QT- I’m Almost Died
Chapter 246. The World Shaking Case
Both Elder Liang and Elder Lu are leading experts in cultural relic appraisal, otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken on the important task of restoring the Ziwei Palace. And coincidentally, they themselves unearthed this bronze tortoise, conducting an extremely thorough appraisal at the time. The data is still clearly stored in their minds, so they would never mistake it.
But now, with just a light tap, Fan Jialuo shattered their lifetime of reputation and experience. Deputy Director Liu and the others felt a profound sense of impending doom. They were responsible for the safekeeping and restoration of these artifacts, if anything went wrong, they would bear full responsibility!
“How is this possible!” Deputy Director Liu rushed forward, trying to snatch the bronze tortoise whose belly was still continuously flowing with sand.
Fan Jialuo sidestepped to avoid his collision, then placed the bronze tortoise on the open glass case.
Elder Lu and Elder Liang quickly raised their magnifying glasses and examined the artifact again. They simply couldn’t believe that they could be so mistaken.
Hearing that the police had arrived, Su Zhenrong had the security guards grab the father and son and ran to the Legacy Hall to file a complaint. When he saw Meng Zhong, his cheeks flushed, and he was even a little afraid to face him.
The two had been friends for over a decade, knowing each other inside and out, sharing resources and support, and maintaining a very good relationship. Having heard that this auction could potentially impact Su Zhenrong’s entire career, Meng Zhong, seeking to provide him with an extra layer of security, proposed asking Teacher Fan for assistance.
Su Zhenrong outwardly agreed, but behind his back, driven by his own petty thoughts, he completely disregarded the warning. Now that the painting is ruined and his career is over, he truly doesn’t know how to explain the whole story to Meng Zhong, it would be such a betrayal of his good intentions.
Su Zhenrong’s hurried steps suddenly stopped, and then he slowly walked over with an extremely ashamed face. His gaze swept over the open glass case and he saw a bronze tortoise with a hole in its belly and sand flowing out of the hole. He was immediately stunned.
“This, what’s wrong with this?” In his fear, his tongue was tied in knots.
“Zhenrong, you’ve come at the right time. We’d like to access your surveillance footage. Could you please cooperate? Teacher Fan discovered that this bronze tortoise is a fake,” Meng Zhong immediately requested.
“Okay, I’ll have security check the security footage right away. Our auction house staff didn’t touch these artifacts at all, the Central Museum handled everything themselves. This has nothing to do with us.” Su Zhenrong replied while wiping the fine sweat from his forehead. Suddenly, he caught sight of Teacher Fan standing under the light, his skin almost translucent white, as if he were radiating an ethereal aura. He immediately regretted his actions.
He only knew that Teacher Fan had a great reputation, but he didn’t know that his abilities were even greater than his reputation! If he had listened to the other party’s advice earlier, none of this mess would have happened now!
Su Zhenrong felt increasingly distressed as he thought about it, and his fake smile was almost impossible to maintain.
Meng Zhong glanced at the emergency call log from the command center and asked, “By the way, your auction house also called the police. What happened?”
Su Zhenrong’s pale face suddenly turned purplish-red, and he stammered incoherently for a long time. His assistant, thinking he was anxious, quickly explained the whole situation to him.
Meng Zhong was stunned for a while before he came to his senses. He subconsciously looked at Teacher Fan and saw that he was not paying attention to the situation here, but instead walked to a display case and focused on sensing. Only then did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
“You, ah, you, I don’t even know what to say to you.” Meng Zhong pointed at his old friend with his index finger, his tone full of helplessness, “I told you long ago that Teacher Fan is 100% trustworthy, and I told you to listen to his advice carefully, but why didn’t you listen? Would I betray you? Teacher Fan is the pillar of our Special Cases Investigation Department. He can even handle a murderous monster like Ma You, so how could he not handle a few small antiques? Don’t you even use your brain? If you could trust the experts, would this bronze tortoise have been replaced with a fake?”
