Chapter 138: 137 – Lunatic!

“You’re certain this is a fake?” Elder Fu Yaoshi asked in an astonishing tone. 

He was one of the people who believed 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 in their heads were screaming alarm bells. There was no other way to describe that feeling other than unreasonable doubt.

Ms. Rui thought it was a forgery, but it was only her intuition, but she had no reasoning behind it.

“Can you explain why you think this is a forgery?” Mr. Luo asked. Mr. Luo had to give the board of directors a good explanation why they couldn’t hold the exhibition.

There was one thing that a skilled artisan can never resist, and that was placing their mark on their work. Li Yun grabbed a magnifying glass from nearby and roamed around the picture. His flashes didn’t consist of the forger writing his signature, only the moments in time when the forger skilled peak. However, Li Yun was sure that someone that impressive must have a sense of pride in their 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.” <strong/ Qiang> 

“Can you see what is wrong with this character?” Li Yun asked.

Everyone 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. 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.”

“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!” Lao 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.”

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After settling the affairs, Mr. Luo invited everyone to tour the museum. It wasn’t every day that a reputable emeritus professor like Elder Fu Yaoshi and renowned expert of antiquity graced the museum. 

“Mr. Li, may I ask who your master was?” asked Ms. Rui.

“He’s really 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 the items, it certainly looked impressive, but it was still difficult to tell from the small screen.

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 like in the old tv series where imperial guards go around looking for criminals using only a simple hand drawing. Who actually finds those useful?

“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. And so, as they paced around, Li Yun touched as many pieces as possible.

“Are you all right, you look a bit pale,” said Lao Fu Yaoshi after half the day had passed.

Li Yun’s energy was almost drained, but there was 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.

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