Chapter 6: Arrogance would be her downfall
Although Yingyue was nervous because she had never been in such a strange situation, she was confident of her abilities. Her mother, however.... she was evidently tense, judging from how hard she was clutching Yingyue's small hands. Despite this, Concubine Lu still made sure to encourage Yingyue.
"Yue'er, be a good girl, alright? Mother loves you, so try hard. No matter what, don't shed a single tear. Remember to stay strong..." Concubine Lu looked into her child's eyes anxiously, and only after seeing Yingyue's confirmation, did she let out a sigh. She could only let go of her child's hands with a heavy heart...
Yingyue slowly raised herself, ignoring her protesting backside, and walked to the centre of the room, leaving behind any strands of uneasiness.
Truthfully, she felt quite awkward in her current state as a little girl again... after all, she was already a 23 year old woman who, in every right, was able to stand over thousands of people. Therefore, her current status and state was rather shocking.
Watching from above, Madam Jiang looked at the Yingyue's shabby outfit then up to her face which exuded a confident aura. Hmph... this kid who was usually timid and quiet was suddenly acting confident.
"It must have been that little Lu vixen telling her to act like this... we'll see how long you can keep the act up. Like mother, like daughter..." she cursed under breath as she glared hatefully.
Like mother, like daughter indeed... Yingyue could see Madam Jiang's expression from the centre of the hall, and that seemingly sweet child of hers had the exact same expression printed on her face... Ha, well at least she could establish that in this family, they didn't even bother to hide their disdain for her. They wanted an open war? Well, Yingyue had never been a person to back down from a battle... just they wait...
Before doing anything else, Yingyue did a slight curtsy in respect. "Yue'er greets Madam Cha. Yue'er hopes that Madam Cha will not mark me too harshly." Her voice was even and soft such that it was truly pleasing to the ear.
For the first time, Madam Cha's expression changed almost imperceptibly, but Yingyue could see that she had understood. While her greeting had seemed to be in respect for Madam Cha, in fact, by ignoring her father, she had already demoted his importance in the hall.
With this greeting and the way in which her father had called her out, it was not difficult for Madam Cha to connect the dots. Seeing the child's confident aura, she couldn't help but to be curious as to why Prime Minister Jiang disliked her.
She once overheard some young girls, to whom she had taught etiquette, gossiping about the most useless girl in the city, born of the Left Prime Minister's household.
From what she had witnessed in this hall so far, the two older sisters were indeed only mediocre, but nonetheless could still be considered talented even among the upper class. Since it didn't seem like either of them, could it be this 3rd daughter...
However, a child that is useless... shouldn't she bow her head in shame, rather than this confident demeanor that Madam Cha was seeing before her...?
Although curious, Madam Cha controlled her expression and nodded in approval for Yingyue to continue. On the other side of Master Jiang, the main wife clenched her fan tightly, seeing that Madam Cha had not bothered to pay attention to anyone but now acknowledged the useless girl.
"This past month, I have been learning how to paint." Hearing this, Master Jiang sighed... another disaster was on its way...
"Yue'er, did you not learn your lesson last month after making a mess of this hall... yet, you want to do it again?"
Yingyi let out a quiet giggle, her eyes gleaming with arrogance and mockery.
Concubine Lu, who sat on the side, clutched her dress with worry. What was going on? Didn't she teach Yue'er calligraphy this month? How come she was saying that she learnt how to paint... especially after last month's test...
"I have been learning properly this month. I will not disappoint you, father." Even with her voice still maintaining its softness, she accentuated every word with certainty.
Master Jiang was surprised by the firm words... Alright, well if she wanted to make a fool of herself, he would let her... After all, it's not like he had not tried to stop her.
Today, he had to teach her the lesson that her arrogance would be her downfall. He quickly waved for the servants to prepare the materials...
On the surface, it might have seemed that she knew nothing and simply wanted to act up, but in reality, no one knew that Yingyue had once practiced art while studying at Harvard University.
While she had been studying in the medical program, her college professor had recommended her to find something that she could learn in her spare time seeing how she was always concentrated on her academics. Hence, she picked up a hobby she had never tried before... painting.
As with all her other hobbies, she became amazingly proficient after a period of time, producing beautiful pieces of artwork. Aside from being able to copy famous artworks precisely, she had even created as insightful pieces herself.
Many friends and colleagues encouraged her to have them displayed in galleries, but she quickly refused... Even though she was talented, it wasn't always necessary to show off.
In her belief, arrogance was for the weak, so that they could fulfill their insecurities, while humbleness was for the capable who did not need to be assured of their own abilities. After all, everything is easier said than done...
Even though all the materials had been set up already, Yingyue did not touch anything while thinking of what she wanted to paint. Taking her thinking for hesitation... Master Jiang thought that she was truly just being arrogant for nothing.
"Yue'er. If you make a mess again this time, remember that you will be punished heavily... Don't you go and embarrass me now."
Nodding slightly, she picked up a medium sized brush and gently dipped it in the ink before setting the brush to paper. Embarrass him? Sure, she would definitely embarrass him...