Chapter 135: Burying You in an Ancient Tomb

The sky was somewhat overcast, and the benches on both sides of the tree-lined path were damp with night dew.

"Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling~"

The sound of the bell pierced the thin mist, the wheels crunched over the bluestone slabs, and the soy milk cup in the bicycle basket swayed up and down.

"Squeak," she squeezed the handbrake, Xiao Yuzhu stepped off the bike, propped it up, and carried the breakfast into the office.

Her footsteps were hurried and her voice was loud: "Senior Sister Li, time to eat..."

But before she could finish, she gave a sudden start: the three or four people in the office were all staring straight at her.

Wang Qi Zhi, Guan Xingmin, Hao Jun...

Li Zhen gave her a look, Xiao Yuzhu understood in a second, hurriedly said hello, and slipped into the pantry with the breakfast.

Li Zhen had finished brewing the tea and bowed slightly: "Professor Wang, we are right next door; call us if you need anything!"

"Good!" Wang Qi Zhi smiled, "Sorry for the trouble!"

After Li Zhen went out and closed the door, Wang Qi Zhi checked his watch: "Director Guan, what time is Lin Sicheng's flight?"

"Took off at six-fifteen, arriving at eight-thirty!"

"It's nine-ten now, so Anning should have already picked him up!"

"Definitely, it's only forty-some kilometers, almost there!" Hao Jun dialed the number, "But why is his phone still off?"

Guan Xingmin replied: "Probably hasn't turned it on yet!"

As the words fell, the three of them exchanged glances: what is this kid up to?

He bought Dai Jin's painting on the morning of the 3rd, ran off to Hangzhou that afternoon, and had been gone for five days.

What he went to do, they didn't know; why his phone was off, they knew even less.

He did tell his family he was looking for clues to those three paintings, but if he was just looking for clues, there was no need to turn off his phone.

So, they all felt that Lin Sicheng was being sneaky.

Secretly suspicious, the few of them chatted for a while longer. About half an hour later, with a "squeak," the Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled up to the studio entrance.

Lin Sicheng and Gu Ming jumped out of the car, and Ye Anning came to help; the three of them took the storage cases from the trunk: one, two, three, four...

Anything that could be packed in storage cases was certainly of immense value, and the group couldn't sit still any longer.

They all walked out together, and Lin Sicheng was stunned: he could understand Wang Qi Zhi being there, but what was the situation with Guan Xingmin and Hao Jun so early in the morning?

Seeing his bewildered expression, Guan Xingmin smiled: "Chairman Yang, the Jade!"

Lin Sicheng was taken aback and slapped his forehead: over a week ago, the two had agreed that once the stolen goods were mostly recovered, the Municipal Bureau would invite Lin Sicheng to appraise them.

But these past few days his mind had been full of the Xu Weili Documents, how could he have remembered?

And to make matters worse, his phone was off? Guan Xingmin had no choice but to come to the school to wait for him.

As for Hao Jun, he was definitely just here to join in the fun.

"Director Guan, I'm sorry, I got busy and forgot for a moment!"

"It's fine, the person has already been caught, they aren't going to run away, right?"

Guan Xingmin replied, both shocked and curious: "Five storage cases... Lin Sicheng, did you go to Hangzhou to stock up on goods?"

Come to think of it, it really did look a bit like that.

Lin Sicheng smiled: "I did pick up quite a bit!"

Upon hearing this, the three were even more curious and helped carry the boxes inside.

"Teacher, the situation has been a bit special these past few days, so I didn't turn on my phone..."

Wang Qi Zhi couldn't be bothered with that now; he waved his hand casually, just staring at the boxes.

Since Lin Sicheng said he "picked up" items, it meant the things weren't bad, and since they were packed in storage cases, they were even better.

Guan Xingmin and Hao Jun were even more curious.

The reason he brought them to the school was that Lin Sicheng had intended to discuss how to handle them with Wang Qi Zhi. It was just as well that Guan Xingmin and Hao Jun were here, saving him from having to ask them separately.

He opened them one by one.

First, he took out the "Governance Essentials from Various Books," and the three of them took a peek.

This book was very obscure; at least Wang Qi Zhi and Hao Jun had no impression of it.

Guan Xingmin knew a little, but it was very vague. Only after flipping through the content did he vaguely recall a bit.

While they were struggling to remember, Ye Anning gave an "Oh?": "Tianming Shuzhai Edition Edition Edition?"

Lin Sicheng secretly praised her.

