Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 734: Old Materials, New Craftsmanship: Making the Old Look Old

"Since Qian Wenhao is investigating, did he privately find anything?"

Xiao He recalled the surveillance footage he'd seen and asked very delicately.

Although he wasn't an expert, Xiao He knew that modern technology could detect the age and traces of paintings and artifacts. Since Qian Wenhao had been investigating privately for so long, he should have had an answer by now.

Elder Qian sighed deeply.

"The problem is, the police did find relevant instrument records, but in the end those results all said the artifact had no problems."

Whether it was date testing or material analysis, none of the traces Qian Wenhao left behind contained any evidence to support his suspicion.

That was almost to say that Qian Wenhao's doubts were all products of his imagination.

The Emperor Chen original "Stabilize the Realm" lent by the Yun Family showed no issues at all; it was the genuine article.

"If there's no evidence and no other appraiser dares declare the work a forgery, then what was the underlying logic behind Qian Wenhao's suspicion? There must have been some trigger, right?"

All the experts involved in the process were quite authoritative, people in the antiques world with high trust and renown. So many people at the scene had no doubts—why did Qian Wenhao suddenly suspect something?

And once he had doubts, why did he say nothing? Why didn't he explain his reasons?

What secret was he hiding that even the Qian family and the police were unwilling to reveal?

Elder Qian shook his head, looking defeated. "I don't know."

"However…"

He narrowed his eyes and, after thinking for a moment, finally shared his thought with Xiao He. "But if there is one kind of forgery that, even after machine testing, would show no problems—dates and materials all match perfectly—so that even experienced appraisers can't distinguish real from fake, it reminded me of a counterfeiting technique. Though I can't be sure whether it's related to these matters."

"Hmm?"

Xiao He perked up. "What technique?"

Elder Qian closed his eyes, paused, then slowly said eight words: "Old materials, new workmanship, imitating the old with the old."

-

"Old materials, new workmanship, imitating the old with the old."

In the conference room, Officer Chen moved the mouse and displayed the PPT behind him.

"This is a method of using genuine damaged materials to craft high-level forgeries—mixing the real with the fake, destroying originals to create objects. It's one of the top, rarest techniques in today's antiques forgery world. Forgers extract and remake pigments from worthless ancient scraps and old paper so that the work's material age perfectly matches the claimed period, easily deceiving most instruments currently on the market. It first appeared in works related to authentic Zhang-style calligraphy, and only decades after entering the market did the truth surface in ghostwritten wills…"

"Three years ago, the Supreme Procuratorate exposed a case of false inscriptions carved on old vessels. They used old bronze artifacts forgeries to fraudulently gain auction qualifications…"

"And two years ago, this extreme scam suddenly cropped up in An City's market, mostly centered on authentic calligraphy works."

Officer Chen paused, eyes grave. "This scheme's immorality goes beyond falsification and fraud. It destroys real cultural relics to manufacture forgeries, using other contemporaneous items—some damaged, some cheap—to create higher-value imitations that are then smuggled overseas for huge profits."

"Because An City's antique market has been active for years, when the police discovered this gang, they'd already collected a large number of antiques from An City's market. Those items have gone missing; the preliminary suspicion is that those pieces were damaged and turned into forgeries sold overseas."

Saying this, Officer Chen couldn't help but sigh.

An City has a deep historical foundation and abundant relics. People sometimes find antiquities while digging foundations or working in fields. Various antiques therefore flow frequently through the market, and the antique trade has always been prosperous.

This group's initial activity was very low profile. Only when the police cracked a smuggling case in a coastal city did they stumble on this antique-smuggling chain. They traced it back to An City, and Officer Chen formed a task force to fully investigate the case.

"There's a technique like that?"

Other members of the investigation team were shocked. Officer Mi was older and experienced. Though he hadn't handled criminal cases of this type, he caught the key point. "So these forgeries are hard to verify even with machines?"

"Yes." Officer Chen nodded, his tone heavy. "Their forgery technique is very mature. It could be called the most astonishing forgery crime in modern history in our country. Even experienced historians and antiques appraisers would likely be unable to make a definitive judgment when faced with such a work."

"Then is there absolutely no chance? No flaw to find?"

One officer couldn't help asking anxiously.

Officer Chen gave a small nod. "Of course there's still a chance."

"Although the materials are old, the method of creation is ultimately modern. If you want to find a flaw, you have to use the most primitive approach—look at the technical content and the creative technique."

The others looked at one another.

So Officer Chen continued, "Take a calligraphy piece for example. The paper is old, the ink is old, but the person reproducing the strokes may not be able to perfectly imitate the original calligrapher's brush strength and the height of their artistic conception."

Sometimes human judgment can be more precise than machines. If even the machines are fooled, then what they can rely on is the most traditional appraisal method—eliminate possibilities one by one——

An officer couldn't help but let the corner of his mouth twitch. "Look at artistic conception?"

Isn't that just relying on a feeling?

But feeling is the least reliable reference they have as police.

Doesn't that sound ridiculous?

-

At the same time, after hearing the answers, Xiao He hesitated for a moment, then delicately asked, "Then Elder Qian, didn't any of you… have even the slightest feeling?"

He was an outsider; he looked at calligraphy for pleasure, and he had truly felt that "Stabilize the Realm" was very impressive—magnificent and powerful, with profound skill—so Xiao He had been genuinely moved by that work.

But Elder Qian and those old calligraphers were often gathered around, studying. Asking like this might be provocative or even mocking, but with so many members in the Calligraphy Association, was it possible that not a single person noticed something off?

Elder Qian was silent again.

Very good. Xiao He felt as if he had heard the sound of a crisis of faith shattering.

"Thinking carefully now, Emperor Chen wrote this piece at only thirty, and he was a general by background, not a famous calligrapher. His calligraphy skill might actually be inferior to other later famous calligraphers, and this is reflected in Emperor Chen's other surviving authentic works. So at the time, we believed that 'Stabilize the Realm' was the highest proof of Emperor Chen's calligraphic conception."

Elder Qian said slowly, "Even now, I'm sure the person who wrote this work had skill far above mine."

Elder Qian was the most senior and longest-tenured member of the association. If even he didn't speak up, others naturally trusted him.

Moreover, the Yun Family's story about this original had already been heard by many. Appraisers at home and abroad had issued relevant certifications. Afterwards, both the Yun Family and the art center took the matter seriously, specifically commissioning professional and authoritative institutions for instrument testing. The documentary evidence was complete, multiple people vouched for it; the authority was overwhelming.

Layer upon layer of affirmation accumulated. At this moment, Elder Qian no longer knew whether the authority they trusted was right or wrong.

Once an authority's conclusion becomes an established fact, who will question it?

Who would dare to question it?