Chapter Eighty-two: The Ancient Jade Passed Down Through the Ages

  "Kou Er Ye once invented a method to disguise ancient jade, and it's said that many masters were deceived by his work because of its high level of craftsmanship, even the Palace Museum has collected his pieces!"

  Li Yang looked up, and everyone in the room was silent, quietly listening to Li Yang telling his own story. Only Shen Hao's eyes occasionally flashed with resentment and jealousy.

  "The method of making fake jade by Treacherous Uncle is actually not troublesome. He mixes the rough jade material with fine iron filings and puts them in a large water tank, then pours boiling vinegar into the tank, which is called 'quenching vinegar'. After quenching the vinegar, he buries it in a humid place, waits for ten or more days, and then secretly buries it again in the middle of a busy dirt road. Two or three months later, when taken out, the unearthed jade utensils are completely like ancient jade, and ordinary people can't tell them apart!"

  Li Yang stroked the jade pendant in his hand, slowly finishing the story. By this point, everyone else understood what he meant: that the ancient jade on his hand was fake, made using the "Knocking Son" method; otherwise, Li Yang wouldn't have bothered telling such a story.

  As expected, Li Yang picked up the jade pendant again and said: "Master Wu, this jade pendant of yours is probably a work by 'Kou Er Ye', it's made very intricately, almost to the point where it can be mistaken for real, possibly a recent imitation. However, the material of this jade pendant is genuine Hetian yellow jade, so this jade pendant still has some value!

  Li Yang finally concluded with a sentence, but he didn't use a definite tone. Li Yang only spoke out after discovering the iron filings in the jade pendant and coincidentally knowing this story, whether it was true or not, even he himself didn't dare to be completely certain.

  "Mr. Li, how did you know that this jade pendant is the work of the 'Knocking Grandfather' you mentioned? Do you have any evidence or are you simply very familiar with this field?"

  Shen Hao suddenly asked another question, which was even more vicious, just short of directly saying that I suspected Li Yang was also a fake person, and this already had the suspicion of slander.

  Li Yang furrowed his brow slightly. Shen Hao was like a leech, clinging to him and wouldn't let go, yet he still had the nerve to cling to himself.

  Liu Xuesong and He Lao's eyebrows also furrowed, even Wu Xiaoli's grandfather had the same expression, noticing that the noblewoman immediately felt something was off.

  "Shen Hao, Mr. Li must have evidence to say that, you don't understand antiques so don't talk nonsense!"

  Madam Zhao Dong hastily pulled Shen Hao over, she originally wanted Shen Hao to show his face today, and also had the wish of forming an alliance with the Wu and Liu families through marriage. The object of the alliance was naturally Wu Xiaoli. The combined political influence of the Wu and Liu families in Mingyang is not low, if Zhang Ying knew about Wu Xiaoli's identity beforehand, he probably wouldn't have appointed Li Yang as his assistant so decisively.

  "Evidence? Of course there is!" Li Yang hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly.

  "Although the ancient jade made by Kuai Er Ye is very similar, it also has a weakness, which is time. The ancient jade made by Kuai Er Ye cannot withstand being played with for a long time, and after a few years of being played with, it will slowly become dull and discolored. Wu Ye Ye has had this piece of jade in his hands for three years now, so he must have been playing with it all the time, which is why these characteristics are starting to appear now. If not, I wouldn't be able to see the problem with this piece of jade!"

  Li Yang humbled himself a bit, even without Pan Wan's ancient jade, he couldn't deceive Li Yang. However, the weakness he mentioned was true, and it was indeed impossible for the jade of the old man to be played with all year round.

  This weakness is nothing special, antiques are not recognized when they go out, and it's not until a few years later that you realize it's already too late, at this time children can even attend kindergarten.

  "Brother-in-law, I'm sorry, it was me who deceived you from the start!"

  Liu Xuesong suddenly turned around and sincerely said to Wu Xiaoli's grandfather, Li Yang was stunned again, it turned out that this ancient jade was what Liu Xuesong had seen before. As an antique enthusiast, it's not easy to speak the truth in public.

  "At first, you advised me to take another look, it was my own insistence on buying, being deceived is entirely my own business. Fortunately, this is genuine Huang Yu, although the age is fake but the jade is not. I've been playing with it for several years and don't want to give up now!"

  Wu Xiaoli's grandfather chuckled and shook his head, the jade he had been playing with for three years already had feelings for him, even if it wasn't an antique, he would still continue to collect it, this mentality was really not bad.

  Li Yang respectfully returned the jade pendant to Wu Xiaoli's grandfather. Li Yang also admired the old man's magnanimity.

  Wu Xiaoli stared at Li Yang in a daze, he even suspected that Li Yang had gone to Mars for a trip, how could he become so powerful in just a few days without being seen, three days apart and yet it was like looking at him with new eyes, Li Yang really made her feel shocked after not seeing him for three days.

  "Li Yang, you're right, but it's hard to tell if it's a fake or not. Come, help me take a look at this ancient jade!"

