Chapter 87: The Inner Court of the Great Qing

Lin Sicheng was stunned for a moment: Ye Anning's attitude was so resolute, this was definitely premeditated.

Since you were prepared to do this all along, why didn't you buy it?

Suddenly, he realized: what Ye Anning was after wasn't this piece of calligraphy, but the frustration she had been bottling up inside.

This Teacher Ma had been making a scene for half a month, the colleagues had been watching the joke for over half a month, and even the leaders had a subtle attitude; it clearly wasn't hard to resolve, yet they dragged it out for half a month.

If it were anyone else, they would have quit long ago, but Ye Anning was neither aggrieved nor angry; she was clearly in the middle of it, yet she acted like a bystander?

She was just waiting for this day.

Just as he was secretly admiring her, with a "clunk," Wang Qi Zhi coughed: Are you two treating me like air?

And at this time, in this situation, in this scene... where did these emotions of yours come from?

If even Wang Qi Zhi thought so, what about the others?

No matter how you look at it, it feels like these two are flirting.

The woman laughed with a "ha": "Is he really a little boyfriend?"

Lin Sicheng ignored her and looked at Ye Anning: "Are you going to resign?"

Ye Anning shook her head decisively: "I won't resign!"

If she were going to resign, she would have done so half a month ago; she wouldn't have waited until today.

She wouldn't even resign in the future: I have connections, but I have even more ability, and I am very strong...

"Good!"

Lin Sicheng nodded heavily, picked up the damaged scroll, and placed it into the box.

Then, he looked at the two leaders: "Must it be returned?"

The leaders shook their heads even more resolutely than Ye Anning: "It must be returned!"

They had performed fiber testing on the mounting paper, the green silk, and the painting core: the former two were from the early Yuan dynasty, but the latter "whoosh" jumped to the late Ming dynasty, a difference of nearly three hundred years.

They also tested the ink paste of several seals: there were four in total, two from the late Ming (one of which was Xiang Molin imitating Zhao Mengfu's Sanskrit seal), which belonged to the same period as the painting paper fibers. But the remaining two had reached the mid-Qing dynasty?

That meant another four-hundred-year gap, plus the previous three hundred years, a full seven-hundred-year span; if this isn't a fake, what is?

As for where it came from or who imitated it, there was no need to even look.

Only a pure novice like Ye Anning, fresh out of university, would naively think she had found a Lock, saying over and over, "Even if it is an imitation, it is the work of a master."

But how many masters are there in the world?

Lin Sicheng looked at the woman again: "Teacher Ma, what now?"

"I don't care!"

The woman sat up straight, reached out, and pointed directly at Ye Anning, "She is the one who said that if the promotion and operations were in place, the starting bid would be at least one million... so, if it's not going to auction, that's fine, just buy this piece of calligraphy. My request isn't high: one million!"

"Ha, one million!"

Lin Sicheng laughed out loud, giving the impression that he was mocking her: You really dare to ask for that much?

In fact, he was truly happy: only one million?

Immediately, Lin Sicheng shook his head again, "Teacher Ma, speak properly!"

The woman's eyes lit up with a "ping": Does this little puppy want to buy it?

Wanting to play the hero saving the beauty?

Secretly guessing, she looked them up and down: he was good-looking, his speech was good, and he was sweet and obedient. Standing with Ye Anning, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a "talented man and beautiful woman."

Combined with the question Lin Sicheng asked earlier: whether she would resign... the woman was even more certain that he just wanted to play the hero saving the beauty.

But Poly couldn't accept it, she wouldn't let it go, and Ye Anning wouldn't resign, so what could be done?

The only way was to solve the problem at the root: just buy the calligraphy, wouldn't that work?

It was simply a perfect solution... but the problem was, do you have that much money?

The woman was still suspicious, and Lin Sicheng tapped the table again:

"The edge of the mounting paper was sampled, the edge of the painting paper was also sampled, and more than once? I imagine that before Teacher Ma sent it to Poly, you had it tested too, so you know this is an imitation, right?"

"It is an imitation, that's true, but this is an imitation by Dong Qichang... she said so herself, and you heard it too, didn't you? So, if it's a cent less than one million, I'm not finished with her!"

