Reborn As Super Heiress

Huo Sining’s gaze unconsciously followed that cup.

On the side, Li Xuanbing seemed a bit confused, and couldn’t help quietly asking Huo Sining next to her: ”What’s the story behind the Qingyu Hejin Cup, and why is everyone so excited?”

Huo Sining couldn’t help but laugh: ”It’s probably because this cup is a unique set, used by the Emperor during the imperial wedding to drink the wedding wine, and it’s the handiwork of Lu Zigang. If it’s genuine, its value is immeasurable.”

Even though Li Xuanbing didn’t know the name of the Qingyu Hejin Cup, she knew of Lu Zigang. So when she heard what Huo Sining said, she couldn’t help but gape, surprisedly looking up at the pair of cups on the stage.

Lu Zigang was a jade carver from the Ming Dynasty. He crafted the Jade Dew hairstick and possessed delicate and ingenious hands. He excelled at jade carving; in his hands, every piece of jade could become splendidly crafted, as seen in a jade narcissus hairstick he once carved, delicate and exquisite, with flower stalks as thin as hair without breaking.

According to historical records, renowned jade carvers of the Ming Dynasty included He Si and Wang Xiaoxi, but Lu Zigang was the most famous.

Lu Zigang, although just a humble jade carving artisan, was well-known throughout the country. His jade carving skills were hailed as the ”unique skill of Wu Zhong,” and his jade artifacts were called ”Zigang Jade,” sought after by officials and nobles, extremely precious. ”Zigang Jade” was even compared to Tang Bohu’s paintings of beautiful ladies from the same era.

In fact, during the Ming Dynasty, the management of craftsmanship was very strict, with a rigid hierarchy. Even in the late Ming period, when the ”great artisan system” was abolished, remnants of it persisted.

In such a context, the humble jade carver Lu Zigang being esteemed by literati and elegant scholars as a guest, showcases his superb and ingeniously crafted jade carving skills.

Lu Zigang was very particular about jade carving, with sayings like ”if the jade color is not beautiful, he will not work on it; if the jade quality is not good, he will not work on it; if the jade nature is not favorable, he will not work on it.” Under his knife, even a small jade ring could evoke the sensation of a thousand galloping horses. It is precisely because of this that his carving skills became world-renowned, and his jade carvings were even adopted by the Royal family as exclusive tributes.

However, Lu Zigang also had an eccentric aspect, which was that all his masterful skills stemmed from his uniquely crafted fine engraver ”Kunwu,” but he never showed this Kunwu knife to anyone and even insisted on keeping the carving skills secret.

This resulted in his master skill being lost after his death. It remains a mystery to this day what tools Lu Zigang used to carve jade artifacts so intricately.

It is also because Lu Zigang’s skill was lost that his surviving works became increasingly precious. This is why, when Xu Shilong brought out this set of Qingyu Hejin Cups, the people in the venue were so beside themselves.

Xu Shilong was rather generous, noticing that everyone was interested in the Qingyu Hejin Cup, he stepped back generously, allowing everyone to come forward to view it.

As Huo Sining expected, her teacher, the moment Xu Shilong spoke this sentence, rushed directly onto the stage.

She had seen this happen once at the Imperial Capital Ghost Market, so she was not surprised. Only at this time would her teacher exhibit such a competitive spirit, moving even faster than young people.

Seeing Zhou Shitao rush onto the stage in the blink of an eye, the audience was dumbfounded, and Xu Shilong’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch slightly.

Huo Sining also felt a bit embarrassed, instinctively lowering her head and sighing while holding her forehead. At this moment, she really didn’t want to acknowledge that the old man on stage, looking so smug, was her highly respected and venerated teacher. It was truly... too embarrassing.

Zhou Shitao, however, didn’t care about others’ opinions at all. He directly went up, bent down, and carefully examined those jade cups. After looking for several minutes, he walked off the stage contentedly.

The people waiting behind couldn’t wait to get up on stage as well. While Zhou Shitao was on stage, no one dared to rush up, considering Zhou Shitao’s status, no one dared to clash with him. But now that Zhou Shitao had come down, those people didn’t care anymore, swarming onto the stage, surrounding the display stage, and observing those jade cups carefully.

Huo Sining and Li Xuanbing also wanted to take a look, but with so many people on stage, they could only wait patiently. At this time, Xu Shilong spoke up: ”The items are right here, friends who want to come up on stage and take a look are welcome. If anyone else wants to present something, we can look at the current items while displaying other items as well, saving some time this way.”

No one spoke from the audience, and just then, someone suddenly stood up and said, ”If no one is going up, then I’ll go!”

The voice was somewhat familiar. Huo Sining instinctively turned her head to look, and upon taking a closer look, wasn’t it Liang Ruicheng?

Enemies really meet on a narrow path!

Huo Sining couldn’t help but roll her eyes in her heart. This was truly bizarre. She had just had a clash with Liang Ruicheng, and now she ran into him again at this charitable auction. It’s like seeing a ghost, how could it be so coincidental!?

Because there were quite a few participants at the auction, Huo Sining didn’t look at everyone one by one, so she hadn’t noticed that Liang Ruicheng was also here. Seeing Liang Ruicheng on stage now, her expression remained unchanged, but inside, she couldn’t help but complain.

On the other side, Xu Shilong seemed quite happy to see Liang Ruicheng volunteering, nodding and smiling as he said, ”Alright then, please let Mr. Liang come up and showcase his treasure!”

Liang Ruicheng, smiling, carried his box onto the stage. Xu Shilong handed the microphone to him, and he accepted it with a smile, then placed both the box and microphone on the podium, subsequently opening his box and taking out an item.

With the item now out, Liang Ruicheng held the microphone but did not explain anything. He simply gestured for everyone to look for themselves, though his eyes and brows exuded a great deal of confidence.

Although Huo Sining had a very poor impression of Liang Ruicheng, antiques themselves have no right or wrong. She detested Liang Ruicheng, but she did not dislike the antique he held enough to irrationally disregard it. So after Liang Ruicheng revealed his item, Huo Sining still followed his gesture and looked over.

It was a tall Bronze Pot, approximately fifty centimeters high, with a mouth diameter of about fifteen centimeters, and an abdomen diameter roughly thirty centimeters, with a ring foot about twenty centimeters wide. The top was fitted with a lid. The entire Bronze Pot had an elongated top and a fuller bottom, with the vessel body comprised of three levels of patterns. The base had a thunder pattern, two sets of string patterns divided the vessel body into three sections—upper, middle, and lower. Atop the lid was decorated with a pattern of a phoenix.