65 Chapter 65: Interrogation

"Psh! Sister-in-law!"

Recognizing the owner of the voice, Wei Yi Yi pretended not to hear.

"Big Sister, look over here!"

Wei Yi Yi still refused to respond to the sound. She closed her eyes, lifted up the teacup to drink, and denied Jiang Liu any attention.

"Your majesty, the Empress! Oh my good sister-in-law, spare this delicate, harmless, and fluffy younger brother of yours! This one does not bite!"

Tang Mei bow down her head so low, it's like she's crouching. She's scare that her being a witness might offend the sixth prince! In contrast, Jiang Chen amusedly stared at his sixth uncle. What he couldn't take are the wails that getting louder.

"Imperial Aunt, you should look at this." The imperial nephew rudely points at the sixth prince.

After turning her head for a quick look, Wei Yi Yi spurted her tea.

Her palace walls actually have a dog hole! And Jiang Liu is actually stuck in it!

Ah, what a fine day to witness a member of the imperial clan, crawling at some dog hole!

"Do you know a thing called door?" Dumbfounded, Wei Yi Yi asked.

"Aren't you supposed to ask first whether I need a hand?" Jiang Liu whine.

"Oh, you seem alright. Just a little bit more effort and you'll be out in no time. This sister will patiently wait here and cheer for dear Ah Liu." Standing on the higher ground, Wei Yi Yi happily tease. Only after she got her fair share of laugh did she let Xiao Wang Xi pull out Jiang Liu.

"Do you really need to be so sneaky?"

"I can't just walk around the harem, entering the empress' palace, can I? Also, I'm not supposed to walk around right now. If royal brother knew, he'll shoot me like how he shot a deer last year!"

"Why?" Is her boss that cruel? Wei Yi Yi doubts it. Jiang Liu must've done something bad for him to be hunted by the emperor. That's more plausible.

"Oh, I wonder why." Jiang Liu laughs in spite of himself. He walks back to the dog hole, pulled his stuff inside, and then walk back beside Wei Yi Yi. He sat in front of her with a straight back and then produced the most serious look he could muster. "Sister-in-law, what do you think of this painting?"

Jiang Liu opened a scroll and presented it to her. Wei Yi Yi cannot recognize the man drawn on it but if he's asking about the quality of the art then...

"The artist captured his wild and proud aura and interpreted it well. There are fine, soft strokes and then some powerful ones mix in. It was vividly drawn. The artist is really talented." Wei Yi Yi gave her honest opinion and praise. Jiang Chen scoots over to look also. He obediently sat beside Wei Yi Yi and observed the two adults.

"En. Sister-in-law is not entirely clueless about art. At least you can recognize a good one. Then let's proceed." Jiang Liu then passed another one to her.

Wei Yi Yi took it and opened it. She immediately froze after a glance.

"What opinion does sister-in-law have?"

Damn, this guy is here for interrogation!

"Isn't it nicely drawn?" Jiang Liu gave a serious overlook to the painting as if he's really appraising it. "I just wonder why big sister drew the minister of works this way?"

It was that painting where an old, white-haired man lay in a bed of petals. It was as if it was drawn while wishing for the minister's passing! This cause the minister of works to faint and then cry at the morning court, demanding for the emperor to tell him if Jiang Yu find him useless now that he's old.

"Ummm, doesn't he looked peaceful with the petals?" Wei Yi Yi averts her gaze. She'll never admit that she cannot finish drawing the rest of the torso and so she just doodled endless petals to bury the evidence of a failed attempt.

"Is his eyes close too so the art would look peaceful?"

"Well..."

It's actually because it's hard to draw the left eye. It cannot be helped, they're hard to draw evenly, ah!

"Very well. Then what about this one? Are you short on ink? Why are the sleeves so short? This is indecent, sister-in-law." Jiang Liu calmly probes her.

'Those are blouse, alright! Calling them indecent is calling the society's progress indecent!'

"..." Wei Yi Yi.

Jiang Liu picked the next one. He planned on going thru them one by one. Without any riffle on his 'rare' calm expression, he let Wei Yi Yi look. "This one shocked me the most, big sister. It rendered me speechless until now.

Seeing a pretty lady in the scroll, Wei Yi Yi jumps to defend herself. "I draw that properly! Isn't she beautiful?!"

That's the only portrait she seriously painted out of all she messed up. Although most of it is already laid out in the draft, Wei Yi Yi spent a whole day carefully drawing the details and accessories on her body. She even tried to add some background element to further enhanced the ambiance of the painting.

"You have drawn a minister as a lady."

"But she is a lady...?"

"He is a man."

"Ah... A pretty man then."

"It's not 'ah', big sister!" Jiang Liu cannot take it anymore and whine once again. "Then what about this? It looks like you just gave up and draw sticks for his fingers!"

Jiang Liu assaulted her face with the portrait, putting it so close, she cannot even see.

"Sister-in-law, have you forsaken this brother?" Jiang Liu, with his manly face, wail like a newborn child.

"Ah..."

Wei Yi Yi turned her head somewhere else.