Chapter 67 Truth and Lies Brother, you're not a dog, how could you bite? ...

"Where are you going?" Li Changling quickly changed direction and followed her.

Wang Yan touched the wooden carving at his waist, his steps quickening. "Didn't something happen?"

Li Changling gripped her shoulders. "Something happened to the Cui family."

Last time, Shang Shifan used his power to beat up Cui Chongqi. This time, Minister Cui brought his son to apologize and presented a masterpiece painting, "Sunset over a Mountain Stream," which Shang Shifan immediately claimed was a fake, while the real painting was already in Shang's collection.

"This matter has even reached the government offices, but today is only the first day of the month, and the seals won't be opened until the eighth. We don't know who is telling the truth and who is lying."

I'd heard of the many misdeeds of the eldest son of the merchant family, but I never imagined he'd acted so despicably. However, Wang Yan didn't have time to dwell on it. She herself was still hiding and on the run; how could she interfere in other people's affairs? She quickly dismissed the matter with a few words, then used the excuse of not saying auspicious words during New Year's greetings to send Li Changling to the kitchen. After lunch, with some gentle coaxing and pleading, she and Li Changling happily went out.

Colorful tents were erected throughout the streets, displaying a dazzling array of headdresses, jewelry, and other ornaments. The most bustling place was the gambling arena, where shouts rang out constantly. The stakes ranged from small items like vegetables, fruits, and firewood to large prizes like jade and rare trinkets. Winners laughed while losers wept—it had always been this way.

Wang Yan was more interested in the singing and dancing, so he left Li Changling, who was watching with great interest, and chose a balustrade to watch the performance. Just as he sat down, a familiar figure appeared in his peripheral vision.

Wei Xiaoshu stood to the right of Shen Minghuai, her eyes half-lowered, a faint smile on her lips. "Brother Shen, thank you for bringing me to the opera."

“After all, I have lived here for twenty years. It is only right that my father asked me to bring you and Ziqing out for a walk. There is no need to thank me.” Shen Minghuai carried Han Xiwan to his right side.

Wei Xiaoshu still smiled, took two steps back and sat down next to the child. "But I've heard that Brother Shen has also been to the capital several times. He must be very knowledgeable and well-traveled. I envy him very much. We travel around with our father and never have the opportunity to travel around."

Shen Minghuai bent down and fastened Han Xiwan's fur coat, saying, "There will be opportunities in the future."

Wei Xiaoshu also leaned down to look over, and saw the little boy wink at her, as if a warm current flowed through her heart.

"I wonder if Brother Shen has ever been to Quanzhou?"

"Are you cold?" Shen Minghuai cupped Han Xiwan's small hand in his palm and replied, "No."

Han Xiwan turned to Wei Xiaoshu and said, "Awan knows that Quanzhou's porcelain is very famous, and she also knows that Quanzhou is located by the sea."

Wei Xiaoshu happily cupped Han Xiwan's face in her hands. "Ah Wan is really amazing, she knows so much. That's right, Quanzhou has a port, many maritime merchants, and its porcelain is famous. Although I was born in Beijing, I went to Quanzhou with my father before I was three years old, and returned to Quanzhou when I was thirteen. My father was away on assignment for more than ten years, and I have been to many places, but my favorite place is still there."

Han Xiwan's eyes were full of envy. "Awan has never seen the sea before. Awan wants to see it too."

Wei Xiaoshu hooked her finger around Han Xiwan's, "Once Father settles down in the capital, Brother Shen and I will take you to see the sea, okay?"

Han Xiwan nodded vigorously, "Okay! Let's call Mother too, and go see the sea together."

Shen Minghuai straightened his younger sister, who was sitting crookedly, and carefully explained to her, "Quanzhou is too far away, A-Wan will not be able to handle it. How about your brother takes you to see the sea somewhere else next time?"

The gloom in Han Xiwan's eyes cleared up again, "I'll listen to you, brother! Then I'll ask Sister Wenxuan if she wants to come with us."