The Forbidden City did have a collection, but only the "Ruan Yuan Yangzhou Edition" and the "Suzhou Lin Family Postscript Edition," which Ye Anning should have seen.

But as the saying goes, this book was too obscure.

Among the countless ancient books in the Forbidden City, this one was merely a drop in the ocean. Yet, Ye Anning could judge that it was the Tianming Shuzhai Edition Edition Edition based on the colophon and publication notes, which showed her memory.

"A Japanese edition?" Guan Xingmin suddenly realized, "Doesn't seem to be any in the country?"

Of course not; even Japan didn't have many complete sets.

"Then wouldn't that be a rare book?" Wang Qi Zhi smiled, "Treasure it well!"

"I will!" Lin Sicheng nodded and set it aside.

Afterward, he took out the Jade Bi.

At first glance, it looked so new. The structure was fine and dense, the texture was oily and moist, and there were no signs of calcification or rust on the entire piece.

But they were all experts, and at least they could determine that this was definitely not new jade: the bottom of the intaglio lines showed wavy undulations, and the walls of the lines had side-slope chipping.

The bore hole was very straight, but still had traces of the platform (traces of continuous tube drilling)... these were all authentic ancient wheel-grinding marks.

Looking closer: the process involved deep digging with a slanted wheel, followed by repeated grinding with a round wheel, and then gradually revealing the shape through the "layer-by-layer removal of the ground" method.

The carvings were staggered in length and density, the figures' clothing folds were square and firm, and the still-life lines were clustered but not chaotic.

Wang Qi Zhi looked at it carefully: "It looks a bit like... Yangzhou Craft from the Kangxi and Qianlong Period?"

"It is Yangzhou Craft: the gallery depth, the play of light and shadow, yet the main body still adheres to the Chinese scattered-perspective composition... This is influenced by Giuseppe Castiglione's painting style, incorporating some techniques of focal perspective..."

Guan Xingmin was exceptionally certain, "The person who carved this must be a painter, and their painting skills are definitely not poor!"

After a slight pause, he narrowed his eyes again: "The intaglio and shallow relief simulate ink wash texture techniques: using triangular knives and flat-edged knives alternately to reproduce Pima Texture, Rolling Cloud Texture, and Axe Cut Texture.

Furthermore, through the technique of varying the depth of the ground, it presents the five colors of ink landscape painting: 'scorched, thick, heavy, light, and clear.' It also uses the 'deep-sunk carving' technique to scrape away the background layer by layer, forming a three-dimensional space similar to multi-layered openwork carving..."

"This is more like the Yangzhou Craft technique of 'incorporating painting into carving' for bamboo, but to be able to use it on jade carving, and with such profound skill and ingenious application of knife work, it cannot be someone unknown... But why is there no signature?"

As he spoke, Guan Xingmin flipped the jade plaque over: "Assistant Ye, in your opinion, whose style does it resemble?"

At first glance, it was quite strange; Guan Xingmin was asking Ye Anning for advice?

But after that half-piece of calligraphy by Dong Qichang, Guan Xingmin knew that Ye Anning's foundation in the appraisal of Calligraphy and Painting was no lower than his own.

Besides, she hadn't spent ten years soaking in the Forbidden City...

"The bamboo surface is like rice paper, the knife marks are like ink rhymes... It has a bit of the artistic conception of the 'reach of ten thousand miles in a small space, the intent precedes the knife' found in the Bamboo Stone Picture Brush Pot in the Forbidden City..."

Ye Anning's eyes lit up: "Zhou Hao?"

Lin Sicheng gave a thumbs up and nodded again.

Everyone here was a talent, and they had all gathered together.

If these were taken to Li Jinqian's shop, it is estimated that in less than half a day, these few people would have bought up a small half of them...

Guan Xingmin was startled: "Zhou Hao?"

This was the only bamboo artist (bamboo carver) in the Qing Dynasty to have a biography written about him, and he was also a famous Qing Dynasty painter who studied under Wang Hui of the Four Wangs of the Qing.

There are not many of his Calligraphy and Painting works extant, and even fewer bamboo carvings; only five are known:

The Bamboo Stone Picture Brush Pot, collected in the Palace Museum. The Pine Valley Cloud Spring Picture Brush Pot, collected in the Shanghai Museum.

The Travelers in Stream and Mountain Bamboo Root Carving, collected in the Taipei Palace Museum. The Lanting Repair Ceremony Picture Incense Tube, collected in the British Museum in the United States.

The Travelers in Stream and Mountain Bamboo Screen, collected in the British Museum.

