With the cannon fodder script in hand, it is easy for the king to change his fate

Chapter 1004 The Heir Takes the Empire as Dowry 16
"What did you say?" Zhou Huo stared at the servant in shock. Today, he had arranged for this servant to go to Wen'ao Pavilion to see what was there.

Before they even went inside, they brought back news that there was a problem with the paintings exhibited at Wen'ao Pavilion that day.

Their ancestor, Zhou Wenling, also plagiarized the painting.

The series of paintings shown today, though not complete, clearly shows a connection between them.

The works passed down from their ancestor Zhou Wenling were selected from that series of paintings.

Perhaps it wasn't that he actively chose it, but rather that he only received that much.

“It’s absolutely true. I glanced at several of them and they looked familiar. In fact, all twenty paintings on display could be pieced together, and the seals on them clearly indicated that they were painted by Rong Xue, a great painter from Aoguo. Not only that, but some of the paintings also had poems by Feng Qingqing and He Shanding, as well as inscriptions by Qiao Quan.”

These people were born in an era that is obviously quite familiar to them.

The evidence was so obvious that it was clear at a glance who these works belonged to, and Zhou had no chance to refute it.

Zhou Huo felt dizzy. He waved for the servant to leave, then steadied himself and hurried to find Zhou Hanyi.

When Zhou Hanyi learned the whole story, he almost collapsed.

For a fleeting moment, he even felt a little resentful towards his ancestor, Zhou Wenling. But then he thought, without Zhou Wenling, there would be no Zhou family today.

Fortunately, their ancestor Zhou Wenling no longer exists, dating back thousands of years, so no amount of infamy will endanger the safety of the Zhou clan. But the current situation is still giving him a huge headache.

"Grandfather, what should we do next?" Zhou Huo was completely at a loss. He had lost a lot of weight recently because of these things, and he had stopped going to his favorite parties. He even had to avoid people when he went out.

The plagiarism incident is truly embarrassing.

Zhou Hanyi remained silent. What could he do? The evidence was irrefutable; what could he do? He couldn't refuse to apologize, but an apology wouldn't make much difference. The Zhou family's reputation was now beyond repair.

“Bring out all the paintings from our ancestors,” Zhou Hanyi said, closing his eyes. “I will personally deliver them to Wen’ao Pavilion. Once it is confirmed that they are all Rong Xue’s works, they will be returned to their rightful owners.”

That way, it will sound better when it gets out.

If the paintings are not from our ancestors, keeping them at home will only be a burden; sending them to Wen'ao Pavilion is the best solution.

Zhou Huo nodded and quickly gave instructions to his men to do so.

Soon after, those who were still admiring the paintings in the outer courtyard of Wen'ao Pavilion learned that Zhou's people had arrived and came to verify the paintings. If it was indeed confirmed that they were painted by Rong Xue, they would return them to their rightful owner.

It must be said that Zhou Hanyi's behavior did make people feel a little better; even the most straightforward person didn't jump up and curse.

The final result was that all of Zhou Wenling's paintings were actually created by Rong Xue and were returned to their rightful owner.

What is shocking is that the paintings Zhou presented were all genuine works, not forgeries.

This inevitably leads to speculation: why did Rong Xue paint two versions of some of her works? As far as we know, eighty-eight of them were painted twice.

"As far as I know, some people do sketch a rough draft before painting. But Rong Xue's situation is obviously a bit different. Apart from the seals and the poems inscribed on them, these two paintings are both masterpieces, with almost no difference in details."

"Is it possible that your friend likes it, and you're planning to paint an extra one to give to your friend?"

"It's also possible that he was satisfied with the piece and didn't want to give it away, so he kept one for his own collection."

Whether it should be said or not, if it weren't for the thousands of years that have passed, I would have thought that Rong Xue had set up a trap for the Zhou family.

"Hahaha, I had the same thought, but it's definitely not. After all, thousands of years have passed; how could they possibly orchestrate such a scheme? To truly foresee this day would be divine, not human. And if they could truly foresee it, why would they allow someone to plagiarize their work?" If Azhen were here, she would probably be thinking, "Perhaps it really is a scheme?"

The chain of evidence is too complete.

Everything seems to have been waiting for this day.

Xie Nuo had already entered the inner courtyard of Wen Ao Pavilion. She had come here today just to take a look. Since she was not short of money, she naturally paid the entrance fee and came in.

The entrance fee is not cheap; it's not something the average student can afford.

Even so, the scholars were still very happy, since they only needed to copy a book to get ten days of entry, which was a good thing for them.

In just a short while, many scholars were already copying books.

Although Zhao Kingdom possessed rubbing technology, it still had many shortcomings. The printed characters were only legible and could not compare to handwritten ones. Moreover, scholars of this era had undoubtedly learned to write from a young age, and the handwritten books were truly a feast for the eyes.

Most scholars are proficient in more than one style of writing, and when copying books, they tend to write neatly, beautifully, and with great care. That's why Azhen set such a rule.

Besides, the person copying the book could leave their name at the back, and no scholar would be unwilling to do that. Perhaps they could even gain some fame because of their good handwriting.

While the scholar was diligently copying books, Xie Nuo was already perusing books related to the Kingdom of Ao.

Once inside, I discovered how incredibly abundant it truly was.

They didn't linger in any one place at first, but rather strolled around, looking here and there, before discovering that the Ao Kingdom's underground palace not only contained books from the Ao Kingdom, but also books from before the Ao Kingdom, which were very well preserved.

Moreover, not all the books in the underground palace are here. After all, some are too precious to be casually taken out for people to read.

This place alone is quite abundant.

“This trip to the capital is really timely,” said Ji Churong, the same young man who had spoken earlier.

After Xie Nuo answered his question, the three of them went into the inner courtyard of Wen Ao Pavilion together.

Xie Nuo then learned Ji Churong's identity: he was the son of Marquis Weizhen, and was fourteen years old. He used to live in Tongzhou, but Marquis Weizhen had been transferred back to the capital, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would likely remain in the capital.

“All that’s left of that Zhou ancestor are his policies on governing the country,” Ji Churong said boldly, not afraid of offending anyone. “If there is evidence that it was plagiarized, I wonder how interesting that would be.”

Xie Nuo, naturally unafraid of the Zhou family, joined in the mockery: "It's best to pray that the Zhou family ancestor has some real ability and doesn't just plagiarize everything."

Yun Qinglan remained silent, her gaze subtly observing Ji Churong.

When others looked at him, his gaze remained indifferent, revealing nothing.

When he lowered his eyes, a thoughtful look flashed in them, and he even seemed somewhat wary of Ji Churong.

What a coincidence! I just arrived in the capital, came to Wen'ao Pavilion, and appeared in front of Xie Nuo.

He didn't believe such a thing could happen, and was more inclined to think that Ji Churong had deliberately created this chance encounter.

Xie Nuo is currently in high demand, so it's normal for him to be targeted.

However, it's no use for him to think about it more; it all depends on what Xenno thinks.

But seeing that the two were getting along very well, his heart sank.