Chapter 61: The Painting with Dragon Aura

  If there wasn't this phone call for peace, Zhao Long wouldn't have bothered to explain anything to them. If they wanted to be unhappy, that was their business; why should he be forced to explain things to them?

  "Face is given by others, and the loss of face is one's own fault." Zhao Long didn't hang up the phone, but instead put it aside and walked towards those few boxes of paintings.

  "In the second box." Just as he approached, Lao Shi had already reminded Zhao Long.

  "Hmm." Zhao Long responded with a single word: "In this situation now, it's easy to attract attention if we look for him directly."

  The old man's words were of no use to him, but he couldn't show it. He casually opened one box and took a look, then closed it again and opened another one, until he carefully selected the third box. This was exactly the box that the old man had said contained the painting with dragon energy.

  "Hmph." Seeing Zhao Long searching, Guo Yichen coldly snorted: "Pretentious, I'll see how you talk your way out of this."

  At this moment, the outside was already packed with people. Some who were far away couldn't get in and were inquiring about what was going on from outside. Those standing inside stared wide-eyed, as it was rare to find three people challenging Hai Cheng at the same time. The three of them had different circumstances, and it was already extremely difficult for them to gather together. Now they all came to this small shop, which was even more unbelievable.

  "This is it, right?" Zhao Long took it in his hand and slowly opened it to take a look.

  A lone figure on a mountain peak caresses a broken zither, while below the snow covers everything in a desolate winter landscape. The person in the painting is only visible from the side of their face and is not very clear, stroking the zither as they gaze down at the mountains below, standing forlornly.

  "It's this, I said how there is such a dragon aura, since the Tang Dynasty afterwards emperors even if they have some dragon aura it's hard to bring out, because their own strength is not enough. Now finally understand, originally these are the words of Song Huizong Zhao Ji. Not bad, very good......" Lao Shi was very satisfied with his praise, wanting to be praised by Lao Shi in martial arts, Zhao Long has not found yet, but in qin, chess, calligraphy, painting or ceramics there are many people.

  Song Huizong Zhao Ji's most basic situation, Zhao Long also knows that he is the emperor with the highest artistic talent among Chinese emperors throughout history. If he hadn't ascended to the throne, he might have become a great artist in Chinese history. At least in the history of Chinese calligraphy and art, he would have enjoyed an unchallengeable lofty position. Perhaps he would have been another great literary figure or artist.

  "Lao Shi, you said this is a painting by Song Huizong Zhao Ji, I believe it, but your words are somewhat contradictory. You previously said that after Li Shimin, the emperors due to insufficient martial power, found it difficult to exert their dragon energy, so what's going on with this Song Huizong Zhao Ji, and what's going on with this painting?" Zhao Long believed Lao Shi wouldn't make a mistake, but he had to understand clearly.

  "Normally he wouldn't be able to do this, it must have been a painting he did at the moment of his death. At the end of his life, due to years of humiliation and torture, he regretted everything he had done, and with a surge of nostalgia, in his final moment, he poured all his life and blood into this painting, finally unleashing the last bit of dragon energy within him." As he spoke, Lao Shi couldn't help but praise it repeatedly.

  "This little emperor was a failure, bringing disaster to his family and country. However, it must be said that his unique 'slender gold' calligraphy is unparalleled in the world, and even today, no one can surpass it. This 'slender gold' calligraphy is elegant and refined, with a sharp and powerful flair. Even someone who doesn't understand calligraphy at all will feel its excellence after seeing it. Previously mentioned were Song Huizong's immortal works of 'slender gold' calligraphy, such as the 'Slender Gold Thousand Character Text', 'Borrowing Wind and Frost Two Poems', 'Summer Day Poetry', and 'Postscript to Ouyang Xun's Letter to Zhang Han'. However, none of these compare to his last few characters. Just looking at these few characters, for over 800 years since then, no one has been able to reach his level, making him the greatest calligrapher of all time."

  Zhao Long looked at the painting in confusion, no matter how he looked, there were no words. However, thinking of the bottle in his fourth brother's house, Zhao Long suddenly realized what was going on. If someone could use the water element to conceal the true appearance of that bottle, perhaps this dragon energy could also conceal the words, it's just that this concealment is useless under Old Shi's divine sense.

