Merchant of the Underworld

Ever since the hosta incident happened, Li Mazi and I were like frightened birds. We had been wary of the person who gave us the hosta all day long. As a result, he did not appear again after a long period of time, as if he had disappeared out of thin air.

This is very much in line with Longquan Villa’s style of doing things, taking your life when you are most lax!

We simply stopped taking over all business and stayed at home peacefully. This rare free time allowed me to pick up a recorder and record all the deeply touching things I encountered during this period and send them to Give me that writer friend.

That day, when I was telling the story of the red cannon, Li Mazi's wretched face suddenly came under my eyes. I was so frightened that I lost two of my souls. I reflexively threw the recorder in my hand at Li Mazi's. Pockmarked face.

He wailed, and then looked at me with a pair of aggrieved little eyes...

Seeing that I ignored him, Li Mazi took notice and immediately placed several large boxes of takeout on the table. It turned out that he missed me and wanted to come over and have a drink with me.

Braised beef, fried king oyster mushrooms and bacon, and two large boxes of lobster rice bowl.

The smell of the food immediately aroused my greed, and my stomach growled. Only then did I realize that I had been recalling the story for several hours without realizing it.

I twisted my sore neck, took apart a pair of chopsticks and started eating.

"Brother Zhang, I found a huge treasure on the road..." Li Mazi tapped the table with his chopsticks, looking very mysterious.

I don't accept his behavior and let him talk as quickly as possible.

Li Mazi knew my character, so he laughed twice and told me the story.

It turned out that when he came here, he passed a roadside stall that sold scattered antiques. Of course, what were the antiques on the stall?

Those who work in our industry know it well.

So when Li Mazi said this, I lost interest in these fakes.

But Li Mazi was very interested and said that he had taken a fancy to an ancient painting with poems on it.

I chuckled after hearing this, Li Mazi is actually interested in calligraphy and painting? This was new news, so he immediately asked him what kind of beautiful girl he liked.

Li Mazi rolled his eyes at me: "Brother from the Zhang family, this poem belongs to the queen. I have carefully checked the handwriting and it is almost the same. We may have missed it this time!"

As soon as I heard Li Mazi mention the word empress, I immediately thought of Li Yu, the famous empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty in history.

Because from ancient times to the present, there are not many emperors who can write poetry, and the only one worthy of praise is Li Yu.

His song: I ask you how much sorrow you can have, just like a river of spring water flowing eastward, I don’t know how many people are fascinated!

But there are not many authentic works of Li Yu left. After all, he was a king who subjugated his country. He was poisoned to death by poisonous wine, and his works during his lifetime have also disappeared.

How could there really be an authentic work of Li Yu appearing casually on a small street stall?

Seeing that I didn't believe it, Li Mazi put down the chopsticks and pulled me over to examine them.

I followed him out of the house nonchalantly, just treating it as a walk after dinner! The small stall Li Mazi mentioned was not far from Antique Street, and it only took twenty minutes to walk.

It's just that the small stall is deserted at the moment. Occasionally, a few people passing by ask for a price and they all turn around and leave...

The painting Li Mazi was talking about was hung up on a bamboo pole by a small vendor. The painting is very simple, a rockery, with a beauty in green leaning next to it, her delicate and lovely appearance is lifelike. There is a poem inscribed on the left side: The bright flowers and the dark moon cover the mist, so I can go to Langbian tonight. Wearing socks and walking up the fragrant steps, carrying gold-leafed shoes. Seeing you on the south bank of the painting hall, I always tremble when I lean against someone. It is difficult for a slave to come out, so teach him to show mercy to you.

I know that this poem was written by Li Yu to Xiao Hou, the most beautiful woman in the Southern Tang Dynasty. It seems that the beauty in green clothes in the painting is Xiao Zhou.

According to legend, Xiao Zhouhou had a strange hobby and a special liking for green. Everything she wore and the furnishings in the palace must be green, otherwise she would get angry. There was a trend at one time, and with this poem, her identity was self-evident.

