Ceremonial swords are almost never used for combat, and their craftsmanship is far superior to that of ordinary knives, so there is virtually no need to replace the arrowheads.

The crack could only have occurred if the knife had deformed during its burial process.

However, judging from the marks on the scabbard, this knife was not a burial item; it has no rustic feel at all, indicating that it was passed down through generations.

The hilt of this knife is inlaid with gemstones, and the rosewood scabbard shows signs of age, but the blade itself is the most difficult to judge.

After all, in just over a hundred years, time could not corrode the blade, and the casting technology of the Qing Dynasty was already close to that of modern times. Using manual craftsmanship to imitate it would be enough to pass for the real thing.

I held the knife up to my nose for a long time, still undecided, then placed it on the table and held out my hand: "Magnifying glass!"

The art of "fishing for the moon in the sea" requires experience and keen eyesight; no modern equipment is allowed, and the tools available are extremely limited.

I took the magnifying glass and examined it closely, and soon discovered the clue.

This knife is so finely crafted.

The triangular blood groove structure of the blade tip, commonly used in Qing knives, makes them very difficult to sharpen.

In order to make their weapons more imposing, ancient swordsmiths would often spend hundreds of hours meticulously polishing them, making the blades gleam with a cold light and exude a majestic and powerful aura.

This grinding process leaves intricate scratches due to the different force and direction applied by the bladesmith with each stroke.

The knife in front of me, although it also shows signs of sharpening, was sharpened in one direction, indicating that it was not sharpened manually, but rather with a tool such as a grinding wheel.

Seeing this, it suddenly dawned on me.

This knife is not a fake, or rather, it is a counterfeit made by human hands.

Like the joining techniques used in porcelain or bronze ware, this knife has been modified.

In order to participate in this competition, Wei Shengnan and her team replaced the most indistinguishable part of a real knife—the blade—with a modernly cast replica.

This way, you can deceive your opponent without breaking the rules, making it much harder to tell the difference than bringing a high-quality counterfeit.

By the time I confirmed that there was something wrong with the knife, I was already sweating.

Based on my understanding of Wei Shengnan, although she has some appraisal skills, they are only superficial.

She could never have come up with such a forgery method. The person who gave her the idea was either Old Master Wei or Old Man Song.

Having narrowly escaped being caught off guard, I immediately became cautious and turned my gaze to another knife. The patterns on this knife did not match its age, and it was clearly designed to work in conjunction with the first sword to provide cover for the knife whose blade had been replaced.

Then, I focused my gaze on the three bronze artifacts.

Over the past year, I've had a lot of dealings with bronzes in Sujialiang, and I've gained a lot of understanding of the methods used to counterfeit bronzes.

After my examination, I determined that two of these bronze artifacts were later imitations, and one was a composite piece.

Just as I was about to appraise the calligraphy and paintings, Wei Shengnan's voice came from behind me: "This painting by Tang Yin is also fake. At present, we can only confirm that these three items are problematic. Brother Lin, how are you doing?"

“These things are very realistic. I’m not good at identification, so I couldn’t figure it out.”

Qu Ruilin paused for a moment: "Third Master, you are an expert in this field, please take a look."

I didn't hear a response from Song Laosan, but as a descendant of the money-giving boy, he has been dealing with antiques for generations, so his expertise is probably no less than mine.

The thought of Song Laosan appearing on stage immediately put me on high alert, and I unfolded both paintings and calligraphy at the same time.

The first landscape painting was signed Chuanqi. I only glanced at the signature before I knew the painting was fake.

Among the famous landscape painters of the Qing Dynasty were the Four Wangs and the Four Monks, and this "Chuanqi" refers to Bada Shanren, one of the Four Monks.

His original name was Zhu Da. His life was full of hardships. He once suffered from mental instability. After much agonizing reflection, he chose to turn his back on the world, isolate himself, and become a monk.

Later, Bada Shanren failed in his attempt to participate in an anti-Qing uprising, which prevented him from continuing as a monk. He then converted to Taoism and took the name Daolang.

Therefore, the four monks are also known as the Three Monks and One Daoist, or three and a half monks.

Once you understand Bada Shanren's past, you'll know that this painting is definitely a fake. Although the forger knew a lot about Bada Shanren's past and deliberately used the name Chuanqi as his signature, he never used his own Dharma name when he painted.

Looking at the calligraphy next to it, it is a handwritten copy of the Buddhist Heart Sutra, signed by Heshen, a powerful minister in the mid-Qing Dynasty.

When this person is mentioned, most people's first impression is of the character played by Wang Gang in the TV series "The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan".

In reality, Heshen, who entered officialdom through family connections, was shrewd, capable, and also a famously handsome man.

It is said that Heshen's calligraphy reflects his personality, and this calligraphy work looks as if it were printed.

Heshen was particularly skilled in regular script, writing characters that were upright, elegant, and meticulously structured. In order to please Emperor Qianlong, he even studied the emperor's calligraphy and used Qianlong's calligraphy as a model for practice. His characters were so similar to Qianlong's that Qianlong would have Heshen write on his behalf on some less important occasions.

I confirmed that the paper of this calligraphy could be traced back to the Qing Dynasty, and that there were no signs of the seals being added later, so I began to examine each character one by one.

At first glance, this calligraphy seems fine, but upon closer inspection, several clues are discovered.

Although the calligraphy in this piece is neat and elegant, upon closer inspection, one can discover that the thickness of the strokes varies.

The different handwriting indicates that these characters were not written in one stroke, but rather that someone deliberately imitated Heshen's handwriting and added strokes.

If this calligraphy did not have Heshen's signature and seal, it would undoubtedly be an authentic antique.

But once it's associated with the word "imitation," it naturally becomes a counterfeit.

Unexpectedly, Wei Shengnan's preparations were so complicated, with traps everywhere.

After eliminating some possibilities, I finally focused my attention on the two antique vases in front of me.

A light blue-and-white floral plate from the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, and a small gold-rimmed vase with kiln-transformed glaze from the Xuantong period.

The small vase with its kiln-fired glaze was a mix of blue and red, with a clean glaze that made it look like a waxed apple. The plate, on the other hand, was decorated with underglaze blue and the pattern was extremely exquisite.

You can tell at a glance that it's a royal product from the palace.

I looked at the uneven glaze on the bases of the two porcelain pieces and was momentarily at a loss.

Before I could even examine it closely, Jiang Man walked up to me and said, "Duan Shenxing, I think this bottle is fake."

I had been holding it for ages and couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, but Jiang Man found a flaw in it, which made me curious: "How did you figure out that there was something wrong with it?"

“I didn’t recognize it, but I have an identical one at home. My dad brought it back from an auction in Canada. This bottle is the same as the one at home.”

Jiang Man took the bottle and looked at it: "I don't really like antiques, but I especially like that little bottle, so I put it in my room as a decoration. But this bottle is a little different from the one at my house. The gold lacquer on its mouth is too wide, making it look a bit bulky. Don't you think so?"