Chapter 375 - The Seal—a Pine, a Stone and a Chrysanthemum.

Chapter 37
5 The Seal—a Pine, a Stone and a Chrysanthemum.
The shop-boy moved aside, and the shopkeeper who had just stood on the stage turned out from the back of the shop-boy. Seeing Qin Wanru’s appearance, he was stunned because he did not expect that she would be such a young Miss. After looking up and down at her, he looked more horrified in his eyes in that this Miss in front of him was really outstanding.
The shopkeeper had seen a lot of girls, but he had never seen such a young and excellent girl. So he dared not treat her without proper respect, he walked to Qin Wanru and saluted politely,
I have heard that Miss has some calligraphy to sell. I was wandering whether Miss could let me have a look?


I do not know whether it is the one you want.
Qin Wanru smiled slightly.
So I come to ask first. If so, I will take it out next time!

This obviously meant that she did not take it out this time, but it was reasonable. How could it be possible to take a piece of calligraphy with her when she was walking around the street in Chinese New Year’s Eve?
A glimmer of disappointment flashed in the shopkeeper’s eyes, but the smile on his face did not diminish, and he still said enthusiastically,
In that case, Miss, please take it out with you next time. If it is what we want, our master will certainly not let Miss suffer a loss and the gift I promise today will also be offered to you!


Who wrote this calligraphy?
Qin Wanru smiled.



It… was not signed…
The shopkeeper’s smile was awkward.

No sign?
Qin Wanru frowned slightly and lowered her head as she seemed to soliloquize.
The one in my house seems to have no sign either, but I do not know who wrote it!

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up.
Miss, the calligraphy in your mansion house also has no sign? Is there a small seal at the lower right corner?


This… It seems to have… but I did not notice it!
Qin Wanru thought for a while, and said with a little entanglement,
Tree? Or something else?


Is it a pine, a stone and a chrysanthemum?
The shopkeeper got excited and asked as he rubbed his hands.

This… I did not see clearly…
Qin Wanru shook her head hesitantly.

Which mansion is Miss from? If it is not convenient for Miss to come out, we can make house service and have a look.
The shopkeeper did not hesitate because of Qin Wanru’s hesitation and said enthusiastically.

This is not necessary. My father is not willing to sell any calligraphy!
Qin Wanru shook her head.
The shopkeeper looked up and down again at Qin Wanru a few times, and found that this girl in front of him was really young. Despite her young appearance, she had already looked gorgeous, and had some scholar’s style. She should be a young Miss from a literary aristocratic family. Of course, it was not convenient for a Miss of such status to sell calligraphy.
So she probably avoided others to sell this calligraphy.


Thinking in this way, the shopkeeper immediately understood, and said with a smile,
Whenever Miss is available, please bring the calligraphy over, and I will help you appraise it. It is not a piece of calligraphy from some famous person, so Miss does not have to worry that the elder in your mansion will ask about this. It is just an ordinary calligraphy!


Since it is an ordinary one, why do you care so much, shopkeeper?
Qin Wanru asked curiously.
The shopkeeper said,
In fact, it is our master that likes it. Our master only cares about the style of calligraphy all his life instead of the person who writes it. He will definitely buy the calligraphy that strikes his fancy at a high price. It does not matter whether it is from a famous one. Our master likes this style of calligraphy at first sight, so he specifically asks us to look for similar one!

This reason could be regarded as sufficient. There were many people who did not merely collect artworks that must be the authentic works from celebrities. As long as they were eye-catching, these works were good. Who could be sure that many years later this would not become the only copy extant?
Before some masters became famous, their calligraphy was extremely cheap, but after they became famous, their works would immediately be worth a hundred times.

Since it is so, then I will bring it over for a look next time!
Qin Wanru stood up and said.

Well, what is your family name, Miss?
the shopkeeper asked diligently.

How can our Miss’s name be said casually!
Yujie snorted and stepped to stare at the shopkeeper and then held Qin Wanru to walk out.
The shopkeeper helplessly retreated aside and watched Qin Wanru leaving with Yujie as his brows frowned tightly.

Shopkeeper, here comes Master!
A shop-boy hurried over and whispered in the shopkeeper’s ear, and then the shopkeeper turned quickly inside.


Turning to the backyard of the shop, the main room in the middle was lit, and two guards in black stood at the door. When seeing the shopkeeper coming, they silently let him in.
The shopkeeper walked carefully to the door, and said respectfully,
Pay my respect to Master!


