Chapter 584: Zhu Xi's Commentary on the

Ye Anning pointed at a painting, with Huang Lan standing beside her.

It was not large, a four-foot split-scroll. The subject matter was quite common: a flower-and-bird painting in the Mo Gu Bi Yi style.

Looking at the signature: Jinmen Xiceng.

Huang Lan squinted at it for quite a while, but could not see what was wrong with the painting.

"Miss Ye, what is strange about this painting?"

Ye Anning moved her lips, not knowing how to explain.

Lin Sicheng laughed out loud, earning a pair of eye-rolls from Ye Anning.

Of course there was nothing strange about the painting; she had just made up an excuse because she was afraid Liang Shiya and Lin Sicheng would start arguing.

At first glance, it sounded quite exaggerated, but only a woman truly understands a woman.

Don't let Liang Shiya's beauty and her face of a delicate beauty fool you; her personality was not weak at all: she was straightforward, blunt, and sharp.

The key was that she had been provoked by Lin Sicheng for many days, unable to eat or sleep well, and had long since reached her breaking point.

And Ye Anning knew best just how poisonous Lin Sicheng's mouth could be when he was being mean.

Don't think that intellectuals don't lose their tempers, and don't think that elegant women don't know how to curse in the street.

Ye Anning had seen with her own eyes what her aunt looked like when she lost her temper, and she had even seen the legendary scene of her mother beating her two younger brothers.

If they really were to start arguing here, Lin Sicheng would be the one to suffer: could he really engage in a shouting match with her?

Getting angry aside, it would be embarrassing—

She shot Lin Sicheng a glare, then smiled at Liang Shiya: "Director Liang!"

Although it was their first meeting, compared to Lin Sicheng, Liang Shiya's impression of Ye Anning was ten thousand times better.

She walked over, her tone gentle: "Miss Ye likes Ancient Painting too?"

"Director Liang, I studied Cultural Relics Protection at the Central Academy of Fine Arts!"

No wonder they could see eye-to-eye with Lin Sicheng; so it was a meeting of like-minded interests?

Of course, they were indeed a good match; no matter how much Liang Shiya looked at people through colored glasses, she had to admit one thing: Lin Sicheng looked quite presentable.

And she wouldn't go so far as to go against her conscience and call him an embroidered pillow stuffed with straw.

Just like what Guo Yongxin said: looking at it from another angle, she actually quite admired Lin Sicheng—

After sighing to herself, Liang Shiya pointed to Zhou Zhilin beside her: "Miss Ye, let me introduce you: this is Master Zhou, a disciple of the late Republic of China master of traditional Chinese painting and famous collector, Mr. Liu Zuochou. He is currently the Honorary Museum Curator of the Hong Kong Art Museum Xubaizhai—"

"If you aren't quite sure, you can let Master Zhou take a look for you—"

Lin Sicheng was right there, so what need was there for an Expert?

Besides, her own foundation wasn't bad either—

Just as she was about to say something polite, Zhou Zhilin glanced at it: "This is 'Kingfisher and Peach Blossoms' by the contemporary painter Wu Bonian, imitating the Mo Gu Bi Yi of Master Nantian. The brushwork is slightly raw; it should be a work from his youth."

Zhou Zhilin looked at the valuation again: "Twenty-two thousand, a bit high!"

It wasn't just a bit high; it was quite high: Wu Bonian could not be considered a famous master; he just shared the same name as Ren Bonian and earned the title "Jinmen Bonian."

His flower-and-bird works from his peak in his later years averaged only about one thousand per square foot. This painting was four square feet, so even at his mature period, it would only be worth a little over four thousand, meaning it was overvalued by five or six times.

What Ye Anning found strange was that the label did not state the specific date of creation. But after just one glance, Zhou Zhilin concluded that this was a work from Wu Bonian's youth?

She had looked for quite a while before figuring it out, which meant this Master Zhou's eye for detail was far superior to hers.

She looked at Lin Sicheng, and Lin Sicheng nodded slightly.

Liang Shiya let out a "hiss," as if to say: What are you nodding for, acting as if you know how to appraise too?

Lin Sicheng, however, smiled: "Director Liang, are you leaking air?"

Before he had even finished speaking, Huang Zhi laughed out loud. By the time he reacted and bit his tongue, it was already too late.

But this couldn't be blamed on him: who told Liang Shiya to be so beautiful, like a doll?

As soon as he heard "leaking air," his mind went straight to the gutter.

Liang Shiya was already thirty-four; how could she not understand? In an instant, her face turned red with anger, and her eyes seemed to be spitting fire. Ye Anning sighed; she knew it would be like this.

It showed just how stifled and angry Director Liang had been these past few days.

But the problem was, you know you're no match for him, yet you still provoke him?

Seeing that Liang Shiya was about to explode, Ye Anning took a step forward and grabbed Liang Shiya's hand: "Lin Sicheng, stop talking!"

"Director Liang, he's just like this, please don't be angry!"

9

Liang Shiya glared at Lin Sicheng: "Fine, I won't be angry!"

