes were black, bottomless pits. The sight gave her a chill. What was his aim?

"Second Sister..." Song Lu Li bit her lip.

Song Mei Zhen realized that in her incredulous anger, she'd thoroughly implicated herself in this matter. Her face flushed in embarrassment. Without another word, she turned and walked out of the garden with her maids behind her.

"You--!!" Yan Qiu Yue snapped out of her daze and was about to say something at that retreating back when she was stopped by her friend.

Song Lu Li put her mouth close to Yan Qiu Yue's ear and whispered. "It's fine. It's not as if she can leave without me. We came in one carriage." she sighed. "I will talk to her about this later."

Yan Qiu Yue wasn't exactly happy about this. She was one who liked problems to be resolved immediately. However, this was ultimately Lu Li's problem. She could not overstep and cause more problems for her friend. "I'm sorry..."

"Why?" Song Lu Li blinked in confusion.

"I wanted to help you, but all I could use were petty words." Yan Qiu Yue's eyes traveled to the figure of her fiance. "That noble one handled everything."

Just then, Wei Hong Sheng turned his head slightly and their eyes met. They held eye contact for several moments, but when Yan Qiu Yue thought he'd say something to her, he turned away to speak some more to the hostess and the marquis.

"...Really hateful." Yan Qiu Yue thought. She didn't know what to make of his behavior.

In the end, Song Lu Li was chosen as the winner of the painting competition after all. She won a copy of the "Inspector of the Whistling Pines" and was more than happy to gift it to Feng Ming Xia. The latter had managed to take third place in the poetry competition but won some jewelry instead of her coveted book. Yan Qiu Yue took second place in the painting competition and happily took her prize: a fragrant silk sachet.

"Would you like to keep Miss Song's painting? It seems you have an affinity with it." Marquis Xu said to Wei Hong Sheng.

"Hmm... There's another one that I would much rather have." He walked up to Yan Qiu Yue's painting. "Future wife, this is your work?" He turned to her as he asked.

Yan Qiu Yue froze. She hadn't expected for him to address her directly. Wei Hong Sheng hadn't greeted her earlier and had turned away when they'd made eye contact. She quickly recovered and curtsied towards him. "Replying to Prince Rui-shizi, I indeed painted that."

"It would be an inestimable boon if you'd grant me this painting."

She could not read his tone or expression. "I painted it for the competition, thus it is not mine to give."

"Nonsense. This is your own work." Marquis Xu laughed. "Take it or gift it as you will." His daughter nodded her head up and down in agreement.

Wei Hong Sheng smiled as if to say "You see? What will you do now?"

"I fear the exchanges between us are rather too unequal, my lord."

"Oh?"

"Has Prince Rui-shizi forgotten the location of my humble Ning Duke estate? When shall we have the pleasure of gaining an 'inestimable boon' or two ourselves?"

Her words had a double meaning. First, she was commenting on the fact that despite the fact that they'd now been betrothed for a fair while and the wedding was mere months away, Prince Rui's estate had yet to send over the customary betrothal gifts. While Yan Qiu Yue wasn't happy about this fiance of hers, not receiving the betrothal gifts was still a slap in the face. It was a clear communication that Prince Rui and his family weren't happy about the marriage. Where did that leave her reputation?

Secondly, by referring to her household and using the "we" pronoun, she was saying that this slight was felt by her entire family. It wasn't that she specifically was unhappy about not receiving betrothal gifts but that this was not being deferential enough towards the Ning Duke estate. She placed the blame on him while making her family--not her--the victim.

"I had not realized that Miss Yan was so eager to marry in. I see now; you are so happy that you cannot believe that the marriage is happening without something more concrete and binding."

"Oh my, Prince Rui-shizi certainly has an optimistic perspective on things."

"I see you are not refuting my words."

"How could I dare to refute the words of my future lord and husband?" The ice in Yan Qiu Yue's tone was palpable at this point.

With a smile, Wei Hong Sheng rolled up her painting and handed it to his attendant to take care of. "Then I shall hold on to this...as part of your dowry. Do not worry, Miss Yan, we have not forgotten your address." He then turned, said some flowery words to Marquis Xu, and left.

Yan Qiu Yue wondered if that was his way of saying that the betrothal gifts would be delivered soon. She wasn't sure if this made her happy or not.

"That was my first time seeing Prince Rui-shizi." Feng Ming Xia said to her afterward on their way to the carriages. "He is rather handsome, no?"

"If I had to say whether he is handsome or ugly, then I would have to begrudgingly admit that he is rather handsome. However..." Yan Qiu Yue thought back to their exchange just now and rolled her eyes. "In the end, I prefer men like Inspector Yu! This Wei Hong Sheng is too much of a dandy! I can't stand men who put on such airs."

What use was there in comparing a real flesh and blood man to a fictional character? Feng Ming Xia thought this but didn't have the heart to say these words to her cousin. "Have you met Prince Rui-shizi before, big sis? You conversed as if you were familiar with him."

"...Not really." They had briefly met before, both when she was disguised as her brother and later. However, it wasn't as if they'd really had a conversation or spent any quality time together.

"Huh. I wonder how he knew that was your painting, then. And he addressed you, as well, as if he knew you. His tone was so very familiar!"

When Yan Qiu Yue thought about Prince Rui-shizi referring to her as "Future Wife", her ears burned. Her mind traveled back to their last interaction and she made the connection between his words today and her words back then. It seemed he was returning tit for tat! The remembrance of her behavior then made her have to fight a war with herself to keep her composure.

"Hmm... Perhaps he's seen your work before. After all, you are known in the capital for your artistic talents." Feng Ming Xia thought aloud.

"I wonder..."

Today's chain of events made Yan Qiu Yue feel uneasy. Her thoughts swirled into confusion and worry all the way home.