After listening to Su Baichang's words, I was stunned again, if what Su Baichang said was true, this necklace only appeared in his store, then where did I see this necklace? I'm pretty sure I'm coming to this store for the first time. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info I couldn't help but ask Su Baichang: "Boss Su? Are you really sure there is only one 'white snake' in the world? Since I haven't seen the necklace in your store, what I see is only a photo, so I'm not sure what I'm seeing is the one I sell in your store, is it possible that there are other necklaces of the same style in the world? ”

Boss Su shook his head affirmatively: "Impossible, the reason why I can be sure that this necklace is unique is because of its manufacturing era, it is impossible to make two identical necklaces in that era, not to mention that it is used to dedicate to the emperor, and it is even more impossible to appear the same style in the people, you know that in that era, if you collide with the emperor, it will be a big mouth that kills the head." The man took a sip of tea and continued, "According to historical records, the earliest diamond mining in our country was in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, when farmers in western Hunan were panning for gold in the Yuanshui Valley, they successively found this hard white transparent crystal, that is, diamonds, in Taoyuan, Changde and Qianyang. However, at that time, people were not very interested in diamonds, and more often used them to make drill bits for repairing porcelain, which rarely appeared in ordinary jewelry. I once auctioned a pair of Qing Dynasty princess earrings at an auction in Tianjin, although they wanted to be broken with diamonds, but the role was still mainly to set off the jade in the middle. Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan, once sent someone to pay tribute to the emperor with a gold bracelet inlaid with diamonds, but he wanted to please the emperor but in the end he couldn't. He was on an errand during the Daoguang period, and Emperor Daoguang was thrifty and civilized, and his dragon robes were patched, so he didn't like these jewelry very much. But at that time, something happened, and this necklace was considered a good thing. Little girl, do you want to know what is going on? ”

Su Baichang deliberately stopped, observing my reaction, I nodded, and said with a smile: "Boss Su, don't sell it here." ”

Seeing that I was interested in listening, Su Baichang continued to boast: "In the twenty-third year of Daoguang, the treasury officials who took care of the treasury of the household department were self-attacking and self-stealing because of the uneven distribution of the spoils, and the matter of self-theft could not be recovered, and finally this black curtain was uncovered in front of the emperor, and the treasury was shorted of 9.252 million taels, and the emperor was furious, and all the personnel related to the treasury deficit, regardless of official positions, and even the people who looked at the treasury were punished, and many people were also beheaded that time. Later, in order to make up for the deficit in the national treasury, the tributes from various places were not distributed to the concubines that year, but these rare treasures were included in the national treasury. ”

"And how did you end up in Thailand?" I remember Su Baichang just told me that the 'White Snake' was bought by him in Thailand.

Su Baichang stood up again and walked to the bookshelf, took a thick folder, he opened one of the pages and pushed it in front of me: "This is a record of the treasures that I found at that time that was robbed by the Eight-Nation Alliance, although it is not complete, but this white snake is really recorded. Although jewelry made of white gold and diamonds was not particularly popular during the Qing Dynasty, for foreigners at that time, the treasures made of these two materials were very popular, and the 'white snake' set with half-carat diamonds was simply priceless for them. In the 18th century, platinum jewellery rose to prominence due to its popularity as a favorite of King Louis XVI and his queen of France. What's more, this platinum pendant is set with a full 0.5 carat of diamonds, which is even more popular with those who steal. In this way, the 'White Snake' was snatched abroad. "The page of information that Su Baichang asked me to show should be a photocopy of the Qing Dynasty dossier, in addition to marking the name, quantity, and material of each item, and even with the image of a brush stroke, although it has been a little blurry, but it can be vaguely identified as a general appearance, with the text description, it is almost certain that the necklace in the photo that Mi Zhen gave me is the one that was plundered by the Eight-Nation Alliance, but in this information, the necklace is not called 'White Snake', it has a better name, called' There is only one hundred-crystal in number.

I closed the information and looked at Su Baichang again: "Boss Su, but you still haven't told me why you found this necklace in Thailand." ”

Su Baichang took back the information and put the folder back on the bookshelf: "The purpose of showing you this information is to tell you the background of this necklace, and also to explain why my clerk reacted so much when you mentioned it." After all, there are very few people who know the background of this necklace, and if you suddenly mention it, it will definitely make them feel panicked. ”

"Think I'm here to take your favor?" I asked with a smile.

