Every year before the New Year, the emperor will give New Year's gifts to the clan relatives, at the end of the year, the princess instructed me early, be sure to be prepared, in the palace does not have some interesting things to buy in the palace to prepare for the gift.

When Mrs. Yang learned about this, she came over and said to the princess: "The gift of the princess's concubine is sent to the palace as a part, so it is better to give it to the concubine to procure." After Princess Shang, he didn't have much chance to show filial piety to the official family and Niangniang, and now he personally went to prepare a generous gift, which should also be. ”

The princess said: "Huaiji used to serve the emperor in the palace, and he knew their preferences very well, and it was more appropriate for him to purchase the gifts. ”

Mrs. Yang was displeased and said: "The concubine is the son-in-law of the official family, could it be that the vision of choosing gifts is not as good as that of the inferior person?" In previous years, he also prepared gifts from Uncle Guo's house several times, but he didn't see that the official family didn't like it. ”

Seeing that the princess suddenly changed color, I immediately spoke first: "Uncle and Mrs. Guo are reasonable, and the gifts are personally procured by the concubine, which shows the princess's filial piety, and the official family will like it more when they see it." ”

Liang Dujian also seconded the proposal and urged the princess to accept Mrs. Yang's suggestion, but the princess had to reluctantly agree.

Li Wei's attitude is far more modest than that of his mother. Before you go shopping, ask for my opinion and ask what kind of gift is more appropriate.

I told him: "There is no shortage of rare treasures in the palace, and the emperor and queen are usually frugal, and they don't like luxury utensils, but they all like Hanmo Danqing." If the Governor could present a few fine paintings and calligraphy, they would gladly accept it. ”

Li Wei did as he said, and after more than ten days, he brought back six paintings and calligraphy and handed them to me and the princess.

I unfolded it and looked at it one by one, and then silently handed it to the princess, who first looked at the most expensive one of them, Wang Xi's ruler, and played with it, and suddenly frowned lightly, and swept Li Wei sideways.

Li Wei was startled and turned to me in a panic, as if asking me, "Is there anything wrong with this word?" ”

I smiled at him kindly, and said, "Captain has worked hard, let's go back and rest early." You might as well leave the rest of the chores to Waiji. ”

After he left, the princess threw down the ruler in her hand and was quite angry: "This stupid rabbit has been wronged again, and has spent a lot of money to buy a copy and come back." ”

At that time, Bai Maoxian was also waiting on the side, and when he heard this, he picked up the ruler and looked at it carefully, and then asked the princess: "Why is the princess sure that it is a copy?" ”

The princess said: "Wang Youjun used purple paper for writing when he was young, and after middle age, he used hemp paper more, and Zhang Yongyi made paper. Since the dynasties, scholars have written on bamboo paper, and the Jin people have used bamboo paper, which must be fakes. ”

After that, she asked me again, "Are there any forgeries in the rest of the volumes?" ”

I picked out two volumes of calligraphy and paintings sent by Li Wei and handed them to the princess.

The princess first looked at a picture of a palace lady under Zhang Xuan's name, pondered for a moment, and realized the flaw.

"The skirt worn by this woman is a lotus pond valerian silk from the texture and pattern, which is a fabric that only exists in the national dynasty." She pointed to the person in the painting.

I bowed my chin and pointed to the person who painted the appearance of a minister, and said: "Zhang Xuan was a native of the Xuanzong Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty, and the minister wore a scarf like a palace at that time, but the person in this painting wore a veil wrapped in lacquer yarn, which was a style that only appeared in the late Tang Dynasty." ”

Bai Maoxian also approached gently, looked at the painting, and said: "Mr. Liang mentioned Zhang Xuan to me, saying that he painted women You Xi used vermilion to stain the roots of her ears, and he was good at painting babies, so he had both a childish appearance and a lively look. In this painting, neither of these features is present, and the baby held by the maid has an old face, as if the face of an adult has been shrunk ......"

He glanced at him, he immediately lowered his head and silenced, and the princess saw me and said, "Xiaobai is not wrong, why do you stop him from going on?" This painting is indeed a forgery made by later generations, and even Xiaobai can see it, but Li Wei is still ignorant. ”

She sighed and shook her head, and unfolded another painting that is said to be painted by Li Cheng, a famous landscape painter of the fifth generation, "Reading the Stone Tablet", this time she pondered for a long time, and still did not find anything suspicious, so she asked me: "This picture is set in a quiet environment, the charm is chic, the gesture is clear, the painting trees and stones are hooked first and then dyed, clear and clear, and there is rhyme, it is indeed Li Cheng's brushwork." There is no abnormality in the ink and color on silk. Where do you see that it is a fake? ”

I replied, "The imitators of this painting are obviously much more dedicated than the first two, and the facsimile is so vivid that even the name of the picture is almost unrealistic." But it is precisely because of the dedication of the copyist that he adheres to one of the principles of the master of making fakes: deliberately leaving a little flaw in the facsimile so that the person who knows it can distinguish it. The flaw in this picture is in the stele. On the side of the stele of the original work, there is a line of faintly visible subtle handwriting, 'Wang Xiao figures, Li Chengshushi', which is Li Cheng's signature, indicating that the characters in the painting were painted by his friend Wang Xiao. However, there is no such line in this painting, so the minister concluded that it was a copy. ”

"And how did you know that there was that line on it?" The princess asked.

I told her the reason: "A few years ago, Pei Chengzheng obtained the original of this painting from the people, and it has been hidden in the secret pavilion, and the minister has also seen it. ”

The princess put down the scroll and raised her eyes in contemplation, very melancholy. After a while, he sighed again: "Li Wei sits on the mountain of gold, but his knowledge is not as good as that of you ministers, and he bought six paintings and calligraphy with a lot of money, and half of them are fakes. Thinking that I must be tied to him for the rest of my life, I suddenly feel that life is not very interesting. ”

I was silent, and finally enlightened her like this: "But the concubine treats the princess very sincerely, and the person is very good. ”

She smiled faintly and changed the subject: "Huaiji, it seems that you still have to bother to go out and find some eye-catching calligraphy and paintings to dedicate to your father and widows." ”

I owe my life, and she showed a hint of worry again, and said: "It's just that there is not much time left now, and you rarely walk in the streets before, do you know where to look?"

I replied, "The princess doesn't need to worry too much, the minister knows where to go." ”