But in her heart, she was gritting her teeth: You surnamed Lin, you just wait for me—

Even someone as slow as Huang Lan could feel Liang Shiya's teeth-gritting intensity. She thought of a quick solution and hurriedly changed the subject.

Looking left and right, Huang Lan pointed to a piece of calligraphy nearby: "Teacher Lin, look, a calligraphy scroll by Li Dongyang (the Senior Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty Honghong period)!"

Lin Sicheng glanced at it: "Drafts of the Huailu Hall"?

"Teacher Huang, this is an imitation!"

The others looked as well.

Huang Zhi didn't understand, and Liang Shiya neither understood nor liked it. Huang Lan only understood a little, but couldn't see anything.

The three of them were at most just watching the fun.

Ye Anning was an insider and could at least see the ropes. But as long as she was with Lin Sicheng, she never used her brain. If Lin Sicheng said it was fake, then it must be fake.

Only Zhou Zhilin, having studied under famous masters and being an Expert himself, felt the most strange.

Li Dongyang was a Senior Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty and an elite calligrapher of the Great Ming, leaving behind many authentic works.

There were Letters, colophons, poems, as well as memorials and manuscript drafts of official documents.

Among the collection of his teacher Liu Zuochou, there were two pieces of Li Dongyang's calligraphy and painting colophons, which Zhou Zhilin had studied extensively.

As for the one before my eyes, whether it be the brushwork, the character structure, the composition, or the calligraphic format, it is extremely similar to those two in the Xubaizhai.

Looking again at the paper and ink: the paper color is slightly yellow, the texture is fine, and the chain lines are clear—this is typical Ming Dynasty white cotton paper.

The ink color is like lacquer, faintly reflecting light, with natural blurring at the edges, and it reveals the "frosting effect" unique to the natural aging of glue.

Looking again at the seal, the cinnabar color is steady and restrained, the oil has deeply penetrated the back of the paper, and the edges are fuzzy like a sandy surface—

In any case, no matter how Zhou Zhilin looked at it, he could not see any part of this calligraphy that looked like a fake.

He looked at it for quite a while, then raised his head suspiciously and looked at Liang Shiya.

The expression was very clear: This calligraphy is quite real, isn't it?

Liang Shiya curled her lips: Master Zhou, please, look at his face first. There isn't even a single hair on his chin; do you dare to believe his words?

Although every background check indicated that Lin Sicheng had earned tens of millions in just over a year by picking up leaks, no one believed that he relied on genuine ability.

First, he is too young and hasn't even graduated from university; where would he get the eye and experience?

Second, the time is too short: just over a year. Ask those established masters, which one would dare to brag like this?

Third, and most importantly: the things Lin Sicheng picked up were too many and too varied.

There were porcelain, Jade, Bronze, Ancient Painting, calligraphy, ancient books, and even the Four Treasures of the Study, and Bamboo Wood Ivory Horn Carving.

As the old saying goes, there is a specialty in every trade; no Expert can be knowledgeable in all types of antiques and be proficient in all of them.

What's more, Lin Sicheng is only in his early twenties?

Zhou Zhilin naturally understood these principles; he was just uncertain whether Lin Sicheng was setting up a smokescreen.

Because the valuation on the label was too low: if it were an authentic work by Li Dongyang, it could not possibly be worth only 250,000.

Thinking secretly to himself, he looked at the lot number: if someone bids after the auction starts, should he raise the price a couple of times?

Lin Sicheng did not know what he was thinking; the reason he looked so quickly was because he was certain.

The "Precious Collection of the Stone Moat" contains a total of eleven calligraphic works by Li Dongyang, and six are currently collected in the Forbidden City. Among them, the "Poem Scroll Written by Himself in Running Script" alone contains nine poems. And without exception, they are all running-cursive script.

The piece before his eyes happens to be an imitation of Li Dongyang's running-cursive script.

With Lin Sicheng's memory, as long as he had studied it, it was impossible to forget: although it was imitated very well, it was precisely because it was similar that there were many flaws.

Too deliberate, too cautious, the brushwork too stiff—he could find more than ten such shortcomings.

But Huang Lan was just on a whim and didn't ask much, and even if he explained, she wouldn't be able to tell, so Lin Sicheng didn't say anything.

The atmosphere was not very good, and Lin Sicheng could see that Liang Shiya was worked up and wanted to argue with him.

A good man doesn't fight with a woman, so he deliberately moved a little further away.

The group split into two, each looking at their own things.

Before parting, Liang Shiya even extended an invitation: "Ms. Ye, would you like to join us? I'm not lying to you, Master Zhou is really quite professional—"

Ye Anning smiled apologetically: "Thank you, General Manager Liang."

She was only worried that Liang Shiya would argue with Lin Sicheng and feared Lin Sicheng would lose face, rather than wanting to be friends with Liang Shiya.

Liang Shiya nodded and took out a business card: "Ms. Ye, let's go shopping together when we have time!"

Ye Anning took it: "Okay!"

The two parted ways there, and Huang Zhi blinked his eyes, looking at Lin Sicheng, then at Ye Anning.

Lin Sicheng was confused: "General Manager Huang, what are you looking at?"

