“You’re certain this is a fake?” Elder Fu Yaoshi asked in an astonished tone. He was one of the people who had affirmed it was real, however, there was always something bothering him in the back of his mind. His other colleagues felt the same. They had no reason to believe it was a forgery, but having seen so many pieces, something was triggering alarm bells. There was no other way to describe that feeling other than unreasonable doubt.
Ms. Rui was vocal about the piece being a forgery, but it was only her intuition. She had no reasoning behind it.
“Can you explain why you think this is a forgery?” Mr. Luo asked. The board of directors wanted a good explanation as to why they couldn’t hold the exhibition.
Li Yun grabbed a magnifying glass from nearby and roamed around the picture. There was one thing that a skilled artisan can never resist, and that was placing their mark on their work. His flashes didn’t consist of the forger writing his signature, only the moments in time when the forger's skill was at its peak. However, if someone was that impressive, they likely have a strong sense of pride and want to leave their mark on the work.
Everyone's eyes couldn’t help but follow as Li Yun moved the magnifying glass ever so slowly over the word. Then, it stopped on the word, “strength.”
“Can you see what is wrong with this character?” Li Yun asked.
Everyone cowered around the calligraphy and re-examined the strokes of the word.
“The top stroke is a bit odd, but even an artist can make mistake,” said Mr. Luo.
“Mr. Luo, it is easy to say it’s a mistake, but look at the position it’s in," Li Yun circled his finger around an area in the middle. "The character strength shows up five times in chapter sixty-seven. By the fifth time, why would Zhao Mengfu make a mistake on the last character?”
“A warning against trusting in strength. Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. So it is with all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered. Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life. Hence he who relies on the strength of his forces does not conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms, and thereby invites the feller. Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that of what is soft and weak is above.” - Tao Te Ching
“So you’re saying it’s intentional?” asked Ms. Rui. “But even then, it can’t be proven that it’s a fake. It could be said that Zhao Mengfu had added it as a hidden message.”
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“There’s also this little extra stroke here, this isn’t a random splatter,” Li Yun pointed to the marking near the bottom of the character. Li Yun could see the intention of this one word. “There is a word you can see if these two strokes are added, and that is the word Zhang. The forger left his name here on purpose.”
The more everyone looked at the word strength in comparison to the other four strengths, it looked very out of place. A simple mistake in a painting was already uncommon for someone as skilled as Zhao Mengfu, but to have another random stroke to form the word Zhang was quite odd.
“You’re right!” Elder Fu Yaoshi could see the intent of the character, and it wasn’t related to Taoism. It was an artist’s sense of pride.
Mr. Luo shook his head in disappointment by the finding. However, it was better to discover the flaw before potentially damaging the museum's reputation. He couldn’t just trust the word of a treasure hunter, but if this specific flaw was pointed out to other experts, it was likely that they would reach a consensus regarding this particular piece.
Feeling a bit of regret, Mr. Luo sighed, “I will contact the board and let them know to abort the plan.” He reached out for his phone and nervously called the museum's chair. As the chairman picked up the phone, Mr. Luo walked to the corner of the room and quickly explained the situation.
After settling the affairs, Mr. Luo invited everyone to tour the museum. It wasn’t every day that a reputable emeritus professor and renowned expert of antiquity like Elder Fu Yaoshi graced the museum.
“Mr. Li, may I ask who your master was?” asked Ms. Rui.
“He’s just a local calligrapher named Meng Pei,” Li Yun replied.
Ms. Rui had never heard of the name, but hidden masters were everywhere in the world.
“You don’t have to be so nosy,” Elder Fu Yaoshi scolded his first disciple. “Just look at his shop and you will know what a genius he is.”
Ms. Rui searched online quickly on her phone and pulled up the Teebee shop. Scrolling through the various scrolls and antiques, it certainly looked impressive. However, it was still difficult to tell the full extent of his talent from the small screen.
The first exhibit Mr. Luo led everyone into was full of pieces by the imperial family. As they walked around, Li Yun had a sudden idea. Most of the items in the museum were authentic. If he could use Qivi on all the art pieces, he would have a good idea of what the artists look like. Although the artist's illustrations and self-portraits were helpful, it was not always accurate. It was like the old tv series where imperial guards go around looking for criminals using only a simple hand drawing. How useful were those scribbles? Even modern composites were not accurate.
“Mr. Luo, may I touch the outer corner?” asked Li Yun. “I have this urge to touch masterpieces.”
Mr. Luo had a strange expression, but he didn’t see the problem if it was just a small area. Li Yun began with calligraphy from Wang Xizhi. From his self-portrait, Wang Xizhi had the standard mustache and beard typical of a Jin dynasty general. However, the real Wang Xizhi had more normal-looking eyes. It wasn't as slanted as his portrait
"Mr. Li, are you okay?" asked Ms. Rui.
"I'm fine," Li Yun replied.
And so, they continued to pace around. Li Yun touched as many pieces as possible. After close to two hours, Li Yun had touched several dozen paintings.
“Are you all right, you look a bit pale,” said Elder Fu Yaoshi asked as he saw Li Yun's pale complexion.
Li Yun’s energy was almost drained and he felt a lot of mental fatigue. He tried to memorize as many faces and names in such a short amount of time that it was making him sleepy.
“Can I come back tomorrow?” Li Yun requested.
“This guy must really be an antique lunatic!” They all thought.
“Uh, sure,” Mr. Luo agreed.