34 Interwoven Flowers | Progressive Breeze
Nandun has a rainy season, the air is very humid and hot, and there is no obvious change between the four seasons.
The site where the cultural relics were unearthed was Xinli City, which was the southeastern border of the Nandun State and was separated from the capital of Nandun by a dry lake bed.
Due to the existence of the Gemu mineral source, Xinli City is in a state of underground excavation all year round.
The ancient tomb ruins mentioned in the news are centered around the Ruyuan Tower, a landmark ancient tower. From the tower, one can see a complex lake basin interwoven with cracked yellow earth.
After the plane landed, everyone did their job.
This trip needed to be low-key, so for the first two days, we didn't stay in a hotel, but were stationed in barracks in the survey area.
By the third day, since there were few local records of the Nandun Ruyuan culture, Lin Weifeng and Xing Zhou began to rush around libraries and archives in various places, searching for materials related to this cultural relic site.
Zhou Rui spends most of her time doing simultaneous interpretation alongside Director Hu and the experts. When she has time, she will join the team of lawyers to help them deal with materials that cannot be translated by machines.
The overall process is progressing in an orderly manner.
Unfortunately, after two whole days of digging into the archives, Lin Weifeng still couldn't find the whole story.
"It's true that the tower is an ancient building, so why is there no cultural record of it?" Xing Zhou was a little puzzled.
Lin Weifeng looked at the fragmented texts and modern high-definition pictures and said, "Culture is the product of communication. If there is a tower but no people, there will naturally be no culture."
"But then the ancient tomb appeared again. Isn't that a paradox?"
"Yes, a little bit. My intuition isn't quite right either." Lin Weifeng pointed at a newly unearthed bronze mythical beast in a news photo. "Does it look familiar to you?"
Xing Zhou isn't a history buff, so he's not familiar with the specific details. He can only express his intuitive feeling: "It looks like our Qilin."
"Yeah, have you ever heard the story about two million not being worth two hundred dollars?"
“I’ve never heard of that.”
Lin Weifeng: "In the 1990s, a father and son, seeking to protect their peanut fields from wild animals, chased a fox into the mountains and discovered a bronze artifact in a cave. Experts identified it as the Qilin Zun, a national treasure. Antiquities dealers, hearing about it, offered two million yuan for it, but the father and son decisively refused and handed the Qilin Zun over to the National Cultural Relics Protection Department. The government awarded them a certificate of honor and a 200 yuan bonus."
Xing Zhou searched the story on his phone. "Qilin vary from place to place, but the similarity between the Yuanta Qilin and the Qilin Zun is truly astonishing."
Lin Weifeng: "Each country has its own cultural context, and the Qilin should not look the same."
Xing Zhou: "You mean Nandun is a fraud?"
"That's not the case. Every country has its own culture. We went to see the ancient tombs, and they are indeed real."
"But speaking of artifacts alone, experts haven't yet said which one is a forgery."
Lin Weifeng said, "I think the structure of the bronze vase itself was different in the north and south. The government continued to dig deeper at the site where the bronze vase was discovered. Unfortunately, they only found some fragments of ancient artifacts."
Xing Zhou suddenly had an idea: "The other one is this one here?"
Lin Weifeng didn't say anything, but looked at Xing Zhou meaningfully.
Xing Zhou asked, "Then how did it come about? The relevant reports are quite legitimate."
"Crime." Lin Weifeng speculated softly.
"crime?"
"The cultural relics are real, but their origins may be fake. In more extreme cases, the Nandun officials were also kept in the dark."
The systems of different countries are different, and there will indeed be some strange anecdotes under capital operations.
Furthermore, there's no mention of the mythical Qilin in the Ruyuan culture or around the ancient tombs. The news even highlighted the "Flower Silk Book," which features ancient Chinese characters and depictions of flourishing flowers.
Xing Zhou paused for a moment and asked, "I've been busy researching these days. If you combine it with Ms. Jiang Meiyi's testimony, the smuggling of cultural relics from one country and the excavation of cultural relics from another country can indeed be combined into a perfect crime."
"Every effect has a cause, just wait a little longer."
Lin Weifeng was worried about Jiang Meiyi's testimony, and she couldn't help but instinctively infer that cause and effect were reversed. She was afraid that she was too decisive, so she didn't say anything further and wanted to wait for the visiting expert's further conclusion.
When they walked out of the archives to get the car, Lin Weifeng and Xing Zhou saw a white kite entangled on a tree branch.
Xing Zhou asked, "Are white kites popular here?"
White kite.
This made Lin Weifeng think of something.
"Do you remember that a few years ago, Ershan Kingdom wanted to compete with us for the Spring Festival and applied for intangible cultural heritage?" she asked.
"Of course I remember. Fortunately, our application for World Heritage status was successful," said Xing Zhou.
"Yes. Culture requires a clear historical heritage. The Spring Festival in China is recorded in various documents and has corresponding customs. The Ershan Kingdom wanted to steal the Spring Festival, so they naturally couldn't use our stories. So they could only make up their own. For example, their Spring Festival couplets are white."
Lin Weifeng raised his phone and took a photo of the white kite. He continued, "Ershan has been learning to imitate our culture since ancient times. They wanted to learn to paste Spring Festival couplets, but they didn't have the productivity to match. After all, in ancient times, dyeing technology was advanced. We could dye it in any color at will, but they couldn't."
Xing Zhou understood a bit: "For example, we have the official Investiture of the Gods, but it's not included in official history. Yet, to this day, Western pseudo-historical theories are still talked about with great relish. However, many of them turn into myths when they are investigated. They are overly eager to have a storyline to prove their own history and the greatness of the biological evolution on the land beneath their feet."
