Chapter 10: True or False
He hurriedly stood up and saw Song Qianzhao sitting in front of the painting table admiring the painting.
Fan Zhiyu moved closer to Song Qianzhao.
"You didn't..."
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.
Because he saw the two paintings of "Brocade Book and Clouds and Geese" on the table.
Two identical paintings of "Brocade Calligraphy, Clouds and Geese".
Fan Zhiyu swallowed, his voice trembling slightly, "Which one is real...which one is fake?"
Song Qianzhao smiled, "What do you think?"
"I think?"
"I think this one is real, but it's not right. This one is real, but it's not right either..."
Fan Zhiyu pondered the painting for a long time but still couldn't tell which one was the real one.
In the end, he could only say with a sad face: "Brother, let's stop making trouble, okay? Which one is the real one? If I get it wrong, I'll be finished."
Song Qianzhao smiled and stopped teasing Fan Zhiyu. He pointed to the painting on the right and said, "This is fake."
Fan Zhiyu looked at it carefully for a long time before asking in confusion, "How do you know it's fake?"
Then he stared at Song Qianzhao with a defensive look: "You are not at a loss for what to do with Wang Yang, so you use a trick to steal my paintings and drag me into this!"
Song Qianzhao said speechlessly: "Look carefully at this painting, the hem of that woman's skirt."
"Jade!"
Fan Zhiyu screamed.
In the painting, there is a hidden Chinese character "玉" written in a subtle brushstroke on the hem of the woman's skirt.
If you don't look carefully, it's hard to notice.
Fan Zhiyu also looked at it carefully and checked every detail before he discovered it.
Song Qianzhao smiled and said, "This is a hidden word I specially wrote to distinguish the real from the fake."
Fan Zhiyu stroked the skirt in the painting as if it were a treasure, and said excitedly: "This technique is good, can you teach me?"
"I'll teach you another day. Right now, I need some yellow phosphorus. You need to help me find it."
Fan Zhiyu was stunned for a moment, frowning and saying, "That thing is dangerous. If you are not careful, it will catch fire. What do you want it for?"
Song Qianzhao was surprised: "You actually know that if you are not careful, it will cause a fire. Ordinary people don't know this thing."
"My father was once the Imperial City Supervisor. He helped His Majesty investigate many fraudulent Taoist priests and obtained a lot of yellow phosphorus. I secretly played with it before, so of course I know about it."
Song Qianzhao nodded and said, "You just need to do as I say. As for the fire, don't worry about it. I have my own way to deal with it."
After seeing Song Qianzhao's painting imitation skills, Fan Zhiyu became more convinced of Song Qianzhao.
After hearing what he said, Fan Zhiyu stopped asking questions, took the real "Brocade Book and Cloud Geese Picture", went downstairs and returned home to get yellow phosphorus.
Yellow phosphorus spontaneously combusts, which is something everyone in later generations knows, and there is no reason why Song Qianzhao didn't know about it.
Not only did she understand this, she had also studied it, and therefore understood it more thoroughly than most people.
Yellow phosphorus does spontaneously combust, but it does not burn immediately upon contact with air. It also has a specific ignition temperature.
In humid air, spontaneous combustion will only occur when the temperature reaches 30 degrees, while in a dry environment, it needs to be above 40 degrees.
The capital is located in the north and the air is dry.
The capital city in early spring is not only dry but also cold.
In such a climate, yellow phosphorus is unlikely to spontaneously combust as long as it is not close to a fire source.
It was precisely because of his solid knowledge base that Song Qianzhao felt at ease letting Fan Zhiyu go to get yellow phosphorus.
Fan Zhiyu moved quickly and soon returned to the tavern with yellow phosphorus.
Under Fan Zhiyu's wary gaze, Song Qianzhao calmly opened the lid of the jar.
Song Qianzhao scooped out a lot of yellow phosphorus with a spoon, smeared it on the "Brocade Book and Cloud Geese Picture", spread it evenly with a brush, then rolled up the painting and handed it to Fan Zhiyu.
"The rest is up to you."
Fan Zhiyu took the painting from Song Qianzhao woodenly. After a moment of silence, he suddenly came to his senses and exclaimed, "Are you going to set fire to the Xiangyun Pawnshop?"
Song Qianzhao nodded calmly.
Fan Zhiyu hesitated and said, "But..."
"Don't worry. As long as you don't get close to a fire source, the painting won't catch fire. As for how it might catch fire after you sell it to Xiangyun Pawn Shop, you don't have to worry about that."
Fan Zhiyu hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I believe you."
"There's no time to lose, let's act now! Take those tattooed men to Xiangyun Pawnshop to pawn the paintings, and leave the rest to me. I'll prepare a set of official uniforms for each of them, as I'll need them later."
Fan Zhiyu said seriously, "Don't worry, I will take care of it."
Since it involves a sweet reward of 100,000 taels, Fan Zhiyu will naturally take it seriously.
Fan Zhiyu immediately sent the person Song Qianzhao needed.
Duke Fan Sheng of England commands 100,000 elite imperial guards, so all the servants in his mansion are good soldiers, and many of them are personal soldiers who have sworn allegiance to the Fan family.
The personnel that Fan Zhiyu allocated to Song Qianzhao were carefully selected from these personal soldiers.
If Fan Zhiyu had not humbled himself and begged repeatedly, it would have been impossible to invite these people.
