Su Cen’s heart stirred at this but maintained a calm facade. He even feigned a look of disdain as he said, “Catching people, interrogating them, verifying information takes effort. You’re right here as a ready-made suspect; why should I go through all that trouble?”
The steward truly began to panic and cried out while banging his head on the floor: “It’s not troublesome at all! They’re all in the capital! If we catch them, not only can we solve this case but also gain promotions!”
“Oh?” Su Cen paused and showed some interest. “Tell me more.”
The steward slumped down on the ground in relief and spilled everything he knew like beans from a bamboo tube: “You must have investigated Cuiji Pavilion by now; it’s filled with low-quality fakes. Even if you investigate there, you won’t find much. The real good stuff is hidden in my master’s secret room.”
Su Cen already knew this but showed impatience on his face and urged him to get to the point.
The steward wiped away his cold sweat and continued: “What you don’t know is that Cuiji Pavilion isn’t simple; there are actually three people behind it. One is responsible for smuggling funerary objects from tombs; my master was responsible for contacting buyers—those foreign merchants who come to trade there. Cuiji Pavilion is just their trading spot. However, these foreign merchants face many restrictions in Great Zhou; they can pick out items but can’t take them out of customs. So there needs to be someone responsible for transporting goods outside.”
So it was indeed a gang operation! Su Cen thought silently that Liu Kang frequently left customs under the guise of being a medicine dealer; he must have been that person responsible for transporting funerary objects outside. He had indeed known Xu Youhuai early on! Yet he maintained an impassive expression and asked: “What does this have to do with Xu Youhuai’s death?”
“My master was killed by those other two!” The steward exclaimed urgently. “They killed my master so they could take his share of profits! This business may seem well-defined in its roles but requires both tomb raiding and transporting goods outside; anyone could run Cuiji Pavilion half-heartedly without issue once buyers were secured.”
The steward had been captured before Liu Kang died and was unaware that one of those crucial links had already collapsed while he earnestly speculated about Xu Youhuai’s motives.
Three people involved… three paintings: “Blossoms Glowing,” “Leaves Lush,” “Laden with Fruit.” Were those three Peach Blossom paintings also taken from tombs?
Su Cen directly asked: “Who are these other two people?”
“I don’t know their names,” the steward quickly replied upon seeing Su Cen’s expression darken. “But I know what they look like! One always has a strong smell of medicine about him while the other is particularly robust—he looks like someone skilled in martial arts! And I know they’re both in the capital! The night before my master died, they met at Cuiji Pavilion and seemed to have quarreled over something! They must have plotted against my master then!”
Su Cen: “What were they arguing about?”
The steward frowned, thinking for a moment before saying, “It seemed to be about… a painting?”
Su Cen’s brow twitched, “What painting?”
“My Lord, I truly don’t know about this,” the steward was almost in tears again. “They always sent people away when they met. I only overheard this by chance. Please believe me, I’ve told you everything I know, without any concealment.”
The steward’s demeanor in this life-or-death situation didn’t seem like he was lying. Su Cen asked one last question: “Let me ask you this: after Xu Youhuai’s death, did you touch anything in his room?”
The steward thought carefully: “I… I didn’t… There wasn’t enough time. You came the next day, my Lord. I didn’t have a chance to move anything.”
Suddenly, he exclaimed in realization: “Oh, right! I remember now! That painting, the one you saw in the secret room, it used to hang by the window. My master looked at it every day. I thought it must be valuable, so I moved it to the secret room, planning to ship it out when things calmed down. I didn’t expect you to discover it first.”
That Peach Blossom painting was originally hanging in Xu Youhuai’s room!
That ghost shadow was the painting!
No wonder he didn’t see anything during his night watch; the painting was no longer in Xu Youhuai’s room.
Su Cen stood up abruptly and asked, “Where’s the painting now?”
Everyone was stunned. Little Sun replied, “It’s still in the evidence room with the other confiscated funerary objects.”
Su Cen immediately headed towards the evidence room. After a few steps, he turned back, “He has seen the two owners. Have two people watch him draw their portraits. No need to draw Liu Kang; just have him confirm. Focus on the one who hasn’t shown his face. Find the person based on the portrait as soon as possible.”
The steward stood there, bewildered. What was happening? Who was Liu Kang? Weren’t they just about to use him as a scapegoat? How did things change so quickly?
But anyway, thank Buddha and the heavens, as long as it wasn’t him, anyone else would do.
Su Cen rushed out of the dungeon. Before he could reach the evidence room, someone came to report that they had found the source of the paintings.
Su Cen glanced towards the evidence room. He had seen that painting before; at least during the day, it was just a painting with nothing suspicious about it. Now, with the sun high in the sky, even if the painting was truly a ghost shadow, it couldn’t manifest in broad daylight. After considering both options, Su Cen decided to investigate the source of the paintings first.
Following the yamen runner, Su Cen was surprised to find that he had been only a few steps away from this place before.
It was none other than the painting shop in the West Market, right at the corner of the street where Cuiji Pavilion was located. He had encountered Li Yunxi here by chance before, and that Lotus and Sandpiper painting stained with rouge was originally meant to be delivered here.
The shop owner was an old man with graying hair. He seemed quite curious about the sudden influx of people into his shop. His bright eyes occasionally peeked out from behind the counter to observe, quickly lowering his head to study a small water dropper in his hand whenever someone looked his way.
After a while, the old man seemed to figure out that these people were just underlings, and the person really in charge hadn’t arrived yet.
A moment later, a young man stepped in. The others immediately surrounded him, chattering and reporting something. The young man glanced this way a few times, then nodded and dismissed them before approaching the counter.
