Chapter 29: Liu Yong's Manuscript

Seeing the dozen or so characters floating above the treasure bead, Liu Dong couldn't help but reveal a look of joy on his face.

Although he didn't know the exact value of this painting at the moment, it was a work by Tang Bohu, one of the famous Four Masters of the Wu School, and it had a clear lineage. It should be worth more than a million, he thought.

Of course, to determine the exact value of this painting, it would be best to have it appraised by Old Li from the Chenxiang Pavilion. However, although Liu Dong had this thought, he decided to wait for some time before doing so.

After all, if he frequently found such bargains, people might start to have some negative thoughts, even if it could still be attributed to luck.

"Once my appraisal skills improve, it won't seem so out of place!" Liu Dong thought to himself. At this moment, his desire to learn about antiques and appraisal became even stronger.

With a decision made, Liu Dong put Tang Yin's genuine work, "Spring Mountain Companions," into the Jiezi Space, then picked up the few books lying beside it.

After counting them, Liu Dong found that there were four books in total. They were the Four Books of Confucian classics: "The Analects," "The Great Learning," "The Doctrine of the Mean," and "Mencius."

Like Tang Yin's painting, these four Confucian classics were also in excellent condition. Although the pages had begun to yellow, there was no obvious damage or insect damage.

Liu Dong picked up "The Analects" and carefully flipped open the front page. He immediately saw a large seal that almost filled the entire page. Beneath the seal, there was a line of elegant, varying-sized regular script.

"'From the noble family of Hai Dai, the new scholar of Ying Zhou'—May of the Bingzi Year, 'Seal of the Imperial Brush of Qianlong'!"

The large seal especially caught Liu Dong's eye.

He had already used his spiritual energy to examine the four books, and the white light indicated that they were indeed valuable antiques. The presence of Emperor Qianlong's seal further increased the value of this "Analects."

In the Chinese antique market, anything related to the imperial family would see its price skyrocket, and Liu Dong was well aware of this.

After carefully examining the page, Liu Dong continued to flip through the book. He saw neatly carved regular script, with small annotations in fine regular script between the characters. Although the text was small, the handwriting was thick and solid, with a robust and powerful style, each stroke clear, exuding the air of a master.

Moreover, almost every page had annotations in fine regular script, though the content varied.

Additionally, Liu Dong found several pages filled with personal insights and reflections, indicating that this book was a cherished item of its original owner.

"Liu Yong!?" On the last page of the book, Liu Dong discovered seals with the names "Liu Chongru," "Shi'an," "Riguanfeng Daoist," and "Minghua." Although he hadn't heard of the last two, he knew that Liu Yong, a famous minister of the Qianlong era, had the courtesy name Chongru and the style name Shi'an.

"It seems this book was a gift from Emperor Qianlong to Liu Yong!" Recalling the seal on the front page and the distinct handwriting, Liu Dong speculated.

At this point, Liu Dong had even more expectations for the other three books.

So, after putting down "The Analects," he quickly picked up the other three books and flipped through them. He found that while they lacked Emperor Qianlong's seal and inscription, the seals of Liu Yong that appeared in "The Analects" were also present in the other three books.

Moreover, unlike the carved regular script in "The Analects," the regular script in the other three books was almost identical to the fine regular script annotations in "The Analects," clearly written by the same person. It was evident that "The Great Learning," "The Doctrine of the Mean," and "Mencius" were all handwritten by Liu Yong.

"Indeed, it is so!" The characters revealed on the treasure bead in the Jiezi Space confirmed his guess.

"Tang Yin's 'Spring Mountain Companions' scroll, inscribed by Emperor Qianlong, 'The Analects' annotated by Liu Yong, and the Confucian classics 'The Great Learning,' 'The Doctrine of the Mean,' and 'Mencius,' handwritten by Liu Yong. Although I don't know their exact value, they should be worth at least a million!" Liu Dong speculated.

In fact, he had greatly underestimated the value of Tang Yin's work with a clear lineage. On June 1, 1989, at Christie's auction in New York, the first item in the "Important Chinese Ancient Paintings" auction was Tang Yin's "Mountain Quiet and Day Long" album. This album had twelve pages, accompanied by Wang Yangming's calligraphy of Tang Xizi's words, with an estimated value of $150 million, but it eventually sold for over $500 million.

On May 30, 1990, Christie's in New York auctioned Tang Yin's "Moon Spring" painting, which had inscriptions by Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming, and Zhu Zhishan, with an estimated value of $25 million to $30 million, but it sold for $56 million.

On November 19, 1991, Christie's in New York auctioned a similar work to "Mountain Quiet and Day Long," titled "Spring Wind Wine Cup," which sold for $72 million.

Even Tang Yin's small fan paintings, such as "Ancient Trees and Bamboo" and "Rain Bamboo," sold for $10 million and $25 million, respectively.

If Liu Dong's Tang Yin's genuine work, "Spring Mountain Companions" scroll, were properly promoted and put up for auction, it would likely sell for at least $60 million, and even $100 million was not out of the question.

While Liu Yong's calligraphy did not command the same high prices as Tang Yin's paintings in past auctions, the "Analects" with Emperor Qianlong's seal, along with the three Confucian classics handwritten by Liu Yong, "The Great Learning," "The Doctrine of the Mean," and "Mencius," together should be worth at least $2 million (based on the antique market in the year 2000).

"I didn't expect that my good deed would bring such a reward; truly, good deeds are rewarded!" After putting the four precious books and the ancient painting into the Jiezi Space, Liu Dong sighed inwardly.

However, he felt a bit guilty about the old lady who had sold him the antiques. After all, the value of these paintings and books far exceeded the money he had given her. If it were just anyone else, Liu Dong would have been happy to have found a bargain. But the old lady was clearly in distress, and her home was impoverished, so he felt uneasy about the large profit he had made.

"I should find a way to compensate that old lady!" Liu Dong decided.

He then calmed himself, looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table, and realized it was already 8:30 PM. Liu Dong, who had intended to take a shower, shook his head when he heard a sound from the living room.

He then took off his clothes, propped up the pillow, and lay down on the bamboo mat. From the Jiezi Space, he took out the thick appraisal notes that Old Li had given him.

After the experience of appraising Tang Yin's painting and Liu Yong's handwriting, and with his current abilities, Liu Dong's interest in antique appraisal had grown even stronger.

However, the continuous carving for over ten days had left Liu Dong's body and mind extremely fatigued. Combined with the events of the afternoon, although he was excited and had made a good profit, picking up several bargains, he was drained. After reading for about half an hour, he couldn't resist the strong drowsiness and fell asleep without turning off the light.

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