Chapter 214 Are you blind?

Several scrolls were laid out on the coffee table, and Lin Sicheng examined them carefully.

Without entering the palace, it would be impossible to imitate Huang Ji's "Sharpening the Sword" so closely.

Without entering the palace, let alone painting a portrait of the emperor, he wouldn't even know what the emperor looked like.

By the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, the Qianlong Emperor was already the undisputed heir apparent, only one step away from ascending the throne. Fan Daoren's address of "disciple" was not something he could simply accept at will.

They were able to become Emperor Qianlong's students, freely enter and leave the palace, paint portraits of the emperor, and even take imperial portraits out of the palace to be passed down from generation to generation.

It is conceivable that Fan Daoren was highly trusted by two emperors and possessed considerable abilities.

That's how he broke free from constraints and started his own business.

Unfortunately, later generations of disciples were unworthy, degenerating into swindling and cheating, even selling off all the family heirlooms passed down from their ancestors...

Secretly pondering, Lin Sicheng glanced at Master Jing and pointed to the painting: "Master, how about 100,000 for this one?"

It's doubled since before?

A thought struck Jing Daoshi, but he feigned displeasure: "Sir, this is a portrait of the founder of the Quanzhen School, the founder of the Longmen School, Changchun Zhenren, written by my sect's grandmaster!"

Sure enough, he thought that this was Qiu Chuji, the immortal of Changchun.

"Alright!" Lin Sicheng chuckled. "Since the Taoist priest thinks it's inappropriate, let's roll it up for now."

The Taoist priest looked annoyed: It's like this again?

If the words don't quite suit his taste, the child will simply give up and refuse to continue the conversation.

Of course, he didn't know much, but he could read people: every time Lin Sicheng made a bid, Hao Jun would curl his lip. At the same time, a hint of disapproval would flash in his eyes.

What does this mean? It means that Lin Sicheng's offer was ridiculously high.

Besides, this isn't the first time it's been put up for sale. Let alone 100,000, not even 10,000 has been offered.

After a moment's thought, the Taoist priest hesitated, feigning composure, before quickly rolling it up and handing it forward: "One hundred thousand!"

Lin Sicheng nodded and told Zhao Da to put it away.

The old Taoist priest continued dismantling the scrolls, revealing two more: one was "Auspicious Purple Qi Coming from the East," which incorporated the red sun, and the other was "Penglai Immortal Mountain."

As Jing Deshi disassembled the painting, he explained, "This 'Purple Qi Coming from the East' was created by the second patriarch, the True Man of Freedom. The Penglai Immortal Mountain painting is an authentic work by the third patriarch, the Hermit of Qiyun Mountain..."

The two grandmasters surpassed their teachers, being proficient in all arts and sciences, including music, chess, calligraphy, painting, Taoism, alchemy, medicine, and divination… During the Qianlong, Jiaqing, and Daoist reigns, the two grandmasters provided free medical consultations and medicine, helped those in distress, and widely propagated Taoist teachings, earning them renown in several provinces including Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi…

"In the art of calligraphy and painting, the two masters drew on the strengths of many masters and developed their own unique styles, which are recorded in 'The Later Collection of Paintings of the Qing Dynasty' and 'Painting Notes from the Moxiangju Studio' (a collection of paintings and biographies compiled by Feng Jinbo, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty)..."

The old Taoist priest was quite pleased with himself and talked on and on, while Hao Jun and Zhao Xiu were half-believing and half-doubting.

I don't know about the others, but these two are definitely better than the first three. Especially "Penglai Immortal Mountain," the brushstrokes are vigorous and the colors are bold. It has both the surreal artistic conception of Taoist hermitage and pursuit of immortality, and the vast and ancient beauty of mountains and rivers, and the momentum of thousands of cliffs and valleys.

The upper right corner contains only a short postscript: "Written by Qiyun Shanren at Wuquan Academy in the second year of the Daoguang reign."

His calligraphy is even better: simple and elegant, vigorous and powerful, revealing the essence of Zhong Yao and Wang Xizhi.

Given the skill of this painting and the literary flair of this inscription, the author could not have been an unknown figure.

But to be honest, neither of them had heard of Qiyun Shanren.

After looking at it for a while, Hao Jun raised his head and pointed to the inscription: "Master Jing, may I ask your name?"

