Chương 690: Drawing Portraits for Everyone

The first to arrive were Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Qin Qiong, and Cheng Yaojin.

Zhang Fei's voice arrived before he did; his loud voice could be heard from afar.

"Brother! What did you call us here for? Are we going hunting again? My archery skills have improved recently! Hitting a target from a hundred paces is a piece of cake!"

"All you ever do is hunt." Guan Yu stroked his beard, glancing at him helplessly, his eyes filled with three parts disdain and seven parts doting.

Upon closer inspection, they saw the six princesses and the drawing paper, and were stunned. They looked at each other, completely bewildered.

The sixth princess, Liu Nong, skipped and hopped over, tugging at Zhang Fei's sleeve:

"Third Uncle! Father asked us to paint portraits of you! A big one, to hang in the Imperial Study! So we can see it every day!"

"A portrait?" Zhang Fei's eyes lit up. He stroked his beard.

"That's great! You'd better paint me looking imposing, with a long beard and big eyes. I'll look fierce and scare those civil officials to death!"

"I know, Uncle!" Liu Nong smiled, her eyes crinkling.

Princess Liu Ying, with her poise and grace, stepped forward to greet the elders:

"Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, Fifth Uncle, Uncle Qin, Uncle Cheng, thank you all for your help. Today, Fourth Sister will be the lead artist, and we will assist her. Please forgive any shortcomings in our drawing and do not think our skills are lacking."

"It's alright, it's alright, draw it however you like!" Cheng Yaojin waved his hand cheerfully, "I'm handsome, I'll look good no matter how you draw me! Just draw the most handsome one!"

Everyone laughed, and the laughter carried far away.

Before long, everyone had arrived.

Civil officials stood in one row, military officers in another, forming a vast, imposing crowd.

There were elderly ministers with white hair and generals in their prime, all of whom were meritorious officials who followed Liu Ce in conquering and governing the country. Some had white beards, while others still had straight backs.

Liu Ce stood on the front steps, smiling and waving to everyone:

"Everyone come over and stand still! Today we're going to take... a family portrait! Back in Youzhou, we didn't even have a decent painting. Now that life is better, let's paint a big one to remember this day."

When I'm old, looking at this painting will remind me of the days when we fought side by side, and how we crawled out of piles of corpses.

"Your Majesty is right!" Everyone laughed and took their positions as instructed.

It was quite a struggle to get into position. Zhang Fei and Cheng Yaojin were vying for the front row, each wanting to stand in a prominent spot. They were pushing and shoving each other, but Liu Ce glared at them, and they finally behaved themselves and obediently stood at the front of the generals' group, still exchanging winks and glances.

Lu Bu and Yuwen Chengdu stood together. Both were tall and imposing, standing out conspicuously among the generals. They were also secretly competing, both standing up straight, seeing who was more imposing and whose armor was shinier.

On the civil officials' side, Xun Yu, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui stood in the front row, each adjusting their court robes and smoothing their beards, trying to appear dignified, as if they were about to attend court.

Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia stood behind. Guo Jia even secretly yawned. He hadn't slept well last night because his wife had kept him up, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes.

After taking their positions, the six princesses picked up their pens. The fourth princess, Liu Mei, took the lead, standing at the front, squinting as she looked at everyone, and first sketched their outlines.

The others had clear roles: the eldest princess, Liu Ying, helped measure the proportions, using a ruler to compare them back and forth; Princess Liu Sui was in charge of the civil officials section, specifically drawing the details of the civil officials; Princess Liu Yi was in charge of the military section, staring at the armor and weapons of the generals as she drew them.

Fifth Princess Liu Ran was busy mixing charcoal powder, and was covered in sweat.

The sixth princess, Liu Nong, was in charge of... handing over pens and sneaking snacks. Every now and then, she would eat a piece of osmanthus cake, her cheeks bulging.

Guan Yu chatted with the others, reminiscing about his embarrassing experiences in Youzhou back then.