Shen Minghuai smiled and responded. Wei Xiaoshu hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "Who is this Sister Wenxuan that Awan mentioned?"

Han Xiwan remembered Shen Minghuai's instructions and answered first, "She is Awan's older sister."

Wei Xiaoshu didn't press further. The boy beside Shen Minghuai glanced back unintentionally and saw his wife, whose face was covered in red rashes, had been frowning just moments before. But upon seeing Wei Xiaoshu's gaze, she grinned broadly. Han Xiwan froze for a moment, then began to cry softly.

Wang Yan forgot that in order to have a good time today, she had put on makeup, and her expression changed so quickly that her younger sister was probably frightened.

Shen Minghuai and Wei Xiaoshu, who was sitting next to him, turned around at the same time. Some were surprised, and some were flustered. The next moment, Wang Yan saw the two of them, one big and one small, walking towards her hand in hand. They said they wanted to bring their little sister to apologize, but Han Xiwan was too scared to look at her.

Shen Minghuai whispered in her ear, "Awan, this is Sister Wenxuan."

Han Xiwan peeked out uncertainly, looked again and again, then looked at her brother, "Is this really Sister Wenxuan?"

Wang Yan removed her veil and took out the wooden carving she always carried at her waist. "Your brother gave this to me yesterday. Do you think it looks like me?"

Han Xiwan leaned closer to look carefully, "It really does look like her! She looks just like Sister Wenxuan from before."

Shen Minghuai whispered to his sister that recently some bad people had been targeting Wenxuan, and that she should be extra careful when going out, which was why he was disguised like this.

Upon hearing this, Han Xiwan gripped her brother's hand tightly, "Brother, you must catch him as soon as possible, we can't let the villain succeed."

Shen Minghuai patted his sister's head with satisfaction, while Wang Yan took Han Xiwan's small hand and coaxed her to stay here with him.

After learning her identity, Han Xiwan was no longer afraid and obediently sat down next to Wang Yan, saying, "Brother, you should go back. Awan is here."

Shen Minghuai then squatted down in front of Wang Yan, quietly took her hand, and said softly, "Uncle Wei came to offer New Year's greetings, and my father asked me to take the Wei siblings out for a stroll. I originally planned to go find you after watching this play, but now it's good that I can see you sooner."

“In that case,” Wang Yan pried his hand away, “the Shen family’s hospitality is such that they wouldn’t just leave someone there for nothing, would they? Go back quickly.”

Shen Minghuai looked around for a while, then suddenly leaned close to her ear and kissed the tip of her ear. "Don't be angry, okay?"

The scent of cedar and jasmine enveloped her, and Wang Yan's ears burned like fire. "I'm not angry, go quickly."

After confirming that she was really not angry, Shen Minghuai left. The moment his soft lips touched her ear, a tingling sensation quickly took over his body, making his head spin.

Han Xiwan also noticed that something was wrong with her. "Sister, what did brother say?"

Wang Yan, his thoughts returning to normal, hesitated for a long time before answering, "He bites people."

Han Xiwan looked in Shen Minghuai's direction and muttered, "Brother isn't a dog, how could he bite people?"

Shen Minghuai returned to his seat, exchanged a few words with Wei Xiaoshu, and a dramatic scene of a nobleman exchanging wives began. Wei Xiaoshu watched intently, while Wei Ziqing kept glancing at Shen Minghuai.

After the play ended, Shen Minghuai saw them off onto the carriage back to his residence and was about to leave when Wei Ziqing suddenly called him back.

"Brother Shen, who is that woman you met today?"

Shen Minghuai replied without changing his expression, "We met by chance and do not know each other."

Wei Ziqing asked again, "Isn't it Lady Wang?"

Shen Minghuai remained calm and said, "No."

Wei Xiaoshu pulled her brother back into the car, "How could that person be Lady Wang? What are you thinking?"

Wei Ziqing grinned foolishly at the air for a while, then belatedly realized that if Shen Minghuai was truly in love with the Wang family's wife as rumored, then what about that woman today? He met her at the Daxiangguo Temple first! He couldn't let his younger sister marry such a fickle person.

