Chapter 41: The Authenticity of Yan Zhenqing's Works

lled from Cangfeng Academy according to the rules!”"You're lying..."Chu Lingxi was about to retort, but Meng Qinghe raised her hand to interrupt, "Alright, both sides have made mistakes in this matter...Ye Bufan ignored him and directly took down the two paintings next to him.

"Kid, did you read too many fantasy novels Think this scroll's wood is some kind of agarwood or something"

I'm telling you, don't get any ideas. I've already looked, it's just ordinary wood. Two of them wouldn't even be worth a few dozen dollars.

Ye Bufan still ignored the incessant chatter of the white rat. He picked up the scroll on his left, drawing the wooden axle out from within it.

Seeing his actions, even Yang Zichen frowned. It was obvious that the young man wanted to find something in the painting scroll, but this was just an ordinary wooden scroll. What could there possibly be

Just then, a shocking scene occurred that left everyone stunned.

Ye Bufan raised his hand and gently tapped the wooden axle. The seemingly solid piece of wood split in half with a crack, revealing an empty center and a meticulously crafted scroll inside.

"Goodness gracious, there's truly a universe within this painting scroll!"

"The craftsmanship is too exquisite, it looks like a complete piece of wood from every angle. I never expected it to be hollow inside."

"How did this young man figure it out Could he have x-ray vision To know there was a world within the painting scroll..."

"None of this matters, what's important is what the painting actually is. If it's still a fake, then finding it won't matter anyway…"

Amidst the clamor, all eyes were drawn to the scroll held in Ye Bufan's hand.

Yang Zichen's eyes lit up as he said, "Boy, hurry up and open it."

He could tell, being able to hide so discreetly, this scroll was definitely no ordinary piece.

Ye Bufan gently untied the ribbon on the scroll and slowly unfolded it.

All eyes were drawn to the painting, and upon it they found the famous quote from Zhuge Liang's "Admonition to My Son": "Cultivate detachment to clarify your aspirations, and cultivate tranquility to achieve great things."

In the lower right corner of the painting is inscribed "The Family Instructions of a Qing Official," with the seal of Yan Zhenqing.

Visually, this painting is identical to the one we just tore up, but the characters on it are completely different.

The characters in this painting are structured with precision and rigor, with horizontal strokes light and vertical strokes heavy. The brushwork is powerful and vigorous, conveying a sense of grandeur and expanse.

Yang Ziqian stood beside him. He originally looked calm and composed, but when he saw the handwriting in the painting, he immediately changed as if someone had switched on a light. He excitedly stepped forward and said: "The real deal, this is actually Yan Zhenqing's genuine work, it's truly incredible."

The white rat was completely dumbfounded, never expecting that a real masterpiece by Yan Zhenqing was hidden within this painting.

Generally, when a scroll came into his hands, he would carefully inspect it, checking every layer and wooden axis meticulously, for fear of missing any treasures.

But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the wood of this painting would be hollow.

At this moment, a spectator beside them asked, "Master Yang, how much is this painting worth"

After gazing at the calligraphy for a long time, Yang Zichen reluctantly took his eyes away and said, "At a recent auction in Hong Kong, a genuine work by Yan Zhenqing was sold for 3 million yuan, but it wasn't as large as this one."

Based on the quality of this painting, I'd say it's worth at least 5 million.

"My goodness, is just one painting worth so much money"

"That young man bought it for five thousand yuan, and now he can sell it for five million! That's way too much profit, right"

"Do you know anything Generally, people's calligraphy and paintings are sold by the inch. Yan Zhenqing's genuine works are absolutely worth this price."

Amidst the surrounding chatter, Yang Zichen said to Ye Fan: "Young man, to be frank, I personally adore Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy and paintings. Would you be willing to part with it and sell it to me"

As for the price, don't worry, I won't let you lose out. 6 million, what do you think

Ye Bufan thought about it, this price was indeed quite fair. The most important thing was that what he wanted was a magic weapon, he didn't care about antiques and calligraphy at all.

Having thought this through, he said, “Well then, I'll sell it to Mr. Yang.”

"Little brother, thank you. If you have anything to do with antiques in the future, just find me, Yang [name] will be happy to help."

Yang Ziqian, with an excited expression, took out a checkbook from his pocket. He wrote a check for 6 million and handed it to Ye Bufan. Then, he carefully put away the genuine copy of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy scroll.

The white mouse was dumbfounded. He watched as someone offered 5,000 yuan for a painting worth 6 million. Looking at the check in Ye Bufan's hand, he felt like his heart would burst with pain.

"Boss Bai, are you done looking Shouldn't we have a result for our wager"

Yang Zichen said, "Boss Bai, you lost this bet. Quickly pay up to the younger brother."

"I..."

Seeing a 6 million dollar painting go missing, and now having to wager another 200,000 dollars feels like being skinned alive.

But Yang Zichen is a notary, he doesn't have any thoughts of denying it, or else he won't be able to mix around in the antique world in the future.

Having no other choice, he could only take out his phone and transferred 200,000 yuan in cash to Ye Bufan.

After the transfer was complete, Yang Zichen said: "Little brother, can you tell me how you saw that there was another world hidden inside the wooden shaft"

This is the part he never understood. He was confident in his expertise in antiques and couldn't see any flaws, so he didn't know how Ye Bufan discovered it.

Ye Bufan smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a coincidence."

Yang Ziqian shook his head slightly, he couldn't find any other reason for this besides coincidence.

He fished out another business card and handed it to Ye Bufan, saying, "Little brother, I can see that you have a deep understanding of antiques. If you come across anything good in the future, feel free to contact me."

"Okay."

Ye Bufan had a good impression of Yang Zichen and directly put the business card into his pocket.

After that, he didn't stay at the antique shop any longer. He went out and continued to search for magic artifacts.

After everyone else had left, three burly men walked in from outside. The biggest one at the front turned to Bai Laoshi and said, "Big brother, what should we do We can't just stand by and watch this kid take so much of our money!"

He is called Blackskin and he is in a gang with the white mouse. These people usually dig up graves, rob tombs, and extort money by faking accidents.

Had Yang Ziqian not been here just now, they definitely wouldn't have let Ye Bufan walk out so easily.

The white rat gritted his teeth and said, "Of course not! No one has ever gotten the better of our brothers yet!"

Heizi said, "What should we do, Big Brother Why don't our brothers go and take care of that kid and get the money back"

The white mouse said: "I've told you so many times, violence is a last resort. You might get all of us sent to jail."

"Brother, what do you say we should do" said another man with a short haircut.

The white mouse's eyes rolled as it spoke, "Let's try trickery first. You guys go find him and 'accidentally' bump into him, squeezing all the money out of his hands. If that doesn't work, we'll resort to force.", and a crystal bottle appeared in his palm. It contained nearly transparent liquid, incredibly viscous, constantly rolling and transforming into various shapes, as if it were alive.After the bottle a...