Chapter 130: One Hundred Thousand Gold Coins

Niu Youdao gave a proper bow. “I am.”

Sha Huanli looked openly curious. “I know a little of painting myself. What method is this? Does the style have a name or any particular theory behind it?”

Black Peony’s eyes were full of expectation. Sha Huanli was asking him about his art. She desperately hoped Niu Youdao would seize the opportunity and converse with her properly. She genuinely wanted him to do well. A rising tide lifted all boats.

Outside the pavilion, Chief Steward Xiang Ming slowly entered as well. He stopped beside the entrance without speaking and silently observed.

Niu Youdao could hardly start throwing a pile of technical terms at Sha Huanli. With someone unfamiliar with such things, the more one explained, the more questions it would only create. He replied calmly, “Something I do for amusement. I never thought of giving it any particular name.”

Black Peony was genuinely speechless.

Such a fine opportunity, and he did not know how to cherish it.

Sha Huanli studied him. She could not tell whether he was deliberately keeping his technique secret or whether there was some other reason. He plainly did not seem inclined to say much, yet he also showed no sign of nervousness or fear. After a moment, she recited thoughtfully:

“Once I had known the vast sea, no other waters seemed like water;
Save for the clouds of Mount Wu, no other clouds seemed like clouds.
Passing through the flowers, I scarcely turn to look—
Half because I cultivate the Dao, half because of you.”

Then she asked, “Did you write this poem? What meaning did you intend by it?”

Niu Youdao had indeed left the poem deliberately. He had no idea which would appeal more to Sha Huanli, poetry or painting, so he had left both.

Outwardly, however, he remained calm. “I once heard someone mention the poem by chance. While painting, the mood struck me, so I used it to fill the blank space. There was no particular meaning.”

“Oh.” Sha Huanli looked thoughtful.

Now she could tell for certain. He was brushing her off completely and had no desire to speak with her at length.

She turned her head toward the people around her. “None of you neglected Mister Xuanyuan, did you?”

“No!”

“City Master, Mister Xuanyuan only just arrived. We haven’t even had the chance to speak with him.”

Those around her hurried to clear themselves of any blame.

Niu Youdao instead spoke up to ease the awkwardness. “City Master, may I ask whether you are the person I was invited to paint? If so, should we begin?”

Sha Huanli wanted to see the finished work as soon as possible herself, so she immediately smiled. “Very well. We’ll do as Mister Xuanyuan says.”

Niu Youdao said, “I came in some haste. I still need a few things prepared for the drawing.”

Sha Huanli nodded. “Whatever Mister Xuanyuan needs, simply say so.”

“Paper, an easel, charcoal pencils...” Niu Youdao described the exact shapes and specifications of the things he wanted in detail.

Two people immediately hurried away to prepare them.

Before long, a makeshift easel, paper, and drawing tools were delivered. The charcoal pencils were not quite suitable, so Niu Youdao asked for a small knife and reshaped them himself.

Sha Huanli watched all this closely. She even stepped to his side to observe in detail, clearly intent on learning.

Once everything was ready, Niu Youdao asked, “City Master, shall I paint you here?”

Sha Huanli had seen Black Peony’s portrait and understood the role of the background. She knew painting herself and understood that a setting was needed to bring out the subject. She replied, “Better to follow Mister Xuanyuan’s judgment. Wherever you think is suitable, we’ll paint there.”

Niu Youdao said, “Naturally I can’t be perfunctory when painting the City Master. This is my first visit here, so I don’t know which scenery would be most suitable.”

Sha Huanli smiled. “I understand. Mister Xuanyuan may walk around and look. Choose whichever place you think best.”

“Very well.” Niu Youdao cupped his hands, glanced around, then strolled out of the pavilion and began surveying the surroundings.

He looked wherever he went, taking the opportunity to inspect the City Master’s residence properly.

Sha Huanli followed at a neither distant nor close remove. Behind her, attendants carried the supplies Niu Youdao had requested.