When this poem was written, Xiao Zhouhou's biological sister, Da Zhouhou, was seriously ill and was dying. She wanted to see her sister before she died, so Xiao Zhouhou was summoned to the palace.

But as soon as the little queen entered the palace, she was attracted by Li Yu, and the two of them started to have an affair under the eyes of the big queen.

Li Yu is really a romantic emperor. He can write such poetic and picturesque stories about having an affair behind his wife's back, which is amazing.

However, I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but I just feel that this painting has a magical power that is secretly attracting me.

The stall owner saw Li Mazi and I studying the paintings for a long time, and immediately greeted him warmly: "Both bosses, you have really good taste!"

He started boasting as soon as he came up: "This painting is an authentic work by Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty! It is unique on the market now. Look at this painting, look at the artistic conception..."

Before he could finish, I interrupted him and asked directly about the price.

Antiques, even if they are genuine, are graded. For example, one of Li Yu's original works must be the one: Asking you how much sorrow you can have, just like a river of spring water flowing eastward is the most valuable, and this little poem about cheating, to be honest, does not have that high collection value.

The stall owner rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "It's rare that the boss likes it! I'm going to give you a big discount today. It was originally going to sell for 30,000, so I'll give you 20,000!"

I sneered, this guy was trying to kill me as an easy target!

This painting looked like a high imitation, and the stall owner actually dared to open his mouth, if he didn't want to study the magic power in this painting. I won't pay attention to him.

So I stared at him with bright eyes and said, "Three thousand."

Seeing the reluctant look in the stall owner's eyes, I immediately added: "I am also in the antique business myself, and I know all about it. This price is definitely enough for you to make a profit, so sell it if you like!"

After saying that, I took Li Mazi and turned around to leave.

Seeing that I seemed to be really about to leave, the stall owner grabbed my arm and said, "Hey boss, the price of the purchase is negotiable! What do you think of five thousand?"

I glanced at him and said nothing.

The stall owner was anxious: "Four thousand, no less! It was almost the same price when I collected it. Boss, you have to let me make some money."

I laughed twice: "Let's do this! I don't have three thousand anymore, so one person will give in and get three thousand five."

The stall owner sighed: "Three thousand and five is just three thousand and five, boss, you are really good at bargaining!"

While muttering, he took off the painting, packed it up casually, and put it in my hand.

I ignored him, paid and walked back.

When the stall owner put the scroll in my hand, I obviously felt that the painting was extremely heavy, as if there was something inside.

As soon as Li Mazi entered the store, he looked at the painting in my hand with bright eyes and kept asking me how much this painting would be worth if it were auctioned.

I couldn't hold it back and told him directly that the painting was actually a fake, that is, fake.

Li Mazi refused to give up. I pointed out to him several obvious traces of imitation, and he gave up.

I sat aside and sighed for a while, then suddenly jumped up to me and asked, "Why do you still buy it now that you know it's fake?"

"Because this painting always gives me a weird feeling, I suspect it is a sinister object." I turned around and put the painting on the counter, unfolding it slowly.

I have to say that this painting was very successful. Both the materials and the calligraphy were almost fake. But fake is fake. Although the rice paper used in this painting is not bad, it is obviously a relatively low-grade cotton rice paper among rice paper, and the content of sandalwood is relatively low.

As the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Yu used high-quality rice paper. After all, rice paper originated in the Tang Dynasty, and rice paper at that time was presented as tribute to the royal family.

I haven't had time to study it carefully. Is this painting actually a feminine object? A young man in his twenties suddenly rushed into the antique store in a panic.

"Master Zhang, you have to save us!"

As soon as the young man entered the store, he knelt down with a bang and held Mazi Li's hand with tears in his eyes and asked for help.

Li Mazi looked confused, pointed at me and said, "This... this is Zhang Jiulin."

A flash of embarrassment flashed across the young man's face, then he hugged my leg and cried louder.

"Don't worry, tell me what's going on first!" I helped him onto the stool and handed him a cup of tea. He drank it all, and then looked at me helplessly with a pair of red eyes. , then slowly told what happened.