"Anyone's paintings could be fake, except for these few of mine, absolutely impossible!"
Second Master Feng declared confidently. This time the crows in the sky changed their line; instead of talking about counterfeits, they started directly with personal attacks.
"Idiot! Feng the Great Idiot! Duped and counting money for them! Truly a big fool!"
Second Master Feng was so angry that his hair braid almost stood up.
"Bring Gou Sheng's bird bow, I am going to shoot that bird today!"
"No need, truly no need, Second Master!" Seeing Second Master Feng rolling up his sleeves, Gou Sheng's father, Steward Cai, rushed forward to mediate.
The other guests followed suit in persuading him.
On this side, just as Second Master was fuming, in walked a young man from outside, wearing a whistle around his neck and dressed in a black brocade outfit.
A woman looks beautiful in mourning attire; a man looks handsome in black.
At this moment, Xu Qing was dressed in a brocade suit with the same skin tone as Xuan Yu, looking vibrant and lively.
When Second Master Feng saw Xu Qing, it was like seeing a relative.
"Younger Brother Xu, you're an old master at this. Come check these paintings for me, are they authentic?"
Xu Qing chuckled inwardly, swayed over, and his gaze continuously rested on the paintings spread out.
"Wonderful! Truly a superb work, look at these flowers and birds, the feathers are delicate and lifelike, the colors are elegantly natural, viewing them drives away vulgarity, even if Meng Chuan and Shen Congzhou were alive it would hardly be more than this."
"Now look at this painting of pines and bamboo, the pines and bamboo are graceful and elegant, seemingly echoing the sound of the wind, even the bamboo eccentric Zheng Sanjue would applaud it!"
"And here's Fish Playing Among Lotuses, A Lonely Fisherman in a Cold River..."
Xu Qing, proficient in the Danqing Skill, enumerated the exquisite aspects of those paintings.
Second Master Feng listened, his face flushed with pride and his appearance shining!
However, when he finished evaluating the last painting, just as everyone was nodding with praise, Xu Qing suddenly shifted the tone:
"Unfortunately, everything about these paintings is good, except for one thing."
"What's not good?" someone asked curiously.
"Unfortunately, they're all imitations, just this detracts slightly, but it doesn't overshadow the skill, considering the Danqing Skill, this person's comprehensive ability surpasses any of the masters of these originals."
"..."
Second Master Feng couldn't hear anything after Xu Qing said the word 'imitations'.
"Younger Brother Xu, are you sure? Don't mistake it."
Xu Qing walked over to a painting, smiling: "True and false, false and true, if we put real works with imitations, how many can truly differentiate?"
"To be honest, I can't tell either, but I've heard that those master forgers like leaving traces in their forgeries..."
Xu Qing pinched the corner of the painting, lifting it to the light to inspect.
"Second Master, look, what's wrong with this corner of the painting?"
Second Master Feng leaned in close, almost sticking to the painting, but couldn't see anything wrong.
The other guests, having seen it, speculated much, really because they'd heard Xu Qing mention the word 'imitations', planting a seed of doubt in their hearts, naturally making everything seem wrong.
"In my opinion, the corner of the paper reveals a flaw; old paper from hundreds of years ago should have a patina like amber, but this paper corner is bright and new, its color different from elsewhere, surely a defect."
An art-loving gentleman stepped up to comment. Xu Qing listened to him, then quietly pushed the corner of paper exposed to the sunlight back into the shadow, and in the next moment, the so-called brightness vanished, showing that the paper's texture was the same as the rest.
The art-loving gentleman blushed and couldn't speak for a while, muttering under his breath.
The few others guessed randomly, some said it was the lack of confidence in the brush strokes during imitation; others claimed the ink differed, with old and new ink having different textures and colors.
Xu Qing, after listening, shook his head, then, under everyone's gaze, took an inkless brush and tapped it on a lotus leaf in a painting's corner.
Everyone was puzzled, so Xu Qing guided a line along the edge of the lotus leaf and connected it with the water lines nearby.
And those originally unrelated lines formed the sprawled character 'Jiang'.
Xu Qing continued to circle around on the paintings.
Eventually forming a name: Jiang Daqian.
The gentleman who previously commented on the paper said skeptically: "This is far-fetched, the strokes are simplified, likely a coincidence, without intentionally pointing it out, who could see any difference?"
Xu Qing laughed inwardly at these words, then moved to other paintings to circle marks.
Without exception, the name 'Jiang Daqian' could be found in all the paintings.
After sending off the guests, Second Master Feng, both amused and annoyed, said:
"Since the paintings are fake, you should have said so directly, Brother Xu, yet you praised them to the skies, leading me to rejoice in vain."
"Because I know, Second Master, that playing with antiques is fake, while the want for lively gatherings is true."
Xu Qing laughed: "Second Master, you're always alone, inevitably you feel lonely, otherwise, you wouldn't often hold 'appreciation meetings' to invite friends over."
Second Master Feng was silent for a moment, then said quietly: "You didn't say it, and I never thought of it. But now that you mention it, you've hit the nail on the head."
"Whether these things are real or not, I truly don't care. I have no children, even if I collect many fine items, I can't keep them in the end. Nowadays, aside from gifting them to familiar friends, the rest is hosting these 'appreciation meetings.'"
"Brother Xu, you're not young anymore, take advice from an elder, find a wife sooner, have lots of kids, only in this way won't you feel as distressed as I do in old age."
"If your family grows, maybe I'll even adopt a godson, perhaps my estate might end up taking the Xu surname!"