  He Lao nodded, and somehow a piece of jade pendant appeared in his hand. It was a phoenix pendant, also an ancient jade, a pure white ancient jade phoenix pendant.

  The ancient jade pendant still refracted a soft, white light under the lamp, crystal clear and transparent, as if it were a noble and mysterious fairy standing proudly in front of everyone.

  Li Yang smiled wryly and carefully took over He Lao's jade pendant. As a researcher of ancient jade artifacts for only a few days, he now seemed to be regarded as an expert by everyone here.

  "Mr. He, when did you get this jade pendant?"

  Li Yang observed carefully for a while and then used his special ability to study it before cautiously asking a question.

  Li Yang knew He Ran, Liu Lao and Wu Liangguo, they were all quite surprised, but no one said anything.

  He Lao stroked the round head of his cane and chuckled: "It's been over a decade, this piece of Han jade looked pretty good at the time, so I picked it up, and the price wasn't expensive either!"

  He Lao didn't mention the price, and Li Yang stopped asking. However, when He Lao said it was Han jade, Li Yang couldn't help but smile wryly again. This jade pendant is indeed an ancient jade, but its surface only has three layers of light yellow glow, at most one hundred and eighty years old, and it's not even comparable to the Han Dynasty.

  Li Yang had heard Zhang Ying say that He Lao was a giant in the antique world, not just famous in Mingyang but also having a great reputation nationwide. If Li Yang didn't have an abnormal confidence in his own special ability, he would probably think this ancient jade was a Han jade too.

  "What about you, Old He? When you accepted it, did you treat it as a priceless ancient jade passed down through generations?"

  After thinking for a while, Li Yang finally cleared his mind. No matter what kind of identity He Lao had, since he asked himself, he could only tell the truth. It was very uncomfortable to lie in front of someone like He Lao, and Li Yang didn't want to experience it again after having done so once before.

  "What you said is right, at that time I indeed took this phoenix pendant as a treasured ancient jade!" Old He nodded again.

  Heirloom ancient jade and unearthed jade are different. Heirloom ancient jade has been played with by many people, having a unique warm and jade-like luster. In terms of value, heirloom ancient jade is far higher than unearthed jade, because good heirloom ancient jade will not have any flaws, and will also give off a more authentic historical feeling than unearthed jade.

  "Mr. He, this is indeed an ancient jade, but its age is not as old as you said. This is not a Han dynasty jade. If I'm not mistaken, the actual age of this jade should be from the late Qing dynasty, about 150 years ago!"

  After some deliberation, Li Yang decided to be honest and said that this piece of jade, calculated based on the number of layers of patina, should be between 120 to 180 years old. He said around 150 years would be just about right, even if it's off by a few years, it doesn't matter. Currently, no one in the antique world dares to say that they can accurately determine the age of an object at a glance.

  "Li Yang, don't talk nonsense! How could Mr. He's things possibly have any problems?"

  Liu Xuesong suddenly spoke up to remind Li Yang, and Liu Xuesong's eyes also showed obvious concern. The people around slowly nodded in agreement, but Shen Hao's eyes were filled with even more resentment and a hint of schadenfreude.

  Wu Xiaoli obviously has a crush on Li Yang, and Li Yang gave such an expensive gift, the two may have been together for a long time. Liu Xuesong now directly expresses concern for Li Yang, and it's likely that he already considers Li Yang as his own grandson-in-law.

  Everyone knows that Liu Xuesong loves his granddaughter Wu Xiaoli more than his grandson, and it's not unreasonable to help Li Yang, who is also very good today.

  "Snow pine, that's not right! I didn't guarantee that none of my things had been tampered with, and besides, I'm good at ceramics, not jade. Let Li Yang continue speaking!"

  He Lao turned his head and smiled, Liu Xuesong nodded helplessly, but there was still a hint of anxiety in his eyes.

  Li Yang's heart sank suddenly, he remembered what Zhang Ying had said last time, He Lao's identity was not simple. Li Yang had thought that He Lao was just a retired cadre of Mingyang, but now it seemed that he had guessed wrong. Even Liu Xuesong, a retired cadre at the deputy ministerial level, was so tense, and He Lao's identity was absolutely not as simple as an ordinary retired cadre of Mingyang.

  Li Yang looked up at He Lao and hastily said: "He Lao, don't mind me, I'm not sure if what I said is true or not, I was just expressing my personal opinion!"

  "It's nothing, I asked you to take a look at this jade for me, how could it be your fault? Don't worry and speak boldly!"

  He Lao waved his hand and shook his head, and Li Yang's heart finally put down a bit.

  Li Yang placed the jade pendant under the lamp and examined it carefully for a few moments, then said: "This is truly a high-quality sheep fat jade, and it's been made with extremely good quality. After being crafted, someone specially used wheat bran skin to polish it by hand, and it must have been polished for at least thirty years or more to achieve that natural, soft, and moist luster, forming this ancient jade patina that can rival the real thing. This method of counterfeiting should be the 'pan guang method', which is rarely seen nowadays. Even if its history isn't that long, it's still an exceptionally rare ancient jade!"