The woman glared fiercely at Ye Anning, then turned back, "And don't talk so much nonsense, just tell me, are you buying it or not?"

Why would I say so much to you if I weren't buying it?

Lin Sicheng nodded: "I'll buy it, but the provenance must be clear, and the price must be reasonable!"

"The provenance is certainly clear: I bought it from the Northeast eight years ago, and I even have the receipt... as for the price, what do you think is reasonable? Nine hundred thousand, or eight hundred thousand?"

The woman laughed and squinted her eyes, as if asking: Do you have the money?

Lin Sicheng remained silent and took out his bank card.

Suddenly, Teacher Ma's eyes shone: As expected of a little puppy, eager to protect the flower. I just provoked you, and you fell for it?

But she couldn't hold on too tight, what if he backed out?

She gritted her teeth: "Eight hundred thousand, not a cent lower... otherwise I'll come every day!"

"Good!"

Lin Sicheng was indescribably crisp, pushed the bank card forward, and didn't even frown: "Trouble the two leaders, please have the finance department handle the procedures!"

The woman beamed: Good heavens, where did this sucker pop out from?

The two leaders looked at each other.

They had imagined countless times how Ye Anning would resolve this matter, but they never expected it would be by throwing money at it?

But then again, one is willing to hit, and the other is willing to be hit.

The deputy director nodded: "In that case, this will be a consignment sale by the company, which requires a 10% commission, but we will only issue a tripartite transaction Contract and will not stamp or mark the work itself."

Lin Sicheng was calm and composed, displaying the demeanor of a wealthy person to the fullest: "No problem, the commission is on me!"

Saving another eighty thousand, the woman was even happier and went with the director and Supervisor to handle the paperwork. Ye Anning was the handler, so of course, she had to go too.

Several people went to the finance office, and it was not until this moment that someone came over to serve them two cups of coffee.

Wang Qi Zhi stirred his coffee slowly, his expression growing increasingly strange.

It was because the expressions of Lin Sicheng and Ye Anning were too realistic; at first glance, they looked just like they were flirting, which led him down the wrong path.

It was not until Lin Sicheng took out his bank card that he realized: Lin Sicheng wanted to buy that piece of calligraphy.

And just how sharp were Lin Sicheng's eyes?

The internal reference, the Iron Certificate of Li Zicheng, the Chicken Feather Duster of Pu Xinshe, the Esoteric Buddhist Statue, the Qing Yongzheng Enamel Sunflower-Shaped Plate...

It amounted to going from nothing to something; in less than a month, Lin Sicheng had already earned nearly two million just by picking up leaks.

Not to mention the Inverted Pot from the Cultural Relics company, the Hetian White Jade Lion Paperweight from the Appraisal Center, and the Kangxi Imitation Xuande Incense Burner he had seen not long ago...

So, without some certainty, would he dare to shell out eight hundred thousand?

Wang Qi Zhi lowered his voice: "Is it really Dong Qichang?"

"Yes, Teacher!"

"How many parts certain are you?"

"Ninety percent!"

What difference was there between this and one hundred percent?

Wang Qi Zhi believed it for the most part: after all, Ye Anning's university education was not for nothing, the many years spent in the Forbidden City were not for nothing, and Lin Sicheng's eye for antiques was there for all to see.

Identifying whether a piece of calligraphy was a copy of Dong Qichang's work was still not much of a problem.

Furthermore, comparing it to the market trend of Dong Qichang's works over the last two years, if that piece of calligraphy were a complete Han Dynasty scroll, it would be worth at least around four to five million.

It was a pity it was a damaged scroll, so the price would drop by at least half. And since it was Sanskrit, and a copy at that, the price would have to drop by half again... calculating it this way, it would be one million at most.

Fortunately, at least there was no loss.

But that was on the condition that neither Ye Anning nor Lin Sicheng had misjudged it.

"Besides the calligraphy, is there any other supporting evidence?"

"Yes!"

Lin Sicheng picked up his coffee cup to cover his lips: "It has the authentication seal of the Qing Imperial Treasury on it!"

What kind of thing... Qing Imperial Treasury?

Wang Qi Zhi's eyes widened: Lin Sicheng, what kind of joke are you playing?