Su Baichang smiled and said nothing: "You also saw it just now, this necklace was not originally called the White Snake, it has a better name-' Baijing', take the homonym of the white snake for hundred, the ancients were in awe of the number hundred, for example, people died, it will be used for a hundred years, and the white snake in ancient mythology can almost be linked to the gods, such as the previous white snake legend, the prototype of the white lady is a white snake, so the white snake around the stone, it also means that this necklace is very spiritual; I read some books about Qing Dynasty artifacts when I was in college, so I recognized it immediately when I saw it in Thailand. It was placed in the window of an antique shop, and when I saw it, I was shocked by its exquisite workmanship, and the necklace was very well preserved, even the scales carved on the snake's body were still clearly visible, and the diamonds were still transparent in color and in good shape, you know, even diamonds, if they were struck hard, they would shatter, but there was not even a crack on this necklace. I never imagined that I would be lucky enough to see it more than 90 years after it was forcibly snatched by the Eight-Nation Alliance. It's just beautiful. Su Baichang admired, until he saw the curious look on my face opposite, he deliberately coughed to hide the gaffe he had just shown because he remembered the delicacy of the 'White Snake', and when he removed his hand from his mouth, he returned to his calm appearance at the beginning.

"So you don't know how it ended up in Thailand?" I pretended not to see Su Baichang's gaffe.

Su Baichang shook his head: "I also thought it was very strange when I first saw the 'White Snake', and even thought I was mistaken for a while, until I saw the handwriting of Daoguang twenty-three years engraved on the platinum tray of the diamond position on the back of the White Snake, and I really dared to believe that this was the necklace that was snatched more than 90 years ago." So I asked the owner where he got this necklace from. The owner said that the necklace had been commissioned by a previous customer here. However, since I put the necklace in the store, the customer has never returned, but it is strange that after this necklace was placed here, no one but me cared about it. The shopkeeper laughed at himself at the time, saying that if the necklace had been put in a jewelry store, it might be more marketable than if it had been placed in his possession. I asked the owner for the consignor's information, and he only told me the name of the consignor, but the consignor did not leave any other information, including contact information. It's just that the shopkeeper will come to the shopkeeper himself to get the money for the sale. The shopkeeper didn't know the consignor's information, and he didn't know when the consignor would return, but according to the shopkeeper's own recollection, 'White Snake' had been with him for at least half a year. I knew that the shopkeeper couldn't ask anything more, so I bought the necklace first, left my contact information, and told the shopkeeper that if the consignor came to ask for payment, he must let him contact me. Coincidentally, the day after I bought the necklace, the person who deposited it found me. ”

"Is it a foreigner?" I asked.

Su Baichang shook his head, thought for a while, and nodded again: "It's not a pure foreigner, it's a Nanyang businessman of Chinese descent." In the early days of the Republic of China, he was still in infancy and moved to France with his parents, and after the family settled in France for more than ten years, France suffered World War II and France fell. Homeless, he eventually returned to China, in the war against the Japanese fascists, unfortunately became a prisoner, tried his best to escape, with the help of a Chinese businessman, he found a job as a crew member on a large ship in the port, and then went to the South Seas with the ship, starting from doing odd jobs for the rich in the South Seas, and finally started a small business with his savings, after the end of World War II, he returned to France alone to reunite with his parents, but when he landed in France, he knew that his parents were after he left, He was taken to a concentration camp and did not survive. He was dejected and ready to return to the South Seas, when he saw a shabby Frenchman beckoning to him, and he walked over, and the Frenchman showed him a necklace and asked him if he wanted it. He looked at it, found the inscription on the back, and instantly guessed the origin of the necklace. But he didn't get any more information about the necklace from the Frenchman, so he bought it back at a high price and returned to Nanyang with it. After the family fell into the middle of the road, he thought about taking his things to the store and selling them on consignment. When Su Baichang said this, he stopped. It seems to be the end of the story.

I clapped my hands, with a mocking smile on my face: "I didn't expect Boss Su to have a talent for storytelling." ”