The siblings looked at each other, then silently turned their heads away.
Saburo: Sister, that's a bit underhanded!
Jiang Shan: Sanlang's move was a bit ruthless!
Mr. Xunmei: No wonder they're siblings, they're both so protective of each other!
Jiang Shan cleared his throat and said, "The original of Master Hua's 'Fish Playing with Lotus Flowers' should be with you, sir, right?"
Mr. Xunmei said noncommittally, "There is only one genuine work. The one in that Master Chu's possession must be a fake."
Now that even the fakes are probably gone, that's why they're sticking to their story with the siblings.
Saburo suddenly opened his eyes wide and hopped towards the bookshelf behind him.
He rummaged through drawers and cabinets for a long time before finally finding a painting and letting out a long sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness, I wasn't ruined by Huai'er, otherwise I wouldn't be able to explain myself!"
Jiang Shan's brow twitched, and he asked, "What kind of rotten, uproarious things has Jiang Huai been doing here all day long?"
"How dare you speak like that? He's your son!" Mr. Xunmei glared at Jiang Shan, and after exchanging a glance with Sanlang, the teacher and student turned their heads away in perfect unison, thus letting the matter drop.
"Master Chu is nothing to fear, but the words of scholars are terrifying. You must be careful, lest someone take advantage of your misfortune."
As predicted, the rumor that Jiang's Private Kitchen had stolen the original calligraphy of Hua Dajia, which was treasured by Master Chu, spread like wildfire and quickly reached every household. Jiang's Private Kitchen's business was greatly affected. Those literati with "integrity" refused to patronize Jiang's shop anymore, and many merchants took advantage of the situation.
Jiao's mother received the news from Yuzhou in just a few days.
When Master Wu and his wife visited Jiao's mother at the Jiao residence, they made no attempt to conceal their visit. This matter could be considered a big deal or a small one. Although Sanlang had a teacher looking after him, scholars were intolerant of any wrongdoing. Master Wu was still worried that this matter would affect Sanlang's career, and even more worried that Jiangshan would be slandered and ostracized by those literati because of it.
After all, the teacher is just an ordinary old man now, without any official rank or power, and he can't protect the brother and sister.
Just a moment ago, Jiao's mother was all smiles and beaming, but the next second she turned pale and her hands and feet began to tremble.
She knew all too well the harm that so-called intellectual integrity could inflict on people, and this time, she was determined to protect her children no matter what!
"Auntie, don't worry. With Lord Fu here, Shan'er and Sanlang will be fine! I've already discussed it with my wife, and we'll head to Yuzhou first thing tomorrow morning. I want to see if that Master Chu dares to act arrogantly in front of me!"
Jiao's mother quickly regained her composure and said resolutely, "I am their mother. If my children are in trouble, I, as their mother, will stay by their side no matter what! Huan'er, Fangniang, pack your bags. We're going to Yuzhou first thing tomorrow morning!"
...
Normally, the common people are not allowed to watch when the Yuzhou government holds court. But this time was different. Most of the plaintiff's relatives and friends were scholars and literati, and their influence was too great. They wanted to watch, and Prefect Leng could not refuse.
The defendants, Jiang Shan and his sister, had a very strong group of relatives and friends, including not only merchants and students, but also people from the martial arts world, and even a large number of the courtesans from the Red Sleeve Pavilion!
Before the people inside the hall even appeared, the people outside had already started fighting.
First, a scholar pointed at Lü Chan and Zi Su and others, scolding them for being shameless and lacking manners, and said he would not associate with them.
Then, Green Sandalwood and Purple Perilla greeted the scholars present with great enthusiasm, calling each of them "young master" and "master" as if they were very familiar with each other.
Green Sandalwood kept asking a teacher from the Hongmeng Academy if he had come up with a matching line for the first line of the couplet she gave him last time. The teacher was so embarrassed that he wished he could die on the spot.
Come on, let's hurt each other!
A learned scholar couldn't even match a couplet with a mere entertainer. Who lost face more? Who looked down on whom?
The appearance of the two entertainers caught the group of literati off guard, and they all pretended to be deaf and dumb and remained silent.
Outside the crowd, the old patriarch Fu secretly said to An Yi, "Later, throw those ringleaders into the latrine of Hongxiufang!"
An Yi glanced at the old patriarch, paused for a moment, and said, "Have you been to Hongxiufang?"
He's only been here a few days!
The old patriarch Fu nudged An Yi with his elbow and said angrily, "My grandson took me there! Don't tell Shan'er about this!"
An Yi's expression was somewhat strange, but he wisely refrained from saying anything more.
The old patriarch Fu's sharp eyes swept across the crowd, and he said in a low voice, "Have those kids keep a close eye on those dogs outside. Find out who went into which dog hole, so as not to alert them."
He nodded slightly and withdrew from the crowd.
Inside the main hall, Saburo had already begun painting.
A child of about ten years old, in front of everyone in the room, calmly and deliberately ground the inkstone before picking up the brush to paint.
When Master Chu first saw Sanlang, he snorted and showed his disdain on his face. But when Sanlang began to draw the lines of the fish, his expression subtly changed.
The drawing took quite a while; it took a full hour to finish all the lines. Now it was time to polish the colors.
Fu Qiyuan personally brought tea to Sanlang to soothe his throat, and silently comforted Jiangshan with his eyes.
Master Chu was no longer concerned with these things at this moment; his gaze was fixed on the painting, and his expression changed constantly with Sanlang's movements.
Saburo's color mixing movements were casual and rough, entirely according to his own preferences, similar to but also quite different from the painting in front of Prefect Leng.
To be more precise, for those who understand painting, Saburo's control over color in this painting even subtly surpasses that of the original.
Two hours passed quickly, but no one in the hall showed the slightest impatience.
Looking at Master Chu, it was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry, but anyone with eyes could see that he was very excited!
Jiang Shan glanced at Master Chu, then squeezed in and used half of his shoulder to block Sanlang's way.
Just as Master Chu was about to get angry, he almost cried out in surprise when he saw Sanlang use a vermilion brush to make a stroke of vermilion in the lower left corner of the scroll.
"Sanlang, you drew it wrong. This seal should be in the lower right corner," Jiang Shan reminded him.
Saburo shrugged and said dismissively, "This wasn't the same painting as before."
Jiang Shan paused for a moment, then silently turned to look at Prefect Leng above.
Prefect Leng looked completely distraught, seemingly even more so than Jiang Shan.
After finishing drawing the seal, Sanlang put down his brush.
Jiang Shan bent down and gently blew on the painting, then asked Sanlang, "Is the painting finished?"
Sanlang smiled and nodded, then said to the stunned Master Chu, "When Master Hua was young, he loved to paint fish playing among lotus flowers. He could paint dozens of different paintings of the same scene, each with its own unique charm. These two paintings are similar, yet they have differences. The fish are moving at different angles and with different amplitudes, and the lotus leaves and flowers are swaying in different directions. Different angles, depending on the light, naturally produce different colors. May I ask Master Chu, am I right?"
Master Chu nodded mechanically, his gaze fixed on the painting, his expression unreadable.
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