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

Song Xiaoyi's heart tightened. He quickly stepped aside to block half of her body, put his index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, and whispered, "Shh~, Sister Qiu, watch your words!"

Wu Yunqiu seemed oblivious, her eyes suddenly turning as cold as an ancient well, her aura becoming heavy and stagnant. "This really isn't Brother Zhu's handwriting."

Once Wu Yunqiu entered that mysterious state, her aura changed abruptly, and she didn't listen to Song Xiaoyi's reminder at all.

Old Wu was very perceptive; he felt as if he had returned to the scene in his own ancestral hall that day, where the ancestor's word was law, and whatever he said was the truth.

"What? You mean this isn't a genuine work by Zhu Zhishan?" The impeccably dressed Xiao Liu exclaimed in surprise, his gaze shifting back and forth between Wu Yunqiu and the scroll, but he seemed oblivious to Wu Yunqiu's title, his mind completely absorbed by this astonishing news.

Old Wu's brows furrowed, and his withered hand slammed heavily on his cane, his voice as cold as iron: "If she says no, then no."

Old Wu's undeniable authority made Xiao Liu's throat tighten, and all his doubts were swallowed back.

"No...Mr. Wu...this..." A bead of sweat appeared on Xiao Liu's forehead, his fingers unconsciously twisting the cuff of his suit sleeve. His voice was hoarse, "This...more than a dozen experts have examined it..."

Xiao Liu stole a glance at Wu Yunqiu's cool profile, then caught a glimpse of Wu Lao's deep, unfathomable eyes. In the end, he swallowed the rest of his sentence, "Don't be fooled," and could only manage a dry laugh.

You think it's not true just because you say so? If Old Wu weren't here, Little Liu might have kicked Wu Yunqiu out.

Song Xiaoyi secretly used the [Appraisal Technique] on the side.

[Ding! After authentication, this large hanging scroll is titled "Cursive Script Couplet for the Mountain Gate of Donglin Academy." It was commissioned by a merchant from Wuxi during the Wanli period at a high price from Wu Yingmao. Wu Yingmao imitated the handwriting of his maternal grandfather, Zhu Zhishan, and Qiu Zhu, daughter of Qiu Ying, a master mounter of the Wu family's Xuanhe style, assisted in the mounting. Authentication complete.]

It's truly astonishing that Zhu Zhishan's grandson and Wu Yunqiu's granddaughter conspired to forge and deceive that Wuxi merchant. This calligraphy scroll has somehow survived to the present day, and crucially, it bears a multitude of collector's seals and appraisers' marks. Even if one knew it was a fake, how could they possibly point it out?

The key question is, who would believe me if I told them?

Even a dog would shake its head at that.

Wu Yunqiu's gaze remained unmoved, as still as an ancient well. Her fingertips hovered three inches in front of the scroll, as if invisible threads were pulling her back to that moment hundreds of years ago when the ink was first laid.

After a moment of silence, she tucked her sleeves in and turned to the next painting or calligraphy, giving Xiao Liu no glance whatsoever.

Old Wu said to Xiao Liu from behind, "Why don't you go and greet the others first? We'll just wander around by ourselves. You can get a catalog for Xiao Fei."

Old Wu's aura was too strong, and Xiao Liu was a little apprehensive while serving him. Hearing what Old Wu said, she was naturally happy to respond, handed the album in her hand to Wu Fei, and then left.

Song Xiaoyi approached Old Wu and lowered his voice, saying, "This calligraphy is indeed not by Zhu Zhishan. It was written by Zhu Zhishan's grandson, Wu Yingmao, and the mounting was done by Qiu Zhu, the daughter of Qiu Ying, another ancestor of your Wu family."

"I see!" Old Wu exclaimed in sudden realization. "That explains it."

Wu Yingmao not only had a family tradition of learning, but also made a living from it. He was able to see his maternal grandfather's original works from a young age, and it can be said that he grew up surrounded by Zhu Zhishan's calligraphy, which is why he has such profound skills.

Historical records indicate that Wu Yingmao "could imitate Zhu Yunming's works so well that they were indistinguishable from the originals." The Tianjin History Museum once had a scroll of Wu Yingmao's original cursive script, whose style was extremely similar to Zhu Yunming's.

