Chapter 56: Chapter 56 How Much is This Painting Worth?

But at the moment the scroll slowly unfurled, Elder Wang finally understood why President Zhuang, someone who didn’t understand calligraphy and painting, instantly rejected this painting.

The craftsmanship was impeccable, but the subject matter was somewhat too frivolous.

Such a scroll, with a perfectly matched craftsmanship and this rather outlandish content, gives the first impression that this must be a modern printed painting made to look old.

“Haha, if Brother Lin only spent two hundred and fifty yuan, then just the scroll itself isn’t a loss. That Monkey, really, I just said the painting inside looked uncertain, didn’t expect him to sell it for two hundred yuan. This can be considered a lucky find for Brother Lin.”

Seeing Elder Wang furrowing his brows, Chairman Zhuang immediately felt his suspicion was further confirmed, and then he spoke up.

As for the purpose, it was, of course, to ease the awkward atmosphere, as it wasn’t appropriate for him to directly state that Brother Lin bought a fake.

However, this slightly shook his original confidence in Lin Yi’s expertise in antique appraisal.

“Eh? Something’s not right…”

While Zhuang Yan was speaking, Elder Wang, who was observing the scroll with a magnifying glass, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

This immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

Holding the magnifying glass, bending over to look closely at the painting, the more Elder Wang looked, the more he felt something was off. This painting wasn’t simple!

At first glance, he could already determine that this painting was definitely not a modern printed piece. Furthermore, after observing, Elder Wang could also ascertain that this painting was quite old.

Looking at the style of the artwork and the strokes, Elder Wang felt he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn’t quite recall where that was from his memory.

Seeing that Elder Wang seemed to have found a clue, Lin Yi couldn’t help but admire Elder Wang’s high level of appreciation for antiques and said, “Haha, how is it, Elder Wang? Is this painting alright?”

Watching Elder Wang’s demeanor and hearing Lin Yi’s words, Zhuang Yan was a bit puzzled. What’s going on? Did he misjudge it? But the painting did look incongruous.

For a moment, Chairman Zhuang also knitted his brows.

Gently putting down the magnifying glass in his hand, Elder Wang looked at Lin Yi with a somewhat puzzled gaze:

“Lin Xiaoyou, this painting does have some subtleties in it. I don’t know why, but it gives me a sense of deja vu that I can’t quite place.”

Saying this, he frowned in thought, but still had no clue.

“Could this painting from Brother Lin really be old?”

Aside, Father Lin and Empress Dowager Ye just watched silently, while Zhuang Yan couldn’t help but ask.

Hearing his question, Elder Wang nodded very affirmatively:

“If I’m not mistaken, the paper of this painting should be from the Ming Dynasty, and judging by the ink, the painting itself should be, at the latest, from the Qing Dynasty.”

As soon as he said this, Zhuang Yan felt his face flush red, having mistaken an ancient painting for a modern print. It was somewhat embarrassing!

Fortunately, no one brought it up, and everyone focused their attention on the painting.

At this moment, Elder Wang’s voice arose again:

“It’s just that I searched my memory and couldn’t think of any Ming or Qing Dynasty painter with such a humorous style.”

At this moment, Lin Yi coughed and then said with a laugh:

“Cough cough, Elder Wang’s opinion aligns with mine. I feel that the age of this painting should be in the Hongzhi era.”

Hongzhi era, Hongzhi era, suddenly Elder Wang slapped his forehead and blurted out three words: “Tang Bohu!!!”

Finally, with Lin Yi’s hint, Elder Wang suddenly cleared the mist and thought of Tang Bohu.

“I thought this style was familiar, turns out it’s the famous Tang Bohu. Indeed, whether it’s the age or the paper material, it’s all from the Ming Dynasty, and combined with this style, it’s undoubtedly Tang Bohu!”

Hiss~

With Elder Wang’s excited shout, Zhuang Yan suddenly drew a sharp breath! Was this painting really by Tang Bohu? How could that be? Why would Tang Bohu paint such a comical painting? And there’s no signature on it!

“Could it be a Qing Dynasty imitation using Ming Dynasty paper?”

Hearing Zhuang Yan’s question, both Lin Yi and Elder Wang shook their heads very affirmatively.

At the same time, they exchanged glances, recognizing the admiration in each other’s eyes.

Elder Wang didn’t expect that Lin Yi, at such a young age, would have an eye keen enough to recognize Tang Bohu’s handwriting.

Meanwhile, Lin Yi admired Elder Wang’s sharp insight, as Elder Wang relied purely on his own analysis and observation without any system support.

“Haha, at first glance, I felt this was merely an ancient painting casually copied by an unknown artist.

But later, through observation, I realized this painting wasn’t simple. Not only was the rice paper a Ming product, but the craftsmanship also applied a typical Wu School technique, and it contained deep secrets. It was through this mystery that I concluded it was painted by Tang Bohu!”

As soon as he said this, everyone’s eyes in the room were fixed on Lin Yi, waiting for him to continue.

Especially Elder Wang, who was all ears, realized this painting was by Tang Bohu purely due to its materials and technique.

But now, hearing Lin Yi’s words, it seemed there was an underlying mystery.

Seeing everyone’s expressions, Lin Yi cleared his throat, building up the suspense before he began to speak:

“Everyone knows the experiences of Tang Bohu’s life were half glory, half misery. And the reason this tiger in the painting appears so feeble, without its fangs, is to metaphorically depict his own downfall.”

“Moreover, look at this tiger, it’s in a classic white tiger form, and both ‘Bohu’ and ‘white tiger’ add further proof to this idea.”

At this moment, Elder Wang suddenly clapped and pointed at the crescent moon hanging above, exclaiming:

“Brilliant! And here, look at the height of the moon, it’s precisely the Yinshi time, and Tang Bohu’s courtesy name is indeed Tang Yin! What an excellently concealed message in the painting. Lin Xiaoyou has such keen insight and remarkable understanding! I, as an elder, must admit to being inferior!”

These words made Lin Yi a bit embarrassed. Originally intending to further flaunt, he soon felt it wouldn’t be right.

After all, this wasn’t his genuine expertise, but merely following the system’s hints…

[To be continued….]

ps: Brothers, Little Youzi asks for free comments! Recommended votes!