Chapter 1: The Greatest Art Thief in History
"Now for the latest news." On TV, the voice of the smiling anchor is mellow, and then the TV screen turns, and a well-dressed man appears in the eyes of the audience.
"The famous art thief Shen Ao fell off a cliff and died in the process of evading Interpol, and the relevant departments organized a search for the location of the incident, and the relevant relics have been found, but the body has not been found for the time being."
"Let's review Shen Ao's criminal process. In 2001, Shen Ao forged the Ming and Qing dynasties' work "Seven Sages of the Colorful Bamboo Forest Porcelain" and made a profit of 70 million yuan. After that, the suspect went on a rampage and stole a $7 million painting "Castle of Spain" from a Dutch museum.
In 2003, the suspect forged one of Van Gogh's most valuable works, Xiang Yuekui, and sold it for $140 million by an international collector. In 2006, the suspect forged the "Qingming Riverside Map" and tried to sell it and was cracked by international organizations, but the suspect has been on the run.
In the process of fleeing, he repeatedly forged famous paintings and antiques for peddling, behaved badly, and repeatedly committed crimes by fraud and theft, and obtained dozens of famous paintings and antiques from various periods by illegal means.
Interpol has raised the wanted level to a red notice and offered a million-dollar reward for finding the suspect. Now, five years later, the suspects have finally been brought to justice. ”
The TV cut to a cliff side, police officers in various uniforms, scouts in crisp suits, and military police had set up a cordon, and the helicopter was hovering in mid-air, and someone lowered the cable and began to try to enter the bottom of the suspension search.
"We will still pay attention to the follow-up content of this case. Next up is the latest news about Kenya......"
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Spring water, peach blossoms, cruises. In the spring staggered on the shore of Ruoshui Lake, the surface of the lake is sparkling and quiet. Facing the sunshine on the shore of the lake, the painting boat parked on the surface of the river is filled with the fragrance of peach blossoms.
On the painting boat, several sons were in their prime, laughing endlessly.
"My son's poetry is booming, and I have to sing a song to help the fun."
A hearty laugh, a short and fat boy with a pockmarked face shone brightly, crossed his hands and said: "A group of ducks by the river, quack, quack, I stand by the river, and the ducks are scattered." ”
"Good poetry!" The two sons at the same table took the case, and their excitement was beyond words. The tall and thin boy almost worshipped the five bodies, and the short one's eyes lit up, and they all said: "Zhou Gongzi's paintings are good, and his poetry is even more unparalleled, such good poems are difficult to find in the world." ”
"I heard that the county lord of Qinghe loves talents the most, and Gongzi Zhou gave this poem to the county lord of Qinghe, but I am afraid that he will not be able to capture the heart of the county lord of Qinghe?"
"Hahaha......" The short and fat Zhou Gongzi laughed heartily, proudly with modesty, with implied arrogance in humility, Zhuo Ao with reserve, sat down and said: "The brothers have won the award, and the poems of this son are still a little worse than Li Dulai." ”
Under the willow trees on the shore, a few small servants waited, and a handsome housekeeper spat out: "I'm phew! ”
It's just bullshit and limericks, but they still have to serve a group of 'sons' who praise each other and don't know how to be honest. Shen Ao had the urge to hit the wall.
Shen Ao did not die, when he was chased by the criminal police, there was a vast sea under the cliff, and Shen Ao had already arranged a life-saving device in the sea. His plan was simple, to fake his death to convince Interpol that he was dead, and then change his face and start his career as a thief again.
That jump went wrong, and I don't know what the reason was, he changed his identity again and became a miscellaneous servant of the Zhou Mansion of the Duke of Bianjing in the fourth year of Xuanhe in the Northern Song Dynasty.
crossed, and the clothes seemed to disappoint Shen Ao a little, a handyman with no status.
The deed of sale is still in the Zhou Mansion, which means that he has no personal freedom. Once he left the Zhou Mansion without permission, the government could arrest him, imprint a tattoo on his forehead, and send him to the garrison.
As a thief, Shen Ao naturally has many ways to start a new life. It's just that he is not familiar with this place, and it is indeed a bit unreasonable to be wanted by the government just to escape from the Zhou Mansion. So, he still has to do this handyman.
The best way out is to find a way to get some money to redeem yourself.
