Chapter 469: Professional Grave Robbing

The Xiguan Mansion is one of the typical examples of ancient Cantonese architecture, with highly distinctive construction and layout: blue brick walls with Mashijiao foundations, and a structure of three rooms and two corridors.

That is, blue bricks for the walls and granite for the base. There must be a front hall, a main hall, and a second hall in the front and back. There must be a side porch and a secondary corridor on the left and right.

The decoration is also very unique: it generally integrates crafts such as wood carving, stone carving, brick carving, pottery sculpture, gray sculpture, and murals. At the same time, Western elements are incorporated into rosewood furniture, Manchurian windows, and stained glass windows.

Unfortunately, most were destroyed in the flames of war, and too few remain; otherwise, their fame would be no less than that of the Jiangnan Guzhen or the Wupeng Shuixiang.

Walking and looking, they passed through more than half of the alley, and the sounds of Pangu and coconut-shell fiddles drifted from the roadside. Then, a hoarse yet magnetic operatic voice rose up:

"Telling of a beautiful soul before the blood-stained monument, paper ash flies like white butterflies.

The cuckoo weeps over the withered red on the branch, the empty mountain's desolate green turns to jade..."

The singing style was extremely unique; it seemed like opera, but more like a ballad, with a vibrato at the end of every phrase.

The musical style was even more unique: soft, lingering, and sorrowful, hoarse and frail, yet carrying a magnetism rarely found in women.

Looking at the singer, she was only about thirty years old, with a proper appearance, wearing a well-fitted Cantonese-style cheongsam.

The ages of the several musicians were not high either; some were thirty, some forty, and the oldest were two zither players, both around fifty. A circle of onlookers surrounded them, focused and attentive.

Fang Jin pricked up his ears, listening carefully, but it was all in vain; they were singing in pure Cantonese, and he could not understand a single word.

Looking at the instruments, there were zithers, flutes, drums, and fiddles, but if asked to be specific, he could at most recognize the dulcimer and the vertical bamboo flute. After watching for a few moments, he glanced at Li Zhen: "Assistant Li, what is this they are singing?"

Li Zhen was concise: "Cantonese Opera!"

Fang Jin was stunned, his expression very strange: pure Cantonese, this was obviously Cantonese music.

"I am asking, what is the title of the piece?"

Li Zhen looked at him: Are you doing this on purpose?

We are both from the North; if you can't understand it, how could I?

They couldn't understand it, but someone could. Ye Anlan listened for a moment: "Anning, are they singing a ghost play?"

Ye Anning pursed her lips: Anyone who knows Cantonese can tell.

Seeing them stop, the two guides whispered an introduction: "This is a private ensemble unique to eastern Guangdong, organized spontaneously by the people, bringing their own scripts and forming groups freely to perform in streets and at Shrines. They are not singing opera, but music..."

The male Appraiser paused slightly: "Cantonese music!"

Fang Jin suddenly realized: "Isn't this just retired old men and women singing opera in the park?"

"It's different!" Ye Anning shook her head, "Assistant Fang, look, which of the people here looks like they are retired?"

Fang Jin looked carefully: They really didn't?

There were old men and women in the audience, but the circle in the middle, whether playing instruments or singing, were all in their prime. One would imagine they were all people with both money and leisure.

For example, in Xijing, Qin opera culture is more intense, but it is rare to see young people singing, and even those in their fifties are rare.

Looking at the environment, this was clearly deep in a relatively remote alley, and whether they were singing, watching, or listening, nine out of ten were neighbors. Fang Jin nodded, finally understanding: these must be the grandfathers and grandmothers Miss Ye mentioned earlier.

To put it bluntly: they were all wealthy people.

It was quite pleasant to listen to, but most couldn't understand it, including Ye Anqi, Ye Anlan, and Tao An.

The two Appraisers were the same, only having a superficial understanding.

After watching for a few moments, the group continued walking forward.

Ye Anning fell a step behind, walking shoulder to shoulder with Lin Sicheng: "What was that they were singing just now? The singing style is so unique."

It was indeed unique: it required the female performer to sing in a hoarse, magnetic, and sorrowful tone, conveying a sense of being on the verge of death, with a breath as thin as gossamer. Yet, it did not lose its desolate, lingering, eerie, and ghostly quality.

Lin Sicheng could guarantee that the lead singer just now was definitely a professional Cantonese music performer; otherwise, even if Ye Anlan followed the lyrics, she wouldn't have associated it with a ghost play.

"This is a classic Cantonese music piece, 'Autumn Grave', one of the representative works of the Star-style school!"

"What is the Star-style school?"

"Roughly speaking, it takes natural female vocal singing as its core, integrating traditional Cantonese vocal techniques with Western musical elements to form a unique style that is soft, lingering, and sorrowful."

"Do you know how to sing it?"

"A little!" Lin Sicheng nodded: "But I definitely couldn't sing it here!"