According to research, at least 23 forgeries of Wu Yingmao's works have been discovered in museums across mainland China alone. Institutions such as the Palace Museum and the Jinan Museum in Shandong Province possess his forgeries.

Because Wu Yingmao was so familiar with Zhu Zhishan's brushwork, many collectors and even experts had difficulty distinguishing it for a long time, which led to many of his works being passed down as genuine works by Zhu Zhishan.

Mr. Wu walked up to the hanging scroll of the "Cursive Script Couplet for the Mountain Gate of Donglin Academy" and compared it point by point using the experience passed down in the industry.

"The character '一' has strokes of equal length, and there's usually some variation in pressure and release in the middle, but this one doesn't. I understand now..." Old Wu gestured as he looked at the character, muttering to himself, "The character '一' is often pointed at both ends and thin in the middle, like a straight silk thread, lacking strength... I see!"

Song Xiaoyi was completely confused and quietly asked, "Old Wu, what are you talking about?"

"Xiao Yi, this painting is most likely by Wu Yingmao!"

"How did you figure that out? But let me remind you first, Wu Yingmao also has the surname Wu, and he is very likely also an ancestor of your Wu family." Song Xiaoyi said while chuckling, "He just probably didn't learn your family's Xuanhe mounting technique, so he wasn't included in the ancestral hall."

"Uh!" Old Wu realized, "That's actually quite possible! Wait, where's... Sister Qiu?"

Wu Yunqiu was quietly gazing at a painting that no one else was looking at, completely absorbed.

Song Xiaoyi followed Yunqiu's gaze to the large horizontal scroll in front of her and was also stunned.

Without needing authentication, Song Xiaoyi knew this painting was genuine. However, upon closer inspection of the label, it stated, "Suspected early work by Qiu Ying. No comparative evidence is available, so its authenticity cannot be verified. Neither the consignor nor the auction house is responsible for the authenticity of this painting. Bid with caution."

"Brother Fei, where's the brochure the auction house staff gave us?"

"Here."

Song Xiaoyi took the booklet, turned to the painting, and saw that the starting bid was 10 Chinese yuan.

Upon seeing the starting price and the price tag, Mr. Wu quietly asked Wu Yunqiu, "Sister Qiu, is this... a genuine work by Shifu?"

"I'm not sure. Shifu studied under Brother Zhu, but Brother Zhu wasn't good at painting."

"Mr. Wu, since you didn't participate in the bidding, I'd like to try and win it over."

"You want to take a picture? Do you think this is an original?"

"I'm not sure, but as you know, I can have Shifu draw it from."

After Song Xiaoyi finished speaking, he casually cast an [Appraisal] spell:

[Ding! After authentication, this large horizontal scroll, titled "Songjia Ferry in Moling," was created by Qiu Ying in the thirteenth year of the Hongzhi reign (1408) when he was only eight years old. This is Qiu Ying's first independent painting after studying under Zhou Chen. The scene depicts the daily life of people at the Songjia Village ferry in Moling. It was mounted by Wu Yunqiu, a successor of the Wu family's Xuanhe mounting tradition. Authentication complete.]

Sure enough.

Upon seeing the inscription "Songjia Ferry, Moling," Song Xiaoyi immediately determined that this was a work by Qiu Ying after historical revision, and therefore an authentic piece. Songjia Village was such a remote, desolate place that most scholars wouldn't have gone there without his guidance.

"Mr. Wu, why don't you stay here with Sister Qiu and look at the calligraphy and paintings? I'll go and learn about other things that interest me. We can meet up at the yellow-glazed porcelain section on the first floor later?"

"Shall we each go our own way? Fine, then you go ahead."

Being alone is much more free and convenient.

First, I scanned this sunny exhibition hall. There were quite a few calligraphy and painting works of various types inside. Song Xiaoyi saw Wen Zhengming's fan painting "Idle Talk by the River", Zhu Zhishan's cursive script "Li Bai's Poems" scroll and cursive script "Seven-Character Poem", Tang Bohu's "Scholar Under the Pine Shade" and "Travelers Among Streams and Mountains", etc.