Reborn As Super Heiress-Chapter 1854 - 1757: Ming Hua Lu (Record of Famous Paintings of the Ming Dynasty)

Li Jun found this information, which is indeed a mythical story. The protagonists of the story are none other than the famous Tang Bohu and Zhu Zhishan.

These two were famous masters of poetry and painting during the Ming Dynasty, and they were also renowned romantic scholars of their time. Since they were of similar age and shared common interests, they were kindred spirits from a young age. They traveled far and wide, creating many legendary tales among the people.

The legend of the Qilin Jin Xing Yan originated in such a background, spreading from the folklore.

It is said that Tang Bohu and Zhu Zhishan were traveling through a scenic area when they accidentally stumbled into an ancient temple. They found the sights inside the temple to be incredibly beautiful, and in their artistic inspiration, they wanted to paint and capture the temple’s beauty.

However, what troubled and frustrated them was that no matter how they painted, they couldn’t capture even a tenth of the temple’s beauty. They painted several times in succession, but none satisfied them.

Later, the temple of Fangzhang heard about this and told them that because they were using ordinary ink and paper from the mortal realm, of course, they couldn’t capture the celestial scenery. So the Fangzhang swung his sleeve, and suddenly a dragon and a tiger appeared, riding on auspicious clouds in the sky.

The Fangzhang captured the dragon and the tiger, and placed the divine creatures into some stones used as paperweights on the table. In an instant, the stone transformed into an inkstone, beautifully carved with the patterns of a dragon and a tiger. The Fangzhang gave this inkstone to Tang Bohu.

Afterward, the Fangzhang performed the same trick, and a Kylin and Venus appeared in the sky. Soon another inkstone, carved with the Kylin and Venus, came into being, and this inkstone ended up in Zhu Zhishan’s hands.

With these two inkstones, the Fangzhang transformed two willow branches into divine brushes, collected dew floating from the sky and turned it into celestial ink, and transformed the stone slabs before the ancient temple into pure white paper. Tang Bohu and Zhu Zhishan used these things and finally painted the celestial scenery of the ancient temple.

Because the scenery they created seemed almost alive, the Fangzhang was very fond of it and kept the painting, then gave the two divine inkstones as a thank you gift to Tang Bohu and Zhu Zhishan.

This is the origin and legend of the Qilin Jin Xing Yan. However, everyone present was an adult, and with intelligence factored in, they couldn’t believe the myth. So they looked at Li Jun with skeptical eyes.

Li Jun instinctively touched his nose, feeling a bit uneasy: "I think, although this mythical story seems fake, there may be a prototype that can be historically analyzed. Possibly it really happened, just not as exaggerated."

Upon hearing this, others involuntarily sighed, clearly disregarding Li Jun’s explanation.

However, what the crowd didn’t expect was that at this moment, Huo Sining suddenly spoke, nodding calmly:

"You’re right, this mythical story does have a prototype that can be analyzed."

Huo Sining looked at Li Jun with a smile: "There isn’t historical research on the Qilin Jin Xing Yan, but the Shenlong Shenghu Inkstone does have historical records. It is even considered a representative work of the She Inkstone, though not as exaggerated as in the myths."

"The Minghua Lu records a story about Tang Bohu. It is said that during one of Tang Bohu and Zhu Zhishan’s travels, they arrived at She City and were captivated by its beautiful scenery. They then decided to stay in She City and live by selling their calligraphy and paintings."

"One day, many people came to buy their artworks, but for some unknown reason, their inkstone stopped producing ink."

"The customers demanding the paintings urged them, and both were very anxious, especially Tang Bohu, who was sweating profusely."

"At this moment, a scholar in a blue robe appeared and, seeing the situation, curiously asked what kind of inkstone they were using. Tang Bohu informed the scholar, ’We are using a Shaoxing Yue Inkstone.’

"The scholar, upon hearing this, replied that it was no wonder they couldn’t produce ink because they weren’t using a famous inkstone!"

At this point, Huo Sining paused before continuing:

"Then this scholar ran to a nearby ancient temple and shortly after brought back two inkstones, giving them to Tang Bohu and Zhu Zhishan."

Upon hearing this, Li Jun’s eyes lit up, captivated by Huo Sining’s story, and he eagerly asked: "Are these two inkstones the Shenlong Shenghu Inkstone and the Qilin Jin Xing Yan?"

Huo Sining nodded then shook her head: "The book mentions that Tang Bohu’s inkstone was the Shenlong Shenghu Inkstone, which felt very delicate to handle and produced ink like oil, and Tang Bohu was very pleased and wrote the words ’Bao Yàn,’ followed by ’Tang Yin’; Zhu Zhishan, similarly thrilled with his shining Bao Yàn, scribbled ’She Inkstone dominates the world’ and signed his name ’Zhu Yunming.’

"The scholar was shocked to discover Tang Yin and Zhu Yunming’s identities and the three became fast friends."

Huo Sining’s story left the crowd skeptical, but soon someone found the Minghua Lu online and indeed found the story Huo Sining referenced. However, the ancient text wasn’t as detailed in modern terms, and in a few short lines mentioned the term Shenlong Shenghu, but didn’t describe Zhu Zhishan’s inkstone.

"I feel this mythical story likely originated from the story mentioned in the Minghua Lu, and the Qilin Jin Xing Yan referenced there might be the unidentified She Inkstone counterpart to the Shenlong Shenghu Inkstone."

After completing the story, Huo Sining rationally analyzed the two stories and shared her judgment.

But her analysis did not convince the crowd, and Master Li directly spoke up: "That’s just your analysis and can’t be taken as evidence."

Huo Sining nodded: "I know, the story in the Minghua Lu can’t be verified historically, but I have an important piece of evidence I haven’t mentioned yet. In the story I narrated, the man in the blue robe was another famous historical figure. If you knew who he was, you likely wouldn’t doubt anymore."

Master Li was taken aback and asked instinctively: "Who is this person?"

Huo Sining smiled: "Wang Dechu!"