  Just as Zhao Long was quickly exchanging ideas with Lao Shi, discussing this painting that no one in the world knew about, there was already some commotion around them. Because Zhao Long had been looking at the painting for a while, standing there motionless.

  "Everyone has seen it, Hu Lao and Xu Lao. It's not that I'm bullying the younger generation or being ruthless to others. It's just that I'm too familiar with their tricks. If we don't pursue this to the end today, then when they turn around, countless people will be talking about us, while he can take advantage of the opportunity to raise his own value. I've seen this kind of thing many times before. Now you see it too."

  Seeing Zhao Long standing there motionless, Guo Yicheng said with a self-satisfied smile: "This small shop is still pretending to be an antique dealer? I think he's just a swindler and don't know how he gained Mr. He's trust. Hu Lao, please tell Mr. He about this matter too, so that he knows not to believe in this kind of person."

  "Let's see." With Hu Zhilin's character, things had developed to a point that he did not want. Now that he had calmed down, he also felt some regret. Regardless of whether the matter was true or false, what was the point of this? It would have been better to let He Ping invite Zhao Long over and calmly explain everything clearly.

  Thinking back to the situation at that time, he was completely infuriated by Guo Yichen's few words, so when Guo Yichen spoke again, he became much more cautious.

  "Shut up." Xu Shangyue also spoke, looking at Guo Yichen with dissatisfaction. He had some interactions with Guo Yichen in the past, but only nodded or exchanged a few words. Now he felt that Guo Yichen was being too much, they were all of the same age, how could he still be like this?

  Not to mention industry norms, how can others be so noisy when appreciating and evaluating things.

  Just as they were talking, Zhao Long had exchanged at least a few hundred sentences with Lao Shi. Now he can more or less understand some of the paintings and appreciate their atmosphere and connotations. It's worth noting that Song Huizong Zhao Ji made significant contributions to the artistic conception of Chinese painting.

  He once set the topic "Hidden Temple in the Mountains", many people painted temples with flying eaves, but the one who got first place didn't paint any houses, only a monk carrying water from a mountain stream; another topic was "The Fragrance of Horse Hooves on the Way Back after Treading Flowers", the one who got first place didn't paint any flowers, only a person riding a horse with butterflies flying around the hooves. All these greatly stimulated the development of Chinese painting's artistic conception.

  In his later years, he said that this last painting of his life reached a new height in terms of artistic conception.

  "It's this one." Zhao Long slowly turned around, his right hand holding the painting, and the scroll slowly unfolded in front of everyone.

  As soon as Zhao Long took out the painting, Xu Shangyue shook his head first, while Hu Zhilin looked puzzled but stared at the painting carefully.

  "Kid, this thing is so obvious even a novice can see it - old paper, new painting. You were quite eloquent just now, now try saying that again. This isn't about being loud or picking a fight without reason. Everyone present are experts, and we have Old Hu here, who is the authority in our city's antique circle. I'd like to hear you explain yourself." Guo Yichen was also feeling somewhat uneasy in his heart, because there were a few paintings they had previously had some disputes over. Of course, those paintings were all from the late Republican period and were not well-known, even if they were genuine their value wouldn't be high.

  But if Zhao Long insisted that those things were true, it would be difficult to deal with. Now, looking at him bringing out such a painting, he immediately put his mind at ease.

  "This is a painting by Emperor Huizong of Song, and it was painted before his death. The paper is old but the painting is new. I think you are getting old and your eyes are blurry." As he spoke, Zhao Long turned around and walked towards his own desk, and under the astonished gaze of everyone, he pushed back the screen that had been pulled aside, blocking their view.

  When Zhao Long said that this was a painting by Emperor Huizong of Song, there was an immediate buzz of discussion around him. Because among the emperors, Emperor Huizong's paintings can be said to be the most valuable, a few years ago one of his paintings was sold at auction for nearly 30 million yuan, and in recent years the antique market has been increasingly hot, his value has also increased exponentially.

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