Chapter 644: Subsequent 267
Yueyao was shocked by the news that she and Mu Qinglian were known as the Beauties of the Capital.
"Cousin-in-law, could there be a mistake, how come we are dubbed the Beauties of the Capital?" She had always avoided publicizing her reputation, yet ironically, it had circled back to her.
Zhuang Ruolan looked at Yueyao and smiled, "It’s all over the place; no mistake there. What, don’t you like it?" She knew about the affair at Marquis Jingning’s Residence yesterday, acknowledging that such a reputation could benefit Yueyao tremendously.
Yueyao’s face showed her distress: "These are all empty titles, what use do I have for them? I don’t even know who engineered this." She had strived to go unnoticed, yet Mingzhu had managed to stir up such a mess. If she didn’t severely deal with Mingzhu this time, she would have suffered a great loss in vain.
Zhuang Ruolan said with a laugh, "You’re just overly cautious, child. But you don’t have to worry. Didn’t you say you only excel in drawing Buddha statues? From now on, just draw Buddha statues; that too shows your true connection with Buddha. Once your Buddha statues are well made, you could form many good relationships."
Yueyao was somewhat surprised: "Good relationships? What good relationships?" She did not understand the significance of this matter, as drawing a few Buddha statues had been common for her in the past.
Zhuang Ruolan shook her head with a smile. The child was too naive, not seeing how great an opportunity this was for her: "I heard from Yan Fan that your drawing of the Goddess of Mercy looked as if the Bodhisattva had descended to earth. Did the Commandery Princess Wanhe really ask you for it? Is that true?"
Yueyao nodded, "Yes, there was such an incident, but I hadn’t fasted and bathed, so I didn’t deem that Buddha Statue fit to be given away. Later when Commandery Princess Wanhe mentioned it to me, I promised her that if the Princess Consort wanted one, I would fast and bathe for half a month before painting another for them."
Zhuang Ruolan, amused, said, "Is yesterday’s Goddess of Mercy statue still around? Let me see it." Zhuang Ruolan knew Yueyao was good at painting, but she had never heard about her skill in drawing Buddha statues.
Yueyao had Xi Yu bring over the painting. Upon returning yesterday, Yueyao had burned all the texts, only keeping the painted Goddess of Mercy.
After seeing the Goddess of Mercy statue, Zhuang Ruolan looked at Yueyao somewhat helplessly. Did this child have to be so enchanting? Her depiction of the Buddha hardly differed from the real Bodhisattva. Zhuang Ruolan laughingly said, "Since you’ve caught the eye of Commandery Princess Wanhe, you should get along well with her." Becoming close to such a noble lady would greatly benefit Yueyao.