The portrait of William I was eventually acquired by Joseph, and although the cost was a little more than expected, it was nothing compared to the acquisition behind it.

The first item of the auction was bought by a mysterious guest, which made the nobles look at it, knowing that the person who would pay this price would not be an ordinary person, because the portrait would not be of much use to ordinary people at all.

Although Joseph stayed in Kate's private room, he had his own brand, which was sent to him by the Earl of Liverpool, along with a certificate that he could enter and leave Christie's auction house at will in the future.

"Your Highness Joseph, will the portrait be sent over now or will it be ...... in a while?"

"Wait! Maybe I'll have to buy something else. ”

The certificate has Joseph's identity on it, so the waiter is full of respect when he speaks, but unfortunately Joseph's attention is not on him, and he refocuses on the second item with a casual wave of his hand.

"Fornesta, this is an 1898 painting by Theo van Rieslberg, how does it go without saying, the bid price is GBP (pound sterling) 20,000."

“gbp20，200。”

“gbp20，500。”

“gbp20，800。”

“gbp21，500。”

……

Compared with the portrait of William I, this masterpiece is mainly due to the collector's price, although it is rising rapidly, but it is conceivable that it will not exceed the estimated value of the morning.

"You're visiting Duke Hollis?"

Joseph mentioned this in the restaurant, so Kate suddenly asked, mainly because she was just listening to it casually at that time, and she was not sure about the truth of the matter.

"Yes, Nord still has a subway project waiting to be developed, and I need to raise some funds."

After all, he was a top student in the School of Business Administration and was also from an aristocratic family, and Kate instantly understood that Joseph was not simply visiting Duke Hollis for money.

"Our Fox family has a good relationship with Duke Hollis, and when I was a child, I often went to the Hollis family manor, if you want to visit, I think it's better for you to bring two pieces of Chinese porcelain, Duke Hollis likes oriental culture very much."

"But it seems that there is not much Oriental in this auction, the Earl of Liverpool said that today's auction is mainly based on European cultural relics, and there seems to be only one Japanese sword from the Warring States period in the East."

"Swords from the Sengoku period of Japan? Maybe you don't know, Duke Hollis was a lieutenant admiral of Great Britain, a sword from the Warring States period of Japan, and I'm sure he will like it. ”

Originally, Joseph was going to buy the sword for his own collection, but now the situation seems to be waiting for the next opportunity, although there are not many Japanese swords at auction, but they can still be bought.

As Joseph had guessed, Fornesta did not exceed the initial estimate, with GBP25,000 being the final price.

Compared to the portrait of Wilhelm I, although this painting is more than five times the price, the two have different meanings, after all, one is only to gain the friendship of the Dutch royal family, and the other has the potential to appreciate in itself.

The auction then scattered and auctioned out a few things, except for one sculpture, most of the rest were sold at a high price, Joseph did not make another bid, but Kate bid for a bottle of French red wine from thirty years ago.

Facing Joseph's somewhat surprised gaze, Kate shrugged and explained: "The bet between classmates is more historical than anyone's wine, and it just happened to happen." ”

Kate's words made Joseph very emotional, sure enough, the aristocratic background is much stronger than a half-baked aristocrat like himself, and tens of thousands of pounds are just for a bet. Joseph sighed and seemed to have forgotten that his butler had spent millions of dollars just to decorate the palace.

"Look, your Japanese sword."

Kate's words made Joseph sober up from his emotion, and the Japanese sword in the stands did not forget to tease Kate at the same time: "It's not my Japanese sword, even if I buy it, it's Duke Hollis's Japanese sword." ”

Hearing these words, Kate's ears were a little jealous, and Kate grinned at this, and her white and slender fingers played with the wine glass in her hand and smiled very skillfully.

"There are three famous knives in the world. They are **, Japanese swords, Malay Clux swords, and the Japanese swords are the most famous knives in the Warring States period, and this is the king of Japanese swords, Muramasa Demon Knife. ”

"The name of the Muramasa Demon Sword comes from their craftsmen, and the Muramasa craftsmen only produce the best knives that can be used in actual combat, because they are so sharp, they have been called "evil swords" and "demon swords" since the Edo period, and they are avoided by the Japanese people. ”

"The former owner of this Muramasa demon sword is the famous Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Warring States period of Japan, maybe you don't know the history of Japan, it can be said that General Tokugawa Ieyasu is the most powerful of the princes of the Holy Roman period."

The auctioneer's words made Joseph pout in disdain, and if he insisted on putting it on top, he could have said the same, but in fact the meaning of the two was not the same.

Although the auctioneer advertised a lot of information about Muramasa, in fact not a lot of them were purchased, and the British aristocracy was more interested in Chinese artifacts than Muramasa demon knives, especially the beautiful porcelain, exquisite bronzes, and strange and even special effects.

"Bid price GBP30,000."

The price of 30,000 pounds is not low, but after the auctioneer shouted the price, few people responded, after all, the war had passed at this time, and because of World War II, not only commoners but also nobles were also very disgusted with war, so such a thing of war was naturally not pleasant.

“gbp30，200。”

“gbp30，500。”

It took a long time for two nobles who looked like they were supposed to be soldiers to make bids, but the price rose very slowly, and Joseph did not bid immediately, because it was easy to cause price surprises, especially when he was bound to win.

After a while, seeing that the price was always tepid, and the two nobles from military backgrounds slowly raised the price, Joseph couldn't help but start to make a move, and as soon as he made a move, he increased the GBP by 1,000. ”

“gbp32，000。”

“gbp32，500。”

“gbp33，000。”

Joseph was very angry, he didn't bid and no one bid, but as soon as he said the price, someone actually increased GBP500, did he deliberately target himself?

"It's Duke Hollis."

It was at this time that Kate spoke, and then Joseph remembered what the Earl of Liverpool had said, and the Duke of Hollis was also present today, but they didn't know each other's private rooms.

The Japanese sword itself was intended to be given to Duke Hollis, so naturally Joseph could not compete any longer, and took a step back to give Duke Hollis a face, as for the gift, he could only find a way from other places.

At this time, Duke Hollis was also very strange, he naturally knew the private room of the Fox family, and it was because of this that he was even more curious, did the other party know him? Otherwise, how can it be possible to give yourself face and stop competing, you must know that it is not yet the peak of the price at this time.