Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1027: Chapter 1023: Universe in a Bowl

Standing nearby, Huang Zhenlong wore a face full of envy, but his words were rather sour: ”Why send it back? Last time we sent it back, they didn’t look after it properly, and it got swapped with a fake in Dongyang. If we send it back again, won’t it get swapped out to Java? It would be better to keep it in our Forbidden City. We don’t even have Secret-Color Porcelain in our Forbidden City, and this bowl is much more beautiful than the one displayed at our Taicheng Museum. It’s a pity about the one in our museum.”

Huo Sining of course knew what Director Huang meant by pity. The only piece of the Yue Kiln in the Forbidden City is a lotus-patterned vase.

However, that lotus-patterned vase is not Secret-Color Porcelain, just an ordinary piece from the Yue Kiln.

Moreover, during its firing, the glaze on that lotus-patterned vase was overheated, resulting in a burnt and bubbling surface. The once beautiful and intact Yue Kiln vase is now covered in flaws.

It’s no wonder Huang Zhenlong would be jealous and envious. Such a Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain Bowl is hard to find another like it in the entire country. Due to its rarity, its value is immeasurable, and precisely because of this, this Secret-Color Porcelain has attracted the covetous eyes of so many domestic and international artifact dealers.

However, Huang Zhenlong’s words did not sit well with Zhou Shitao, who looked at Huang Zhenlong with a faint smile: ”Giving it to the Forbidden City would prevent it from getting swapped? The things happening within your domain might not be any less chaotic than Bai Changlin’s Taicheng Museum, right? You’d love to bring all the good things to your museum, but how many of your subordinates are truly diligent? You’re probably just as confused about that yourself, aren’t you?”

Zhou Shitao’s words were quite blunt, causing Huang Zhenlong’s expression to turn somewhat awkward. He wanted to retort, but after a few breaths, he couldn’t come up with a coherent response because he painfully realized that everything Zhou Shitao said was true, leaving him with nothing to counter.

Several old men carefully handled the Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain Teacup, gently stroking it in their hands. After they finished examining it, they saw Huo Sining wrapping the bowl back in old newspaper and storing it in the wooden brocade box. The old men were reluctant to let go, still cherishing the item lovingly.

This is also a normal mindset. Upon seeing something valuable, these individuals weren’t necessarily thinking about owning it but hoped to get just one more look.

Zhou Shitao was in a good mood, though he didn’t forget what Huo Sining said over the phone earlier. The little girl mentioned that she brought back two items; the Yue Kiln Secret-Color Porcelain was one, but what about the other one?

The other old men came to the same realization and eagerly asked Huo Sining, ”Yes, what about the other item? What is it? Don’t keep us in suspense, hurry and show us!”

Huo Sining smiled and said, ”I have already taken it out.”

”Where? I haven’t seen it,” Huang Zhenlong searched the room but didn’t see anything.

Even Zhou Shitao was a bit puzzled, looking around in confusion at Huo Sining.

Huo Sining pointed to the other bundle wrapped in newspaper inside the wooden brocade box and said with a smile, ”Here it is!”

Zhou Shitao was stunned, and Huang Zhenlong was taken aback: ”Here? Isn’t this the swapped counterfeit?”

The old men had all assumed that one of the two items wrapped in the brocade box was the real Secret-Color Porcelain, and the other was the counterfeit at the Taicheng Museum. No one had connected this item to the second treasure Huo Sining mentioned.

Huo Sining shook her head with a smile, ”No, I swapped the counterfeit back; it’s still in Dongyang. This is what I mentioned as the second item.”

As she spoke, Huo Sining reached out and removed the outer layer of old newspaper. Soon, a miraculous porcelain bowl was revealed to everyone.

Upon seeing the bowl, everyone’s expressions drastically changed, and nearly everyone held their breath.

The entire study fell into an eerie silence.

This was a tea bowl, with the inner walls covered in crystalline brown dots and surrounded by a silvery blue halo, resembling an eclipse.

Huo Sining placed the teacup on the desk, and with just these simple movements, the porcelain bowl reacted to the light. Under the light, the flares inside the bowl changed color, flashing with an enchanting brilliance.

Seeing this, Zhou Shitao was the first to take a deep breath and spoke in a deep voice, ”Is this the Glaze-altered Temmoku Tea Bowl?”

Huo Sining nodded, ”Yes, this is the one.”

Zhou Shitao’s body trembled uncontrollably. He reached out a shaky hand, seemingly wanting to touch the bowl, but withdrew halfway, showing an expression of barely contained excitement: ”Old Huang, pinch me to see if it hurts.”

The Glaze-altered Temmoku Tea Bowl belongs to the Song Dynasty Black Glaze, used by the Song people for tea competitions. The Dongyang people described this bowl as a ”universe in a bowl,” suggesting that one could glimpse the nighttime sky, mysterious and profound.

This is a magical artifact. The natural kiln alterations have created patterns on the Glaze-altered Temmoku Tea Bowl, forming flamboyant spots under visual perception, making people feel like they are gazing at the splendid night sky by the sea, a sky full of mysteries akin to an unfathomable world.

Ranking by individual pieces within Huaxia Country’s ceramic items, this bowl can undoubtedly be considered at the top. Each bowl is unique, its pattern unmatched. Not a single similar piece has been found among numerous archaeological pottery fragments discovered.

However, only two of these bowls have been known to exist, and later they were plundered by Dongyang people to the Island Country, immediately becoming treasures sought after by princely nobles. Yet, the two existing bowls were soon destroyed by Oda Nobunaga during the burning of Honnouji. The remaining one changed hands from Tokugawa Ieyasu to Lady Kasuga, ultimately reaching Iwasaki Koyata during the Meiji period.

Because there was only this one bowl, and it ended up in Dongyang, it found itself in an awkward position among Huaxia ceramics. Nonetheless, no matter its position, no one could deny that this bowl was a world-renowned masterpiece, unparalleled.

As Iwasaki Koyata once said, although he obtained this teacup, he never drank tea from it, believing it to be worthy only of the heavens, beyond what he deserved to use.

Huo Sining lowered her head, her gaze falling upon this bowl. With the change in angle of the light as she lowered her head, the halo of the Temmoku Teacup began to fluctuate in color, shining with an enchanting light. Just gazing upon it invoked an inexplicable reverence, seeming unlike any human-made porcelain.