Chapter 49 True or False
"Wait a minute." Jiang Li said.

Such an abrupt voice suddenly came out of nowhere, and several people and those watching the excitement around looked over here. Jiang Li walked over from the side.

Liu Zimin was originally looking around, and when he saw a pretty lady walking out of the crowd, his eyes immediately lit up, and he asked in a teasing tone, "What do you want, young lady?"

Seeing this, Bai Xue followed Jiang Li closely and made up her mind that if this mouse-like boy dared to touch Jiang Li's little finger, she would beat him to a pulp.

Jiang Li smiled and said, "May I ask what this young man has done?" She pointed at the young man on the side.

"What did you do?" Liu Zimin let out a long teasing sound and said with a smile, "This girl wants to do something righteous. Maybe she thinks we are bullying her. Then I have to explain that we are not bullying others." He said, "This brother Ye Shijie has damaged a masterpiece of calligraphy in our house. Look, it is "Sparrow Drinking in Spring."

"Sparrow Drinking in Spring" is a masterpiece by Zeng Zimo, a great calligrapher and painter of the previous dynasty. After Zeng Zimo's death, his calligraphy and painting were bought by people at a high price, especially the families of literati, who were proud to collect Zeng Zimo's calligraphy. If Liu Zimin's painting is really "Sparrow Drinking in Spring", Ye Shijie is in big trouble.

"This 'Que Yinchun' is in high demand, and I am willing to compromise because Brother Ye is not from Yanjing. It will be worthwhile for Brother Ye to compensate me with 30,000 taels of gold. I didn't expect that Brother Ye is so excessive and is unwilling to pay a penny. He is from the Ye family in Xiangyang, but he is so stingy. Is this the nature of a businessman?" At this point, Liu Zimin laughed.

When the people around heard this, they also started laughing, all laughing at Liu Zimin's "business nature".

The Yan Dynasty originally looked down on merchants, and merchants were ranked the lowest among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. Ye Shijie gritted his teeth, suppressed his anger, and said, "I didn't damage the painting. You pounced on me while I was writing!"

"Oh my," Liu Zimin said, "You are still slandering me. I have nothing to do, would I destroy my own famous paintings?" At this point, he seemed to remember that there was a person like Jiang Li around him, and said, "Miss, please explain yourself."

Jiang Li smiled and said, "Can you let me see this painting, sir? I have never seen the real "Birds Drinking in Spring". I didn't expect it to be destroyed like this. It's a pity." She seemed very regretful.

Seeing her like this, Liu Zimin generously handed over the painting: "Miss, if you want to see it, then go ahead!" He saw that Jiang Li's dress didn't seem to be from an ordinary family, but he really didn't know when such a beautiful official lady came to Yanjing City. He thought to himself that he would ask someone to find out later. If she was from a lower family, it would be nice to marry her as a concubine.

Not far from the crowd, Jiang Youyao and others in the carriage also saw this scene. Jiang Youyao asked: "What is she doing?"

"Third sister," Jiang Yu'e reminded, "That Ye Shijie is from the Ye family in Xiangyang, from the second sister's maternal grandfather's family."

Jiang Youyao suddenly realized and looked at Jiang Li again: "Let's take another look."

Jiang Li took a painting of "Birds Drinking in Spring" and looked at it carefully.

"Sparrow Drinking Spring" is a painting of the arrival of spring, with mountain sparrows in the valley standing on branches hanging low over the water, pecking at their own reflections in the stream. The flowers in the valley are in full bloom, the mountain sparrows are lively and clever, and the stream water is clear and transparent, all of which are vividly depicted.

But now the painting had been torn diagonally from the bottom, almost splitting the page in two.

With the appearance of Jiang Li, more and more people came to watch the show. Ye Shijie frowned, but Liu Zimin was the most patient.

After looking at it for a while, Jiang Li put down the painting in her hand. She did not return the painting to Liu Zimin, but said: "Master Zeng's calligraphy is indeed precious, and the emphasis is on the interest. It is rare and priceless, but..."

With every word she spoke, Liu Zimin's eyebrows raised an inch higher. When he heard Jiang Li's last sentence, Liu Zimin subconsciously continued: "Just what?" "This painting is fake." Jiang Li said.

"This painting is..." Liu Zimin suddenly reacted and shouted, "How is it possible?" When he looked at Jiang Li's expression again, he was no longer as kind as he was at the beginning.

Ye Shijie also looked at Jiang Li in astonishment.

"This painting is very similar, but it still cannot hide the fact that it is a fake. According to the value of the most similar fake on the market today, this painting is worth no more than fifty taels of silver. Mr. Ye," she looked at Ye Shijie, "you only need to compensate this young master fifty taels of silver."

"Little girl," Liu Zimin smiled sinisterly, "You are so eloquent, you say it is a fake, then it is a fake? This painting is the real thing! Don't talk nonsense."

"Yes," the people around him said, "How do you prove that this is true?"

Jiang Li was not in a hurry and said slowly: "Master Zeng was from the previous dynasty. The writing brushes and inks of the previous dynasty were all made of silk from the previous dynasty. However, there was no double silk in the previous dynasty."

"Double silk?" Bai Xue asked suspiciously.

"The previous dynasty only produced double silk, which was coarse and thin. But look at this painting, it is pure white and fine, clearly double silk. Master Zeng of the previous dynasty would never use today's double silk to paint, this is one reason."

"Secondly, the seal is wrong. The previous dynasty did not use many stone seals. If it was a seal from the previous dynasty, it would have its own unique marks. The end of each character in the seal script is slightly thicker than the original stroke, but it looks lighter and slightly yellow. The seal script in this painting has a smooth end and a reddish color, which is obviously wrong."

Jiang Li told the story while showing the "Sparrow Drinking Spring" in her hand to everyone. If they hadn't said anything, they wouldn't have noticed it. But once they heard it, they really felt something was wrong when comparing it with Jiang Li's words.

Seeing Liu Zimin's face getting uglier and uglier, Ye Shijie was getting more and more surprised. Jiang Li smiled and said, "And the most important point is that the most brilliant thing about the painting "Sparrow Drinking in Spring" is that Master Zeng paid attention to details. When the titmouse pecks at the shadow, there is the reflection of the titmouse in the water in its eyes. Similarly, the shadow of the titmouse on the branch can be seen in the eyes of the titmouse in the water. But in this painting "Sparrow Drinking in Spring", the titmouse reflected in the water has nothing in its eyes."

"So," Jiang Li said with a smile, "this painting of 'Sparrows Drinking in Spring' is fake. A fake 'Sparrows Drinking in Spring' worth three thousand taels of gold is just a fantasy."

Liu Zimin was so angry that he reached out to snatch the painting from Jiang Li's hand. But Jiang Li would never let him succeed. Bai Xue had already swiftly taken the painting and held it high up to show everyone.

"Do you know who I am?" Liu Zimin finally couldn't help himself, showing his true face and saying viciously: "How dare you slander me like that? If my father finds out, you'll be in big trouble!"

Hearing this, Jiang Li finally put away the smile on her face and said lightly: "I don't know who you are, but you dare to be so rude to me. If my father finds out, you will be in big trouble."

"I want to see which family you are from. Tell me your name!" Liu Zimin said angrily.

"The Jiang family in the capital, the daughter of the Prime Minister, Jiang Er." Jiang Li said.

(End of this chapter)