Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 193 A Painting

"Hey, what is this place?"

Qing Wan stared with her big, shining eyes, looking at this strange place curiously.

She was just in the room, but in the blink of an eye, she was taken to another place by Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Wen Gong."

Lu Zheng just tried it out of curiosity, but his own Wen Palace Sea of Consciousness could not accommodate other living things, so he brought Qing Wan in.

He guessed that Qing Wan must have followed him for a long time and had her own aura, so she was able to enter this place.

“What a big house!”

Qing Wan looked at the Haoran Zhengqi Hall not far away and ran over excitedly to see what was going on.

However, as soon as she reached the entrance of the hall, she felt a vast aura that made her dare not set foot inside.

Lu Zheng stood aside, trying to mobilize his righteous energy to build a small courtyard outside, but found it difficult to do so.

"I can't really have to buy spiritual materials or use real wood and stone to build it, right?" Lu Zheng touched his chin and thought.

He looked at Qing Wan beside him and said, "Try to see if you can grow beans here."

"Ok?"

Qing Wan became interested after hearing this. She opened her mouth and spit out a few peas, then began to induce labor.

At first, the pea seedlings grew well, but then their vitality was exhausted and they could not get nutrients in this space for a while, so they quickly became wilted.

"No..."

Qingwan fiddled with the withered peas, her little face wrinkled.

Lu Zheng also observed for a while, suddenly thought of something, and then took Qing Wan away from Wen Palace.

When they returned outside, Lu Zheng murmured, "Looks like I need to learn how to paint."

As long as the art of painting reaches the true state, it will be full of vitality and charm.

The painted houses can also appear and last forever in the Wen Palace.

Even if it wasn't a real house, it wouldn't be so easy to destroy.

Lu Zheng thought that this method was feasible, so he went to a bright place in the yard and began to try painting.

Drawing a painting with spirit is actually similar to composing poetry and literary treasures, both of which test a writer's skills.

Lu Zheng first took the green bamboo scroll and looked at it carefully.

Then I wasted several sheets of paper before I could draw a small, somewhat spiritual grass, and vaguely grasped the key.

“It doesn’t feel that difficult.”

Lu Zheng was thinking that the reason why painting was not difficult was mainly because of his righteous spirit, which made it easier for him to give spirituality to the paintings.

Lu Zheng looked at Qing Wan next to him, took out a charcoal pencil, and tried to draw a character using the sketching method.

The more extraordinary something is, the more difficult it is to depict its spirituality.

Even if Lu Zheng painted Qing Wan very realistically, it would be difficult to make the painting have spiritual energy.

Half a day passed before Lu Zheng finished another painting, and the drawing paper was filled with a touch of spiritual energy.

"what?"

Qing Wan couldn't help but take a closer look, and saw that the little man in the painting looked exactly like herself, and even had a hint of spirit.

Lu Zheng lightly tapped the paper, and the little man in the painting moved, tilted his head, blinked his eyes, and looked around, looking vividly.

"Hey?"

Qingwan was very curious and wanted to reach out and touch it, but she was afraid of damaging the painting.

But the little man was unable to come out of the painting. After moving for a while, the spiritual energy in him dissipated and he froze in the painting again, becoming an ordinary picture.

"Dead?"

Qing Wan's eyes suddenly widened.

"Well, it wasn't alive in the first place."

Lu Zheng explained in a low voice and corrected Qing Wan's three views.

At this time, Xiao Shan came in from outside.

Seeing the pile of drawings, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are you learning to paint, young man?"

"Yes, I was thinking about whether I could draw a courtyard and then move it into the Wen Palace." Lu Zheng explained with a smile.

"I see." Xiao Shan smiled upon hearing this. "This method may not be impossible, but it's not easy to draw a picture like that."

As long as one has good painting skills, it is not impossible to draw a whole courtyard, or even to move a piece of heaven and earth to the Wen Palace.

But even in Xiaoshan, who loves painting, he cannot draw realistic landscape and pastoral paintings.

He draws some simple plants and figures, which is already pretty good.

Xiao Shan looked at Lu Zheng's discarded drafts, his eyes flickering slightly as he asked in surprise, "Your painting style is a bit strange. I've never seen it before. What kind of painting style is this?"

"sketch……"

Lu Zheng gave a brief explanation.

Xiao Shan took the drawing and examined it carefully, and could not help but exclaim in admiration: "This painting method has many merits."

Xiao Shan paused, then asked curiously, "How good can you draw now, young friend?"

"It's barely enough to make the painting move."

Lu Zheng quickly drew Qing Wan and demonstrated it. Xiao Shan was a little surprised and said, "It seems that you have a talent for painting."

He could tell that Lu Zheng's technique was not very skilled and he probably seldom painted.

It is quite rare to be able to draw a lively painting.

"Average." Lu Zheng smiled. "I feel like I'll need to practice for a long time if I want to draw a yard for myself."

"This is definitely not something that can be achieved overnight." Xiao Shan thought for a moment and said, "I don't have a painting like that. Why don't you just go buy one?"

Lu Zhengdao: "That kind of painting should be very expensive, right?"

