Confused, he walked out of Shen Ao's house with an empty wine jar, and Director Zhao was thinking about Shen Ao's words, the official paintings worth 10,000 gold, whether this was true or false.

Back at the residence, Director Zhao couldn't sleep, and lay on the couch in his clothes, looking at smallpox in a daze, and thought to himself: "Do you want to inform Wang Xianggong about this matter?" Then he shook his head again, and said to himself: "No, the prince said that he can't go to see him unless he has to." ”

"The painting ...... of the official family" Director Zhao sat up and said in a low voice: "This matter must be investigated clearly, and we will talk about it when we have a letter." ”

Thinking in a trance, he was so tired that he fell asleep and fell asleep. Unconsciously, the sky began to light up, the sunlight penetrated the pane, sprinkled a piece of gold, Zhao got up and put on his shoes, his head was still a little swollen, yesterday in order to deduct the words from Shen Ao's mouth, he also drank a lot of wine, at first he didn't feel anything, but when he woke up from sleep, it was a little disadvantageous.

"You're old!" Director Zhao sighed in his heart, he has been a poor person in this house for half his life, to put it bluntly, he is actually a dog, and it is still a little convenient now, so he has to hurry up and earn some pension and coffin money for himself. Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered the painting again, if he said that he was not tempted, it would be impossible, no, without further ado, who knows when Shen Ao will hand over the painting to Guogong, and he will have to get the painting in front of him.

He straightened his clothes, and immediately resumed his style of being a steward, and after thinking about it, he went out. After passing through the moon cave and the corridor, a few servants bumped into him and greeted him, and Director Zhao bowed his head to them, grabbed an errand and said, "I want to go out, if there is anything, ask Brother Yang to watch for me." ”

He took his hands in his hands, and naturally had a bearing in front of his subordinates, and swaggered out of the house.

In order to distinguish the authenticity of the painting, it is necessary to prove that Shen Ao really has an official painting on him, and he must first go to the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion to inquire, fortunately, he also has acquaintances in Jingzhao Mansion, and there is an errand officer who is considered his fellow countryman, although he has not been in contact for a long time, it is not difficult to say a few words.

The fellow villager was really on duty today, and followed him to a corner outside the yamen and asked: "Uncle Zhao, why are you free today, I can't see you in peace, this country's mansion is stricter than the yamen of Jingzhao Mansion, and it is very troublesome to send a letter." ”

Director Zhao said with a smile: "Let's not talk about this first, I have something to inquire about you." So he asked about Shen Ao's lawsuit.

This fellow villager is a scribe, and when Director Zhao just talked about Shen Ao, he immediately remembered and said, "I remember him, this person is making a lot of noise!" So he told the previous story as it was, first Gonggong Cao took his sister to sue Shen Ao, this scribe is a veteran in handling cases, and at first he also thought that this person would definitely die, and Gonggong Cao would go out, and ten such people would also die. Who knew that there were twists and turns in the case, but Shen Ao took out a painting......

Director Zhao was ecstatic in his heart and said, "Is it an imperial painting?" ”

The scribe nodded: "Exactly, the imperial painting is on his body, and it can be regarded as a token of the official family, who dares to touch him?" Besides, since this person can get the imperial painting, most of them are rewarded by the official family, and the origin should not be underestimated. It seemed that Liu Tong was on duty at that time, and he was shocked at that time, and this case could no longer be tried. ”

Director Zhao nodded and said, "Is the imperial painting real?" ”

The scribe said, "Is this still fake? Is it easy for Gonggong Cao and Tong Juan to bully? At that time, someone was specially invited to screen it, and it was indeed the authentic work of the official family. ”

Director Zhao couldn't help but think in his heart: "This Shen Ao is really bold, this painting is not coming from the right way, he dares to take it out openly in Jingzhao Mansion." Then he nodded again: "Yes, the more bold he takes it out, the more Gonggong Cao is afraid of the East Window incident, and the general judge and the servants will mistakenly think that this is a reward from the official family, even if everyone in the world knows about this matter, but who will go to the Forbidden Garden of the Deep Palace to talk to the official family?" Is it true that when an official rewards a painting, he also has to ask about it? ”

"This person is very bold, but he is very scheming!" made this judgment, Director Zhao smiled and asked the scribe to go back to the office, saying that he would look for him in a few days to catch up, and the scribe did not suspect him, so he went back to sign the detention room.