Taoist Jing paused for a moment, then shook his head: "This old Taoist dares not speak of my master's name!"

What do you mean? Can't I say?

You claim to be a famous artist, but you won't tell us your name when we ask. How are we supposed to offer a price?

The two looked at Lin Sicheng, who still pointed and asked, "Daoist Master, how about 50,000 for this painting?"

The Taoist priest was taken aback: "Sir, look closely, these two are much better painted than the previous ones!"

"Really?" Lin Sicheng smiled. "Then forget it!"

No, here we go again?

The Taoist priest thought for a moment, then rolled it up.

This painting is definitely worth 50,000, but it's quite important, so he can't say who painted it.

Anyway, I'm not worried about selling them, so if they don't want them, that's fine...

That's all the paintings. The Taoist priest then opened the pile of small boxes. In a short while, he pulled out about ten more books and several seals.

Several Taoist classics, essential texts on internal alchemy, two books on physiognomy and divination, several medical books, and several essays on painting, calligraphy, and seal carving.

Most of them were official editions from the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty, and the printing quality was decent. Lin Sicheng casually flipped through them.

He paused when he opened a copy of "The Divine Physiognomist of Liuzhuang".

Huh, enlightenment paper?

This is imperial paper used before the Guangxu Emperor's reign; it was lost after the Taiping Rebellion. Since it could be used for printing books, this particular copy must be an imperial edition.

Upon closer inspection, it is most likely a woodblock print from the Wuying Hall.

The engraving is exquisite, the font is square, the layout is relatively spacious, and the blank spaces between the lines are filled with annotations.

The fonts are different and the styles are varied, clearly indicating that they were not left by the same person.

Turning to the title page, it was densely covered with seals, some large, some small, some dark, some light, more than ten in total.

Upon closer inspection, Lin Sicheng's eyelids twitched: one side was engraved in relief seal script, inscribed with "Taohuawu"; slightly to the right below it was another side engraved in relief seal script, inscribed with "Leshan".

At first glance, the seals are not very big or eye-catching, but Lin Sicheng could clearly see that these two seals were clearer and more neat than the other dozen or so.

The reason why is that the ink used is of high quality, resulting in a better print.

A secret thrill stirred within him. He flipped back to the beginning and looked at the regular script interspersed among the dense annotations. Lin Sicheng didn't know what to say: What a waste of resources, what a squandering of things.

But then again, if it hadn't been ruined like this, this thing wouldn't have ended up in my hands.

Without asking the price, he casually put it aside and picked up the pile of Dao seals again.

One is "Chunyang Emperor" (Lü Dongbin), one is "Ziyang Zhenren" (Zhang Borui, one of the Five Patriarchs of Quanzhen), one is "Fuji Emperor" (Wang Chongyang), and one is "Changchun Zhenren" (Qiu Chuji).

In the Quanzhen School of Taoism, this type of seal has a specific term: "Respectful Gods and Immortals," and is used exclusively for warding off evil spirits and deities during rituals and ceremonies.

There are several other seals, all of which are Taoist seals: one is "Qinghe Sanren", the second is "Yiming Shanren", the third is "Yangcheng Daoren", and the fourth is "Yuanming Jushi".

There are nine seals in total, varying in size and made of jade and bronze, with different inscriptions. However, they are mostly unique to Taoism, using cloud seal script and jade chopstick seal script.

After glancing around casually, Lin Sicheng asked offhand, "Does the Daoist's lineage follow the Longmen School's genealogy?"

"certainly!"

The old Taoist priest clasped his hands together. “Although our sect has established itself independently, our lineage originates from Longmen Cave, and our Taoist doctrines have been passed down in one continuous line. Naturally, we still follow the Longmen generational naming system… Just like this old Taoist, I am both the twenty-third generation successor of the Natural School and the thirty-second generation successor of the Longmen School…”

Lin Sicheng paused for a moment, then smiled: No wonder Taoist Jing dared not say who the third-generation patriarch was.

After all, the Longmen Sect has been dominant since the Qing Dynasty, and still is now. With this identity, Daoist Jing can make a living wherever he goes.

But as soon as he mentions the third-generation patriarch, anyone with a basic understanding of history will know that his sect has absolutely no connection to the Longmen sect...

Lin Sicheng asked casually and glanced at the seals before putting them back.

He pulled his hand back, then suddenly paused, glanced at it twice, and picked up the last one again.