His voice unconsciously grew louder, causing Deputy Director Liu’s face to flush red with embarrassment. Elder Liang and Elder Lu also coughed awkwardly and walked a little further away, carrying the bronze tortoise.
In just twenty minutes, Su Zhenrong had become emaciated and barely recognizable. After being scolded by his old friend, he was so dejected that he couldn’t even lift his head. He pointed at the father and son and said in a hoarse voice, “If I sue them in court, can the company’s losses be recovered?”
“You’ll definitely win the lawsuit, but the financial losses will be hard to recover. The price you marked on the exhibits was the starting bid, right? You said it was 50 million, and with bidding at the auction, it would easily reach 100 million. But the court won’t take that premium into account when they appraise it. Your company will definitely have another lawsuit with the owner of the exhibits. Old Su, you’d better prepare yourself.” Meng Zhong patted his old friend on the shoulder, his face full of helpless frustration.
Su Zhenrong wiped his face, his voice trembling with tears, and said, “I understand, I’ll consider the worst-case scenario. Old Meng, this time it was my own fault for messing things up, it’s not your fault, I should thank you for your kindness. You introduced Teacher Fan to me for my own good, if I had listened to Teacher Fan, I, I wouldn’t have ended up like this……”
At this point, Su Zhenrong’s throat tightened, and he almost burst into tears.
Meng Zhong couldn’t bear to see him in such a disheveled state, so he waved to a police officer and said, “Take Director Su to the side room to take his statement.”
“Yes, Director Meng.” The young officer led Su Zhenrong and the anxious father and son away. As he stepped out of the hall, he glanced at Teacher Fan with reverence and whispered, “You can invite a great figure like Teacher Fan, so why don’t you believe him? Do you have any idea how many people are currently clamoring to consult with Teacher Fan? Wealthy tycoons are already bidding astronomical sums online just for the chance to meet him or share a meal. Would he really bother using a painting worth tens of millions just to pull your leg?”
Su Zhenrong touched his trousers, really wanting to unbuckle his belt and hang himself on the spot!
There were many people even more terrified than Su Zhenrong. After examining the bronze tortoise repeatedly, several experts from the Central Museum were slumped in their chairs, barely able to hold their magnifying glasses.
“Judging from its appearance alone, this bronze tortoise is absolutely flawless! If we didn’t crack open its belly, we would never have been able to tell that it was a fake,” Elder Liang exclaimed in amazement.
Elder Lu further explained, “However, while the surface appearance can be perfect, the internal cavity can never be exactly the same. The genuine bronze tortoise was cast using the lost-wax casting method, a relatively primitive technique. Therefore, the internal cavity was not fully formed, but rather partially filled with molten copper. However, the lost-wax casting method has been lost, and forgers cannot replicate the technique of that time. They can only use the more advanced lost-wax casting method, making the internal cavity perfectly fit the outline of the bronze tortoise, thin and regular. Naturally, the weight is much lighter than the genuine article. Those sand and copper beads were probably used to make up for the weight. Because museums maintain these cultural relics every once in a while, weighing is a necessary procedure. If forgers do not want to be exposed, they must make the weight of the counterfeit exactly the same as the genuine article.”
Elder Liang chimed in, “Yes, if I’m not mistaken, these grains of sand are to prevent the copper beads from rolling and making noise. These copper beads are weights used for precise weighing.”
Meng Zhong and others took careful notes, while Song Rui immediately grasped the key point, “To be able to make the bronze tortoise look so real and to know its weight so precisely, this forger must be a professional who works at the Central Museum, has had frequent contact with the bronze tortoise, and has all its data. This case must be investigated from within the Central Museum.”
Meng Zhong nodded and said, “That’s right, it would be impossible for someone other than an insider to replace the bronze tortoise. Xiao Li, is there a problem with the auction house’s surveillance system?”
