Ink Burns

Chapter 7 The Science of Examination

It is the beginning of autumn again. What is different from eight years ago is that the heat dissipates impatiently on the day of the beginning of autumn, and what comes in is overwhelming coolness and continuous drizzle.

Songjiang Prefecture, Cheng's House, has a vermilion lacquered entrance hall, green walls and black tiles. In front of the door are two shiny, upright and solemn stone lions. The doorman is surnamed Jiang, with a round face and a beard. He is always kind and amiable to the common people who come to ask for medicine. It really looks like a wealthy and philanthropic family.

The only drawback was that the "barbarian gate" at the entrance was narrow and small, and it was not allowed to have golden pillars or face south. One could only open a hole secretly like a stupid insect building a hole - the court was quite strict about the distinction between officials and merchants, and between officials and civilians. Not only was there a restriction on the number of courtyards, but there were also many restrictions on the width, color, material, and even direction of the gate.

The Cheng family is a business family.

He is the largest medicinal materials merchant in Songjiang Prefecture and even in the entire Southern Zhili.

It is said that just seven or eight years ago, the business was even expanded to the capital, supplying genuine medicinal materials from the south of the Yangtze River such as mint, Huoshan dendrobium, pseudoginseng and toad venom to the Imperial Medical Service and the largest medical clinic in the capital, Deshantang.

What’s even more rare is that the Cheng family is a well-known and philanthropic family - the constant calls for medicine coming from the door are the best proof of this.

Not far from the main gate of Cheng's house, a mule cart was quietly parked. Soon, a little girl with twin buns and green clothes poked her head out: "Miss He, please come in."

From the mule cart, a girl in an indigo-colored gauze shirt with silver stripes slowly got off. The shirt was the standard "five-inch length" and looked very fashionable. The "little oil" she used to tie her hair was made of silver, which was not unusual, but it was adorned with two small pearls, which made it more elegant.

The little girl was a little surprised, but she still led the way obediently with her head down, passing the corridor and the hanging flower door, and entered the back room where the women were.

Merchants were not originally allowed to live in courtyards with three entrances, but with orders from above and countermeasures from below, some houses removed the third door and built false corridors and screen walls as partitions, thus maintaining the layout of the "fake two entrances".

That's how the Cheng family is.

The main room in the back room is called "Zhimu", which is the name of a Chinese medicine. The Xiangfei bamboo curtain is decorated with white jade pendants and hangs low, and the wind cannot blow it away.

When they arrived at the place, the little girl was still rubbing her heels at the door with her head down.

The girl passed a piece of silver to the girl, who happily took it and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, Miss He. Madam has met four or five girls, but none of them is as pretty as you."

The girl glanced at the little girl, her eyebrows lowered, her appearance gentle and elegant: "I haven't had time to ask for your name yet."

"My name is Huang Zhi, and I'm a second-class maid in the Madam's room." The little girl smiled sweetly, but secretly weighed the silver pieces the size of a fingernail in her hand, feeling somewhat satisfied: she is a sensible girl. The previous ones were all given in copper coins. Although this silver piece is not even as big as a fingernail, it is still meat, no matter how small a fly is.

The curtain was pulled open from the inside, and a girl two or three years older than Huang Zhi came out to invite him in. She followed him all the way through the flower hall, and finally saw Duan, the mistress of the Cheng family.

"He" Duan, who was just past her late spring, sat on the couch, wearing tortoise-shell crystal glasses, holding a flowery paper in her hand, with her glasses clipped on her nose and her eyelids raised: "Miss He's name is also unique, it's Shanyue."

He Shanyue bowed slightly and said, "I was born in the countryside of Suzhou. Both my parents died early. The name was given to me by the elders of my clan. They said that when I was born, there was a bright moon over the green mountains, so they called me Shanyue."

Duan put down the flowery paper and looked at He Shanyue motionlessly, then she woke up as if from a dream: "Please sit down, please sit down."

Then look at the tea on the table.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but He Shanyue saw that Duan’s smile was much more sincere.

Mrs. Duan took off her glasses and said kindly, "Thank you for the hard work of running from Suzhou Prefecture to Songjiang Prefecture. In fact, Songjiang Prefecture is small with few people. We have a big business, but when it comes to painting and calligraphy, the Wu School is more prestigious. I heard from Mrs. Huang that you have helped several antique shops in Suzhou Prefecture to draw and appraise paintings in recent years. You must have some accomplishments in painting?" "I can't say I have any accomplishments. I can only draw a few strokes." He Shanyue smiled and said, "Mrs. Huang said that your family is looking for a female teacher to teach painting skills, so I dared to recommend myself."

Duan pursed her lips and smiled. The two dimples on her cheeks made her look young and kind. "In that case, please help me appreciate the new paintings we have received, Miss He."

When hiring someone as a teacher, you always have to test his or her knowledge.

The maid brought up three paintings, which were well preserved and exquisitely framed.

He Shanyue walked forward, took out a crystal convex mirror from his arms, and slowly unfolded the first one.

It is "Fishing at Spring Creek Bridge" by Shen Huaizan.

The landscape of the previous dynasty is "half and a corner", the sky is left blank, a river depicted from a bird's-eye view runs through Mogan Mountain, and the miniature Xiangmao Pavilion and Xiyun Room are meticulously carved and the force is so vivid that it can be seen through the paper.

He Shanyue nodded and walked towards the second painting.

The second picture unfolds.

He Shanyue was stunned for a moment, then walked to the third painting. After unfolding it, He Shanyue smiled: All three paintings are the same, all are "Fishing at Spring Creek Bridge", exactly the same, except for the light ink color, everything is the same.

Duan took a sip of tea and said, "Which of the three paintings do you think is real?"

"They are all good." He Shanyue said, "Calligraphy and painting are inseparable. Shen Huaizan was born in Guantao style, so he can write with great force, and the ink can penetrate the table. Nowadays, the Qinghe Banquet of Dazhaohai and Jingwei Hengtong are held, and the late emperor especially loved landscapes. Naturally, the people follow the emperor's advice and admire calligraphy and painting more and more. The calligraphy and paintings of all people are dug out by some antique dealers, who try their best to make money and sell them - a landscape painting by Shen Huaizan is often split into three by antique dealers. The first one has the thickest brushstrokes, the second one is the second, and the third one has light brushstrokes and less ink, so it is naturally the lowest price."

He Shanyue smiled gently: "But it is undeniable that all three paintings were painted by Shen Huaizan. Congratulations, Mrs. Duan."

Duan nodded slightly, clapped her hands again, and the maid brought out another painting.

He Shanyue picked up the crystal convex mirror and looked closely.

It takes a longer time to look at this painting, as every detail and every millimeter is taken into consideration.

He Shanyue put down the crystal convex mirror and looked at Duan with gentle and warm eyes: "This painting is very well done, with large openings and closings between the mountains and waters. It is suitable for hanging in the inner hall."

"Inner hall?" Duan frowned. "You mean we shouldn't hang it in the outer hall? Is this painting fake?"

He Shanyue lowered his eyes slightly: "Painting cannot judge true or false."

Duan said in a different way: "Several painters in Songjiang Prefecture have also seen it, and they are all authentic works by Zhou Bingshan. Our head of the family has even visited Zhou Bingshan in person, and Master Zhou has never defined this as a fake painting, and he even wrote a postscript for this painting."

Shen pointed to the place for He Shanyue.

He Shanyue read aloud: "This place is the most suitable for romance, with the moon and the beautiful women in the painting. Not to mention the deep green clouds, it is really like the group of immortals in Luopu." He smiled modestly and shyly: "Please read the word with the acrostic together."

(End of this chapter)