Huang Zhi smiled: "Nothing!"

He felt that this pair was a perfect match; no wonder they could end up together.

Not to mention Lin Sicheng, whom he had experienced enough of, he didn't expect Ye Anning to be no less capable.

Smart, has a good eye, and handles boundaries just right.

And she knows how to speak, with high emotional intelligence.

As the saying goes, love me, love my dog; given Liang Shiya's personality and her attitude toward Lin Sicheng, how could she be so close to Ye Anning while knowing their relationship?

Without some ability, don't even think about it.

The key is that Liang Shiya didn't notice a thing.

Huang Zhi reckoned that he certainly couldn't do that.

Lin Sicheng didn't care and wandered aimlessly.

After looking around again, seeing a few pages of paper in a display case, Huang Lan tugged at Ye Anning's sleeve and pointed: "Assistant Ye, look, so expensive!"

She wasn't pointing at the paper, but at the large display tag next to the pages.

It was marked with a line of numbers: a "7" at the front, followed by a long string of zeros.

Several people stopped, and Huang Zhi deliberately counted: "One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand—"

"My goodness, over seventy million—is it made of gold?"

Lin Sicheng shook his head: "General Manager Huang, gold isn't worth that price!"

A gram of gold is less than two hundred; seventy million would be nearly four hundred kilograms, almost half a ton.

If beaten into pages, how big and thick would it have to be?

Looking again at the small print under the valuation, Lin Sicheng understood: Southern Song Dynasty Engraved Edition, "Collected Works of the Two Chengs".

Song engraved editions are expensive, which is why there is the saying "a page of Song book, a page of gold." But that refers to civilian editions.

If it were an official edition, one would have to add a few more zeros to the end.

What if there were annotations by Zhu Zi on it?

Only seventy million?

If these few pages were authentic, if they couldn't fetch over a hundred million at auction, Lin Sicheng would dare to chew them up and eat them—

The group made quite a commotion, and Liang Shiya was not far away, hearing it clearly.

"Valued at over seventy million—Master Zhou, does this auction actually have such expensive antiques?"

It is indeed quite rare.

Even at international auctions, most of the time, the biggest lots are only twenty or thirty million. Anything exceeding forty million can be called a king lot.

If it exceeds fifty million, it would absolutely cause a sensation in the industry. And during the preview, it would certainly be heavily promoted.

Although he came in a hurry, he had seen the promotions inside the venue. Zhou Zhilin did not remember seeing this item in the catalog.

"Miss Liang, would you like to go over and take a look?"

Of course.

As long as it is an object that Lin Sicheng is paying attention to, one must certainly keep an eye on it. What's more, the price of this one is so high.

Liang Shiya nodded, and the group walked over.

Lin Sicheng was looking at those few pages of the engraved edition and had no time to pay attention to her.

Liang Shiya knew she couldn't win an argument with him, so she didn't make a fuss. The group stood in front of the display case, staring at the lot inside.

There were seven pages in total, placed in a vacuum box lined with velvet. Next to it was a sign, as large as an A4 sheet of paper. After counting carefully, the Assistant looked surprised: It's just a few pages of paper, why is it so expensive?

If you calculate it, it averages over ten million per page.

She was stunned for a long while: "Diwen, are Song Dynasty engraved editions all this expensive?"

It is not her fault for not understanding, as she is from the United States. Although born into a Chinese family, it is limited to being able to speak the Han language and recognize Chinese characters; she knows very little about history.

Liang Shiya is from Hong Kong and is a little better than her, but only a little.

To tell the truth, she doesn't really understand much either.

But there is someone nearby who understands.

Zhou Zhilin explained patiently: "There are also cheap ones; it specifically depends on which kind."

"The lowest are workshop editions, which are commercial books engraved by small private workshops. The second category is official editions: important classics printed by government offices and official schools at all levels for the purpose of local education."

"The third category is family editions, which are books engraved by the families of the scholar-official and noble classes. The fourth category is Guozijian editions; the so-called 'Jian' refers to the central department—this category is the most expensive!"

Zhou Zhilin pointed to the display case: "These few sheets are Guozijian editions primarily engraved by the Guozijian."

The Assistant looked curious: "So, one page is over ten million?"

Of course, it is not that much.

He specializes in Artifact Research, so Zhou Zhilin remembers very clearly: as of now, the transaction record for a Song Dynasty Engraved Edition was at the "Song and Ming Unique Copies Special Session" held by China Guardian in January of last year.

The king lot at that time was the Ministry of Rites Yunlue, a Southern Song Dynasty Engraved Edition, and five volumes sold for over thirty-five million. Including commissions and taxes, it was nearly forty-three million.

It is also a Southern Song Dynasty Engraved Edition, also an official edition, and also an official collection for the Song Dynasty imperial examinations.

But the Ministry of Rites Yunlue had five volumes, nearly eight hundred pages. Before them, there are only a few pages, less than one percent. And it is a fragmentary piece; why is the price more than double?

The reason is very simple: this is the Collected Works of the Two Chengs with annotations by Zhu Zi.