After the jade hairpin incident, Li Mazi and I were 

constantly

 nervous. We 

remained 

cautious for many days to see if the one that had gifted me the jade hairpin would come. However, after a long time, no one had shown up. It seemed 

they

 had vanished into thin air. 

It was exactly the 

kind of thing

 the people from the Longquan Villa would do.

When you are careless the most, they will come to take your life! 

We decided to stop receiving cases

. We stayed 

idle and relaxed in our shop. As I had plenty of free time, I found a recorder and recorded my touching encounters with otherworldly items. I wanted to send my story to my friend, who was a writer. 

Today, 

while

 I was talking about the Red Barbarian Cannon, Li Mazi’s despicable face suddenly emerged 

beside me

. It scared the 

crap

 out of me.

 I

unconsciously

 threw the recorder at his face. 

He squeaked

 and looked 

at me with his aggrieved, small eyes… 

W

hen he saw that I didn’t react,

he immediately 

placed

 big lunch boxes on the table. It turned out he wanted to drink some wine with me. He

’

d brought braised beef, stir-fried bacon with mushroom, and two large boxes of lobsters and rice. 

The smell of the food made my mouth water

. My 

s

tomach growled

. I suddenly recognized that I had been telling my stories for hours. I shook and twisted my sore neck

. Then, I 

picked up a pair of chopsticks

 and dug 

in. 

“Little 

B

rother Zhang, on the way here, I spotted a treasure…” Li Mazi knocked his chopstick on the tabl

e. He was trying 

to sound mysterious. 

I didn’t buy it. “If you want to 

say something

, do it 

quickly

.” 

Li Mazi knew me well. He chuckled then told me about the situation. 

On the way here, he had walked by a vendor on the street who often sold antiques. 

As for 

the antiques on his stall

… 

We all knew about this in our business. That

 was

 why I pouted when Li Mazi came to this part

. 

“I’m not interested in counterfeits.” 

However, Li Mazi still sounded very interested in it. “I saw a drawing. It even has a poem.” 

“Wow, since when have you been interested in poetry? 

Is it

 a brand new

hobby

 of yours

? Hey, what

 was

 the painting of 

the 

beauty you

 saw 

there?” 

Li Mazi shot me a glance. “Little 

B

rother Zhang, that poem was written by that Last Ruler 

or 

something like that. I checked the writings. They are 90% authentic. This time, perhaps we 

can

have

 a big harvest!” 

When Li Mazi 

mentioned the Last

 Ruler, I remembered the famous historical figure, Li Yu

. He was t

he Last Ruler of the South Tang State. 

S

ince ancient times, not many emperors had composed poems. 

On

ly Li Yu was worth mentioning and worthy of appraisal. 

Here

 are 

some of his verse

s: 

If you ask me how much I worry, 

It’s just like a river flowing eastward in the spring. 

How much do we know about people’s 

dreams

? 

However, there weren’t many real pieces of art

work

left behind by

 Li Yu. He was the last 

r

uler of his state. He was poisoned to death, and no one knew who could possess his art

works

. If it were Li Yu’s real writings, how could it be in a sideway antique stall? 

Li Mazi saw that I didn’t believe hi

m.

H

e dropped his chopsticks and pulled me up

. Then, he ushered 

me to that stall to have a look. 

I thought it was okay to go with him. It was just a walk after 

our

 meal! 

“That stall isn’t far from the antique street. After twenty 

minutes of walking

, we’ll be there.” 

When we saw the stall, there weren’t many customers. Some people passed by

, They

 asked for the price 

then

 left. 

“That painting is held with a bamboo stick. It’s a simple painting, though. There’s a rockery and next to 

it

 is a beautiful woman in green clothes. She’s smiling lively. On the left is a Ci 

[1]

 that reads: 

Light mist envelopes the dim moon and bright flowers,

A perfect night to go to her darling's side.In stocking soles, she treads the fragrant steps,

And carries in one hand her 

gold-threaded

 shoes.

They meet by the south side of the painted hall,And trembling fall into each other's arms.

"It's hard for me to creep out like a servant,

To teach my darling the recklessness of love."

I knew this was the Ci Li Yu had written for Queen Zhou

’s little sister

. The beauty in green 

had to be

Young Lady Zhou.

According to unofficial history, Young Lady Zhou had a strange obsession with the color green. Her clothes and even the decorations in her palace 

had to be

g

reen. Otherwise, she would get mad. She had created the trend once. Moreover, from this Ci, we knew her identity without digging further. 

When this Ci was written, Young Lady Zhou’s 

older

 sister was on her deathbed. Before she died, she wanted to see her little sister for the last time. Young Lady Zhou was summoned to the palace. 

