“Wait,” Jiang Li said.

This abrupt voice suddenly rang out from nowhere. Several people, along with the onlookers around them, all turned to look in this direction. Jiang Li walked over from one side.

Liu Zimin had been searching around when he saw a delicate beauty emerge from the crowd. His eyes immediately lit up, and his tone carried a hint of flirtation as he said, “What does this young lady mean by this?”

Seeing this situation, Baixue followed closely beside Jiang Li, determined in her heart that if this rat-faced fellow dared to touch even Jiang Li’s pinky finger, she would beat him until he was crawling on the ground looking for his teeth.

Jiang Li smiled and said, “May I ask what this young master has done?” She pointed to the youth beside them.

“What has he done?” Liu Zimin drew out his words mockingly, then said with a grin, “Does this young lady wish to perform a heroic deed? Don’t tell me you think we’re bullying this fellow here. Well then, I must defend myself—we’re not the ones abusing our power.” He continued, “This fellow here, Ye Shijie, has damaged a priceless heirloom painting from our manor. Look, it’s this painting, ‘Sparrows Drinking in Spring.'”

“Sparrows Drinking in Spring” was a masterpiece by the great painter and calligrapher Zeng Zimo of the previous dynasty. After Zeng Zimo’s death, the works he left behind were purchased at great expense. Scholarly families in particular took pride in being able to collect Zeng Zimo’s treasures. If Liu Zimin’s painting truly was “Sparrows Drinking in Spring,” Ye Shijie could be considered extremely unlucky.

“‘Sparrows Drinking in Spring’ is priceless and impossible to find on the market. Seeing that Brother Ye isn’t from Yanjing, I’m willing to compromise and let Brother Ye compensate me with thirty thousand taels of gold—that’s not unfair in the slightest. Who would have thought Brother Ye would be so unreasonable, unwilling to pay even a single coin? And to think he comes from the Ye family of Xiangyang—so stingy! Could this be the merchant’s nature?” At these words, Liu Zimin burst into loud laughter.

Hearing this, the people around also began to laugh, all laughing at Liu Zimin’s phrase “merchant’s nature.”

The Yan Dynasty already looked down upon merchants. Among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants ranked at the very bottom. Ye Shijie gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger, and said, “I did not damage that painting. When I was writing, you threw yourself forward on your own!”

“Well, well, well,” Liu Zimin said, “now you’re even slandering people. Would this young master, with nothing better to do, destroy his own famous painting?” At this point, he seemed to remember that Jiang Li was still beside him and said, “This young lady, you speak some reason into this.”

Jiang Li smiled and said, “May I take a look at this painting of yours, young master? I’ve never seen a genuine ‘Sparrows Drinking in Spring’ before. To think it was destroyed like this—truly a pity.” She appeared quite regretful.

Seeing her like this, Liu Zimin generously handed over the painting. “If the young lady wants to look, then look!” He observed that Jiang Li’s attire suggested she wasn’t from an ordinary family, but he truly didn’t know when such a fresh and lovely young lady from an official household had appeared in Yanjing. He made a mental note to have someone inquire later—if her family background was somewhat inferior, bringing her home as a concubine wouldn’t be bad either.

Not far from the crowd, Jiang Youyao and her companions in their carriage also witnessed this scene. Jiang Youyao asked, “What is she doing?”

“Third Sister,” Jiang Yu’e reminded her, “that Ye Shijie is from the Ye family of Xiangyang—people from Second Sister’s maternal family.”

Jiang Youyao understood and looked toward Jiang Li again. “Let’s watch a bit more.”

Jiang Li took the painting “Sparrows Drinking in Spring” and examined it carefully.

“Sparrows Drinking in Spring” depicted the arrival of spring, with titmice in a mountain valley standing on flower branches drooping low over the water, pecking at their own reflections in the stream. The valley was filled with blooming flowers, the titmice lively and clever, the stream water clear to the bottom—each element painted vividly and lifelike.

However, the painting now had a large gash torn diagonally from the bottom, almost splitting the page in two.

