Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1029: Chapter 1025: Truly Audacious

Zhou Shitao was already numbed by one shocking piece of news after another from Huo Sining. When he heard Huo Sining mention that there was still something to confess, he didn’t react much, only woodenly asking, ”What is it?”

Huo Sining glanced at Gu Xu and said, ”I have been hiding something. This operation was mainly conducted by my senior brother and his subordinates, and I was essentially just an onlooker.”

”On Christmas Eve, the items lost from the Dongdu National Museum were not just those more than forty exhibit pieces.”

When he got to this point, Huo Sining intentionally cleared his throat twice and looked at the reactions of the several old men in the room, and then said slowly, ”In fact, we also stole about over four thousand Huaxia cultural relics from the museum warehouse; most of them are unique and rare treasures.”

It was utter silence, with several old men standing frozen in place, without any response.

Over four thousand items, this number directly stunned everyone.

After a long while, Huang Zhenlong reached out his hand to rub his ear, thinking he had misheard: ”How many did you just say?”

Huo Sining once again confirmed, ”Over four thousand items. There are ancient stone tools, Shang and Zhou Dynasty bronzewares, Wei and Jin Dynasty stone Buddhist scriptures, Tang and Song Dynasty paintings and calligraphy, Ming and Qing Dynasty porcelains from various categories.”

Su Zhongqing and Shi Qingyun were completely dumbfounded. Zhou Shitao and Huang Zhenlong exchanged a glance, both taken aback.

”Over four thousand pieces? Are you sure it’s over four thousand pieces, not over forty pieces? How did you get so many things out? Did you really move them out from the National Museum Warehouse? No mistakes?”

Zhou Shitao couldn’t quite believe it, as the number was simply too enormous.

Huo Sining laughed, ”The items were all appraised by me. Master, are you not aware of my appraisal skills? Others may not know, but don’t you?”

This time Zhou Shitao didn’t say anything.

To dispel their doubts, Huo Sining straightforwardly began to enumerate those things: ”I still remember quite a few of the items, such as the Southern Song Dynasty’s Ma Yuan’s ’Solitary Angling on a Cold River’, Wang Xizhi’s ’Preface to the Orchids Pavilion Deluxe,’ the ’Li Bochi Manuscript of Letters’ from the Former Liang period, all of which are rare historical treasures and artifacts.”

Finishing listing, Su Zhongqing over there was trembling with excitement, his eyes widened like bells, looking at Huo Sining with both excitement and delight.

As a master of traditional Chinese painting, Su Zhongqing might not understand porcelain and bronze artifacts, but he certainly would not be unaware of these famous ancient paintings. So upon hearing Huo Sining mention them, he already knew their value.

These ancient paintings had long been stranded in Dongyang, and although he had heard of them since childhood, he had never had the fortune to see them. This had always been a deeply buried regret in Su Zhongqing’s heart. Never did he expect that he would learn from Huo Sining that these paintings were retrieved, and he might have the chance to see these masterpieces in person, which made Su Zhongqing excited beyond measure.

Shi Qingyun over there was also looking at Huo Sining, and Huo Sining started listing again: ”There’s also Wang Xizhi’s ’Sang Luan Tie’, three volumes of the incomplete ’Yongle Encyclopedia,’ and even a Peking Man skull. Oh, and there’s one large piece that I think you’d like, Master.”

Zhou Shitao had already been overwhelmed by Huo Sining’s series of announcements, entirely immersed in immense joy. Upon hearing Huo Sining say this, he asked instinctively without thinking, what it was.

Huo Sining smirked confidently and said, ”The Honglu Well Stele.”

The name caused Zhou Shitao’s expression to stiffen, his lips quivering as if wanting to say something. His lips moved, yet before making a sound, his eyes reddened first.

In both domestic and international academic circles, especially in the fields of history and archaeology, the Tang Dynasty’s ”Honglu Well Stele” is not unfamiliar. This stele was chiseled out more than twelve hundred years ago, and in Huaxia Country’s discovered and recorded accounts, the Honglu Well Stele is a precious relic proving the relations between the Tang Dynasty and the Bohai Kingdom.

This stele corrected the erroneous viewpoint held by some foreign scholars that the Bohai Kingdom was a completely independent state equivalent to the Tang Dynasty, serving as critical evidence proving the unification of Huaxia Country’s territory and ethnic amalgamation during the grand era of the Tang Dynasty, owning significant historiographic value.

However, such an important artifact was directly plundered to Dongyang at the onset of invasion wars, right after the Dongyang Army occupied the East Three Provinces. This remains a notorious example of Dongyang’s military openly looting precious historical relics from Huaxia.

However, compared to other academic researchers, Zhou Shitao’s obsession with the Honglu Well Stele might be deeper, because his ancestral home was in Jisheng Lüshun, and the Honglu Well Stele relics used to stand at Lüshunkou, leaving Zhou Shitao with a distinct emotional attachment to the stele.

Now learning that the stele had also been obtained by Huo Sining, Zhou Shitao’s emotions instantly became somewhat uncontrollable, as he directly grabbed Huo Sining’s shoulders, excitedly asking: ”Are you sure? That stele is three meters wide, two meters high, weighing almost ten tons, how did you move it out?”

Huo Sining laughed, ”Didn’t I mention it already? In this entire incident, I was just a bystander. My senior brother, much like my master, possesses considerable skills, but he’s secretive and mysterious, doing things beyond comprehension. However, I did see those items, even handled them, so they’re undoubtedly authentic, definitely taken out from the National Museum Warehouse. I even went into that warehouse; it stored at least more than 100,000 Huaxia cultural relics. Unfortunately, the time was too short overnight, or else my senior brother might have emptied the National Museum!”

Huo Sining had a master from Bashu who was elusive, something Zhou Shitao knew. Now hearing Huo Sining talk about her senior brother in that tone, it was likely he belonged to the same faction, someone who acts based entirely on personal whims.

Moreover, someone capable of pulling off such a sinister act, stealing over four thousand antiques from the National Museum overnight, yet willing to completely hand over these stolen relics to Huo Sining for handling, is likely someone who doesn’t care much for fame or fortune, with a temperament likely very peculiar.

Zhou Shitao filled in the blanks in his mind, becoming a bit more curious about this secret sect behind Huo Sining. However, it wasn’t the time to probe into these matters. Realizing that Huo Sining now had so many relics, especially the Honglu Well Stele he had yearned for so long, Zhou Shitao, always keeping his composure, was also a bit restless now:

”Being able to obtain over four thousand pieces is already a miracle, and one shouldn’t be too greedy. If you actually emptied the place, those Dongyang people might indeed suspect the Huaxia people. If they target us then, even if we deny it, it’s a hassle for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to negotiate; those Dongyang devils are tough to deal with. The current top priority is to figure out a way to transport so many items back from Dongyang!”