Xiao Li, who was engrossed in fiddling with his laptop, immediately said, “Director Meng, these cultural relics were placed directly into the display case by security personnel from the Central Museum, and no one has touched them since, so the problem is definitely not with the auction house.”
Meng Zhong put down his pen and scanned the experts sent by the Central Museum with a scrutinizing gaze. These people had already turned pale and their faces were twitching, as if they were about to have a heart attack at any moment.
However, the matter was not over yet. Standing alone not far away, Fan Jialuo pointed to several display cases and calmly dropped a bombshell, “These are all fake.”
Meng Zhong was so frightened that he dropped his pen. If his eyesight wasn’t off, these cultural relics were all national treasures featured in documentaries, any one of them could represent the wisdom and crystallization of thousands of years of brilliant Chinese civilization, they were priceless, unparalleled, and exquisitely crafted masterpieces! Who the hell would dare to replace these things with counterfeits? Did they think having just one life isn’t enough to be executed?
“Teacher Fan, you’re not seeing things, are you?” Meng Zhong’s voice was trembling.
Deputy Director Liu struggled to his feet, leaning back in his chair, and shouted, “Impossible! These cultural relics absolutely cannot be fake! What do you take our Central Museum for? If we can’t even protect these national treasures, we might as well just close down! We are a national institution, we are the inheritors and protectors of Chinese civilization, we would never do such a heinous thing!”
However, the bronze tortoise had indeed been replaced, so no matter how he tried to justify it, his righteous words lost credibility.
Meng Zhong didn’t even look at him directly, he simply took out his phone and decisively dialed Chief Yan’s number.
Chief Yan has been promoted and has now assembled an army specifically to deal with supernatural beings or extremely serious paranormal events. He originally thought he could finally take a good rest and catch his breath, but before he could even settle into his new position, Meng Zhong reported a major case.
Seven national treasures were secretly replaced with fakes. If the news were to reach the outside world, it would shock the entire nation and tarnish its reputation. Imagine, if a country cannot even protect its own civilization, how can it have any legacy? How can it have a future? How can it maintain national cohesion and pride?
Thinking of the tangible and intangible losses, Chief Yan broke out in a cold sweat.
“Bring these cultural relics back immediately for authentication. I will report the situation to my superiors.” Chief Yan slammed his hand on the table.
Meng Zhong readily agreed, but unexpectedly, Teacher Fan suddenly walked up to him and said in a solemn tone, “Let’s go to the Central Museum first. I suspect that more relics have been replaced.”
Meng Zhong’s phone fell to the ground with a thud.
Deputy Director Liu stammered that it was impossible, then slumped back into his chair, clutching his chest as if overwhelmed by the weight of the situation.
Meng Zhong quickly picked up his phone and reported Teacher Fan’s guess to Chief Yan.
Chief Yan remained silent for a long time before saying, “Have Teacher Fan investigate, investigate each case one by one! This kind of thing absolutely cannot be tolerated! Those are our country’s priceless treasures, the wealth left to us by our ancestors, and no one can take them away!”
“We’ll go investigate right away!” Meng Zhong waved his hand, and all the police officers surrounded Fan Jialuo, leaving in a grand procession.
Although Su Zhenrong’s case involved tens of millions of yuan, it was just a drop in the ocean compared to the museum’s case, and was immediately handed over to another investigation team.
The police arrived at the Central Museum as quickly as possible. As soon as they got out of the car, they saw Chief Yan leading a heavily armed army waiting at the entrance, accompanied by a terrified Director Sun.
Director Sun kept insisting that such a thing was absolutely impossible, even raising his hand to swear a solemn oath. He then summoned all the museum’s staff to the scene to cooperate with the police and military investigation. He knew all too well that if the artifacts pointed out by Fan Jialuo were indeed fakes, let alone the Central Museum being a national-level institution, even if it were a world-class one, they couldn’t bear the responsibility.