Due to Jiang Li’s appearance, more and more spectators gathered around. Ye Shijie frowned, while Liu Zimin remained the most patient.

After looking for a while, Jiang Li finally put down the painting in her hands. She didn’t return it to Liu Zimin but instead said, “Master Zeng’s treasured work is indeed precious, with value lying in its refined interest—truly priceless. However…”

With each sentence she spoke, Liu Zimin’s eyebrows rose an inch higher. When he heard Jiang Li’s final words, Liu Zimin unconsciously interjected, “However what?”

“This painting is fake,” Jiang Li said.

“This painting is…” Liu Zimin suddenly reacted and said loudly, “How is that possible?” When he looked at Jiang Li again, his expression no longer held the kindness of their initial encounter.

Ye Shijie also looked at Jiang Li in astonishment.

“This painting has been forged quite convincingly, but it still cannot conceal the fact that it’s a forgery. Calculating based on the current market value of the most convincing forgeries, this painting is worth at most fifty taels of silver. Young Master Ye,” she looked toward Ye Shijie, “you only need to compensate this young master fifty taels of silver.”

“Little lady,” Liu Zimin smiled darkly, “with nothing but your red lips and white teeth, you say it’s a forgery and it’s a forgery? This painting is genuine! Don’t speak recklessly.”

“That’s right,” the people around stirred up trouble. “How can you prove it’s real?”

Jiang Li was in no hurry and said unhurriedly, “Master Zeng was from the previous dynasty, and all the ink and paper of the previous dynasty were made using the silk from that era. However, the previous dynasty did not have double-thread silk.”

“Double-thread silk?” Baixue asked doubtfully.

“The previous dynasty only produced single-thread silk, which was coarse and thin. But look at this treasured work—it’s pure white and finely woven, clearly double-thread silk. Master Zeng of the previous dynasty surely wouldn’t paint using today’s double-thread silk. That’s the first point.”

“Second, the seal is wrong. The previous dynasty didn’t commonly use stone-carved seals. If it were a seal from the previous dynasty, it would bear the distinctive marks of that era—each character in the seal script would have stop strokes slightly thicker than the original strokes, but appearing lighter and slightly yellowish. The seal on this painting has smooth stop strokes and a reddish color—clearly incorrect.”

As Jiang Li explained leisurely, she displayed the “Sparrows Drinking in Spring” for everyone to see. People hadn’t noticed before, but once she explained, comparing what they saw with Jiang Li’s words, they indeed found something amiss.

Seeing Liu Zimin’s expression grow increasingly ugly while Ye Shijie became more and more astonished, Jiang Li smiled and said, “There’s one more crucial point. What makes ‘Sparrows Drinking in Spring’ most brilliant is Master Zeng’s attention to detail. When the titmouse pecks at its reflection, in its eyes you can see the reflection of the titmouse in the water. Similarly, in the eyes of the titmouse in the water, there’s also the shadow of the titmouse on the flower branch. But in this ‘Sparrows Drinking in Spring,’ the titmouse in the water’s reflection has nothing in its eyes.”

“Therefore,” Jiang Li smiled, “this ‘Sparrows Drinking in Spring’ of yours, young master, is fake. Thirty thousand taels of gold for a fake ‘Sparrows Drinking in Spring’—that’s an Arabian Nights tale.”

Liu Zimin flew into a rage from embarrassment and reached out to snatch the painting from Jiang Li’s hands. How could Jiang Li let him succeed? Baixue had already nimbly taken the painting and held it up high for everyone to examine.

“Do you know who I am?” Liu Zimin finally couldn’t restrain himself and revealed his true colors, speaking viciously, “You dare slander me like this—when my father finds out, you’ll be in big trouble!”

Hearing this, Jiang Li finally put away the smile on her face and said blandly, “I don’t know who you are, but if you dare speak to me so disrespectfully, when my father finds out, your trouble won’t be small either.”

“I’d like to see which family you’re from—state your name!” Liu Zimin said angrily.

“The Jiang family of the capital, legitimate daughter of the Chief Minister, Jiang the Second,” Jiang Li said.