The young man asked, “Old sir, is this painting shop yours?”
The old man lifted his head slightly from the water dropper and responded indifferently.
This old man looked old enough to be his grandfather. Su Cen, unusually polite, patiently said, “Old sir, I’d like to inquire about a few paintings.”
“Paintings? This place is full of paintings,” the old man pointed with his dry finger. “Which one do you want? There’s the ‘Fu Sheng Teaching the Classics,’ ‘Spring Outing,’ and ‘Beauty in Hu Clothing.’ Young man, with your vigorous energy, could it be that you want… well, I don’t have those here.” He narrowed his eyes, “But I can find someone to paint for you. Do you want something suggestive, or half-covered? I also have more explicit ones, but those cost extra.”
Su Cen: “…”
Find someone to paint? Who? Li Yunxi? Who would have thought that such a frail-looking person could not only paint Lotus and Sandpiper but also those kinds of… paintings.
The yamen runner behind him shouted, “How dare you! Our Lord is…”
Su Cen waved his hand to dismiss him and continued asking, “I want to inquire about three Peach Blossom paintings. Do you remember them, old sir?”
“Shen Cun’s Peach Blossom paintings?” The old man raised his head, thinking for a moment. “I did have those paintings, but they’ve all been sold.”
Su Cen asked urgently, “Who did you sell them to?”
“One was taken by the owner of Cuiji Pavilion across the street. He didn’t even pay cash, just exchanged it for this small water dropper. As for the other two…” The old man frowned, thinking. “I can’t remember, but I keep records of all paintings sold here. If you really want to know, I can check for you, and you can negotiate with the buyers.”
Su Cen nodded, and the old man instructed a young shop assistant to bring the account book and start searching page by page.
While the old man was looking through the account book, Su Cen asked about the origin of these three Peach Blossom paintings.
The old man shook his head while flipping through the pages: “Now that’s a long story.”
Realizing the old man truly knew something, Su Cen leaned forward, “How so?”
The old man asked in return, “Do you know who this Shen Cun is?”
Su Cen was not an expert in painting, but he did have some knowledge. The Peach Blossom paintings showed considerable skill, and the dates on them were only from about a decade ago. Yet, he had never heard of anyone named Shen Cun. This was also a point of confusion for Su Cen – how could someone with such skill have no other known works? It was indeed strange.
The old man shook his head, “It’s understandable that you don’t know. This Shen Cun, he’s long dead.”
Su Cen was shocked: “Dead?!”
“Died eleven years ago. A whole family, consumed by fire, all gone,” the old man sighed. “The Shen family from Shu was once a great family of scholars and painters. Their ancestor was Shen Xingzhong from the previous dynasty. That world-renowned ‘Houyi Shooting the Sun’ was from his hand. Unfortunately, by Shen Cun’s generation, the family had fallen on hard times. Shen Cun didn’t like to show off. Their family’s traditional axe-cut and wrinkle-stroke painting technique had rarely been seen in public. Later, a great fire burned everything to ashes. What a pity, what a pity.”
Shen Cun was also from Shu? Su Cen remembered that Xu Youhuai had come from Shu about eleven or twelve years ago. Could it be that Xu Youhuai knew this Shen Cun from the painting?
Su Cen asked, “What happened with that big fire?”
“Natural disaster? Man-made calamity? Who knows?” The old man shook his head. “All we know is that 32 members of the Shen family, including Shen Cun’s eight-year-old daughter, all burned to death in that fire. Only a steward who was out shopping escaped the disaster and managed to save these three Peach Blossom paintings. I got these three paintings from him.”
Su Cen pressed further, “Where is this steward now?”
“He’s dead too,” the old man clicked his tongue. “Died of illness two years ago. Fearing these three paintings would never see the light of day again, he sent them to me to sell, hoping to let Shen Cun’s paintings live on.”
“So you’re saying none of the 33 members of the Shen family are alive today?” Su Cen frowned. Then why were people still dying because of these three paintings?
“There’s something I’m not sure if I should say,” the old man looked up from the account book at Su Cen, hesitating.
Su Cen said, “Please, go ahead.”
After some internal struggle, the old man said, “The paintings are good, but seeing how young you are, I advise you not to pursue those three paintings.”
Su Cen asked, “What do you mean?”
The old man looked mysteriously towards the door, then beckoned Su Cen closer, whispering, “Those three paintings… they’re cursed!”
Seeing Su Cen’s indifferent expression, the old man continued, “Don’t be skeptical. You know about the person who burned to death in front of the emperor a few days ago, right? He was the owner of Cuiji Pavilion who exchanged the water dropper for the painting. Look what happened, just a few days later, he burned to death! These three paintings were rescued from a fire scene, carrying the resentful energy of those who burned to death. Whoever touches them is doomed to die!”
Natural disasters, ghost shadows, and now resentful energy. Su Cen didn’t believe in ghosts and waved his hand, saying, “You’ve touched them too. Why are you fine?”
The old man’s expression turned cold, “Don’t mention it. My painting shop almost burned down because of those paintings. If I hadn’t left late that day, this shop would have been ashes the next morning. Otherwise, do you think I would have sold such a painting for a mere water dropper? With that level of skill, and being Shen Cun’s last work, wouldn’t it have been better for me to keep it as a family heirloom? … Ah, found it.”
Su Cen suddenly looked up.
The old man pushed the account book forward, “The one who bought ‘Leaves Lush’ was called Liu Kang, and the one who bought ‘Laden with Fruit’ was… Cao Wei.”
![Flying Dust [Fei Chen]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/9k.png "Flying Dust [Fei Chen]")