Chief Yan completely ignored his explanation and forbade the experts from the Central Museum from touching any more artifacts. Seeing the handsome, exceptionally refined young man step out of the car, he immediately went to him and said solemnly, “Teacher Fan, I have to ask you for help with this case. The higher-ups have given a strict order, investigate to the end and find the national treasure.”
Fan Jialuo frowned, his tone grave, “I have a very ominous feeling. You should prepare yourself for the worst.”
“What do you mean?” Chief Yan’s voice trembled.
“No, nothing. Let’s go in and take a look.” Fan Jialuo’s thin lips parted slightly, but he didn’t completely rule out the possibility of a definitive answer.
Chief Yan felt a pang of unease, and his head suddenly throbbed with pain. If these national treasures couldn’t be recovered, he would be a sinner against the country! But now was not the time to think about that, he should first assess the true magnitude of this case, even though it had already reached a point of widespread outrage.
The group walked with a shaky gait, their hearts filled with anxiety and unease. Director Sun and Deputy Director Liu, in particular, were sweating profusely as they walked, as if they were in a furnace.
Fan Jialuo skipped the other exhibition halls and went straight to the central hall where priceless treasures were stored. He walked along the outermost glass display cases, his hand hovering over each one, sensing their weighty history and ancient atmosphere. Calligraphy, paintings, bamboo slips, gold and silver artifacts, burial objects, he could sense the profound sense of age and rich antiquity emanating from them simply by casually brushing his hand over them.
In just a short time, he had examined more than half of the artifacts in the exhibition hall, but none of them could make him stop and look at them.
Director Sun and Deputy Director Liu’s hearts, which had been pounding with anxiety, slowly eased. As long as the case didn’t escalate further, that was the most comforting news for them. Besides, only the bronze tortoise had been confirmed as a fake, the other six had been sent to the laboratory, and no one could say for sure whether they were counterfeit or genuine. What if they were genuine?
It must be genuine! Thinking this way, the two curators looked at each other and felt much better.
However, at this very moment, Fan Jialuo, whose steps were slow but never faltered, suddenly stopped. His unfathomable eyes stared intently at a huge display case in front of him, which contained the sole surviving pair of the Nine Tripod Cauldrons crafted by Yu the Great——The Yong Tripod and The Qing Tripod.
In the early years of the Xia Dynasty, Yu the Great divided the country into nine provinces, appointed governors for each province, and ordered all the skilled craftsmen in the world to jointly cast nine tripod cauldrons. Famous mountains and rivers, scenic spots, and strange objects were engraved on them, representing the unification of the country, the supremacy of imperial power, the mandate of heaven, and the symbol of the Chinese nation.
Just as the saying goes——All lands under heaven belong to the sovereign, and all people across the land are his subjects. From that moment forward, ‘Nine Provinces‘ came to represent the Chinese nation, while ‘Setting the Tripod Cauldrons‘ was established as a specialized term signifying the rise and consolidation of a state power.
The other seven tripods were lost during the changes of dynasties, with only two remaining, the Yong Tripod and the Qing Tripod. It is no exaggeration to say that even if most of the cultural relics from all dynasties were combined and valued together, they would still not match the value of these two tripods, because they are symbols of the Chinese nation’s transition from a barbaric era to a civilized era, and are the source of history.
If they are also replaced……
Director Sun and Deputy Director Liu hurriedly dismissed this terrifying thought, but their wildly beating hearts were tearing at every nerve.
Chief Yan, Meng Zhong, Song Rui, and others were all familiar with this history, so they involuntarily held their breath and stared intently at Fan Jialuo’s back.
Time ticked by, and the hall was so quiet one could hear sweat dripping onto the floor. Finally, Fan Jialuo lowered his raised hand and said, word by word, “They are fake.”
A collective gasp filled the hall, and Director Sun’s legs buckled, causing him to collapse to the ground.
Even the national treasure is counterfeit? How is that possible!
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