Nightfall

Cultivators and ordinary people belonged to two different worlds. That was why even though Ning Que had attained a name for himself by the side doors of the Academy, his status as a calligrapher was still more prominent in the hearts of the Tangs. Sir Ning’s status was exalted to those like the manager and his peers.

And because of this admiration for Ning Que, the manager felt that the little handmaiden was very shameless even though she was the reason that he was able to get his hands on the blue flower— printed bag. He thought that the little handmaiden who had stolen the belongings of her master was very tasteless.

The old manager thought about it for a moment. Even if he did not agree with the acts of the little handmaiden, he could not resist the temptation of money. He whispered, “Since the little handmaiden stole it, even if we don’t give her a share, she wouldn’t dare to report it. She wouldn’t dare let Sir Ning know either. Why don’t we…”

“Perish those thoughts if you wish to live.”

The boss of the Stone House frowned hearing the manager’s words. Warning him sternly, he said, “Do not speak of such things again. I heard that the little handmaiden isn’t ordinary either. She has close ties with the Princess and from what I’ve heard from the House of Red Sleeves, Sir Ning treasures this handmaiden.”

“Even if she eventually becomes Sir Ning’s concubine, the little handmaiden is just a gold-digger. How could she ever match up to someone like Sir Ning?”

The old manager suddenly thought of something and said, “Big Owner, Sir Ning isn’t an ordinary calligrapher. Will there be any problems when we sell this?”

The boss said, “Sir Ning favors that little handmaiden. She takes charge of all his stamps. We have received the document approving the sale, so these are not stolen goods. Even if Sir Ning discovers this in the future, he can only trace it back to the little handmaiden. We do not bear any responsibility according to the law of the Tang Empire.”

The old manager praised her, “Big Owner, we have nothing to worry about when you are the one settling these things.”

The boss picked up the blue flower-printed bag and asked, “Are they all in the side yard?”

The old manager nodded.

…

…

On the west courtyard of the Stone House, behind the three-floor main building and under a tree, the lake breeze blew gently and was highly refreshing. Some men exited the room and greeted each other.

Some of these men were from the South Jin Kingdom, and some were from the Kingdom of Song. Some came from Yangguan of the Tang Empire. There was even a great calligrapher from Chang’an’s Prosperity Ink House. They were all leaders in calligraphy appraisal in their country. Indeed, no matter whether they were silver-haired, or had frigid expressions, they all exuded confidence and pride.

“Brother Mo Shi, you are here too?”

“Brother Jiefu… who is that man beneath the trellis? He looks familiar.”

“I think we met him in the Yue palace last year.”

With the exchange of identities, the pride and confidence in the eyes of these people gradually turned into surprise. They found that the other men in the courtyard were also well-renowned like themselves, but they had never met each other. They did not expect to be gathered in this little courtyard today.

Brother Mo Shi stroked his beard and lamented, “Stone House has been doing well in recent years. They managed to invite so many of us in such a short time.”

Brother Jiefu shook his head and said with heavy emotions, “If not for the rarity of the items in this sale, and that they are so precious, I would not have turned up.”

With the mention of the details in this sale, the men, including the quiet one standing under the trellis, gathered closer. They whispered and tried to find out what everyone else knew.

“How many scrolls are there in existence?”

“Nobody knows the actual figure. We only know that the imperial study of the palace holds the most amount. I heard that the emperor himself took away more than half from the Old Brush Pen Shop.”

Brother Mo Shi said with regret, “They are hidden in the dark imperial study. We cannot see or appreciate them. They are unavailable to the public and we cannot get close to them. This is really…”

He wanted to criticize the blasphemy that the Tang Emperor had committed. But even though he knew that the Chang’an politics were liberal, he did not dare to do so.

“The Libationer and Grand Secretary Wang each have a few in their mansions. The other large mansions should have about four, but the officials have hidden them in their mansions better than His Majesty. They don’t take them out and show others easily.”

“There are many copies of the Chicken Soup Calligraphy, but no one has ever seen the original. Rumors say that it is in Grand Secretary Wang’s mansion.”

“Some lucky ones managed to buy his genuine work at Lin 47th Street before he became famous. The price of these works had become exorbitantly high this year. They disappeared after being traded once or twice. There are about 12 of them.”

“I wonder if there are any central scrolls in the ones that Stone House managed to get.”

“Central scrolls? It’s impossible for there to be any wide calligraphy scrolls.”

“If they are calligraphy sections, there must be more than three of them. Otherwise, the Big Owner of Stone House would not spend so much to invite all of us here.”

The calligraphy appraisers discussed this heatedly. It was then when the courtyard doors opened with a squeak. The boss of Stone House entered with a blue flower-printed bag.

Everyone followed the boss into the hall. Their eyes did not leave the bag in the owner’s hands. They were confused, but filled with anticipation.

