Chapter 189: Neglecting Proper Business

In this portrait, only the central area around the figure was rendered realistically. Everything around it had been simplified, softened, and blurred into suggestion. When the painting was finished, Han Bing clicked her tongue in admiration.

“Truly a marvelous hand!”

The maids who had stolen a few looks from the side were filled with envy. Ordinarily, there was nothing especially remarkable about that flower-covered wall, nor did the Pavilion Master seem to be doing anything unusual standing beside it. Yet once the scene appeared on paper, it suddenly possessed an indescribable feeling, as though an endless wall of flowers would accompany the Pavilion Master as she walked on forever. So beautiful.

So lovely!

Xiaorong, who was close enough to see more clearly, had longing in her eyes. She too wanted a portrait like this. How wonderful would it be to hang one on the wall of her room and look at it every day? But one painting cost one hundred thousand gold coins. She simply could not afford to have herself painted. Other than imagining it, all she could do was lament inwardly. People truly had different fates. Compared with the Pavilion Master, she simply had not been born with such good fortune.

Xue Luo’er, who had been invited over, stood before the completed painting and studied it for a while.

After waiting a little, Han Bing tried asking again, “Young Mistress, how is the painting?”

“Good.”

Xue Luo’er gave another cool, quiet nod.

“Quickly, put it away properly!”

Han Bing happily beckoned to the maids.

“Yes!”

Two of them stepped forward and carefully did as ordered. The next portrait was set at a moon gate. Beyond the circular opening stood pavilions and towers. Xue Luo’er stood within the moon gate, posed as though she were walking from the courtyard beyond toward this side.

Once the painting was complete, jade halls and towers and the depth of the enclosed courtyard framed the beauty walking through the moon gate perfectly.

Again, it was a place everyone saw every day and normally found unremarkable. Yet the mood within the painting made those looking at it sigh again and again. Han Bing nodded.

“Mister truly has a gift for choosing backgrounds.”

This time she genuinely felt the one million gold coins had been well spent. Talent was priceless, after all.

Niu Youdao modestly replied, “Chief Steward flatters me. This is something slowly polished over time. I spent a long while considering it last night before settling on the composition.”

For him, of course, there was nothing especially mysterious about it. Even if he had never eaten pork, had he never seen a pig run? He was simply borrowing styles and compositions from photographic works he had seen in his previous life.

Han Bing said, “Mister has gone to great trouble.”

Xue Luo’er studied the painting for a long time. To her, the woman in the picture seemed to be trying to break free from the confinement of the deep courtyard, yet also seemed to have just stepped out of that enclosed world and seen a new world for the first time.

After gazing at it for quite a while, she said, “Put it away.”

Han Bing immediately knew the Young Mistress liked this one very much and quickly waved.

“Put it away. Quickly, put it away!”

The next location was inside one of the jade pavilions. Niu Youdao had a Xiangfei couch placed there and asked Xue Luo’er to recline on her side. One leg bent slightly. One hand supported her head, while the other held a book before her. Behind the couch was a round window. Outside, tree shadows swayed.

Once Xue Luo’er reclined like that, the curves her usual clothing concealed became clearly outlined—the graceful line of waist and hips flowing into long, slender legs.

Under ordinary circumstances, any man who dared ask the Master of the Ice and Snow Pavilion to pose like this would practically be profaning her. He would likely be beaten to death on the spot. Yet today, all these women seemed to have gone mad. From Han Bing down to the maids below, not a single person objected. Whatever Niu Youdao said, everyone did their utmost to cooperate. Standing before the drawing board, Niu Youdao pointed this way and that.

He had an incense burner brought over and lit, then ordered a cabinet placed on the other side. Everyone bustled around him. Niu Youdao looked toward the woman reclining on the couch and chuckled inwardly. This woman’s figure is actually quite good. If he were not afraid of something going wrong, he could probably talk her into posing for a nude portrait.

And even if that was too much, getting her clothes into a little disarray and allowing some spring scenery to show would probably not be impossible. It was still the same principle. A woman’s mind could not be expected to function normally under circumstances like these. So what if she was Master of the Ice and Snow Pavilion? But he did not dare.

