Chapter 13

Zhang Tianyuan walked around in Zhenbao Alley a few times. Although he found some treasures, he couldn't afford them. Even if he could afford them, he wouldn't buy them, as those items were already confirmed to be overpriced and only rich people would buy them for collection. He was different; he was just a small-time dealer, and of course, he needed to buy low and sell high.

He was about to leave and head to Shangpu.

However, his hesitant appearance was mistaken by someone as not knowing what to buy, and someone secretly started to follow him.

"Clang!"

"Crack!"

A sharp sound startled Zhang Tianyuan. He turned around and saw a person sitting behind him, with broken porcelain pieces scattered on the ground, clearly the scene of a broken porcelain bottle.

"Give me back my porcelain bottle!" the person suddenly hugged Zhang Tianyuan's leg and shouted loudly.

This person was a middle-aged woman, around her early forties, dressed in typical rural grandma attire, but with noticeably fair skin. In that moment, Zhang Tianyuan deduced that he might be in trouble.

A scam!

And a real one at that!

"Auntie, stand up and talk. I'm not running away," Zhang Tianyuan calmed himself and smiled as he helped the woman up.

However, the woman didn't listen to him. She cried and called for help from the people around, and it was clear that the scammer wasn't alone. With her were four or five burly young men, clearly indicating that if the scam didn't work, they would resort to force.

More and more people gathered around. At this point, the woman explained the incident to the crowd, looking very wronged.

Some people who knew the truth sneered but didn't want to get involved, only lamenting Zhang Tianyuan's bad luck for coming to this place.

Others who didn't know the truth joined in the commotion.

People are naturally sympathetic to the weak. At a glance, they assumed Zhang Tianyuan was at fault, pointing and gesturing, demanding that he compensate the woman.

This was the first time Zhang Tianyuan encountered such a scene, and he was naturally a bit nervous. However, he quickly calmed down. Thinking about the Six-Character True Formula he possessed, could he not handle such a small matter?

"I didn't say I wouldn't compensate, but this auntie won't let me speak," Zhang Tianyuan explained.

The woman stopped crying and looked at Zhang Tianyuan, "Will you really compensate?"

"Yes, how much is your item? I'll compensate," Zhang Tianyuan nodded firmly.

A cunning smile flashed across the woman's lips, but it was gone in an instant, and even Zhang Tianyuan didn't notice it.

"That's what you said, not me forcing you," the woman stood up and pointed at the broken porcelain bottle on the ground, "This porcelain bottle is a Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain, worth several million. Can you afford to compensate?"

Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain!

Zhang Tianyuan was startled. He had already used the Appraisal Technique to check, and the porcelain bottle was just a modern imitation, albeit a good imitation of Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain, but definitely not the real thing. The woman's tone made it seem like it was genuine, truly greedy.

"If it were a genuine Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain, I couldn't afford it. But this is just a modern imitation, worth at most a hundred or so yuan," Zhang Tianyuan said calmly, using his bag to collect the broken porcelain pieces.

"You're talking nonsense. It's clearly genuine," the woman shouted.

"Reason doesn't lie in loudness. What I say might not be believed by the people here, but that's fine. Let's collect these porcelain pieces and go to a place that can authenticate Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain. I'll pay for the authentication fee!" Zhang Tianyuan smiled.

The woman was clearly flustered by this, probably the first time she encountered such a calm young man, unsure of how to handle the situation.

They usually targeted people who didn't understand antiques well and didn't want to cause trouble, but they had clearly chosen the wrong person this time.

"Auntie, I'm from Tao County nearby. I've been to Zhenbao Alley since I was a child. I've seen all kinds of people. I've seen many like you. Today, we can either authenticate the item or report it to the police. You choose," Zhang Tianyuan, relying on the crowd, wasn't afraid of the woman's accomplices. Plus, there was a police station right at the entrance of Zhenbao Alley. If anything happened, he could run to the police station, and he didn't believe these people would dare to do anything there.