"Yes. In this city, even the Qilin cannot form a system, and the silk book cannot have a historical destination."
Even the archives are powerless.
She sighed, hoping she was just worrying too much.
Lin Weifeng simply searched for white kites on his mobile phone and found that the kite culture likes white very much, and the local people call themselves the white nation.
She was so engrossed in the driver's seat that she forgot the windows were closed and the leather seats gave off a burnt smell.
Xing Zhou thought she was in a dilemma because of the person she liked, just like she was during the last meal, so he crossed his arms and said lazily, "Are you pursuing him, or is he pursuing you?"
Lin Weifeng turned around this time.
Xing Zhou said, "I'm so bored."
Lin Weifeng smiled, snapped his fingers, and the car window rolled down, finally allowing ventilation into the car.
Xing Zhou: "That's right. Don't suffocate another man because of one man."
Lin Weifeng was speechless and choked up, then denied it for a moment: "It's not because of men."
"Because of a woman?"
Lin Weifeng stopped joking with him and took out a notarized document from her handbag. She handed it to him and said, "Please help me check if there are any problems on the way."
As she spoke, she started the car and turned on the air conditioner for cool air.
Xing Zhou immediately looked at it for a while and asked in confusion, "You want to directly pursue the Fanhua Silk Book through legal means?" He was slightly shocked.
On the road to recovering cultural relics, even though treaties are constantly being reviewed and judged, the deterrent effect brought by politics and law is always unbalanced.
When it comes to the return of cultural relics in the international arena, the law is always far inferior.
Lin Weifeng said: "I know that political negotiations are a matter of course, and many lawyers may think so too. Therefore, when it comes to recovering cultural relics, lawyers play a very small role."
"But this is the fact." Xing Zhou discussed with her objectively.
"No, there's another fact that everyone has forgotten." Lin Weifeng closed the window, the air conditioning cool enough for him. He said quietly, "In the late 1990s, my country successfully recovered over 3,000 precious cultural relics from Great Britain. This was because the Chinese government filed a lawsuit in Great Britain. Afterward, under strong legal and public pressure, the suspects were forced to agree to return the artifacts through an out-of-court settlement."
"That's a bargaining opportunity only available between public and private players..." Xing Zhou forced himself to pause, lowering his voice before continuing in a deep voice, "You know, I'm not trying to suppress you, but I don't think there's much hope."
"I know, I know there's little hope." Lin Weifeng said.
The car climbed up and down and zigzagged through several S-bends. The two were silent for a while.
It was also during this short period of time that Xing Zhou suddenly sensed her clarity, determination, and timid confidence.
"So, do you want to try it?" he asked.
Lin Weifeng smiled. She has always been humble.
"I know for sure that the struggle between the countries of origin of cultural relics and the countries where they are sold is not something a small lawyer like me can change. But precisely because of years of unremitting struggle, the battle for lost cultural relics has gone far beyond the level of economic interests, becoming a situation where 'one move affects the entire body.'"
Xing Zhou understood: "So you think the law can help."
"Yes," Lin Weifeng looked at Xing Zhou confidently, "even if it means promoting public opinion, it's possible."
The international dispute over the ownership of cultural relics was elevated to the level of a "cultural war" by Foreign Affairs Magazine early on.
However, the battle for the lost cultural relics did not begin because of this.
First, it is difficult to obtain evidence; second, political interference has caused international conventions to deviate from the interests of the countries of origin of cultural relics; and third, even if a country fires this shot regardless of the cost, it may not necessarily win.
Lin Weifeng didn't know where his ambition came from.
Perhaps it was because she already knew that Operation Hundred Flowers, the campaign that cost Lin Haidong his right arm, was a crackdown on a transnational cultural relics theft ring. Those who came before her had weathered the storm, and those who followed shouldn't be afraid of the muddy road either.
Maybe it was because she knew Jiang Yu would support her.
For many difficult things, just having one person's support is enough to give you unlimited strength.
What's more, it's him.
"This matter is too complicated. It's better to see you troubled by a man." Xing Zhou smiled.
“…”
Xinli City was surrounded by the scorching sun, with dust lingering in the air, making it look gray.
Maybe because he drove too far, Lin Weifeng's eyes were a little dry.
There were tall fir trees in the parking lot, and two young and tall men were standing under the trees. For a moment, Lin Weifeng mistook them for Jiang Yu.
Xing Zhou slept lightly for a while, and when he woke up he was confused. He picked up his phone to order takeout, and asked Lin Weifeng if he wanted maocai and whether it could be spicy. Lin Weifeng retorted a few words to him.
Fortunately, Zhou Rui called and told him that the information sent yesterday had been translated, so he had the right reasons to go to the hotel before Lin Weifeng.
When Lin Weifeng locked the car, the two men were still standing under the fir tree. When they bent down to tie their shoelaces and stood up again, they disappeared.
Maybe I saw it wrong, she thought.
The hotel is located in the Shibin Building of Xinlicheng Yuangong Group.
On both sides of the front desk on the first floor, half is a regular casino that gathers people of all races, and the other half is a special bar where people party every night.
Lin Weifeng was only shocked, not curious.
Nandun is rich in grapes, and the head of Yuangong Group is a wine lover. Relying on related industries, the entire floor of the restaurant is filled with the aroma of brandy.
Lin Weifeng took a small bottle of trial pack at the front desk and went straight back to the room.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
