Stunning Work, Summon the Imperial Physician

Seeing that Serena Feng had already begun to paint, Su Wan dared not waste any more time. She quickly withdrew her gaze, inhaled, exhaled, and calmed her mind.

Only after Su Wan was certain her mind was steady and unaffected by Serena did she start mixing her pigments.

Su Wan had prepared a rich array of pigments, most of them imperial-grade. The three great painters from Jixia Academy lingered over Su Wan’s pigments for quite some time.

Most of Su Wan’s pigments were reds and greens. Coupled with the brushes on her desk, even without her saying a word, the seven judges could easily guess she was likely painting something related to flowers.

Since they could guess, they weren’t inclined to pay much attention. The seven judges’ focus shifted mostly to Serena Feng—her side was truly unfathomable.

Serena half sprawled over the desk, holding a charcoal stick, drawing slightly curved horizontal lines on white paper—some dark, some light, some thick, some thin, some long, some short, spaced far apart. Every so often she measured with a ruler. From a distance, it looked vaguely like enlarged leaf veins, but on closer inspection, it was clearly something else entirely.

The seven judges glanced at each other, itching with curiosity. They desperately wanted to know what Serena was drawing. Their gazes burned into her paper, as if willing a flower to appear, wishing she would just finish with a few swift strokes—this suspense was nearly unbearable.

Fortunately, Serena was calm—or rather, she was so absorbed in her tense work mode that she had no mind to care what others thought or expected.

Yes, work—Serena was painting, but at the same time, she was completing the assignment her mentor from her previous life had given her.

Back then, Serena suffered plenty for this assignment, drawing hundreds of sheets before she barely met her mentor’s standards.

Serena’s desk was covered with small scraps of paper. Every couple of lines, she would jot something down on one. The seven judges, seated too far away, couldn’t see what she was writing—and of course, they wouldn’t crane their necks and risk losing face.

Half an hour, then a full hour passed. The Crown Prince and Old Master Yan had finished three pots of tea. Su Wan’s ‘Butterflies in Love with Flowers’ painting was taking shape, but as for what Serena was drawing, they still couldn’t make sense of it. It looked vaguely like a human figure, but seemed a bit too thin.

After finishing the horizontal and vertical lines, Serena alternated between shading with her charcoal and rubbing the paper with a small cloth. The ink on the paper was perfectly balanced, and the image seemed almost to stand up from the page. When she completed the first section, Master Marcus Wynn suddenly murmured, “Bones?”

“It really is bones. They look exactly like human bones.” Master Marcus Wynn’s words sparked quiet discussion. Fortunately, everyone present was distinguished and educated, so they only whispered to those beside them, careful not to disturb the artists at work.

The Crown Prince was in a tough spot: on his left was Prince Terrence Valen from Lyndaria, on his right was Old Master Yan. He had nothing to say to Prince Terrence, and as for Old Master Yan...

The Crown Prince glanced at Old Master Yan, then quietly looked away. He saw Old Master Yan staring at Serena with excitement, clearly having realized the value of her work.

Serena heard the judges’ whispers and smiled, saying nothing as she picked up her brush and continued her work.

She was drawing a full human skeletal chart—a massive undertaking. Luckily, she was used to it by now, having drawn so many before. She remembered every bone’s size and position perfectly. Still, to win, she had to use black, white, and gray to create three-dimensional shading, which required extra time.

“Your Highness, Serena is drawing a human skeletal chart. I suggest you summon an imperial physician from the palace who specializes in bones. After all, we can judge her artistic skill, but we can’t assess the anatomical accuracy of her work.”

Old Master Yan wasn’t just accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—he was also highly knowledgeable in other fields. As soon as Serena began to refine the skeletal chart, he recognized its true value.

Serena’s painting wasn’t meant for admiration—it was meant to save lives. Rumors about her extraordinary medical skills had been spreading, and now it seemed they were true. If nothing else, this chart alone was worth a fortune to any physician.

“Old Master Yan is right. I’ll have someone go to the palace and report this to Father.” The Crown Prince took out a token and handed it to the eunuch behind him, instructing him to inform the Emperor about what was happening here. Whether the Emperor listened was not his concern.

At the same time, the Crown Prince quietly added, "And send word to Nolan’s Suburban Villa as well, so Ninth Royal Uncle doesn’t worry about Serena."

The eunuch took the token and rushed out, mobilizing the Crown Prince’s guards—one headed to Nolan’s Suburban Villa, another escorted him to the palace.

“Hyah, hyah!” The horses galloped off. Many people recognized that the eunuch and guards had come from the Royal Academy, and seeing them race toward the palace, everyone began to speculate that something had gone wrong with the contest.

A lot of attention was on today’s contest, but the Royal Academy was surrounded by heavy guards—no one could get in, and no news could get out.

Those outside were anxious and restless. The less they knew, the wilder the rumors grew. Everyone guessed something earth-shattering was happening inside—otherwise, why would the Emperor be alarmed?

When they saw imperial physicians coming out of the palace, the story instantly became: Serena and Su Wan fought during the contest and injured the Crown Prince, and so on.

At Nolan’s Suburban Villa, Ninth Royal Uncle received the message sent by the Crown Prince. A pale smile appeared on his face: “You really are a troublemaker. Will you only be satisfied once you’ve turned Eastlyn upside down?”

Ninth Royal Uncle made no effort to hide his favoritism toward Serena. The corners of his lips lifted, his eyes smiling—he looked every bit the proud guardian.

The guard who came to report looked up and saw Ninth Royal Uncle’s smiling face. He was instantly stunned, awe-struck, and just stared at him in amazement.

Ninth Royal Uncle really was handsome! The guard gazed at him, utterly smitten, eyes sparkling.

Normally, Ninth Royal Uncle would have punished him for such behavior. But today, in a good mood, he simply waved his hand and told the guard to leave.

“Yes, Ninth Royal Uncle.” The guard still hadn’t recovered from seeing that smile; he walked out as if floating on air.

Even after reaching the gate of Nolan’s Suburban Villa, the guard was still lost in thought about that smile. He cursed the rumors: who said Ninth Royal Uncle was cold and ruthless, icy and forbidding? It was all nonsense. Ninth Royal Uncle was kind and approachable, and when he smiled, it was like winter snow melting and spring returning to the earth—impossible to look away.

Serena was completely absorbed in her painting, unaware of anything happening outside—or that her work had even drawn imperial physicians to the scene. She finished the last stroke, looked at the life-sized skeletal chart on the paper, and nodded in satisfaction.

In her eyes, even if it wasn’t perfect, it was at least a ninety out of a hundred. Aside from artistic technique, there wasn’t a single flaw in the chart.

She hadn’t expected all that practice back then to come in handy now. Serena lowered her head and laughed—if her mentor could see this, he’d surely praise her foresight.

Back then, he insisted that having students draw skeletal charts was a wise decision. Even when they all complained it was a waste of time, he was firm—because for any doctor, this was a fundamental skill.