To Go Commission-Painting With the Fourth Miss

Two days passed by like a breeze.

Yujia spent most of her time sketching away, as well as investing some time on figuring out how to improve her art supplies. She finished her portrait of Hui'er and began to work on a quick self-portrait by referencing how she looked in the bronze mirror. Her other main art project was a painting of mountains that she promised the commissioner. That was an easy project that was finished in barely any time.

At the same time, Yujia also gave Hui'er the task of using some taels to buy a high quality cream so that she could try to get rid of her pimple within those two days. Considering that now she knew that taels were worth quite a lot, she only gave Hui'er five taels and expected the girl to only use one or two taels to buy the cream. She didn't expect that Hui'er would come back with a small canister of cream and all five of the taels gone.

The can of cream was so small that she could circle her index finger and thumb around the circumference completely. It was a rather shallow pan too, no longer than two centimeters.

Apparently, according to Hui'er, she sought after the best brand like Yujia asked for her to. The brand she came upon was highly demanded in the capital, supposedly being used by even the concubines and consorts within the imperial palace itself. That explained the overly high cost, and the reason why such a small pan would cost an entire five silver taels.

Yujia sighed upon hearing that. Even in the past, skincare products were still so costly.

Her heart ached a little from hearing the loss of five taels. Beauty truly had its price.

Even though the cream costed so much, it wasn't as effective as Yujia expected either. She used it every morning and night before she went to sleep, but at the end of the two days, the pimple at the bottom of her mouth still looked the same— bulging and hideous. It was only a little less redder but still mostly red.

Thus, on the morning where Yujia woke up to go to finish her commission, her only choice was to tie the sheer fabric that Hui'er gave her around her head, covering up the lower half of her face. She didn't want to do this, but she felt like it seemed more like the Fourth Miss to do something like this. Based on her impression of the Fourth Miss, she definitely did not seem like someone to go out with such a large pimple on her face for the public to view.

After tying on the sash, she rolled up her paper and other supplies, then left her courtyard. Hui'er followed behind, taking the paper and box of pencils from Yujia so that she didn't have to carry too much.

This was the day that she had been practicing for, the day where she would draw the portrait of the commissioner's wife. She would reach her goal of one hundred taels quickly, if everything went well.

...

It did not take too long for Yujia to get to her destination. The commissioner did say that his identity was the second young master of the Bo family, so all she had to do was to ask around to get to the villa he lived in. The Bo family was rather well known in the capital, but that wasn't surprising to Yujia either. She asked about who he was to Hui'er, getting a decent amount of information.

In the society of merchants, the Bo family was the richest in the capital. Their business spanned over everything, including the major categories of salt, grains, silks, precious metals, porcelain, and ivory. Despite the fact that merchants weren't a very high social class, the Bo family still made their name known through their vast wealth and long connections with the families of government officials. They also owned vast pieces of land and had a history of scholars coming from their family.

Overall, it made sense for why the Bo family was so well known and for why the commissioner— Bo Zhiyuan— had so much money to spend. In comparison to the small Yang family, the Bo family seemed to be on a whole other level.

That was why when Yujia arrived at the villa labeled with "Bo", she expected to see an impressive building and was not disappointed.

Compared to the dusty outer walls of the Yang villa, the Bo villa carried a grand outer appearance. The walls were lined with columns, and the brightly painted shingles on the rooftops glimmered in the sunlight. Large statues stood at the two sides, and a set of smoothly carved steps led to the entrance of the villa. Two guards even stood at the front.

If it wasn't for the fact that she knew what the Bo family did, she definitely would've thought of the villa as the possession of some highly ranked government official.

Cautiously, Yujia walked upwards to the top of the villa.

At the front, she was stopped by the guards. The two of them looked at her, then at each other, and back at her again with a judging gaze. They seemed rather skeptical for a few seconds.

Gruffly, one of the guards sneered, "State your name and purpose of coming here."

Yujia looked down at herself. When seeing how she was dressed and then looking at the grandness of the Bo villa, she could see why the guards had such an attitude.

Her clothes were quite plain, being a simplistic light blue silk barely embroidered with even lighter threads. They were not dyed vibrantly like the expensive robes she saw a couple of times in the market. Unlike the fancy young misses of bigger households with their elaborate hair pieces, all she had was a thin ivory hairpin that threaded through a loop of hair.

This was the reason for why she wanted to spend some more taels on improving what the Fourth Miss had. She didn't blame the guards for acting this way, but she still didn't like being judged by her physical appearance. The old Fourth Miss lived too simply, without any extravagance at all, and this wasn't exactly the best way to live as content as she may have been with it. Other people were always keen on judgement.

For now, though, she would just have to deal with the looks that she was being given from mere guards.

Yujia folded her hands together. She raised her eyebrows and coldly stated, "I have an appointment with your second young master. My name is Yang Yujia."

The guards reacted instantly.

Upon hearing her say the words of "Yang Yujia", the two of them dropped down on their knees, bowing deeply.

"We apologize, Miss Yang. The second young master is currently in his study. If you will, follow me and I can lead you there," one of them responded, the slightest bit of a tremble in his voice.

Yujia was about as stunned as the two of the guards were. Her eyes widened, and her expression changed to one of shock.

The change of attitude from before to now was too drastic. Way too drastic. Before, they seemed like they were looking down on her, but now, how were the two of them so respectful? They even seemed a little… fearful?

What exactly did Bo Zhiyuan tell the two guards about her appointment with him today to make the two of them act like this?

Yujia's eyebrows pinched in thought, but after just a brief moment, she gestured for the guard who spoke to stand up and lead her while waving to Hui'er to follow behind her. Whatever he said was not important. She could just ask him about it later.