When

 she arrived at the palace, Li Yu 

took a liking to

 her. 

T

he sneaky couple had an affair right under the eyes of Queen Zhou, her sister. 

Li Yu was a

n accomplished k

ing. While taking care of his dying wife, he could create such poems 

for his

 little lover.

However, I didn’t know if it was just a hallucination, but I felt a strange magical power from that picture

. I felt attracted to it.

The vendor saw Li Mazi and 

me

 observing the painting for quite a long time. He knew his chance had come. He came and greeted us. “Boss, you have keen eyes!” He appraised as soon as he approached us. “This painting is 

an

 authentic piece of art from

the Last Ruler of the state of South Tang

, 

Li Yu! It’s unique 

on

 the market. Look at the painting and the background…” 

Before he could finish his babbling, I interrupted him and asked for the price. E

ven

i

f this sort of antique 

was

 real, it would have different 

prices according to the circumstances

.

For example, if this was Li Yu’s Ci ‘

If you ask me how much that I worry; It’s just like a river flowing eastward in the spring

,

’

 it would be

 a very

 valuable antique. However, 

t

his Ci was about his love affair, 

so it

 didn’t have much value. 

The vendor’s eyes rolled

. His face was happy

. “It’s rare 

for

 you to like something in my humble stall, sir. I’

ll

 give you a big discount. It should be sold 

for

 thirty thousand renminbi. I

’ll

 give it to you 

for

 twenty thousand renminbi.” 

I sneered. He thought 

I had money to waste

! This painting was a high-quality counterfeit, and this man wanted to 

rip me off

! If I didn’t want to see

the magical power behind this picture, I would

 have ignored him directly

. 

With bright eyes, I looked him in the eye

 and said

, “Three thousand.” 

When I saw 

his unwilling eyes, I added, “I also 

work

 in the antique business. We 

know the values

 of things. I know this price is profitable for you already. Do you want to sell it or not?”

Then, I pulled Li Mazi

 and turned 

around to leave. 

Seeing me leav

e

, the vendor grabbed my harm. “Oh sir, we should bargain when we buy things, right? How about five thousand?” 

I looked at him

 and said 

nothing. 

The vendor became restless. “Four thousand. No more bargaining! When I collected it, I got it 

for

 that price. I have to make a profit

. Y

ou know that, sir.” 

I chuckled. “Okay! I’ll take a step back. Three thousand and five hundred.” 

The vendor sighed

.

 “All right, all right

. T

hree thousand five hundred. Sir, you’re good at bargaining!”

He kept complaining 

as he packed

 the painting. 

Soon, I got the painting. 

I paid then left. 

While holding the scroll in my hand, I 

thought

 it was strangely heavy as if it contained something else. 

As soon as we got into my shop, Li Mazi’s bright eyes gazed at the painting in my hand. “Hey, if we 

hold

 an auction for this painting, how much do you think it 

will

 be worth?” 

I couldn’t hold it anymore

 and told 

him that it was just a counterfeit. 

Li Mazi didn’t buy it. He hadn’t given up. I showed him some traces of the forgery work

, and h

e lost all of his hope right 

at

 that minute. 

He sighed for a while then suddenly jumped to me. “If you kn

e

w it’s a counterfeit, why did you buy it?”

“Because this painting gives me a strange feeling. I 

suspect

 it’s an otherworldly item.” I turned and slowly spread the painting on the counter. 

I had to say that the forgery work of this painting was a great success. Whether it was the handwriting or the material, it was almost perfect. However, a counterfeit is a counterfeit. Although the Xuan paper of this painting wasn’t bad, it was the low-grade type among the other types of Xuan paper, which had a low content of mulberry fiber. 

As Li Yu was the Ruler of the state of South Tang, the Xuan paper he used 

was

 of top quality. The Xuan paper had originated from the Tang Dynasty

, and it immediately became the symbol of

 the royal family. 

Before I could study the painting thoroughly to see if it was a

n 

otherworldly item, a young man around twenty years old rushed into my antique shop with a panic-stricken face. 

“Master Zhang, please save us!” As soon as he entered the shop, he got on his knees. With tears and nasal fluid all over his face, he grabbed Li Mazi’s arm

 and begged 

for help. 

Li Mazi wore a puzzled face

 and pointed 

at me. “Dude… That is Zhang Jiulin.” 

The young man looked embarrassed. However, he hurriedly hugged my leg

 and cried 

even louder. 

“Calm down. Tell me what happened first!” I pulled him up and guided him to have a seat. I poured him a cup of tea. He finished the cup in one breath. Then, he looked at me with his red

 and 

helpless eyes

 before 

telling me the situation.