Come in!
A light voice came from the room.
The shopkeeper tided his clothes and gently pushed open the door. Seeing the young man sitting under the lamp in the room, he hurried forward…
Qin Wanru went out and walked into the crowd and thought as she walked. That calligraphy, she did have!
A pine, a stone, and a chrysanthemum below the stone. It was an obvious feature, but there was no name on the calligraphy, so she did not know who wrote it. It was written powerfully with firm strokes permeating on the back of the paper. Not everyone could do such kind of skill, but this person succeeded.
There was not only one piece in Qin Wanru’s hands. She had all four pieces of calligraphy. She did not know when they had fallen into her own hands, but since she had memory, these pieces of calligraphy had been in her private store room. This time she came to the capital city, she also specially brought them with her.
The reason why she could remember this so clearly was because when she had started to learn writing in her childhood, she had found some calligraphy to practice, and had gotten it when casually rummage through her private store room. At that time, she had wanted to practice according to the characters on it, but Madam Dowager had not allowed and said that this style was not suitable for girls.
After that, she had given up and the calligraphy remained in her private storeroom with a small number of treasuries.
Because these pieces of calligraphy were not from someone famous and had no sign, Qin Wanru did not care much about them, and had even forgotten them early. However, she still remembered clearly because she had reorganized her private store room and casually gone through them before entering the capital city.



What do these pieces of calligraphy mean? Why do they appear in my private store room? Do I lose the memory in my childhood?


Does it mean that these are left to me by my own father.
She suddenly felt a strong heartbeat and stopped, biting her cherry lips. There was a speculation in her heart that made her uncontrollably excited.
Could it be written by father?

But then she denied this speculation. She had seen the style of calligraphy of the former Heir of Duke Xing and it was not like this. That shadow wall was full of characters. Despite some differences between those characters, she could recognize that they were the same in nature and the trick was getting more proficient, which was completely different from this style of calligraphy.
Then if it was not written by Father, it meant that it had been collected by Father!
In terms of Father’s status, he could collect any kind of calligraphy and paintings from famous masters, but he specially collected this unnamed calligraphy, which meant that these four pieces of calligraphy were different from others.
As for the shopkeeper’s expression today, he became excited even there was only a bit of clue.
Qin Wanru concluded that it should be the shopkeeper, or the master behind the shopkeeper that was looking for these pieces of calligraphy. There must be some secrets that she did not know, but no matter what the secrets were, Qin Wanru did not think that she had let someone know that she had these pieces of calligraphy in her hands.
She felt inexplicably dangerous with her hair standing on end…

Miss, I can’t find other people. What should we do?
Yujie followed Qin Wanru to stop and said anxiously after looking around.
People were hurrying to and fro in the street, but they just could not see anyone that they were familiar with before. Actually, they were not that familiar because they arrived in the capital city for the first time!



Let’s go!
Qin Wanru’s face slightly changed, and she reached out to pull Yujie, and hurried to hide aside.
Yujie was startled by Qin Wanru, but she always admired Qin Wanru and immediately followed Qin Wanru to hide aside.
The two rushed into a roadside alley, but there were a lot of people even in the alley. Qin Wanru’s face was a little white and she was looking in the direction from which they had come.

Miss, what’s the matter?
Yujie whispered, and followed Qin Wanru’s gaze, but she found nothing unusual. There were still so many people walking to and fro, but that was all.
Qin Wanru shook her head. She just had felt a sense of danger, but she frowned.
Have I worried too much?


Let’s wait!
Qin Wanru thought for a while, with her watery eyes keeping paying attention to the stream of people outside.
Hiding aside for a while, she felt that it was inexplicably quiet and Yujie seemed to have been silent until now, so she subconsciously turned her head. However, she was stunned with her watery eyes wide open and quickly stepped two steps back, almost falling down. Yujie was not next to her!
In the tall and beautiful palace, Emperor was sitting at a higher level with Empress Dowager on one side and Empress on the other. In right-hand seats, other concubines were sitting respectively with smiles. Each of them was well-dressed and secretly looked at Emperor with affection when softly speaking to the people around them.
There were also a few princes and princesses below. The elder ones took their own seats separately, and the younger ones all followed their mother.
Chu Liuchen also sat in the palace. Although his seat was in a lower position, it was close to Empress Dowager. He had also drank a little wine, so his pale face was a little flushed and his eyes seemed to gleam like water, making people feel him more handsome and beautiful.
Emperor who sat on top calmly glanced Chu Liuchen’s face and lightly sighed.
Unlike the performance of other happy people, Chu Liuchen’s head leaned back slightly, making him look a bit weak. All his black hair tied up with a white jade crown, which made his face as clean and shiny as white jade.

Chen’er, are you tired?
Empress Dowager kept watching him, and asked softly when seeing him leaning back with a pair of handsome eyes closed slightly.
Chu Liuchen reached out to touch his forehead. Perhaps because he had drunk a little, his voice was a little hoarse, and he forced a smile helplessly.
Imperial Grandmother, I am really tired!


Emperor, let Chen’er go to rest!
Empress Dowager turned to say to Emperor.
Emperor’s eyes fell on Chu Liuchen’s face with uncertain meaning. Seeing that Chu Liuchen looked very tired, he nodded slowly and said gently,
Chen’er, since you are tired, go to have a rest first. It is inconvenient for you to go out, so just stay in the palace!


Thank you Emperor Uncle!
Chu Liuchen stood up to give a salutation to the emperor. When standing up, he staggered slightly, and a weak smile appeared on his pale face.
Emperor Uncle, I may go out after a while. I hear that the night scene today is particularly beautiful.