Chief Steward Xiang Ming continued observing Niu Youdao without revealing anything on his face.

The City Master’s residence had been built following the natural rise of the mountain, level after level ascending upward.

They kept climbing. Niu Youdao seemed unable to find any place that satisfied him and shook his head wherever he looked. Only when they reached the highest pavilion in the residence did he finally walk onto a terrace, rest his hands on the railing, and gaze across the entire ancient city.

He nodded, then turned. “Here. How about this?”

Sha Huanli replied, “Good. We’ll follow Mister Xuanyuan’s judgment.”

The attendants carrying the supplies asked where he wanted everything arranged.

Instead, Niu Youdao looked back at the scenery and said, “Replace these with a larger drawing board and larger sheets of paper...” He spread both arms to indicate the approximate dimensions.

The servants who had carried everything all this way were speechless.

After all that, he was not even going to use it?

Sha Huanli, however, immediately grew excited. He was clearly preparing something grander for her. Expectation showed on her face as she urged, “Go. Prepare everything exactly as Mister Xuanyuan says.”

“Yes!” Several servants answered, then rapidly carried the old equipment away to make replacements.

Fortunately, with the manpower and resources available here, none of it was especially troublesome. Before long, the new equipment arrived and was set up inside the pavilion according to Niu Youdao’s instructions.

Sha Huanli herself, meanwhile, was directed by Niu Youdao onto a sunlit terrace several steps below the pavilion.

“Turn your back. Lean against the railing. You’re blocking several important views of the city—move a little farther left. Don’t face directly this way. Angle your body slightly to the right. Stand sideways. Don’t face me directly with your face either. Turn your head a little to the right. Don’t look downward. Look ahead. Yes, yes, exactly like that...”

Under Niu Youdao’s continuous stream of instructions, Sha Huanli was shifted this way and that without a word of complaint.

Black Peony broke into a faint nervous sweat as she watched, afraid Niu Youdao might accidentally anger the woman.

What she did not know was that Niu Youdao was not worried in the slightest.

In his experience from his previous life, the instant women encountered photography or portraiture, their intelligence seemed to drop straight to zero. They had practically no immunity to either. Photography and painting were also the easiest professions in which to coax women into doing what you wanted. One could persuade them to strip naked without much trouble. Why would there be any complaints over a pose?

Once he had arranged Sha Huanli to his satisfaction, Niu Youdao finally picked up the charcoal and laid out the proportions on the paper. Then his hand began moving rapidly across the sheet, quick and decisive.

Only now did Black Peony, assisting nearby, finally get to see the actual process of the drawing.

The servants did not dare come too close and disturb him. One after another, they craned their necks from a distance.

Xiang Ming was also curious to see exactly how this method worked. Naturally, he was allowed to approach more closely. Watching one shape after another emerge and change beneath Niu Youdao’s hand, even he showed a trace of surprise. He had never heard of such a method, much less seen one.

From time to time, he glanced at Niu Youdao, who was completely absorbed in the work. Sha Huanli shifted slightly and looked in their direction.

Niu Youdao immediately snapped, “Don’t move around!”

Sha Huanli instantly behaved and did not dare move again. The portrait was large, and Niu Youdao worked for nearly two hours.

Sha Huanli remained obediently beneath the sun for almost that entire time, standing in the same pose without moving. Quite a few watching servants secretly broke into nervous sweat, wondering whether she could endure it. Many outsiders did not know, but they did.

Sha Huanli had been born with a constitution unsuited to cultivation. She was not a cultivator.

Only when Niu Youdao finally set down the charcoal and announced that he was done did Sha Huanli release the pose she had held against the railing.

The moment she moved, however, pain showed on her face. Her body had gone stiff. Someone immediately rushed over and helped her walk back.

As soon as she entered the pavilion, a cultivator quickly used spiritual power to restore the circulation of her blood and open her stiffened channels. Before long, she had recovered.

Watching this, Niu Youdao froze.

He and Black Peony looked at one another. Only now had Black Peony realized as well that Sha Huanli was not a cultivator.

