Yan Xu's study was adorned with a painting.
The painting depicted a mountain landscape at dusk, its brilliance and beauty starkly contrasting with the somber and old-fashioned hues of the study.
Occasionally, when colleagues from the court visited his study and saw this distinctly different piece of work, they assumed he was a connoisseur of paintings. Hence, rumors spread, and those officials eager to curry favor with him began to present him with famous masterpieces as gifts, only to find that he disdained them all and had them returned.
The rebuffed officials were perplexed; if he was not a lover of paintings, why hang such a piece in his study? Upon closer inspection, the painting, although delicately brushed and vibrantly colored, fell short of the works of true masters. Yet, Yan Xu treasured it as if it were a precious gem.
Yan Xu paid no heed to the conjectures of outsiders.