Xiao Shan said, "If it's just a pastoral painting that barely reaches the True Realm, it's actually not that expensive. You can buy it for a few hundred spirit stones. A better painting can also be afforded by you, my friend."

A few hundred spirit stones might be a lot for others.

But Xiaoshan knew Lu Zheng's family background, and since they were all going to kill the dragon and divide the spoils together, these spirit stones were nothing.

Xiao Shan continued, "There's a painter in Hongzhou who's good at painting landscapes and countryside. How about I ask someone to ask for you?"

"In Hongzhou City?" Lu Zheng asked.

Xiao Shan nodded and said, "His family is in Hongzhou City. I don't know if he is there now. I know him, but we haven't been in touch recently."

Lu Zheng then said, "I happen to be going to Hongzhou City in a few days. The dean can just tell me where he lives and I will visit him in person."

"Huh? Young man, you're leaving?" Xiao Shan said with a little surprise.

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "I have some personal matters to attend to. Besides, I can't sit still, so I need to go out more and see the world."

Lu Zheng did not tell Xiao Shan and the others about his assassination attempt because he did not want to trouble them.

Moreover, the more people know about this kind of thing, the more likely it is to alert the enemy.

So Lu Zheng chose to let those spirit birds help him and did not ask anyone else for help.

Xiaoshan knew that Kaiyang County could not keep Lu Zheng, and he did not expect that Lu Zheng would go out to study again so soon. The young man was really energetic and could leave at any time.

"That's fine," Xiao Shan said. "Speaking of which, this year's Autumn Examination begins today. I wonder if Kaiyang County can produce one or two successful candidates."

Kaiyang County already has the remarkable Lu Zheng, a successful candidate in the imperial examination this year, but it would be even better if a few more successful candidates could pass the examination.

Xiao Shan added, "Young friend, if you go to Hongzhou City now, you should be able to meet many young scholars. A big city like that still has some truly talented students, and there are many talented people. Unlike a small county like ours, it's rare to see an outstanding young person."

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "If I have the chance, I will communicate with them."

Xiao Shan said, "Mid-Autumn Festival is almost here. After you finish your work, will you come back to celebrate the festival?"

"Well...I shouldn't celebrate the festival. The dean doesn't need to care about me."

Now that he is used to being alone, Lu Zheng no longer cares about those holidays.

Moreover, he estimated that by the time he finished his business, the Mid-Autumn Festival would probably have passed, and he might not have time to return to Kaiyang County.

Of course, he must come back to Kaiyang County in the future to see whether the construction here is going smoothly.

"You're not coming back..."

Seeing this, Xiaoshan didn't say much.

He raised his hand and took out a brand new scroll and spread it out. It was a picture of a white crane spreading its wings, which was lifelike and very lively.

Xiao Shan said, "This is the crane painting you requested. If used once, it can fly two thousand miles. If used sparingly and multiple times, nourished with spiritual and literary energy, it can last even longer. My painting skills are not very good, so I can only do this much."

Lu Zheng took the painting and said with a smile, "Very good, thank you, Dean."

Hearing Xiao Shan say this, Lu Zheng felt more and more that he should practice painting more.

Whenever you want to go somewhere in the future, you can draw a big bird or a dragon and ride there. It is convenient and cool.

However, a dragon is many times more difficult to draw than a bird. Lu Zheng can only think about it for the time being. It is not very realistic to want to ride a dragon.

Xiao Shan waved his hand and said, "Don't be so formal. I'll write you another letter so you can go meet the painter. I have a good relationship with him. For my sake, he should be able to paint a new picture for you."

After saying that, Xiao Shan wrote a visiting card on the spot and handed it to Lu Zheng.

"I have a few good friends in Hongzhou. If you encounter any problems, you can go to them and use the jade pendant I gave you as a token of trust..."

Xiao Shan spoke again, his words full of concern for Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng didn't think it was nagging and wrote down everything he said.

He didn't know much about Hongzhou City, so it would be nice if someone could tell him about the situation there.

Xiao Shan said leisurely, "After you leave, I guess I'll take a few disciples out for some traveling in the near future."

Seeing Lu Zhengdu so active, he felt that he should also take action, put it on the agenda, and do something meaningful.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask curiously, "Does the dean already have a candidate for his disciple?"

Xiao Shan smiled slightly and said, "I've already discussed this with a few students individually. Of course, it depends on whether they and their family elders agree..."

The disciples he wanted to accept had to go out with him to take risks and endure hardships, so he needed the consent of the elders in the student's family before he would officially accept him as a disciple.

Xiao Shan told the situation of several students, including Li Zhao.

Although Li Zhao was a cheerful person and not very talented, he had some good qualities. He could endure hardships and his personality had changed a bit after following Lu Zheng. That was why he was chosen by Xiaoshan.

Lu Zheng thought back to those people and nodded, "It is their honor to be the dean's disciple."

Xiao Shan smiled and said, "I hope I can teach one or two promising disciples! Have you planned your itinerary?"

Lu Zheng replied, "The day after tomorrow morning, maybe. There are some books in the dean's study that I haven't read yet."

Xiao Shan said generously, "If you want to see it, go ahead. As long as it's not a unique copy, you can take it away!"

(End of this chapter)