Chapter 1415: Phoenix Mountain Hunting Map
The shopkeeper of Zhenbaozhai is very dedicated to his work.
Even at this time, he did not forget to greet the guests who came in.
"Sir, what would you like to buy?" the shopkeeper said with a smile, "We have Mr. Mao Cao's 'Hunting Picture on Phoenix Mountain' here. Would you like to take a look?"
"Master Cao?" King Xiaoyao was surprised. "Who is this?"
The shopkeeper: “…”
Also full of surprise.
There are actually people who don’t know Mr. Thatched Cottage.
"Mr. Thatched is the newly crowned top scholar Yu Zhilan," explained the shopkeeper.
King Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow and said, "I remember his name wasn't Master Thatched?"
Moreover, although Yu Zhilan's paintings are good, they are far less famous than those of the great painters who have long since passed away.
In King Xiaoyao's opinion, the paintings you create when you are alive are not as valuable as those after you die.
Of course, King Xiaoyao did not say these words.
"This gentleman doesn't know something." The shopkeeper became excited and said, "Yu Zhuangyuan has been teaching at Fude Academy for many years... Oh, right, this Fude Academy is quite remarkable. This year's new champion, yes, that is the prince consort who just passed away, is a student of Fude Academy. I heard that he is also a disciple of Master Yu..."
The shopkeeper spoke eloquently and eloquently, recounting the history of Yu Zhilan and Fude Academy.
Finally, he said, "It is said that Princess Fude's classrooms were all thatched houses, so people secretly called Fude Academy the Thatched Academy. When Yu Zhuangyuan learned of this nickname, he thought it was very good and simply called himself the Thatched Master."
King Xiaoyao really didn't know all this, but he listened with great interest.
"That's interesting. Could it be that Yu Zhilan's self-proclaimed Thatched Master has made his paintings even more famous?" King Xiaoyao asked with a half-smile, "Otherwise, why would the shopkeeper recommend his paintings so strongly?"
King Xiaoyao finally asked the questions in his heart.
When the shopkeeper heard King Xiaoyao ask this, he said, "This gentleman is probably new to the capital, right?"
There was a hint of certainty in his tone.
King Xiaoyao nodded.
He thought to himself that it seemed that something big had happened in the capital a few days ago, and it was related to Yu Zhilan.
As expected, the shopkeeper immediately showed an expression as if he was about to reveal something big.
"Sir, you know about the Tianlong Temple in Dayan, right? Back then, the temple had a treasure: the Ten Thousand Buddhas Painting..."
By the way, the shopkeeper is also a talkative person, and he has the good gossip tradition of the people in the capital.
Now that I have the opportunity to talk about gossip, I will naturally not let it go.
From ancient legends to Yu Zhilan's imitation of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Picture, Prince Xiao of the Northern Qi Dynasty was simply unable to tell the real from the fake.
"Sir, I've heard that not only Prince Xiao of Northern Qi couldn't tell the real thing from the fake one, but all the civil and military officials in the court couldn't tell either of those two Ten Thousand Buddha paintings..."
The shopkeeper lowered his voice at the end, with a mysterious expression on his face.
King Xiaoyao was very cooperative, showing a surprised expression. He said, "Oh, I see. No wonder Master Maocao's paintings are so famous. In that case, please, shopkeeper, bring Master Maocao's "Hunting on Phoenix Mountain" over here so I can take a look."
"Sir, please wait a moment!" The shopkeeper's face was full of joy.
He has always been good at judging people.
It's obvious that this gentleman is a person who enjoys elegance.
Although the clothes she wore were somewhat ordinary, the jade pendant around her waist was of considerable value.
Some rich people like to pretend to be low-key, but they don’t pretend to be authentic.
Soon, the shopkeeper carefully took out a painting from the box.
He had gone through a lot of trouble to get this.
There are very few paintings by Mao Cao Fuzi on the market today.
It is said that Mr. Mao's paintings have been sold overseas in recent years...
The shopkeeper placed the painting on the table and unfolded it carefully.
"Sir, look!" The shopkeeper looked very proud.
King Xiaoyao looked down, a look of surprise on his face.
He originally thought that the painting should be an exciting hunting scene.
Little did they know that the painting actually showed a group of children chasing chickens and rabbits.
King Xiaoyao: “…”
Is this called hunting?
I have learned a lot.
However, King Xiaoyao looked at a little girl sitting on a tree branch.
The little girl was not very old. She had her legs dangling in the air, a smile on her face, and lively eyes. She pointed at a colorful pheasant in the distance, as if she was saying something excitedly.
King Xiaoyao's eyes flashed.
If the little girl from the Su family was a few years younger, wouldn't she look like this?
King Xiaoyao looked at the other children again, most of whom were boys.
Each one is lively and cute, with vivid expressions and movements.
It seems as if you can see the joyful scene at that time through the painting.
"Boss, how much is this painting?" asked King Xiaoyao.
The shopkeeper was delighted and immediately stretched out three fingers.
"Sir, three thousand taels!" said the shopkeeper.
If an ordinary person heard the price, he would probably turn around and leave.
You have to know that three thousand taels of silver is equivalent to more than ten years' salary for an ordinary official.
No matter how valuable Yu Zhilan's paintings are, she is still alive and cannot be worth so much money.
Scarcity makes things valuable. If Yu Zhilan died, it is possible that the number of paintings she left behind would only decrease, not increase.
After all, who knows if Yu Zhilan will get inspired to paint a few more "Hunting in Phoenix Mountain" paintings in the future?
Of course, this possibility is extremely small.
But as long as he is alive, it is original sin.
After hearing what the shopkeeper said, King Xiaoyao's expression remained unchanged and he didn't care about the price at all.
Anyway, it wasn't him who paid in the end!
King Xiaoyao nodded and took off the jade pendant from his waist.
"I didn't bring that much silver with me, so I'll leave this jade pendant here as a deposit," King Xiaoyao said. "Someone will come and redeem it with a silver note later."
The shopkeeper: “…”
Can it still be done this way?
The shopkeeper showed an embarrassment on his face.
"Sir, your jade pendant..."
"This jade pendant of mine is worth far more than this." King Xiaoyao said with a hint of meaning, "Can't the shopkeeper see that?"
After saying that, he placed the jade pendant on the table.
The shopkeeper had naturally realized long ago that this jade pendant was of great value.
However, since it involves three thousand taels of silver, the shopkeeper dare not be careless.
The shopkeeper carefully picked up the jade pendant, took a closer look, and his pupils shrank involuntarily.
The expression on his face changed immediately.
"Sir, please take the painting. I will definitely keep the jade pendant for you." The shopkeeper smiled and nodded.
King Xiaoyao nodded with satisfaction, waited for the shopkeeper to put the painting into the box, and then took the box out of Zhenbaozhai.
Outside the Zhenbaozhai gate, the wedding procession had already passed by.
However, the pedestrians on the street were still talking about the grand scene of the princess's wedding with excitement on their faces.
King Xiaoyao took the box and strolled towards the Mansion of Marquis Zhongyi.
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