The boss laid the bag on the table gently. He gestured to the bag with one hand.

The old manager along with two other servants brought out water and towels.

The calligraphy appraisers gathered around and washed their hands quickly and carefully. After drying their hands on the towel, they accepted the oil blotting paper that the shopkeeper passed around and carefully blotted the water and oil from their hands. Then, they gathered around the blue cloth bag.

The middle-aged man called Mo Shi rolled up his sleeves and looked at the coarse blue flower-printed bag. He said unhappily, “When did the Stone House become so plebian? Using cloth will only damage the calligraphy sections, it is so uncouth.”

The owner of the Stone House could not afford to offend the professional appraiser. However, out of a habit cultivated from his profession, he could not bear the scene before him.

The owner of Stone House laughed bitterly and did not explain. He opened the cloth bag and revealed the flat box inside it. The box was made of cardboard.

Brother Mo Shi was even more annoyed. He opened the box and then stiffened.

The hall grew silent.

The appraisers looked at the papers in the box in surprise. They were all shocked speechless and felt that they might be seeing things. After a while, someone exclaimed incredulously, “Seven pieces!”

The boss walked to the side and sat down. He lifted the teacup to his lips and drank, smiling, “You guys look at it.”

…

…

The appraisers gathered around the desk and carefully removed the calligraphy section from the box. They were all leading characters in their professions. It did not take them long to certify that the seven calligraphy sections were all genuine work.

Even though they could not confirm when the calligraphy sections were written, it was unanimously agreed that these were new works. But this did not affect the value of the sections. The appraisers were all shocked. They did not expect the Stone House to have such a big collection in their hands. Other than in the imperial study in the palace, there wasn’t anywhere else in the world where one could see so many genuine works.

What surprised them the most was the last section in the box.

It was a wrinkled piece of memo paper.

But to them, this memo was more valuable than the Xishan writings.

There were only two words on the memo— Chicken Soup.

“Even though this is a genuine work, everyone knows that Grand Secretary Wang had bought the original Chicken Soup Calligraphy with 4,000 taels of silver. It is now in the scholar’s mansion.”

Brother Mo Shi frowned. “Could this be a new duplicate?”

Those gathered around the table thought about it, and recognized that there was indeed a problem.

Brother Mo Shi carefully held up the two corners of the memo with his fingertips. He held it up in the air and against the sunlight streaming into the hall as if he wanted to find out what was the problem with it.

The appraiser from the Kingdom of Song standing across him suddenly gasped in surprise. He pointed at the memo and said, “There are words.”

Everyone looked at where he pointed. There was indeed a line of small characters behind the memo.

“This is genuine.”

…

…

“Who wrote it?”

The appraiser from the Kingdom of Song bellowed somewhat angrily. “Even though this Chicken Soup Calligraphy is a new duplicate, it is still a precious object. How could they write things on the back?!”

Brother Mo Shi shook his head and looked at the line of characters. He lamented, “Who else, other than Sir Ning, can write characters like these? If it was indeed written by him, this only makes the work more valuable.”

“Could this Chicken Soup Calligraphy be the original?”

“If it was signed by Sir Ning, of course it is the original.”

“What about the one bought by Grand Secretary Wang at a high price?”

“That one… must be fake.”

All were silent.

While they were not cultivators, they have all heard the story behind the Chicken Soup Calligraphy. Many thought that the Chicken Soup Calligraphy was worth as much as the precious flower bloom calligraphy hidden in the imperial study after the copies began to circulate.

Someone muttered in surprise, “How much should we set the appraisal value at?”

“Wang bought this for 4,000 taels at a friendship price. Sir Ning was barely famous then.”

The quiet man under the trellis suddenly said, “Give it some time for the news to spread and it’d be best if we can enrage Grand Secretary Wang.”

The man raised his head and looked at the boss of Stone House and other appraisers. He said, “30,000. If I sell this Chicken Soup Calligraphy for less than 30,000, I’d be too ashamed to face anyone.”

With that, the quiet man did not return to his brooding but looked very proud. He looked as if he had pulled out a sharp knife from his sheath.

Everyone finally recognized the man.

The man was the most famous auctioneer in the calligraphy world.

“Very well.”

The boss of Stone House stood up. Then, he suddenly remembered what Dewdrop had said. After a moment, he looked at the auctioneer and said, “We only have one rule: Sir Ning has the right to choose the buyer.”

The man frowned slightly because he had rarely heard of such requests.

The boss did not explain.

He did this because the seven sections were obtained disgracefully. Even though Stone House did not need to bear any legal responsibilities according to the law of the Tang Empire, they were prepared for the sections to be taken back by Ning Que should this come to light. This rule was made to save his reputation. Furthermore, if the auction is invalid, it would comfort those potential bigwig buyers.