Thinking of this, Wei Ziqing advised, "Sister, you should stay away from Shen Minghuai in the future."

An hour later, Shen Minghuai returned to the Zhu residence. Wang Yan was admiring some trinkets she had bought that day when she scolded him without turning her head, "You finally decided to come back."

A string of candied hawthorns suddenly appeared before her eyes, and Shen Minghuai leaned down to embrace her. "Shang Shifan suddenly invited me to the Shang residence, which delayed me for a long time."

Wang Yan reluctantly accepted the string of translucent and tempting red berries. "Is it because of that painting, 'Sunset over a Mountain Stream'?"

“Exactly.” Shen Minghuai took a bite of the candied hawthorn she handed him. “He wants me to give false testimony for him.”

Wang Yan wasn't surprised at all. Such a convincing fake was something even someone of such low character couldn't pull off. She simply couldn't understand what grudge Shang Jia Dalang and Cui Jia Wulang held that led to such a hostile confrontation.

"I heard from others that Shang Shifan and Cui Hanqing once took a fancy to the same courtesan in Luoyifang."

Wang Yan asked curiously, "So that's why you hold a grudge. Will you be going then?"

"Of course I'll go."

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the government office reopened. The backlog of official business was temporarily set aside; the first matter was resolving the case concerning the authenticity of the painting "Sunset over Mountain Streams." After the reopening ceremony, the Prefect of Kaifeng, dressed in a purple robe and wearing a jade belt, entered the courtroom. The plaintiff and defendant were already standing below, along with Shen Minghuai, who had been half-pushed and half-pulled in to testify.

Whether a painting is genuine or fake doesn't necessarily need to be taken to court. However, since Shang Shifan used this as grounds to accuse Cui Chongqi of making and selling fake paintings for profit, the government couldn't ignore it.

Shang Shifan and Cui Chongqi each gave convincing accounts of when, how, and where they purchased the paintings, and based solely on their testimonies, both paintings appeared to be genuine. The prefect sent men to unfold the two nearly identical "Sunset over a Mountain Stream" paintings and invited Shen Minghuai, who had been waiting for a long time, to come forward and identify them. He first carefully examined the one presented by Cui Chongqi, then moved to the left, looking at it again and again, repeatedly about to speak but saying nothing. Hesitantly, he then moved to the right side to take a look.

Before Shang Shifan's patience ran out, Shen Minghuai finally said to Prefect Chen, "I also believe that both paintings are genuine."

Shang Shifan shouted, "How is this possible! This is not what was said before we came!"

The prefect slammed his gavel. "No noise is permitted in the courtroom. Are you saying that both paintings are genuine?"

Shen Minghuai bowed and said, "What I mean is that my abilities are limited and I cannot distinguish between the real and the fake. I only feel that both paintings are from the same hand and that both the left and right sides are genuine works."

"Absurd! Who in this world could paint two identical paintings?" The prefect then summoned the painters invited from the common people to the court for identification.

Shang Shifan kept giving Shen Minghuai meaningful glances, and Shen could only nod and purse his lips to show that he had really tried his best.

The painter glanced at them for a moment, then reported to the prefect: "Your Excellency, both of these 'Sunset over a Mountain Stream' paintings are forgeries."

This time, it wasn't just Shang Shifan who was surprised; everyone present, except for Shen Minghuai, stared at the simply dressed painter.

Shang Shifan couldn't help but sneer, "Sir, this man is a fraud. Young Master Shen is the apprentice of the Master of Painting and Calligraphy. There's no way he wouldn't recognize his master's handwriting. Minghuai, take another look. I guarantee my painting is genuine."

Shen Minghuai said innocently, "I didn't say it wasn't."

The gavel fell again, and the prefect was extremely serious. "Absurd! How can both paintings be forgeries? Are the people below mocking me?"

"This humble subject dares not!"

"This humble subject dares not."

The painter bowed again, "My lord, I am the master painter Zhao Jicun."

These words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky, leaving the heads of the people in the hall buzzing.