Today's Shen Ao is a person who has died once, and he has long been tired of the life of fugitive, and he wants to start over, and he will not use drastic means until he is forced to do so.
Moreover, the life of the miscellaneous servants seems to be not bad, although it is hard, but there are groups of young ladies and maids in the Zhou Mansion, all of whom are middle-class and upper-class, but they have a good appetite for Shen Ao.
It's just that Zhou Gongzi and a few fox friends touted each other, so that Shen Ao, who was far away, couldn't help but have the urge to flee, and he immersed himself in various arts all his life, from poetry and painting to porcelain and carving, and his attainments were extraordinary. Encountering this group of vassals and elegant guys, Shen Ao asked Qingtian speechlessly.
Standing under the willow tree, compared to the other servants and family members, Shen Ao looked a little arrogant. A few family members didn't like Shen Ao a little, and they got together in a bunch of idle chatter, excluding Shen Ao.
Shen Ao smiled, his eyes fell on the wine jar held by one of the family members, his nose moved slightly, and the rich aroma of wine permeated the tip of his nose.
"Good wine!" Shen Ao leaned over: "I'm not wrong in guessing, this should be the bamboo leaf green that has been stored for ten years." Just by smelling it, you know that it is a holy product in wine. ”
The family holding the wine jar is called Zhang Shao, who is Zhang Gongzi's follower, and glanced at Shen Ao with cold eyes: "My son-in-law naturally brings good wine." It's just that this wine is not for us to drink, so what are you happy about? ”
Several family members laughed, and someone said: "Maybe people want to try it, but it's a pity that my parents are not princes, only for the sake of watching." ”
Shen Ao smiled slightly and said, "So you are sure that I can't drink this wine?" ”
"So what?" Zhang Shao hugged the wine jar tightly, his eyes full of contempt.
Shen Ao sighed: "This little guy admires your courage very much, let's take a gamble." If I don't drink this bamboo leaf, I will pay you all the money. But what if you drink it? ”
Zhang Shao and several family members looked at each other, wondering if this Shen Ao was crazy. It has always been a month's salary for servants, and together with Zhang Shao, there are a total of four family members here, if Shen Ao loses the bet, he may have to pay half a year's expenses.
Zhang Shao's eyes rolled: "It's okay if you want to gamble, you can drink this bamboo leaf green, and we will pay you four times." It's just that you have to drink it in front of several sons. ”
Zhang Shao was afraid that Shen Ao would cheat, this guy secretly dipped a little to eat, didn't he fall for his trick?
Shen Ao immediately showed a look of embarrassment: "That's it...... Well, I'll try. ”
The four family members laughed together, and Zhang Shao was even more happy. This wine is Zhang Gongzi's treasure, and it is the most treasured. This eyeless thing dared to drink their treasures in front of the sons, and the sons were angry and had to beat him to death.
The first of the three sons is surnamed Zhou, whose name is Heng, who is the son-in-law of the Duke of Qi Guo and the main master of Shen Ao's service. The other two are surnamed Zhang and the other is Wang, Zhang Gongzi is the son of the privy deputy envoy, and the family background of the surname Wang is not simple, but he is one of the richest people in Bianjing.
The three of them are well-known in Bianjing, and it is not fun to kill someone. This surnamed Shen really wants money and doesn't want to die.
At this time, Zhang Gongzi's voice came out of the painting boat: "Zhang Shao, why don't you take this son's wine?" ”
Shen Ao said to Zhang Shao: "I'll send it over." ”
Zhang Shao handed over the wine jar to Shen Ao, sincerely wanting to see Shen Ao's liveliness, Zhang Shao had long seen that this newcomer was not pleasing to the eye. At this time, he can still make consistent money, which is really good.