Xiang Ming asked Sha Huanli a few questions. She shook her head, then came over with her face reddened from the sun, impatient to see the portrait.

Niu Youdao hurriedly cupped his hands in apology. “I didn’t know the City Master wasn’t a cultivator. Had I known, I would have brought a chair and let you sit.”

“No harm done.” Sha Huanli was very magnanimous about it. She had already endured the hardship, so why dwell on that now? What mattered to her was whether the portrait made her look good.

Her eyes were already trying to peer around the drawing board. She stepped around Niu Youdao, who was blocking the way, and came to the front. Her gaze froze on the picture. Instantly, her eyes lit with delight.

In the portrait, a young, dignified woman in a soft flowing gown stood in profile, gazing into the distance as though lost in thought.

Heaven and earth stretched broad and empty behind her. Alone beneath that vast sky, she leaned against a railing. Beyond her stood the weathered ruins of the ancient city, its shops and houses rising and falling across the terrain, all spread beneath and behind her.

One glance made it obvious that the city in the portrait was her city. Yet that was not what mattered most to Sha Huanli.

The realistic mood of the image seemed to reveal a true reflection of herself—one solitary figure standing alone between Heaven and earth. The setting gave her an entirely different sort of charm.

Sha Huanli had never imagined she could look so beautiful in a painting.

Nor was she alone in thinking so. The people beside her also felt that the City Master somehow appeared slightly more beautiful in the portrait than in reality.

What none of them knew was that Niu Youdao had quietly made a few subtle adjustments, small enough not to be obvious.

Sha Huanli compared the scene in the portrait with the real scenery beyond the drawing board. Delighted, she shook her head in amazement. “Mister Xuanyuan truly possesses great talent!”

Niu Youdao smiled. “As long as the City Master likes it.”

Sha Huanli said nothing more. She stood in front of the portrait and studied it closely for quite some time.

Then she suddenly looked back at the group of maids. Pointing, she selected the prettiest one and called her over. She asked Niu Youdao, “Mister, could you paint another portrait for her?”

The maid was both startled and delighted, her face full of anticipation even as she protested politely, “This servant would not dare.”

She was thinking too much.

Sha Huanli merely wanted to watch Niu Youdao paint with her own eyes. She wanted to learn and observe his technique.

Niu Youdao frowned. “We agreed on only one portrait.”

Sha Huanli smiled. “I grew tired merely from standing there. Mister must have spent far more energy working. If you’re tired, another day will do as well.”

Unexpectedly, Niu Youdao turned his head toward the innkeeper standing obediently to one side.

“Innkeeper, you saw the portrait I painted for Black Peony. This one is several times larger. The one-hundred-thousand-gold price we agreed on was for a portrait the size of Black Peony’s. Since this one was for the City Master, I enlarged it free of charge.”

He gestured toward the maid. “Now the City Master has asked me to paint another. Since the request came from the City Master, it would be difficult for me to refuse. But how are we calculating the price?”

Now that he had confirmed he was painting Sha Huanli and knew she belonged to the class of people who were exceedingly wealthy, he did not mind taking the opportunity to make a little more.

Xiang Ming’s eyelids lowered slightly.

A faint sweat broke out on the innkeeper’s brow. He wished he could rush over and clamp a hand over Niu Youdao’s mouth.

Chief Steward Xiang had specifically told him not to let the City Master know that one portrait cost one hundred thousand gold coins. Why did this bastard have to blurt it out now? For a moment, he had no idea how to answer.

“One portrait costs one hundred thousand gold coins?” Sha Huanli was startled as well.

As far as she knew, even paintings by the greatest masters in the world topped out at perhaps a thousand gold coins apiece.

The maid who had been full of anticipation was startled too. One hundred thousand gold coins to paint her portrait? That was a price she simply could not bear.

Niu Youdao looked surprised. He spread his hands toward the innkeeper as though asking what this was supposed to mean. Were they planning to renege on the bill?

[End of Chapter 130]