"It seems that it's time to discuss with Wang Xianggong and see if Wang Xianggong has a way." Director Zhao made up his mind.

He walked through a few alleys, stopped in a secluded courtyard, took a look, and then opened the fence gate and crept in.

A vigilant voice came from the room: "Who is it?" This voice was thick and tinged with a hint of fierceness, which startled Director Zhao.

Director Zhao hurriedly said: "Wang Xianggong, it's me!" Director Zhao of the Guogong Mansion! ”

"Isn't the two thousand dollars already given to you? What else are you going to do, get out! ”

Director Zhao lowered his voice embarrassedly: "Can Wang Xianggong listen to me finish his words first, and then it's not too late to drive people away." He hurriedly said: "I inquired about one thing today, a scholar in the Shen Mansion got an imperial painting. ”

"Imperial paintings?" The voice muttered, and then fell silent.

Director Zhao stood at the door of the wing room and waited restlessly, after half a burnt of incense, seeing that there was no response inside, he was a little disheartened, rubbing his hands and preparing to turn away.

At this moment, the door of the wing room opened, and the door opened was a middle-aged Confucian with a Chinese face, with a calm and clear appearance, but the eyes were very sharp, he glanced at Zhao, sneered, and turned around and walked into the house.

Director Zhao hurriedly chased into the house in embarrassment, in front of this person, he was particularly cautious, and cautiously smiled: "How is Xianggong Wang lately?" I wonder if the ring came off? ”

Wang Xianggong sat down by himself, but did not ask Director Zhao to sit, and said coldly: "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." ”

"Yes, yes!" Director Zhao hurriedly said: "It's me who is too talkative." ”

"Tell me, what kind of imperial painting is it?" Wang Xianggong didn't even bother to raise his eyes, but he picked up a small bronze stove in front of him and played with it in his hand with a focused look.

Director Zhao said: "Here's the thing, the official family painted an imperial painting, which was later stolen by a eunuch in the palace, but for some reason it fell into the hands of a scholar in the Guogong Mansion. This scholar's surname is Shen, his name is Shen Ao, and he is not an easy person to deal with, so he also suffered a lawsuit for this. This Shen Ao heard that Guogong likes antiques, calligraphy and painting, so he thought about giving this painting to Guogong to have a future. ”

"Haven't you seen the imperial painting with your own eyes?" Wang Xianggong only showed some interest at this moment.

Director Zhao shook his head: "I was afraid of startling the snake, so I didn't go to see it." ”

Wang Xianggong closed his eyes and sneered: "If you don't see the real face, you can't tell the real from the fake?" Maybe it's someone who set up a situation for us to show up, it's not necessarily, you're too rough, if someone follows you behind you, you and I will die without a place to bury, stupid, it's really stupid......"

Director Zhao hurriedly distinguished: "Although I haven't seen the painting, I have asked around, and it is true that this Shen Shutong has an imperial painting in his hand. As he spoke, he told Shen Ao about the painting he took out in Jingzhao Mansion, and continued: "At that time, Jingzhao Mansion asked someone to inspect it, and there is no doubt that it is genuine. Besides, I was very cautious on this trip, and there were no suspicious people following me. ”

Wang Xianggong put down the Ding furnace, fell into deep thought again, and said after a while: "Since it is a royal painting, I am a little interested, but it is better to be careful, or the old rules, the painting belongs to me, and I will give you another 2,000 yuan, how about it?" ”

Director Zhao rubbed his hands and smiled greedily: "It is a pleasure to follow Wang Xianggong." ”

Wang Xianggong snorted coldly and said, "Don't say some useless words, you can go back now, or according to our previous method, arrange for me to meet with this scholar, go." ”

Director Zhao hurriedly said yes and walked briskly.