Chapter 2782: Sage Laozi Picture
Bai Shan changed into the jade crown and clothes and went out for a walk. After being forced to drink a few glasses of wine, he saw Manbao give him a look, so he immediately found an excuse to slip away.
The two returned to the main courtyard. Daji was standing by the door holding a long gift box. He bowed slightly when he saw them coming and said, "Master, Madam, this is the gift from General Qibi."
He finally found it from a pile of gift boxes.
Bai Shan pushed the door open and said, "Bring it in quickly."
The two opened the gift box, and inside was a scroll.
Bai Shan and Zhou Man were both stunned. They didn't expect it to be a painting.
Manbao laughed and said, "What kind of painting could General Qibi give you? It would make Kong Jijiu look so unhappy."
Bai Shan was shocked. Could they be some messy paintings?
He took it out, untied the rope, and pulled the scroll open. He pulled it open one-third at a time, his eyes widened slightly, and the movements of his hands slowed down, and his speed also slowed down.
Manbao also saw it, his heart pounding, and he walked around from the other side of the table to Bai Shan's side, reached out and grabbed one side of the scroll, and the couple slowly unfolded the scroll.
Seeing the familiar figure on the scroll, they both held their breath in their chests, and only exhaled after a while, "It's the picture of the sage Laozi."
Bai Shan touched the brushstrokes with his fingertips in a daze and asked in disbelief, "Is this... real?"
Manbao was also in disbelief. He swallowed and said, "Really? Otherwise, General Qibi wouldn't be so confident in giving it to us, right?"
Bai Shan traced the brushstrokes of the painting bit by bit. Man Bao and Da Ji immediately put away the things on the table and asked him to unfold the painting and put it on the table.
The two of them bent down to look at it, and the more they looked, the more amazed they were. "It seems to be real."
Bai Erlang tried to block the drinking for Bai Shan, but he didn't come even though Bai Shan was almost drunk. In a moment of anger, he simply took advantage of the opportunity to grab Yin Huo and ran away, and then went to the backyard to look for someone together.
He went straight to the main courtyard and saw that the doors and windows of the study were open, so he went straight there. "The house is full of guests, you guys are not going to read at this time, are you?"
As soon as he stepped in, he saw two people hunched over something on the table. Without even looking up, they waved and said, "Stop arguing."
Bai Erlang and Yin Huo went forward to take a look out of curiosity.
The two were not unfamiliar with the art. Bai Erlang noticed it was a decent painting and glanced at the signature. "Huh? Zhong Yao's painting of the sage Laozi? Is that a copy?"
Yin Huo hesitated and said, "It seems to be true."
Bai Erlang blinked, "Who gave it to me? How much would it cost to buy the real thing?"
Bai Shan straightened up. He had been bending for too long and felt a little sore. He rubbed his waist and sighed, "General Qibi gave it to me."
Bai Erlang: "Oh, no wonder he doesn't feel bad, then it must be fake, right? Can General Qibi buy the real map?"
Bai Shan's eyes lit up, "What if Kong Jijiu gave him some advice?"
Bai Erlang stopped talking.
Bai Shan made room for Yin Huo, "Look."
Yin Huo looked at it carefully and nodded, saying, "It looks very much like the original, not a copy."
Manbao also straightened up, patting his lower back and said, "Is that true? Just ask Kong Jijiu and you'll know."
Bai Shan immediately rolled up the scroll, put it in a box and gave it to Daji to hold. He took Manbao and went out, "Let's go find Kong Jijiu."
It was a banquet, and Bai Shan naturally couldn't let General Qibi lose face, so he just wanted to find a way to pull Kong Jijiu to the back. He thought that if it was real, he would let everyone appreciate it together, and if it was fake, he would just keep it to his own people.
I guess General Qibi bought it seriously.
Kong Jijiu was dragged into the study by Bai Shan and Zhou Man. As soon as the box was opened, he knew what they wanted him to see. So when the scroll was opened again, he sighed and asked, "Is this a gift from General Qibi?"
"yes."
Kong Jijiu looked at the painting again and could not help but marvel at it and admire it. He said, "This is a real painting."
Bai Shan's eyes lit up as he looked at the painting in amazement. "How did General Qibi buy such a painting?"
Manbao was also very happy, "A painting like this can be passed down from generation to generation. Why doesn't General Qibi keep it for himself?"
Kong Jijiu said calmly, "Because he's stupid and rich."
Everyone: ...
Bai Shan and the others couldn't help but look at Kong Jijiu. "Since Jijiu can recognize this is the real thing, he obviously saw it with General Qibi. Why didn't Jijiu buy it?"
A precious sword is given to a hero, and a beautiful picture should be given to someone who knows how to appreciate it. That’s how it’s worth it.
Such a picture should be given to Bai Shan, otherwise it would be a waste of precious gems if it fell into the hands of General Qibi.
Kong Jijiu said angrily: "Because I'm poor!"
Kong Jijiu may not be really poor, but General Qibi is really rich, especially since he had just finished the Eastern Expedition. He got a lot of spoils and could earn a lot of gold and silver by exchanging them for some luxury goods.
This painting of the sage Laozi suddenly appeared in the capital three months ago and was in the hands of a wealthy businessman.
Kong Jijiu followed the others and looked back and forth several times before he was sure that it was the real thing, while others were still hesitant. Some thought it was real, while others thought it was fake.
But the rich businessman insisted that it was the real thing. He bought it from a scholar named Sima. He heard that the man was from the former royal family, the Sima clan. Therefore, he insisted on the price and refused to lower it at all.
Although Kong Jijiu was the prince's teacher and the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, he was really poor compared with officials of the same rank.
However, he had no shortage of food and clothing, but if he wanted to buy luxury goods like calligraphy and paintings, he could only afford one at most a year with his salary and income from official land.
As it happened, the asking price for this painting of the sage Laozi was far higher than his annual income, so he had no money.
But the painting didn't sell, so he still followed others to see it many times, and at the same time he was trying to save up money to buy it.
Just at this time, General Ashina returned from Liaodong.
Kong Jijiu and General Ashina were good friends. Although General Ashina rarely kept any spoils of war, the emperor would still reward him with a lot of things every time he went to war.
Especially when he handed over the spoils, just imagine that everyone went to war together, and each person took 30%, divided 30%, gave 30% to the emperor, and 10% might be handed over to the national treasury; while General Ashina gave 10% to the soldiers under him, and handed over the remaining 90% to the emperor and the national treasury.
Of course the emperor felt sorry for him, so he would give him a lot of rewards. General Ashina kept a part of these rewards and distributed the rest to his soldiers.
But even if it was only a part of it, it was still much more than Kong Jijiu's annual income.
So he went to General Ashina's house and took her to see the painting, thinking that if he liked it, he could buy it with money, and then he could go to General Ashina's house often to see it in the future. If Ashina no longer liked it in the future, and he had enough money, he might be able to buy it from Ashina.
As it happened, General Qibi was also there, and when he heard that they were going to see paintings, he immediately followed.
When we got there, we just took one look at the painting and kept asking, "Is this painting beautiful?"
Kong Jijiu was too lazy to bother with such a rude person.
General Ashina, also a military commander, explained in a low voice, "The painting of the sage Laozi was painted by Zhong Yao. It's not just the painting itself, but the fact that it was painted by Zhong Yao alone makes it valuable."
The uneducated General Qibi asked, "Who is Zhong Yao?"
See you at 10pm
(End of this chapter)
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