In the Ming Dynasty 1498, my restaurant connects two worlds.

"That's roughly the idea. Logically speaking, if both paintings were written by Tang Bohu himself and dated the same month of the Wuwu year (July 1498), Tang Bohu's handwriting wouldn't have changed so much."

"Therefore, one of them must have been a copy made by someone else."

"So which one is the copy?"

"We found the extant authentic works by Tang Bohu and extracted the same characters, but the situation is not optimistic. In the 'Little Days' piece, the matching rate of the same characters is over 95%. But in our piece, the matching rate is only 77%."

"What! Only a 77% match? Could it be that our painting is a fake?!"

The room was deathly silent. Everyone lowered their heads and remained silent. Old Wu tapped the table unconsciously with his fingertips, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He took off his glasses to wipe them. Dean Shan pursed his lips and stared at the screen.

"Please don't rush to conclusions. Neither of the two 'Odes to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties' bears any provenance seals. However, our piece has appreciation poems by Zhu Zhishan, Wen Zhengming, Gu Lan, and the young Qiu Ying. Furthermore, the matching rate between Zhu Zhishan's calligraphy and the seal is 99%, and the matching rate between Wen Zhengming's calligraphy and the seal is also 99%."

"What about the others?"

"Gu Lan has almost no surviving works, making comparison impossible. Qiu Ying also doesn't have enough surviving works from his childhood, and his calligraphy can't be matched either. However, the museum has samples of Qiu Ying's early seals, and the seals match 99% of the time."

The atmosphere in the secret room was somewhat somber.

In reality, everyone knows that the situation is far from optimistic. Even if there are appreciation poems and essays by Zhu Zhishan and Wen Zhengming, they can be claimed to have been pieced together later. If they're going to be even more shameless, they can say that the appreciation poems and essays were written after that painting.

However, now that they've been brought here, the little life is rushing over without leaving any room for maneuver, for fear that he has other trump cards up his sleeve.

Losing a copy of "Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties" is a small matter, but losing face is hard to recover.

"Sigh~"

"Is there no other way?"

"Tang Bohu's surviving works are already very few. At that banquet in Jinling that day, in his excitement, he never imagined that there would be a second copy of 'Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties'!"

"The Japanese may have been planning this for a long time and had been scheming. Most of the surviving documents still support the claim that the 'Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties' came from the Ma family and was written by Tang Bohu when he attended a gathering of local literati convened by Ma Qianli, the then Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture."

"Mr. Wu, you're quite familiar with that person... who donated this 'Ode to the Six Dynasties'..."

"Song Xiaoyi?"

"Yes, ask him if he has any other items at home that can prove that this painting is genuine."

"The day before yesterday, Lao Teng and I ransacked their old house's storeroom, and I collected all twenty of their remaining messy calligraphy and paintings."

"Where is it? Quickly bring it over and compare it!"

"Xiao Wu is already on his way."

"Just in time, the phone rang! Dean Shan, could you please have the security outside let us through? Xiao Wu's car is being held up outside."

Dean Shan arranged for the vehicles to pass, and Old Wu went out to meet his secretary Wu Fei. They took all twenty-odd paintings and calligraphies into the secret room and unfolded them one by one.

Historical records indicate that the theme of that gathering at the Ma residence was the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, and Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan, Wen Zhengming, and Gu Lan should have attended.

"Yes! Look, these eight paintings titled 'Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties' have inscriptions that say 'Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties,' but they depict chicks! And the signature says 'Made at the Ma Residence!'"

"This is even bigger trouble."

"This half of Xu Zhenqing's 'Huang Ting Jing' is quite well written."

"Old Gu! What time is it? Why are you still paying attention to the *Huang Ting Jing*?!"

"Neither Wen Zhengming's nor Zhu Zhishan's calligraphy can be proven..."

"Tang Bohu's painting, hey! Look at the handwriting on the signature! Come on, Dean Shan! Let's use the equipment to compare it!"

......

"The match rate is 98%! But this painting lacks provenance seals and is still considered a discarded draft! It cannot serve as effective evidence."

A knock came at the door.

"Dean, the people who are supposed to be here have arrived."

"!!!"

"Let's go, we should be polite and get to know each other first."

------------

Wu Fei, who was idly looking around outside, suddenly had his phone ring.

"Hello, Xiao Yi?" What could it be that Song Xiao Yi is calling at this time?

"Brother Fei, go find Old Wu and give him my phone. I need to speak with him urgently!"

"Okay, wait a moment, Master is just coming out."

Wu Fei walked up to Old Master Wu and whispered, "Master, Song Xiaoyi called and said he has something extremely urgent to discuss with you."

"Xiao Yi on the phone? It's extremely urgent!" Old Wu's heart sank, and his knuckles turned white instantly. Could it be that his "Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties" was a fake? That would be a huge disaster!

"Feed? Brother Fei?" Song Xiaoyi's anxious voice came from the phone.

After thinking for a moment, Old Wu took the phone. "Hello, Xiao Yi, it's me. What is it?"

"Mr. Wu, I saw you on the live broadcast. I have something to tell you. First, prepare a candle, or a regular lighter will do. Then, for the authentication, try to delay as much as possible..."

"Why are you delaying?! Is the 'Ode to the Six Dynasties' that you donated really a fake?!"

"Please don't rush, let me finish. The following point is very important. To prevent this shameless person from turning the tables, please make sure to stop our experts from getting near this 'Six Dynasties' painting of gold powder'!"

"Don't touch it, don't look at it, don't get close!"

"Why?! Give me a reason that will convince me!"

"The painting Xiao Rizi is holding is definitely a fake. I have people looking for its flaws."

"You didn't even see the one he's holding, how can you be sure it's a fake?" Old Wu said angrily. "We've done a detailed comparison, and the one we have looks more like a fake!"

Standing outside on the second floor, enduring the scorching summer sun, Song Xiaoyi sighed. "I can't say for sure, neither of them are fakes, but I'm trying to turn the 'Little Days' painting into a fake. I just don't know if I'll make it in time. Brother Zhishan, keep it up!"

"Mr. Wu, please trust me this once. If we lose this time, I won't take a single penny of the proceeds from the transfer of the blue and white porcelain from the Nanjing Museum. I'll give it all to you to manage. I keep my word."

"Okay. Let's try anything, even if it's a long shot. Wu Fei might not be able to get into the scene soon, so write down my phone number, 13..., and keep in touch."

"Okay, I'll dial the number to confirm after I hang up."

This is a really big gamble; it can only succeed, not fail. If all else fails, I'll risk exposing the secret by sending a bunch of soldiers to storm the Ma family mansion and snatch their "Six Dynasties Gold Powder Ode." It's their fault for not being able to protect this national treasure.

After finishing the call, Song Xiaoyi immediately returned to the kitchen and found Song Yunqiu. "Sister Qiu, you go home first. If Brother Zhishan comes back, come find me as soon as possible."

"Oh, by the way, your framing technique, what kind of wet-lay technique, is there any specific identifying mark?"