Zhang Tianyuan had been speaking in Mandarin, but now he switched to the local dialect of Xifeng, making the woman realize she had chosen the wrong person.

In the awkward moment, one of the woman's accomplices said, "Whether it's genuine or not, we spent a lot of money on it. You broke it, so you should compensate at the same price. I won't make it hard for you. Here's a painting, a rare treasure. If you buy it, we'll consider this matter settled."

"Heh, trying to force a sale again?" Zhang Tianyuan secretly sneered, thinking, "I'll take your move, come on."

"Oh? Whose painting is it?" Zhang Tianyuan asked.

"Han Dynasty Mao Yanshou!"

"Mao Yanshou?"

Zhang Tianyuan was taken aback. He had recently read a lot about ancient calligraphers and painters, and he had some knowledge of Mao Yanshou, but he hadn't heard of any surviving masterpieces by him.

Many people might not know who Mao Yanshou was, but if they mentioned Wang Zhaojun, no one would be unfamiliar with her.

Mao Yanshou was the painter who painted Wang Zhaojun's portrait.

Mao Yanshou, a Han Dynasty person from 33 BC, was from Xifeng City. He was somewhat famous because of Wang Zhaojun, but in the art world, there were no known surviving masterpieces by him.

According to historical records, Mao Yanshou's character was not good.

When painting portraits of palace maidens, he would paint them more beautifully if they gave him gifts. Wang Zhaojun refused to give gifts, so Mao Yanshou did not paint her beauty accurately, adding a mole that symbolized the death of her husband and tears.

However, whether this story was true or not is now impossible to verify.

Later, Wang Anshi mentioned in his poem "Mingfei Qu," "Returning, I blame the painter, how often have I seen such beauty in my life; beauty cannot be captured in a painting, and it was wrong to kill Mao Yanshou."

According to his account, Mao Yanshou did not intentionally make Wang Zhaojun look ugly; it was just that she was too beautiful for the brush to capture. Therefore, Emperor Yuan of Han's execution of Mao Yanshou was unjust.

Rapidly recalling some historical information about Mao Yanshou, Zhang Tianyuan found no mention of any surviving masterpieces. However, he became interested in what the man was saying.

"Since it's Mao Yanshou's painting, can you show it to everyone?" Zhang Tianyuan smiled.

The man didn't hesitate, took out a bamboo tube from his back, and pulled out a painting.

"Portrait of Wang Zhaojun!" Zhang Tianyuan read the title of the painting.

"Exactly, this is Mao Yanshou's Portrait of Wang Zhaojun. You only know part of the story. In fact, Mao Yanshou and Wang Zhaojun were childhood sweethearts. Mao Yanshou didn't want Wang Zhaojun to enter the palace as a concubine, so he painted an ugly portrait. However, he didn't know that if Wang Zhaojun didn't enter the palace, she would have to go to the frontier. In the end, it was all for nothing!"

Seeing that everyone was listening intently, the man continued, "Mao Yanshou sent Wang Zhaojun off at a long pavilion and painted this true beauty portrait, which was also his last work. After that, he was executed by Emperor Yuan of Han. The value of this painting is unimaginable!"

While the man was talking, Zhang Tianyuan didn't idle. He carefully examined the painting from top to bottom, using the Appraisal Technique's透视 (penetrating vision) and 查微 (microscopic examination). However, he found no trace of an ancient painting.

In the end, he realized that this was just a print, not even a painting. He had wasted his time, and it seemed his experience was still lacking. If he had more experience, he wouldn't need the Six-Character True Formula. A print costs just a few dozen yuan, and it was a waste of his energy to use it. It was truly not worth it.

However, he then smiled. The broken porcelain bottle was worth about a hundred yuan, maybe more, but this painting was worth at most a few dozen yuan. By buying this painting, he could settle the matter, and it wouldn't be a loss.