Made of Shoushan stone, the knob is shaped like a crouching tiger, in standard jade chopstick seal script, but the seal is extremely small.

Other seals are either two or three or four inches square, ridiculously large. This one, however, is only three or four fen (a unit of area), barely a centimeter in diameter, just like the nail of a thumb.

Looking at the inscription again, Lin Sicheng's eyelids twitched again: "Yuanming Jushi".

According to the Longmen School's genealogy, the founder of Jing Daoshi's school was the tenth generation successor of the Longmen School, belonging to the "Qing" generation. The engraving must follow the genealogy number, namely "Qinghe Sanren," rather than the pseudonym "Kangu Zhenren."

Looking at the Longmen School's genealogy: "Virtue leads to profound stillness, true constancy guards the Great Purity. One Yang returns to the origin, the teachings are forever perfect and bright..." The character "Perfect" indicates the nineteenth generation of the Longmen School, which is the tenth generation successor of the Natural School.

So at first glance, this appears to be the Dharma seal of the tenth generation patriarch of the Lao Dao lineage.

Actually, that's not the case at all: this Yuanming refers to the Yuanming of the Yuanmingyuan.

To put it more directly, this was the Taoist name that Yongzheng gave himself when he was a prince.

However, since the nine seals were mixed together, including those of immortals and Daoist titles, and this particular seal was so small, I didn't pay much attention to it.

After putting it down, Lin Sicheng realized that the others had knobs shaped like turtles, cranes, toads, or bats, but this one had a crouching tiger. Only then did he realize something was wrong.

How could a Taoist's seal have a tiger as its knob?

So, I almost got through it by a hair's breadth.

Looking at the engraving again, then at the seal script... after going back and forth twice, Lin Sicheng's eyelids twitched and his heart started pounding.

This look lasted for two or three minutes.

Not to mention Lao Haojun and Zhao Xiuneng, even the old Taoist priest became suspicious: Could this thing be some kind of treasure?

Seeing this, Lin Sicheng sighed: Having lived two lives, his mentality is still lacking.

But it's not his fault: anyone who dares to say they wouldn't be excited upon seeing the imperial seal, or can remain calm and composed, would have Lin Sicheng kneeling down and calling him "father"...

In a flash, he casually put it down and picked up the three-inch-long "Qinghe Sanren": the carving was average, but the material was good, top-quality Hetian jade.

After looking at it for three or four minutes, Lin Sicheng put it down and picked up the Fangtian yellow stone "Yiming Shanren".

This square is relatively small, about two inches, but I looked at it for much longer, a full five or six minutes.

The Taoist priest became suspicious again: Which side does this child want to buy?

In this way, amidst the confusion of reality and illusion, Jiu Fangyin was examined twice. Lin Sicheng then offered a package price: "Qinghe Sanren", "Yiming Shanren", and "Yuanming Jushi", totaling 250,000 for the three seals.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Taoist priest put it into the box and pushed it over.

Lin Sicheng pressed his advantage: "Add 'Iron-Crutch Li,' 'The Immortal's Journey,' and that 'The Divine Physiognomist of Liuzhuang,' and I'll give you another 300,000!"

Jing Daoshi paused, then calculated again: "The 'Changchun Zhenren' costs 100,000, the three seals cost 250,000, so that's another 300,000."

Add to that the incense burner worth 1.09 million. That brings the total to nearly 1.8 million, enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life.

The Taoist priest was satisfied and nodded repeatedly: "Alright!"

"Should we go to the bank?"

"Can!"

That's good!

After collecting their belongings, the group went to the bank. Hao Jun and Zhao Xiuneng followed behind, constantly exchanging glances.

In their view, only the painting "Penglai Immortal Mountain" had any value; the rest were of average value.

But it was that one painting that seemed to have been forgotten; Lin Sicheng didn't mention it at all.

Therefore, they speculated that Lin Sicheng was most likely using a feint to cover up his true intentions while secretly plotting against Lin Sicheng.

There is a leak, of course, but I don't know which one it is...

Instead of going to the VIP room, the Taoist priest completed the transfer at the counter, beaming from ear to ear.

He said he would treat everyone, but Lin Sicheng declined.

Looking at Senior Brother Hao and General Manager Zhao, their eyes were practically glowing with curiosity; they had no appetite whatsoever.