Once these people came back to their senses afterward, whether a man who had seen the Pavilion Master with her clothing disordered could still leave alive was something Niu Youdao seriously doubted. Of course, there were still people who sensed that the Pavilion Master’s pose was perhaps a little too intimate. All unrelated men were driven out. There was no sunlight indoors and thus no need for anyone to hold shade. Chu Anlou was naturally sent away. Yuan Gang was sent out as well. As he left, he muttered inwardly.

Master Dao is neglecting proper business again. Truthfully, there were times Yuan Gang could barely stand Niu Youdao. The man was always saying he disliked fighting and killing, yet he had never done any less of it. While carrying out all those bloody affairs, he also liked to indulge in elegant pursuits—writing calligraphy, painting, playing the qin, drawing a huqin bow, singing Peking opera, and so on. He grandly called it cultivating the temperament and nourishing the nature. In Yuan Gang’s eyes, it was simply affecting refined tastes.

No matter how much music, chess, calligraphy, and painting you played with, everyone still knew you were an underworld boss! When the portrait was finished, the maids once again stared at it with unbearable envy.

Outside the window, tree shadows swayed. Inside, a beauty reclined with a book in hand while pale incense smoke curled upward.

Set within that atmosphere, the Pavilion Master looked exquisitely refined. Amid that elegance was a faint trace of languor, and together with her naturally cold and glamorous air, the effect was almost impossible to describe. The maids were beside themselves with envy. Han Bing could not help turning to look at Niu Youdao. She was beginning to think this man truly had an extraordinary gift for arranging a scene. Had he seen such scenes before? Otherwise, how could he know they would look this good?

Xue Luo’er rose and walked over to the portrait. Even she froze for a moment. She had never imagined she could possess such a different side to herself. Naturally, the painting was put away as well. By the time this portrait was finished, it was already noon.

Given the light, the summit of the mountain behind the Ice and Snow Pavilion was now the perfect next location. They had calculated that timing in the morning.

Everyone from the Ice and Snow Pavilion was in high spirits, eager to see what new dreamlike scene would appear next.

As they packed their things and prepared to leave the jade halls and towers, Niu Youdao told Yuan Gang to remain behind and not follow them.

Han Bing asked, “Why are you not bringing Mister’s assistant?”

Niu Youdao smiled.

“He is not a cultivator. Going up and down the mountain is troublesome, and I temporarily have no use for him on the summit. Better to let him wait here.”

Since he put it that way, no one insisted. They agreed. Xue Luo’er, however, turned back and gave Yuan Gang another look or two. She seemed slightly surprised. She had not expected him to be a non-cultivator. But Yuan Gang, watching the group leave, understood perfectly well. Master Dao had still decided to move against the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit. The reason was simple. Master Dao did not want these people discovering the secret that the Snow Fiends feared him. Naturally, the group encountered no obstruction from the Snow Fiends.

With the Pavilion Master personally ascending the mountain, none of the guards stationed there dared offend them either. They reached the summit without incident. Following Niu Youdao’s earlier instructions, Xiaorong pointed out the framing and composition to Han Bing. Seeing the broad, majestic scenery laid out in distinct layers, Han Bing nodded.

“Excellent. It truly is fine scenery. With Mister’s marvelous hand added to it, this will surely become another excellent portrait.”

Niu Youdao examined the distant and nearby views, gauged the angles with his eye, then selected the best location. He pointed toward an exposed black rock.

“Pavilion Master, please sit on that stone. Face toward the Ice and Snow Pavilion and turn your back to us.”

Han Bing looked from the position of the easel to the rock and asked doubtfully, “If she turns her back to us, won’t you only be able to paint her back?”

Niu Youdao nodded.

“Correct. This portrait will show only her back.”

Han Bing was surprised.

“With scenery this beautiful, you want to paint only her back?”

To her, the view before them surpassed all the earlier settings and embodied the Ice and Snow Pavilion more fully than any of them.

Niu Youdao said, “Exactly. Only the back.”

Xue Luo’er herself said nothing. She simply walked over and followed his instructions. Han Bing hurriedly waved for someone to bring a cushion.

“Pavilion Master, turn your face slightly to the left. Let just a little of your profile show. Yes. Like that!”

After giving a string of directions, Niu Youdao called for her to hold the pose and began drawing with swift strokes, fully absorbed. No one beside him dared disturb him.

