Chapter 968: Side Story (10)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After some thought, Zi Die said, “I remember Sushui saying it’s hot and the water is salty at the island. She also said that some people feel seasick when they take the boat.”

Zi Die knew she would get seasick even if she were on a small boat. Therefore, she and her husband would travel by land whenever Su Wenxiu brought her to distant places for vacation.

Su Wenxiu said, “I wanted to bring you to the island to check it out, but I knew you’d get seasick.”

“That’s okay,” Zi Die said, “Binglan did some gorgeous paintings of islands, so I know what an island is supposed to look like.”

After marrying into the Su family, Zi Die realized how capable and multi-talented her sister-in-law was. Su Binglan seemed to know everything, and her paintings were even better than those of the most renowned artists.

Her colors were vibrant whenever she painted landscapes, and the same went for portraits. They were so realistic that one could not help but marvel at them.

“Oh, Binglan is holding an art exhibition in the capital soon, right? I heard there will be many famous paintings there,” Zi Die said.

She knew there was a massive museum in the Xia Capital, but she only realized that it was an art exhibition, too. Although there were many paintings in it, some of them belonged to Su Binglan.

“The museum has paintings of many famous historical figures and some of Binglan’s paintings. A lot of people will go and see them,” Su Wenxiu said, “So many people want Binglan to teach them how to paint.

“Even though her paintings are priceless, she has opened a painting class in the comprehensive college. She even teaches students to draw and use watercolors and oil paints.”

Su Binglan brought watercolors and oil paintings to this era, allowing many to learn the techniques required to make beautiful paintings. Before that, the people of this era only used black ink.

Su Binglan even created a study kit and opened school supplies factories that specialized in making ink, paper, inkstones, brushes, and watercolors for painting.

The school supplies that the factories made sold well and were popular among students of all ages. Su Binglan had opened these factories in various places as there were schools everywhere now. There was also a greater demand for school supplies.

Su Binglan also designed and invented many different notebooks and pens. After all, the people of this era typically used brushes to write. However, thanks to her, they now had fountain pens.

Everyone realized how much faster they wrote with fountain pens and switched to using them exclusively. The students even used fountain pens for the Imperial Exams.

People also used fountain pens to write memorials. Moreover, Lan Ruozhu reformed it so that people would not write lengthy ones. By telling everyone to use key points in memorials, Lan Ruozhu helped shorten the time to write one.

The Imperial Court had selected many new talents in recent years. Everyone worked earnestly because of how good the working atmosphere was. Ultimately, the Imperial Court nurtured many excellent government officials.

Every official was sincere in making things more practical for the commoners.

The newspapers also reported on those who made significant contributions to the people so that they would receive the commoners’ praise and respect. It greatly encouraged the officials to work harder and get noticed.