"I still remember when we made great achievements in Youzhou. We only had a few thousand men, while the enemy had nearly 100, 000. I don't know if Old Zhang was excited or nervous. He couldn't sleep all night and sat with his spear all night. He went into battle the next day with dark circles under his eyes."

Guan Yu smiled and pointed at Zhang Fei, his eyes filled with memories.

"No way! Second Brother, don't talk nonsense!" Zhang Fei blushed and stubbornly defended himself, "I was on night watch! It's not that I couldn't sleep! I'm very vigilant!"

"Come on," Cheng Yaojin retorted, laughing so hard he almost fell over.

"I share a room with you, and you were talking in your sleep in the middle of the night, yelling 'Second Brother, help me!' Did you think I didn't hear you? It was such a pitiful sound!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Zhang Fei got angry and was about to argue with Cheng Yaojin, even rolling up his sleeves.

"Don't move!" Princess Liu Sui shouted.

"Third Uncle, Uncle Cheng, if you keep moving around, I'll draw you as ugly monsters! I'll draw pockmarks on your faces! And crooked beards!"

The two men immediately became obedient, standing ramrod straight, not daring to move an inch, like two door gods, with awkward smiles still on their faces.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Halfway through the painting, the Sixth Princess Liu Nong brought over a plate of honey pastries and handed them to everyone, saying, "Father, uncles, take a break and have some snacks! You've been painting for so long, you must be tired and hungry."

Everyone was delighted and accepted the snacks.

Zhang Fei ate them one after another, his mouth full of crumbs, and mumbled indistinctly:

"Nong'er is so thoughtful! Much better than your father! Your father just makes us stand here like wooden puppets!"

Liu Ce also took a piece and said with a smile, "You little rascal, all you know how to do is eat."

I took a 15-minute break and then continued drawing.

Zhang Fei and Cheng Yaojin couldn't sit still. Before long, they started fidgeting again, scratching their heads, stroking their beards as if they had lice, and peeking at the drawing paper.

Princess Liu Sui, furious, put her hands on her hips and shouted, "Third Uncle! If you move again, I'll draw your beard off!"

Zhang Fei immediately stopped, stood up obediently, and looked aggrieved: "Just don't draw me without a beard. I rely on this beard to show off my power. How can I face people without a beard?"

Everyone laughed again.

Guo Jia was standing at the back, already a little sleepy, and he almost fell asleep while standing. His head was nodding little by little, and his eyelids were too heavy to keep open.

The Fifth Princess Liu Ran saw this, suppressed her laughter, and secretly drew some dark circles under his eyes. After she finished, she exchanged a glance with the Third Princess, and the two of them covered their mouths and laughed, their shoulders shaking.

They painted until dusk, when the sun set and golden sunlight streamed onto the steps, warm and inviting, casting long shadows on everyone.

The basic outline and overall effect are finally finished. The six princesses are so tired that their hands are sore. They are shaking their wrists, and their fingers are full of charcoal black.

"Alright, alright! The first draft is finished!" Fourth Princess Liu Mei straightened up, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"It will need a few more days of refinement before it's completely finished. We still need to add color and adjust the details."

Everyone gathered around to watch.

What a huge painting! So lifelike, it's even more expressive than a real person.

Liu Ce, who was at the very front, was dressed in casual clothes, with a smile on his face and sharp eyes. He looked exactly like the real person, even the curve of his mouth was exactly the same.

The civil and military officials behind him each had their own expressions: Guan Yu stroked his long beard, looking dignified; Zhang Fei glared, looking imposing; Zhao Yun wore a white robe, looking handsome and extraordinary; Xun Yu was calm and composed; Fang Xuanling had a smile on his face... Even the small movements and expressions of each person were drawn with great accuracy, as if looking in a mirror.

The most striking one is Guo Jia, with faint dark circles under his eyes, looking as if he hadn't slept well, which is exceptionally vivid.

"Wow! It's so lifelike! It looks like the real person standing right in front of me!" Cheng Yaojin leaned in closest, pointing to himself in the painting.

"Look at my beard, how spirited it is! It looks even more like me than when I look in the mirror!"