Only the howling wind atop the mountain could be heard, together with the occasional clear ring of the bell used to drive away Snow Fiends. This composition covered a very broad field of view. It was also the portrait that had taken the longest so far.

Chu Anlou, standing to one side, truly spared no effort. He kept holding up his makeshift “parasol.”

When Niu Youdao finally stopped his hand, the people watching remained unable to recover for a long while.

“Pavilion Master, it is finished.”

At his call, Xue Luo’er rose and walked over. The moment she reached the drawing board and looked, her bright eyes fixed on the painting and would not move away. In the distance rolled ranks of snowy mountains and an endless white plain.

A river roared through the canyon below. Cave shops and tiny human figures could be faintly seen. At the foot of the mountain, pavilions and towers lay half-hidden in lush greenery. Every detail was small yet exquisitely clear. And yet the slender back of one woman became the finishing touch that gathered the entire painting around itself. That graceful figure sat alone. Her robes streamed in the wind.

Though the vastness of Heaven and Earth spread across the entire picture, its center and spirit were somehow drawn onto her. The world was immense, majestic, and sharply rendered. The woman was soft and solitary. Her face could not be seen. Only her back. No one knew what expression she wore or what she might be thinking. One side vast and boundless. One side frail and alone. Each cast the other into sharper relief. The beauty of that mood was enough to break the heart.

At this point, Han Bing no longer felt there was anything wrong with showing only Xue Luo’er’s back. After seeing the finished work, every way she imagined revealing the woman’s face seemed superfluous. Xue Luo’er reached out and lightly touched one fingertip to the painting.

“Chief Steward, put this one away carefully.”

“Yes. Yes, of course.”

Han Bing came back to herself and hurriedly waved.

“Put it away. Quickly, put it away!”

After finishing on the summit, they did not go elsewhere outside the Ice and Snow Pavilion to select any more snowy settings. As Niu Youdao put it, this one view was enough. No matter how they painted the other snowy landscapes, none could surpass this place. More would only feel redundant. Everyone agreed wholeheartedly. They returned to the jade halls and towers and went to the garden.

There Niu Youdao had Xue Luo’er stand beside a cluster of blooming flowers. He plucked one blossom and placed it in her hand, then asked her to hold it beneath her nose with her head slightly lowered as though breathing in its fragrance. This time he chose a close view. The drawing board stood very near Xue Luo’er. He first drew a large upright oval in the center of the page, then began composing entirely within that oval.

Because the perspective was so close, Xue Luo’er’s figure occupied most of the oval. The shape had almost been created for her alone. The flowers beside her seemed little more than decoration filling the remaining space. When the painting emerged, it was utterly different from all the previous ones. Small and exquisite.

One solitary beauty held a flower before her, making one wonder: which was more fragrant, the blossom or the woman? Which was more beautiful? She was truly a figure out of poetry.

In the portraits that followed, Niu Youdao had Xue Luo’er stand on the edge of a flying roof, poised as though she wished to ride the wind away.

In another, she sat on a bench in a waterside pavilion, leaning against a pillar with her knees drawn into her arms. After eight portraits, Xue Luo’er refused to sit for any more. Instead, she insisted that one portrait be given to Han Bing. Han Bing tried to decline but could not. Truthfully, she wanted one too. In the end, she could only thank her.

“This old servant is basking in Young Mistress’s light.”

There was another reason Xue Luo’er stopped posing. Whether she had grown tired of holding so many positions was unclear, but she certainly wanted to see with her own eyes how Niu Youdao actually painted. She stood beside the drawing board and watched an entire portrait take shape from beginning to end. Xue Luo’er also clearly noticed that the maids present were hoping to appear in a painting themselves. So she gave the final portrait slot to all the maids together. The maids were ecstatic.

Outside a pavilion, they arranged themselves in rows on the steps. Even Chu Anlou squeezed himself among them. He was the only man. One face after another appeared on the paper. Once the excitement faded, however, the maids immediately became troubled. There were so many people, but only one painting.

Who should get it?

That was not something Niu Youdao needed to worry about. He had thought the matter finished. Unexpectedly, Xue Luo’er slowly recited a poem beside him.

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.

[End of Chapter 189]