After I took Song Laosan away from Leng's residence, he made an excuse to send Liu Shusheng away and took me and Monkey to the private room that Bianyifang had booked in advance.
I sat in the private room, examining the business card the steward of the Leng family had given me. Looking at the three characters "Su Maoyuan" on it, I turned my gaze to Song Laosan: "You even calculated the time it would take you to be released, which means this plan has been brewing for a long time, hasn't it?"
"Alright, stop flattering me. Today's matter isn't about careful planning; it's about going all in."
Old Song raised his wine glass and clinked it against mine: "I was forced into this situation and had no other choice but to come up with this idea."
After such a tumultuous day, I had no appetite for the delicious food on the table. I downed the wine in my glass in one gulp: "Let's get down to business. Back at the Leng residence, you said this was just part of your plan. You made me pay such a high price to get close to this Mr. Leng. Is it because he knows Duan Jinyan's whereabouts?"
"No, the reason I contacted you was not because of Mr. Leng, but because of Su Jialiang, whom he asked you to find."
Old Song poured me a glass of wine and slowly began to recount, “Since returning to Beijing, I have been investigating the whereabouts of Duan Jinyan. It is said that he has forged a large number of cultural relics in the past two years. The Wei family and the Qu family have also found this clue and are preparing to go to Henan to find Duan Jinyan... This matter is rather complicated. To understand it clearly, we have to go through it one by one.”
I gathered my thoughts: "The Song family is in charge of intelligence, so the actions of the Wei and Qu families naturally couldn't escape your notice. It's not surprising that you knew about their activities. Let's talk about Mr. Leng first. You said you contacted him to find Su Jialiang, so why didn't you contact Su Jialiang directly?"
Old Song rolled up a spring pancake and stuffed it into his mouth: "Because before this, I didn't know who Mr. Leng was looking for. This person is a great collector and loves bronzes. He can be called an expert in this field. But half a month ago, one of his treasures was swindled away by someone through a pawn transaction."
"The Trustworthy Rhinoceros Venerable!"
I sat up straight: "Mr. Leng offered me conditions that were so harsh they were practically outright robbery, asking me to bring back that rhinoceros-shaped vase, because the item itself belongs to him! And Mr. Leng is a major collector; if he were to have someone smash the vase, it would be tantamount to publicly admitting that he was fooled and taken advantage of! For someone like him, face is very important, so he won't do it himself, but will instead tell us to bring it back by any means necessary!"
“Smart! Originally, I planned to contact Mr. Leng through other means, and the bronze furnace wasn't even sold to him. But the Wei and Qu families acted too quickly. If I wanted to make contact with Mr. Leng in a short time, I had no choice but to take the risk. If you lose your verbal battle with Hongfu today, I'll be in big trouble!”
Old Song snapped his fingers: "The monk Hongfu we saw at the Leng residence earlier was quite knowledgeable about antiques and artifacts. He was the one Mr. Leng invited to handle this matter. The reason I sold him the bronze incense burner with the forged inscription was to let Mr. Leng know that we know how to forge things. I told him I had a friend who could save me, so that he could see your unique appraisal skills. Our team has mastered both forgery and appraisal, and our skills are even better than Hongfu's. Naturally, we can take his place."
Hearing Song Laosan's answer, I was quite satisfied with the teammate I had chosen.
While the monkey was peeling prawns, he interjected, "Third Master, all you've said boils down to one thing. First, Su Jialiang used a fake to exchange for Mr. Leng's rhinoceros-shaped vase through pawning. Then, you introduced Young Master Duan to Mr. Leng by selling a defective bronze incense burner. This whole thing has nothing to do with his missing father!"
Song Laosan turned his gaze to me: "This is what I'm about to tell you. The antique business is full of genuine and fake items, and deception is commonplace. But a week ago, a picture of this rhinoceros-shaped vase circulated on the black market, priced at twelve million. And the person who released this information was none other than Duan Jinyan."
"1200? That's a huge premium!"
The monkey squinted: "A normal rhinoceros steed would fetch a maximum of four or five million at auction!"
"It is indeed a bit expensive, but the price increase will not exceed three million, because the two characters 'Gongxin' on the rhinoceros zun are worth at least five million! Once bronzes have inscriptions, their prices change. Just like the goods that Third Master sold to Mr. Leng before, the bronze furnace and the inscription are worthless, but when put together, their value is completely different. In particular, the inscription on the rhinoceros zun has historical allusions, which is extraordinary."
I turned my gaze to Song Laosan: "Since the news was released by Duan Jinyan, why don't we meet with Duan Jinyan directly as buyers, instead of going around in circles to find Su Jialiang?"
"You're still too naive and don't understand the dangers of the martial world! You need to understand that Duan Jinyan killed many people because of the Lingbi case. For more than ten years, countless people in the martial world have been searching for him. You're just one of the newcomers. Besides, I've analyzed that the things Duan Jinyan sells are fake. If Duan Jinyan hadn't been more careful, he would have been devoured alive and his bones crushed to dust long ago. How could he have survived until now? Although I don't like your father, I have to admit that he was truly a genius, both in his skills and in his crimes."
Old Song paused for a moment: "Furthermore, Mr. Leng is no saint either. Rumor has it that he's hiding murder cases, and nobody knows how the Gongxin Xizun ended up in his hands. Moreover, the fact that he was scammed is a top secret in the industry; you could count the number of people who know about it on one hand. If it weren't for me, you would never have dug up this kind of information in your entire lives. So, if we want to find Duan Jinyan, we can only investigate step by step, find the source of the Gongxin Xizun first, and then start with Su Jialiang. Understand?"
I remembered that Liu Shusheng had indeed said before that anyone who dared to side with Mr. Leng had met a bad end, but he didn't directly target Su Jialiang. Instead, he told us to go find Su Jialiang. I had a bad feeling: "This Su dog made Mr. Leng suffer a setback and had to swallow his anger. I'm afraid his background is not simple."
"Among the major collectors in the antique world, very few actually show their faces. Apart from scholars, most of those who do appear in public are actually front men for powerful figures. But you're right, someone who can make even Mr. Leng wary is probably not someone to be trifled with."
Song Laosan put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a tissue, looked at his watch and said, "I have contacted my friends in Henan. They will help us. We will set off at noon and arrive in Luoyang first thing tomorrow morning. Whether we find anything or not, at least we can't let the Wei family, the Qu family and other forces looking for Duan Jinyan get there first."
"Third Master, thank you! If it weren't for your help, I'm afraid I would really be in dire straits."
After listening to what Song Laosan said, I picked up the wine glass in front of me and drank it all in one gulp.
At this moment, I was truly grateful to Song Laosan, and at the same time, I clearly realized that the seemingly calm world of antiques was gradually becoming turbulent because of the appearance of this Gongxin Rhinoceros Zun.
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