After everyone arrived, Fan Zhiyu took the painting and left the restaurant.
After Fan Zhiyu left for a while, Song Qianzhao called Xunjiu and the Song family's followers. The three of them ate some food and left the restaurant.
As for the personnel that Fan Zhiyu transferred to Song Qianzhao, they did not appear behind her.
What they are planning is not convenient to be made public, and it is not appropriate for them to show up in public at the moment.
Song Qianzhao had already agreed with them on the meeting place and time.
Just go there on time.
Song Qianzhao was strolling along the streets of the capital with two servants, seemingly taking a leisurely stroll.
Fan Zhiyu led a group of ferocious subordinates and came to Xiangyun Pawn Shop in a menacing manner.
The shop is not big, with only three brick and wood tiled houses.
However, behind the shop is a courtyard of about two acres square.
There is a row of warehouses on the west side of the yard.
Next to the warehouse is the Ruiqi Casino.
The two shops were separated only by a brick wall.
Fan Zhiyu stood in front of the pawnshop, his heart beating a little faster.
Although this was not his first time to cheat someone, he was a little nervous about being involved in such a huge scam.
He felt nervous, but his followers showed no fear because they had no idea what was going on.
The follower came to the pawnshop and drove out the gamblers as usual, clearing out the people who disliked Fan Zhiyu.
"Master, there's no one inside. You can go in."
The burly tattooed man looked particularly funny when he groveled in front of the weak Fan Zhiyu.
However, no one who witnessed this scene dared to make fun of the strong man.
It’s because there are many people like him in the capital.
"Ouch!"
As soon as Fan Zhiyu stepped into the store, he heard a feigned exclamation.
The voice was sharp and thin, with a tremolo.
Fan Zhiyu shuddered when he heard this.
A middle-aged man with a face like a full moon, a mustache, and wearing an indigo-colored cotton gown came up to me with a big smile on his face.
"I thought it was some distinguished guest who made such a big fuss, but it turns out it's Mr. Fan who's here! Mr. Fan, your presence really adds a lot of color to our shop."
"Please come in!"
"Afu, serve tea!"
The shopkeeper had a big smile on his face and first flattered Fan Zhiyu.
Then he bent down and respectfully led Fan Zhiyu into the store, while loudly instructing the waiter to prepare tea.
The middle-aged man is very enthusiastic.
Fan Zhiyu's arrival meant that there was a big deal to be done, and he couldn't help but be enthusiastic.
Although Fan Zhiyu had never been to a pawnshop, given his family background, the things he could afford were naturally not ordinary items.
The middle-aged man sat down with Fan Zhiyu.
"Afu, where's the tea?"
Hearing the middle-aged man's call, a young servant, holding a cup of hot tea in his trembling hands, stepped into the room cautiously.
The tea bowl was placed in front of Fan Zhiyu, but he did not move.
The middle-aged man glanced over and scolded the servant boy harshly, "What kind of tea is this? It has no taste at all. Hurry up and make some for Master Fan."
Fan Zhiyu frowned and said impatiently, "I'm not here for tea."
The middle-aged man glared at the servant, his eyes immediately glued to Fan Zhiyu's bag, and approached eagerly: "Master, are you short of money? Do you want to pawn something?"
Fan Zhiyu said with a straight face, "I'm in the pawn shop, what else can I do?"
As he spoke, he handed the package in his hand to the middle-aged man.
"Look, how much it's worth, alive."
The middle-aged man rubbed his hands excitedly, opened the cloth bag carefully, and his eyes lit up when he saw the scroll.
"A masterpiece by a famous calligrapher, this one by Fan Ye is truly extraordinary. Let me take a look first to see which famous artist created this masterpiece."
He casually spread out a scroll, looked at it carefully, and was stunned for a moment. His eyes fell back on the painting and he examined it again and again.
The smile on his face gradually froze.
He no longer had time to compliment Fan Zhiyu, and hurriedly opened two more scrolls of paintings, his expression becoming increasingly stiff.
He didn't even bother looking at the rest of the painting. He forced a smile and said, "Master, if you're short of money, there's no need to tease me like this. Just give the order, and our boss will send the money to your house."
I looked at three paintings, and none of them were works by famous artists.
Although his brushwork is sophisticated, his painting skills are extraordinary.
It’s a pity that it has no fame and is worthless.
The middle-aged man thought for a moment and decided that the three paintings sold on the market would not be as valuable as the three pieces of Chengxintang paper.
Therefore, he felt that Fan Zhiyu was clearly making fun of him.
Upon hearing this, Fan Zhiyu became immediately annoyed. He slammed the table and stood up, revealing his domineering nature.
"Do you look down on me?"
The middle-aged man hurriedly stood up, bent over and kept admitting his mistake.
"I admit my mistake..."
Without a word, Fan Zhiyu kicked the middle-aged man and yelled obscenely, "Do I need your attention when I'm short of money? I can just pick up a treasure from my home and it will be enough for you, a cheap thing, to have enough food and clothing!"
These paintings were all brought back from home by me, young master. Many of them are treasures given by the palace."
The middle-aged man struggled to stand up and said with a forced smile: "I'm right..."
"Why are you still standing there? These three paintings are worthless, but there are more behind them. Maybe the one behind them will be valuable too..."
Fan Zhiyu shouted.
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