For the same piece of Cantonese music, the accompaniment instruments and melody for male and female vocals are completely different; the musicians on site hadn't practiced it and definitely couldn't play it. "I wasn't asking you to sing, I was just curious and asked..."

The two talked as they walked, and the two Appraisers behind them had strange expressions: Didn't the introduction say that these people were all from Xijing? Especially this one who looked like a young master from a noble family; he looked the youngest, but was surprisingly so knowledgeable, and could even sing?

Are they bragging?

This Cantonese music stuff is almost extinct; you can only see it in old streets like this. Once you leave Xiguan, let alone those who can sing it, there are few who can even understand it. It's probably to please the girl.

In a flash, the group left the alley and arrived at the edge of Lihu.

The lake was filled with colorful flags, and the sound of gongs and drums on the shore was deafening; it could be described as a sea of people.

The Guwancheng was no less bustling, with twice as many customers as usual.

It was very neatly planned, with uniform storefronts, all the same size, style, and color. At most, the names and business scopes were different.

The streets were also very clean, with basically no random placement of goods or littering.

The Appraiser introduced simultaneously: "The history of Xiguan Guwancheng is relatively long; it took shape during the Republic of China, only a little later than Beijing." "It used to be quite chaotic, with stalls everywhere in the surrounding streets, and many outsiders; theft and robbery occurred from time to time. Around 1996, for the sake of management, the government built the Guwancheng. Whether it was shops or street vendors, they all moved here..."

"The place is not small, and the business scope is very wide: antique ceramics, calligraphy and painting by famous people, the Four Treasures of the Study, Jadeite, Jade, and all kinds of new and old art pieces are available. Among them, there is no shortage of high-quality, exquisitely crafted, rare, and precious items..."

Ye Anqi was noncommittal, looking at Lin Sicheng: "Sicheng, do you want to buy something?"

Lin Sicheng smiled: "Second Brother, let's look around first!"

In a place like this, it's not about what you want to buy, but what you can happen upon. And one hundred percent, it's the same all over the country: ninety-nine percent are fakes, and less than one percent are real.

Therefore, the "no shortage of high-quality items" mentioned by this Appraiser is just something to listen to.

He could roughly tell that the two people Ye Anlan asked her father to invite were definitely knowledgeable, but their appraisal skills were secondary; they were mainly familiar with the terrain. In other words, they were what are commonly known as local snakes.

One would imagine that when they were invited, the teacher must have reminded them: with Lin Sicheng here, they definitely wouldn't be able to cheat him or pull a fast one, so they just needed to guard against being forced to buy or sell.

As they spoke, the group entered the market.

Sure enough, they were local snakes: whether it was the stall owners or the shopkeepers, everyone greeted them upon seeing them.

"Chairman Yao, why don't you come in and take a look?"

"Professor Gao, are you not busy today?"

The man's surname was Yao, and the woman's was Gao. One could tell just by hearing these two titles: the man likely held a position at the Antique Association, and the woman was likely an appraisal Expert. The shop owners were all very courteous, with smiles on their faces and respectful tones. However, the two were quite reserved and barely spoke, merely nodding to acknowledge the greetings. After walking for a while, the two stopped and pointed at a storefront: "Everyone, the items in this shop are quite good. Would you like to go in and take a look?" The group looked up: it was a rather large shop with a wide facade and a massive plaque: Nancai Lingsi Zhai.

The name of this shop was quite interesting.

First, regarding "Lingsi": this was a guild organization established by Guangzhou colored porcelain artisans in the forty-third year of Qianlong (1778), with the full name Lingsi Hall.

Next, regarding "Henan": the "Henan" here is not the Henan in the Central Plains, but rather the south of the Pearl River: initially, the Lingsi Hall headquarters was located in the Wenchang Road and Daihe Road area north of the Pearl River, later moving to Longtian in the Haizhu District south of the Pearl River, which is the current Longfeng Street.

Guangzhou people call the Pearl River the "River," which is why Guangzhou colored porcelain is also called Hencai or Nancai.

Therefore, this place should primarily deal in Guangzhou colored porcelain.

Looking further inside, it was indeed so: there were over a dozen display cabinets, all filled with colorful porcelain.

Guangzhou colored porcelain is relatively niche, and since there is quite a lot of it currently in existence, and he had no Artifact Research plans for the time being, Lin Sicheng's interest was not very high.

But since so many people had come out to have fun together, it was impossible to only cater to his mood. He nodded quite readily: "Second Brother, Cousin Ye, Cousin Tao, shall we go in and take a look?"

Ye Anlan and Tao An were indifferent: they were just here to have fun, and since they didn't understand it anyway, it was all the same to them.

Ye Anqi knew a little bit and could also tell that there were more authentic pieces in this Guangzhou colored porcelain shop.

Firstly, Guangzhou colored porcelain is niche and not as famous as mainstream porcelain. Secondly, it appeared late, and its historical depth is relatively less profound.

To put it bluntly: the audience is relatively small, and the cost-effectiveness of faking it is relatively low.

