The next day, the Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration Center of the Beijing Museum welcomed a special consultant.

"Hello, I am Xiao He. It is a great pleasure to meet you, Professor Ye."

Xiao He extended both hands and shook the old man's hand very eagerly.

Professor Ye pushed up his reading glasses and looked Xiao He up and down, then a kind smile appeared on his face: "The young man is truly handsome! Old Qian told me before that you were an actor with many works and very popular with young people, but I didn't believe him! Now that I see you, he certainly wasn't lying!"

Just based on this face and temperament, Professor Ye felt it couldn't be wrong.

Hearing this, Xiao He bowed even lower and quickly said: "Old Qian was overpraising me. Here, I am not an actor, just a newcomer. I should thank Professor Ye for giving me this opportunity to learn and help; it is my honor."

"It's fine, it's fine. Your coming here is already a big help to us."

Professor Ye waved his hand dismissively and then looked into Xiao He's eyes, getting straight to the point: "I heard from Old Qian that you can truly produce a one-to-one replica of the 'stability of the world' displayed at the Art Center?"

Professor Ye actually trusted Old Qian quite a bit, but he had originally thought that person would be a peer with similar experience and attainments. He didn't expect the person to not only be so young but also have a profession that had nothing to do with their circle.

If it weren't for the copy of 'stability of the world' from Old Qian's hands already placed before him, he would find it hard to believe that the calligrapher—who could achieve a machine-detected error margin infinitely close to zero purely by hand—was the person in front of him.

Facing this question, Xiao He just gave a shy smile: "Actually, my calligraphy attainments aren't high; much was taught to me by Old Qian. However, my imitation ability is quite good. I can basically replicate many characters after just one look. Although I can't guarantee they are 100% identical, the naked eye definitely won't find any difference."

During the time they were filming the literary scenes for 'the imperial cause' Film Crew, Old Qian would often come to the set to give some basic calligraphy guidance, and Xiao He would take the opportunity to learn a thing or two from this calligraphy giant.

His hands were already endowed with a 'golden finger' cheat, and coupled with his deliberate practice and imitation, Xiao He's current calligraphy level might not be considered legendary, but it definitely surpassed eighty percent of people.

So, facing Professor Ye's skepticism, he was calm and confident, not flustered in the slightest.

"Ho, such big ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) talk."

Professor Ye raised an eyebrow and then narrowed his eyes slightly: "But I quite like it."

Old Qian, who had been standing to the side without speaking, finally stepped forward at this moment and said to Professor Ye with great pride: "When I brought my family's copy of 'stability of the world' for you to use as research reference, you were nagging me every day to find the original copyist. Now that I've brought the man himself, you'd better treat him well!"

"I'm telling you, he is a precious seedling of our association, a technical talent with very special abilities! He's usually very busy with work and can't find time to come here. This time, it's only because he heard me say the restoration work here is very dire and needs someone who understands Emperor Chen's calligraphy to help that he accepted my invitation. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to invite him under normal circumstances!"

Old Qian talked incessantly to boost Xiao He's status, while Xiao He listened until he was nearly blushing with embarrassment.

Xiao He:...Old Qian, I know you want to help me, but you can't lie through your teeth on such an important occasion!

What association seedling, what special technical talent, what busy work... You dare to boast, but I don't even dare to listen!

However, even though Xiao He was listening with a forehead full of sweat, he could only continue to maintain a smile and put on the steady posture of a top-tier expert.

...

This matter actually started from when Xiao He landed in Beijing this morning.

Liu Rulan went to find Qiu Zhenlong early in the morning, so Xiao He simply went to the Calligraphy Association to look for Old Qian.

The Calligraphy Association was already a mess of tangled threads, but hearing that Xiao He had come to visit, Old Qian still met with him. When he heard that Xiao He wanted to help with the investigation, a rare light actually appeared in this usually easygoing old man's eyes.

"That's right! Based on the current situation, your understanding of Emperor Chen's calligraphy is far above mine!"

The old man, who had become much more haggard, gripped Xiao He's hand as if catching the last straw of hope.

"Perhaps we were all mistaken, we were all wrong..."

Seeing Old Qian suddenly become so agitated, Xiao He was worried his emotions would fluctuate too much and he would faint. He could only quickly support Old Qian to sit down and let him drink some water before speaking.

Old Qian also seemed worried that a sudden mishap on his part would delay the investigation. So, after sitting down following Xiao He's lead, he also repeatedly took deep breaths to calm his heart.

Finally, he gave a somewhat helpless smile: "Sigh, I'm old; I'm just useless now."

"Old Qian, you mustn't say that," Xiao He consoled. "You are everyone's pillar of stability. The fact that the association can remain this stable now is all thanks to your support."

"Sigh—" Old Qian waved his hand. "That little brat Qian Wenhao didn't tell us such a big thing happened. My heart is just tight with distress..."

"So what exactly happened?"

Xiao He immediately seized the opportunity to ask.

"Hehe..."

Old Qian shook his head with a bitter smile, fell silent for a moment, and then said: "Qian Wenhao suspects that the original work of Emperor Chen's 'stability of the world' exhibited at the Art Center is actually a fake!"

Xiao He was stunned on the spot.

Huh? The genuine article turned into a fake?

No, when did this happen?

Could it be that what the Yun Family lent out was a fake from the start?

But how is that possible? 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

If it was fake from the beginning, then this matter is truly ironic to the extreme!

What would that make everything?

What about the major experts and visitors who have been repeatedly studying that 'genuine' work these days, marveling at the calligraphic strength of Emperor Chen back then?

And what about them, who are now caught in the storm of cultural relic destruction, causing the entire Film Crew to stop filming—how innocent are they?

"He told you this?"

Xiao He frowned and asked.

Old Qian shook his head: "That stubborn child refuses to tell us anything. Even when his father went to see him personally, he didn't say a single word. But we've seen those surveillance tapes; anyone with a bit of experience knows he was actually authenticating the genuineness of that masterpiece."

Qian Wenhao hadn't said anything himself, but others weren't stupid. They could understand a lot from other sources. So actually, the Qian family and the Police now know that Qian Wenhao's suspicion isn't high; his sneaking into the Art Center every night was simply because he suspected this 'stability of the world' was a fake.

Whether the thing was real or fake, calculating based on Qian Wenhao's own timeline during that period, it was basically impossible for him to have the chance to start the fire.

So his innocence was still there.

However, this also made the case even more convoluted and mysterious.

Was this burned cultural relic actually real or fake? When was it real? When was it fake? Had anyone swapped the relic during that time? Why were the various appraisers unable to distinguish the truth from the fake during their appraisals? And why did Qian Wenhao keep silent about his suspicions?

It was truly ironic to speak of. During the period this masterpiece was displayed at the Art Center, many experts had come to observe it, and some masters from the nearby Calligraphy Association had also come to study Emperor Chen's brushwork and state of mind, analyzing his mentality when he wrote those four characters: 'stability of the world'.

In the end, now that the Police were questioning them one by one, not a single person dared to guarantee that this 'genuine work' displayed at the Art Center for over a month was real.

Of course, even more so, no one dared to say it was fake.

It was as if, in an instant, these people had drawn a clear line between themselves and their past selves who had talked so grandly about it.