Shen Ao held the wine jar and went up the painting boat along the river embankment, and the Zhang Gongzi looked a little dissatisfied: "Why didn't Zhang Shao's dog come over with wine?" ”
Shen Ao smiled: "His arm is a little sore, for fear of disturbing a few sons' Yaxing, so let me do it for me." ”
He opened the mud seal, poured wine for several sons, and said: "Zhang Gongzi's wine is really good, I am already drunk for three points just by smelling this wine." ”
Zhang Gongzi's tall and thin figure looked even more erect, and his powdered face also revealed a little bright red: "Of course, I am reluctant to drink such a good wine, and I am only willing to take it out when I meet my best friends." ”
Zhou Heng's mouth was dry just now, and he was full of anticipation at the moment, he picked up the cup and tasted it, and hurriedly said: "Good wine, good wine, Zhang Gongzi's poems are good, and the wine is also very good." ”
Zhang Gongzi hurriedly said modestly: "There is good wine in the Prayer Mansion, and it is ugly below." ”
Several people praised each other, Shen Ao couldn't listen to it anymore, and said with a smile: "Actually, when it comes to this wine, I have a unique skill, but I'm afraid that I will make a few sons laugh." ”
Zhou Heng's face pulled down and scolded: "Dog Cai, there are no rules like this, I drink with two brothers, where can you speak?" ”
Shen Ao hurriedly confessed, and Zhang Gongzi on the side said, "Brother Zhou, don't worry, listen to what he has to say first?" We chanted poems and enjoyed the scenery, but we were worried that we couldn't find fun. ”
Shen Ao pretended to be cautious and said: "I am born with a problem, but if you drink bad wine, dark spots will grow on your face, but if you drink good wine, there will be no hindrance." If you want to know if this wine is the best quality, I just need to taste it. ”
Zhou Heng was a little annoyed: "Goucai, didn't you say that Zhang Gongzi's wine is bad wine?" ”
Shen Ao shook his head: "That's not what it means, wine is naturally good wine, but it's unknown how good it is." ”
What he said was extremely disobedient, who is Zhou Heng? Seizures are imminent. At this time, Zhang Gongzi was interested, and hurriedly said: "In this way, we can only distinguish between good wine and bad wine, as for how good wine is good, how to estimate how good it is?" ”
Shen Ao said: "The more flaws in the wine, the more dark spots on the face, the better the wine, and the more abnormal the face." ”
"Wonderful!" Zhang Gongzi's spirit soared, he had treasured the bamboo leaves for a long time in the past ten years, if he didn't want to slap this Young Master Zhou, he would be reluctant to take it out. But there is a disadvantage to this thing, although there is a difference between good wine and bad wine, but it is difficult to distinguish between good wine, so that Shen Ao can prove that this wine is the best of the best, wouldn't he have more face in front of Zhou Heng? It must be known that Zhou Heng is the prince of the duke, and he has countless treasures at home, which one of the drinks is not a treasure? If you can't taste the beauty of bamboo leaves in the past ten years, wouldn't it be a pity?
"Then you can pour yourself a glass and give us an eye-opener."
The prince on the side was also interested, and a pair of eyes stared straight at Shen Ao. Zhou Heng didn't get angry, and stood by with a smile.
Shen Ao took an empty cup, and after it was full, he took a sip, this wine was very mellow, and the entrance brought a fragrance of bamboo leaves, and the aftertaste was endless.
"Good wine!" Shen Ao smacked his lips, savoring the mellow smell, put down the wine glass and said to Zhang Gongzi: "Childe, do you see that I have dark spots on my face?" ”
Zhang Gongzi looked at it seriously and shook his head: "No." ”
Shen Ao showed Zhou Heng and Wang Gongzi again, and the two of them also looked at it with interest for a moment, and both shook their heads.
Shen Ao praised from the bottom of his heart: "This wine is already the best among the best wines, I am afraid that I can't buy it in the wine market, Zhang Gongzi is really bold, and such a good wine is willing to take it out and share it with others." ”
Zhang Gongzi is already happy, where does he care if this Shen Ao is tricky, what he wants is this evaluation, and said to Zhou Heng: "The Zhou family is really extraordinary, even a house slave is so eye-catching and able to speak." ”
Shen Ao held Zhang Gongzi's wine, Zhang Gongzi turned back to praise the Zhou family's family style, Zhou Gongzi's pockmarked face was immediately radiant, and when he looked at Shen Ao, he felt much more pleasing to the eye, laughed and became modest: "Don't dare to be, don't dare to be." ”
Shen Ao poured wine for a few young masters, then withdrew from the painting boat and returned to the willow tree, only to see Zhang Shao's pale faces, and they looked at Shen Ao strangely and came back with the smell of wine intact. Just now they saw Shen Ao drink it all in one gulp with a full cup of bamboo leaf green, and there was nowhere to argue if they wanted to.
"Get the money!" Shen Ao smiled slightly, stretched out his hand, and nodded at the four stunned family members.