If one could imitate Guangzhou colored porcelain, one could imitate other colored porcelain that sells better and is more valuable. Naturally, there were fewer people faking it.

Even if they did, the level of simulation would be worse, not enough to fool an expert.

While thinking this, the group entered the shop. Having seen them earlier, the shop manager hurried over to welcome them: "Chairman Yao, Professor Gao, welcome!" The male Appraiser nodded: "Do you have any good items? Bring these distinguished guests over to take a look!"

Upon hearing the words "distinguished guests," the shop manager immediately understood: keep your Zhaoji sharp; don't look at how young these people are, they all have connections.

He nodded vigorously, meaning he understood, and pointed inside: "Everyone, please this way!"

There were too many people, and fearing he couldn't attend to them all, he waved his hand, and two shop assistants and one master craftsman came out from the back room.

One group couldn't cover everyone, so the group split up; the woman followed Ye Anning and Ye Anlan, Yao Jun followed Ye Anqi and Lin Sicheng, and the two shop assistants attended to Fang Jin and Tao An.

Li Zhen, Feng Sanjiang, and Ding Aqin followed far behind.

Having been warned, they naturally dared not use fakes or common junk to fool them, so the manager led them to a display cabinet against the wall. This cabinet was entirely filled with gold-woven porcelain, featuring all kinds of vessel shapes.

The old master pointed to one of the colored plates: "Everyone, take a look at this piece: authentic Return-flow Porcelain from abroad, a boutique piece from the Qianlong era..." The group glanced at it and paused in unison: setting aside whether it was real or fake, and not even considering the condition, just looking at the composition and colors, it was quite in line with Chinese aesthetics.

At least the pattern was not that crowded, the decorative motifs were not that complex, and the colors were not that numerous or messy.

The manager took the item out, and Chairman Yao and Professor Gao added from the side: "This is the Three-Lion Seal, with the prototype being the English Royal Coat of Arms. Therefore, this piece should be British Royal custom-made porcelain that has returned from England..."

Ye Anqi was startled: for anything, whether Chinese or foreign, as long as it is linked to the word "Royal," the price is never low. Lin Sicheng was noncommittal; he took the plate, examined it for a few moments, and then beckoned to those behind him: "Senior Sister Li, Master Feng, Master Ding, you all come over and take a look too!"

"Understood, Lin Shifu!"

The two responded and crowded over, taking turns to examine it one by one:

"It is indeed custom-made porcelain, but this emblem is a bit strange..."

"The porcelain quality is a bit loose, a bit brittle; it should have been soaked for a long time... it looks like sea-salvaged porcelain..."

Lin Sicheng did not speak, merely nodding:

It was indeed custom-made porcelain, and the date was roughly correct, mid-eighteenth century, the Qianlong period. Looking at the quality, it could indeed be called boutique porcelain. The British Royal emblem at that time was indeed the Three-Lion Seal, but it was not just three lions:

The one on this plate was more like the kind imitated by European nobles influenced by British culture. But looking at this workmanship, it shouldn't be a small family. Lin Sicheng suspected it was a product from the period of the British Royal Civil War, shortly after the constitutional monarchy in the eighteenth century. There were three civil disturbances in succession, lasting roughly thirty years, and many royal descendants participated. It was ten to one that it was a newly created emblem from one of those families.

Because it existed for a short time and he hadn't deliberately looked into it, Lin Sicheng really didn't have much of an impression. But he could basically conclude: to say it was British Royal porcelain would definitely be a stretch; at most, it could be considered royal-family porcelain.

There was one more point: this porcelain did not return from England, but was dug out of the sea.

A blind guess: China's coastal waters...

After discussing it briefly, Lin Sicheng returned it.

Whether it was the two appraisers, or the manager and the old master, their expressions were all a bit strange.

The latter two went without saying; they knew their own items' situation best: royal-family porcelain versus royal porcelain—just hearing the names, one knew which was expensive and which was cheap.

As for sea-salvaged porcelain, that was even more of a negative factor: this plate hadn't even left the Chinese sea, let alone been to England, so how could it be called British Royal porcelain?

Therefore, they naturally wouldn't say anything.

The two appraisers were mentally prepared: they had seen the plate before and knew the background. They also knew that the two people behind must have sharp eyes and plenty of experience.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so much rust on their hands.

They didn't expect that after just two or three glances, these two would actually see through it so thoroughly?

But that was secondary; the key was this young man: they hadn't noticed before, but until he took the plate, the two appraisers only then discovered that there was actually rust on his hands too?

Although it wasn't as thick as the rust on the hands of the other two, it was extremely varied: yellow, green, brown, blue...

Both were experts and knew very well how this rust came to be: only by long-term contact with various Raw Pit Goods would one be left with rust of various colors. Copper, paper, porcelain, wood... regardless of what it was, it must have been freshly dug out of the ground, otherwise, the hand rust wouldn't be like this. It was even hard to say if they often touched human bones.

The more the two thought about it, the more they felt something was wrong: this young man, could he be a professional in Grave Robbing?