After exchanging a few polite words, they said their goodbyes.

Zhao Xiuneng had a spare kit in his car, which he had roughly packed. Just as he finished packing, Hao Jun snatched the Mercedes-Benz keys from Zhao Da's hand.

Left with no other option, Zhao Da had to drive an Audi.

As soon as he got in the car and closed the door, Hao Jun couldn't wait to ask, "Did we snag a bargain?"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "More or less!"

Putting everything else aside, that incense burner alone is worth two 1.8 million.

Which one!

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Pretty much!"

What?

The two turned around: What happened to the plan of feigning an attack on one side while secretly advancing on another?

They had previously thought that out of seven or eight items, they would be lucky to find one or two good ones.

Just as he was about to ask, Lin Sicheng picked up the book "Yuanming Jushi" and began to draw on his thigh with his right hand.

The two exchanged a glance and then remained silent.

Around noon, there were still folk performances on the street. It was about five kilometers long, but it took more than half an hour to drive there.

As soon as the car arrived downstairs, Wang Qizhi poked his head out of the third-floor window and ran downstairs.

The four people entered the room and bumped into Ye Anning.

Lin Sicheng was taken aback: "You're not at work?"

Ye Anning remained silent: "The Haitian Auspicious Cloud Double Crane Incense Burner only has a few in the Forbidden City. She also needs to focus on her work."

She barely slept all night, worrying about Lin Sicheng all night. She had planned it all out: to go with Lin Sicheng in the morning.

As it turned out, after they both got on the car, Lin Sicheng kicked her out. He said the old Taoist priest was a seasoned swindler and might resort to underhanded tricks.

He even said that if she didn't get out of the car, he would carry her down...

Ye Anning glared at him: "Where's the incense burner?"

"In the bag!" Lin Sicheng pointed to the pouch in his hand. "Let's go inside and talk!"

A large group of people entered the office, and before they could even sit down, Wang Qizhi and Shang Yan pushed open the door and entered.

The word "incense burner" came to their lips, and the two of them froze: Lin Sicheng was carrying a suitcase, Zhao Xiuneng and Hao Jun were also carrying suitcases, and Zhao Da was even carrying two.

Did they go to buy antiques, or to stock up on goods?

While he was still in a daze, Lin Sicheng pointed and asked, "Sister Anning, do you have an account with the National Library?"

"have!"

"Could you help me log into the 'Palace Museum Painting and Calligraphy Catalogue'? I've found a few paintings; could you verify their authenticity?"

What kind of calligraphy and paintings need to be compared with the Palace Museum's collection?

Ye Anning was suspicious, but she quickly sat down in front of the computer.

Lin Sicheng opened the pouch and took out the "Sharpening the Sword Diagram".

Ye Anning had just logged into her account when she was stunned for a moment: "Huang Ji's 'Sharpening the Sword' from the Ming Dynasty... no, this is a forgery... but the original has always been in the Palace Museum?"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "That's why we need to verify it!"

Hao Jun and Zhao Xiuneng belatedly realized: Since the original has always been in the Palace Museum, where was this copy made?

The two looked at each other in bewilderment: "Jing Daoshi's grandmaster entered the palace?"

He has been to the palace more than just a few times.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Master Fan should have entered the palace in the eighth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign and left Beijing in the first year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, spending about six years in the palace and enjoying the favor of both the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors..."

As he spoke, Lin Sicheng tapped the keyboard twice, turned the computer around, and a group of people swarmed around him.

Looking at the computer screen and then at the painting on the coffee table, the group of people were speechless with astonishment.

Not to mention how similar they are, they are almost identical, like they were photocopied.

The only difference: the one on the computer is better preserved, with clear lines and vibrant colors. The latter has been blackened by smoke, and the image is somewhat blurry.

After looking at it for a long time, Hao Jun suddenly seemed to remember something, and picked up the painting: "President Zhao..."

Zhao Xiuneng belatedly realized what was happening and lifted the other side of the scroll.

The two of them simultaneously took out magnifying glasses, examining and touching the objects, and even picking at them:

The paper was carved stationery, the ink was Huizhou ink from the Sanzhi workshop, and the pigments included azurite, emerald green, silver pearl, vermilion... In fact, gold was applied and powder was added during the rendering process.

In short, they were all tributes to the imperial palace...

But how come I didn't notice at the time? It was like I was blind.