Guan Xingmin thought for a moment: "But this seems to be the first jade carving by Zhou Hao?"

Lin Sicheng shook his head: "It's not that exaggerated!"

Zhou Hao had descendants, and more than one branch, so there are still many works extant, including jade carvings, which are relatively easy to preserve.

However, they are rarely seen in public, and even when traded, it is done privately.

Of course, the price is not low; Lin Sicheng estimated that this Jade Bi is worth at least 1.4 or 1.5 million.

Lin Sicheng continued to set it aside and took out the Lacquer Box.

As soon as the item was taken out, Hao Jun's eyelids twitched: "Vermilion lacquer lotus-petal-style box with Inlaid Gold Technique... Did you go to Changzhou?"

Lin Sicheng was instead stumped by the question: Big brother, even if I went to Changzhou, it would be impossible for me to steal the museum's treasure, right?

Not to mention, this type of publicly collected item is the only one in Changzhou. So although the item is not large, its level is extremely high: a First-Class Cultural Relic of the nation.

But there are quite a few circulating among the people in the Jiangnan region, especially from the Southern Song Dynasty tomb of Zhao Boyun in Huangyan: with three wives and six concubines inside and out, more than thirty cosmetic lacquer boxes were unearthed.

By the time of the official excavation in 2016, only one was left after being robbed. So, unsurprisingly: a First-Class Cultural Relic of the nation.

Added to the unique Inlaid Gold Technique, this thing naturally became a national treasure!

Although there are quite a few, the black market price is not low, about two to three million each. This one was because it was too new, so Li Jinqian hadn't been able to sell it, and only then did he lower it to 850,000.

But for Lin Sicheng, this price was already extremely high: it couldn't be sold, and if things went poorly, it might even be confiscated, so it could only be used for Artifact Research.

Lin Sicheng set it aside as before.

Wang Qi Zhi stared at the Lacquer Box, his expression becoming increasingly suspicious. He just wanted to ask something, but seeing Lin Sicheng take out a few more small jars, the words on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back.

The Cizhou Black and White Porcelain of the Song Dynasty cannot compare to the Five Great Kilns, but its value is not low either.

There is only one point: the glaze on this jar seems to have been fired poorly; the surface of the jar is dotted and bumpy.

The body also seems to have deformed, with ridges inside.

The few people only had a slight understanding of porcelain and none of them could see what this thing was used for.

Wang Qi Zhi peered at it: "Lin Sicheng, what is this?"

"The academic name is Xinglin Glaze; it is actually a cupping jar for the Southern Song Dynasty emperor."

The few people were all stunned: What the hell, an emperor?

Just as they were shocked beyond belief, Lin Sicheng took out that Rhino Horn Cup.

The few people were thinking about the "emperor's cupping jar" and didn't pay attention; Wang Qi Zhi also only glanced at it inadvertently.

His head had already turned away, preparing to look at those few jars again. He felt something was not quite right and turned back:

He felt like he had seen this cup somewhere before?

Looking closely again, rhino horn?

Anyone with a bit of common sense knows that rhino horn cannot turn red; if it is red, it must have been dyed.

So, with such obvious characteristics, it's impossible not to have an impression?

Just as he was struggling to recall, seeing Ye Anning looking as if she were stunned—mouth agape and eyes wide, staring straight at Lin Sicheng—a flash of light crossed Wang Qi Zhi's mind.

My god... the Chixia Cup from the Forbidden City, the one dug out from the tomb of the Wanli Emperor, doesn't it look just like this?

His heart skipped a beat, Wang Qi Zhi stood up with a "thump," his eyes nailed to the horn cup.

But the more he looked, the more it looked like it; the more he looked, the more it looked like it... his heart was beating faster and faster.

Instinctively, Wang Qi Zhi scanned the ancient books, Jade Bi, porcelain jars, Lacquer Box, and the three boxes that hadn't been opened yet.

He finally knew why Lin Sicheng's phone had been turned off for five whole days.

If these things weren't bought by Lin Sicheng from Cultural Relics traffickers and those who engage in Grave-robbing, Wang Qi Zhi would dare to chew them up and eat them.

The key is, there are still three big boxes...

Subconsciously, Wang Qi Zhi's eyelids twitched rapidly, and his face turned pale bit by bit: Lin Sicheng, oh Lin Sicheng, isn't your audacity a bit too large?

Out of a hundred people who engage in Grave-robbing, ninety-nine have blood on their hands and are even more brutal than drug traffickers. Aren't you afraid of being murdered for your wealth and buried in an ancient tomb?