Phoenix Rising

011

"You've come just at the right time. We were admiring the paintings that the girls have painted. Perhaps you can help me choose a winner?" the queen said, gesturing towards the hanging paintings.

The eyes of all the young girls present immediately lit up. The queen was asking the crown prince to pick the winning painting—and the stakes for the contest had suddenly shot up. If any of the paintings (or perhaps the girl who painted it) caught the prince's eye, then there was a good chance that the title of crown princess would fall on that lucky girl's shoulders. Right now, everyone wanted to be that girl.

The crown prince and the others slowly made their way down the aisle of paintings, nodding in approval as they admired each one. As expected, the most eye-catching pieces belonged to Ouyang Sangya, Song Lanfang and Meiyan, each of them earning a line of two of praise from the princes.

"These peonies almost look real!" Ru-quan exclaimed as he studied Meiyan's piece. True enough, the brilliantly red and pink flowers had been painted with such depth and detail that they seemed to jump right off the parchment.

"Look, even the butterflies are confused." Ru-an laughed, watching as two butterflies fluttered past him and landed on Meiyan's painted peonies.

Zi-ning's lips curled up in a sneer. More cheap tricks? Meiyan must have added honey to her paints just to attract the butterflies.

Meiyan was already blushing when she heard the princes' remarks. She was glancing shyly at the young men, looking like the perfect picture of grace and elegance. It was no wonder Ru-an had been attracted to her in their previous life. How could a man resist a girl who was as delicate and supple as a flower? Even Zi-ning had to admit that her half-sister had her charms.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see some of the other girls scowling when they heard the princes' remarks. Even Han Minyoo, Meiyan's close friend, shot an envious glance in Meiyan's direction.

While Ru-quan and Ru-an were admiring Meiyan's painting, Ru-wen had gone further ahead and stopped in front of Zi-ning's painting of the sole willow tree in the middle of the lake.

"This one stands out, doesn't it?" Queen Yuanji remarked. "This was painted by Minister Han's second daughter. Interesting how a young girl chooses to paint a tree when surrounded by a garden full of flowers."

The queen's remark caught the attention of the other men, who quickly lost interest in Meiyan's painting and walked over to join Ru-wen.

"And whose painting might this be?" Ru-quan asked, peering at it curiously.

The queen looked in Zi-ning's direction and the latter quickly stood up from her seat, curtseying politely.

"I painted that, Your Highness," Zi-ning replied. She could already feel all the poisonous stares from the other girls coming her way.

"When I asked her why she chose to paint the willow, she said that she felt it looked lonely," the queen laughed. "That's quite an interesting answer, is it not?"

"Very," the crown prince replied with a smile.

Everyone present was looking at Zi-ning now, including Ru-an.

When Zi-ning caught the fifth prince looking at her, she quickly averted her gaze, but ended up meeting that of the eighth prince, Ru-wen, instead. She stared down at her feet—guilty. While she could look Ru-an in the eye, albeit with fury, she couldn't do the same for Ru-wen. She owed him too much. In this life, the only thing she could do for him was to stay far away, so that hopefully the same tragedy would not have to repeat itself.

"So, you've seen all the paintings. Which one do you think deserves the top honour?" the queen asked.

"You're putting me on a spot, Mother," Ru-quan replied. "How am I supposed to choose when there are so many excellent pieces of work?"