Chen Ke glanced at the four famous Shanghai figures over there. It was just a casual glance, but the frustrated group took it as a provocation and glared at him angrily.
Chen Ke: ""
ill.
Matsumoto led the group to the dining room. Chen Ke thought they would be eating Japanese food in tatami rooms, but to his surprise, they were eating Chinese food. It seems that these Japanese really like Chinese culture.
However, the purpose behind this liking is debatable.
Halfway through the meal, probably about 70-80% full, Lauters put down his spoon and said to Chen Ke, "Mr. Chen, do you still have any items that the emperor used? My aunt took the carpet last time, and our whole family really likes things that the emperor used."
Chen Ke: "...Yes, there are, but I'm afraid you won't like them."
Lauters shook his head excitedly, "How could that be? I like anything the emperor has ever used."
Chen Ke: "It's a chamber pot used by Emperor Shunzhi."
"Pfft...cough cough cough..." Xu Manling choked on her soup.
"Manling, what's wrong?" Matsumoto asked.
Xu Manling covered her mouth with a handkerchief and gently shook her head: "Cough cough cough... I choked on the soup."
"Then be careful." After saying that, Matsumoto turned to Chen Ke and asked, "Mr. Chen, who used that chamber pot you just mentioned?"
······
Xu Manling silently put down her chopsticks.
“Mr. Matsumoto, it’s the Shunzhi Emperor.” Chen Ke smiled apologetically at Xu Manling, but his words came out without the slightest stammer.
“Oh, I know about the Shunzhi Emperor, but the chamber pot he used…” Lauters was a little confused, not knowing what the purpose of it was.
Matsumoto put down his chopsticks and immediately straightened his back, his tone carrying a hint of inexplicable pride, "It's used by the emperor to hold his urine when he gets up at night."
Everyone at the table fell silent.
Lauters looked at Matsumoto with surprise, a hint of doubt in his azure eyes, as if wondering what there was to be proud of.
"Ahem, Mr. Matsumoto is truly knowledgeable." Only Chen Ke was understanding.
Matsumoto smiled slightly, his smugness evident.
“Mr. Chen, this, this chamber pot…” Lauters hesitated for a long time, unable to express how much he liked it, so he asked directly, “Mr. Chen, could you part with it for me?”
Chen Ke raised an eyebrow. "What? Mr. Lauters likes to collect this?"
"It's not that I like it, it's that my aunt likes it. She especially likes things that the emperor used." Lautes thought to himself who would like to collect this kind of thing, but he could sell it to those arrogant and rude nobles. He could just tell them it was a teapot, since the Chinese emperor loved to drink tea anyway.
“Since she is Mr. Lauters’ aunt, I certainly can’t be stingy. You can come to my shop to pick it up when you have time, or I can have the driver deliver it to you.”
"There are a lot of foreign business going on lately, so I'm afraid I can't make the trip myself. I'll trouble Mr. Chen to send a driver. I live at No. 86 in the French Concession. Just come straight in."
"Okay, I'll have the driver bring it over tomorrow."
Matsumoto: "It seems Lauters has already found quite a few treasures he likes from Boss Chen."
Lauters: "Mr. Matsumoto, if you have time, you can also visit Mr. Chen's shop. You're sure to find some treasures you like there too."
Seeing that the conversation had reached this point and that the groundwork had been laid, Chen Ke said as if he had suddenly remembered something, "Speaking of treasures I admire, I recently acquired a precious item. I've been playing with it for a long time, and the more I look at it, the more I like it."
Lauters' eyes lit up at the sight of the treasure that even Mr. Chen liked. "We're all friends here, Mr. Chen. You can't keep a treasure you like to yourself. You have to show it off to everyone."
Matsumoto was also quite interested. "Mr. Chen, could you tell us what it is and what its origin is to satisfy our curiosity?"
Only Xu Manling's eyes flashed with a strange look.
The initial oddity turned into a sudden realization when Chen Ke mentioned that he happened to be carrying the treasure with him. It seemed that Mr. Chen's act of sharing the treasure was a ruse; his real purpose was to sell it.
Xu Manling found this Boss Chen to be increasingly interesting. He saw through things but didn't say anything, quietly sitting there to see if things were as she thought.
Because of Lauters and Matsumoto's strong desire, Chen Ke had no choice but to reluctantly take out his small suitcase. "If I didn't consider you two true friends, I would never have shared these treasures. After all, I have a desire to possess these treasures exclusively."
The two didn't notice that Chen Ke had also brought the small suitcase into the dining room until he took it out.
Matsumoto sighed, "I can already tell how much Mr. Chen loves it."
“Indeed, but Mr. Chen is a straightforward person, and he’s incredibly loyal to his friends.” Lautes gave Chen Ke a thumbs up.
Chen Ke smiled sheepishly, "Where are we going to see it, no, where are we going to appreciate it?" Such a treasure with such artistic conception certainly cannot be seen at the dinner table; it would lower its value.
"Let's go to my study."
The Japanese man's study? If he were an underground worker, wouldn't he have easily infiltrated the enemy and obtained top-secret information?
To Chen Ke's surprise, the Japanese man's study was filled with all sorts of antiques.
Chen Ke glanced at the wall unintentionally.
!!
But they were completely stunned.
What's that hanging on the wall?
A five-stringed pipa inlaid with mother-of-pearl and made of rosewood?
A unique Tang Dynasty mother-of-pearl inlaid rosewood five-stringed pipa?
Matsumoto said with a hint of pride, "Haha, Mr. Chen certainly has a good eye. He took a liking to the number one five-stringed pipa here as soon as he came in." Every collector brings out their beloved antiques for people to view and appreciate. To put it nicely, it's sharing, but the real purpose is to show off.
This Boss Chen brought all this way with his prized possessions, wasn't it just to show off? Hmph, how could he possibly show weakness? He decided on the spot to use the treasures from his study to intimidate him and let him know his strength.
Matsumoto looked at Chen Ke, who was so shocked he couldn't move, and was very satisfied, feeling that his decision was very wise.
Chen Ke was indeed shocked. This pipa was an absolute masterpiece. Pipas usually have four strings, but this was the only five-string pipa in existence.
The five-stringed pipa has been lost, but it can often be seen in Dunhuang murals where flying apsaras play this instrument. This only surviving five-stringed pipa showcases the exquisite mother-of-pearl inlay technique of the Tang Dynasty, demonstrating the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and making it of great research value.
Unfortunately, like the Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl he was about to present, it was collected in Japan, one on display at the Shosoin North Repository of the Imperial Household Agency, and the other at the Seikado Bunko Art Museum in Tokyo.
As Chen Ke was pondering how to secretly print a fake one to replace it, Lauters admired it for a while and asked, "Was this pipa played by some imperial concubine?"
Well, Lauters' mind is always filled with emperors and imperial concubines. It seems that retrieving the artifacts has brought him quite a bit of profit.
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