“The conversation has gone this far, so let’s skip the meal. I’m busy. Goodbye!” Li Zhonglou glanced at the bodyguards blocking the doorway.
He walked away directly, and no one dared to stop him.
Tang Guanghe’s forehead veins bulged, his eyes bloodshot as he watched Li Zhonglou leave, his fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.
He gritted his teeth and yelled, “What are you standing around for? Get lost!”
The bodyguards, trembling like mice before a cat, scattered.
Lu Weishen poured him a cup of tea and handed it over, advising, “Old Tang, it’s come to this. Getting angry won’t help.”
“You should be thinking about how to salvage the situation.”
“How can I salvage it?” Tang Guanghe took a deep breath.
In all his years, no one had dared to make him feel so humiliated. Even Lu Chenggong showed him some respect.
Today, he had been slapped hard by this green-behind-the-ears brat, Li Zhonglou.
He suddenly understood his son Tang Xiuzhu’s feelings at that moment.
“Your objective is to remove Lu Chenggong from power,” Lu Weishen said, his eyes gleaming with malice as he offered his advice. “Now that Li Zhonglou has ruined your plan for the Sweet White Glaze porcelain, given this kid’s capabilities and intelligence, he’ll surely have a way to rectify it.”
“We can’t count on that anymore. The charity auction still has two and a half days left. It’s too late to think of anything else.”
“Right now, the only option is to resort to extreme measures – eliminate Lu Chenggong!”
Tang Guanghe raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You mean assassination?”
“If Lu Chenggong dies, I’ll be the biggest beneficiary. Wouldn’t the police suspect this obvious fact?”
“What if someone, intending to kill Lu Yunxu and Li Zhonglou, accidentally kills Lu Chenggong?” Lu Weishen lowered his voice.
“It seems you already have a candidate and a plan in mind.” Tang Guanghe was sharp.
“Isn’t Cao Zhi perfect? Last time, he acted on my behalf to assassinate Li Zhonglou and Lu Yunxu but failed. He still holds a grudge,” Lu Weishen said slowly. “This person is narrow-minded and too self-important to achieve anything great. If we play our cards right and provoke him subtly, he’ll be of use to me.”
“Then you and I won’t have to worry. Just watch him deal with Li Zhonglou and the Lu father and daughter at the charity auction.”
“Reaping the benefits while someone else does the dirty work is the true path to success!” He couldn’t act against Li Zhonglou, but he hadn’t said others couldn’t. Cao Zhi was the perfect scapegoat.
“Brilliant!” Tang Guanghe’s eyes lit up. Cao Zhi’s past conflicts with Li Zhonglou and Lu Yunxu were evident to all. If he were the one to act, it would be the most logical and reasonable course of action, and it wouldn’t implicate the Tang family. It was killing two birds with one stone!
He immediately agreed and, after discussing with Lu Weishen, called Cao Zhi to Fenglinxue.
“Li Zhonglou, since you’re uncooperative, I’ll make sure you have a miserable end!” Tang Guanghe said, his eyes filled with venom after hanging up the phone.
Lu Weishen, on the other hand, wore a knowing, gloating expression.
***
Emerging from the Fenglinxue Hotel, Li Zhonglou walked down the street, talking on the phone with Lu Yunxu.
“My father is too stubborn and proud. If you hadn’t risked recording those words from Tang Guanghe, my father and I would probably have taken a long time to reconcile,” Lu Yunxu sighed.
She was under house arrest not only because of the car assassination attempt but also because her association with Li Zhonglou had shattered the fragile peace maintained between the Tang and Lu families. Coupled with today’s online appraisal video, it had enraged Lu Chenggong, who felt his daughter was siding with outsiders and opposing him. Now, with the evidence in hand of Tang Guanghe’s plot to frame the Lu family, the conflict between father and daughter was naturally resolved. All of this was thanks to Li Zhonglou. It was this man who had changed their father-daughter relationship. Otherwise, she could already foresee the fate of the Lu family.
“The charity auction is no longer a concern. With two days left, they won’t have time to interfere further,” Li Zhonglou said, sensing Lu Yunxu’s relief. “Next, we need to collect a few more artifacts. We can give the Sweet White Glaze porcelain as a gift to the guests, serving as reference material for authenticity appraisal. Finally, donating the jade seal box will ensure the charity auction is no less successful than anticipated.”
“Also, have someone immediately investigate who was with Zhang Daocheng at Fuqiao Footbath on Changting Road on March 17th. I have a suspicion!” He rarely informed people about his apprenticeship with Lin Zhendong, yet Lu Weishen’s information was so precise. The only explanation was that he had informants in prison. Combined with his vague responses and evasive glances, it was highly likely that Lu Weishen was aware of or involved in at least one of these assassination attempts. If that was the case, he would start by investigating Zhang Daocheng. Relying on the police was futile. There had been no response yet, and following the proper procedures would take days. He had thwarted Tang Guanghe’s plan and openly exposed his conflict with Lu Weishen. These two would undoubtedly seek revenge. Neither wanted to experience another assassination attempt. He needed to gather evidence before they made another move. With the Lu family’s connections and strength, this small matter should be easily resolved.
After giving the instructions, he hung up the phone. Li Zhonglou walked towards a snack stall across the street. He had expected to have a good meal in Fenglinxue, but no food had been served by the time he was leaving. There was a pancake stall across the street, so he decided to grab something to eat before returning to the hospital.
“Five yuan for a plain pancake. Add shredded pork or ham?” the owner asked, skillfully flipping pancakes without looking up.
“Add shredded pork, no…” Li Zhonglou replied, but suddenly his eyes widened in disbelief. He stared intently at the pan where the pancakes were being fried. The pan was dark black, with small handles on both sides, much like a flat-bottomed iron pan at home. The outside was coated in grease, with a dark, crusty surface. However, upon closer inspection, he noticed faint inscription patterns – the drooping-crowned phoenix motif! The bird’s tail circled the pan, its trailing length being two to three times the body’s length. Below was a circle of feet, covered in black charcoal ash, making the patterns completely indistinguishable. What shocked him most were the characters revealed on the bottom of the greasy pan as the owner flipped the pancakes.
“Su wo Kang Wang, Xi Yin Ji Jiang. Xuan Pu Shao Zhao Wang, Guang Neng Zhi Chu Jing…” Li Zhonglou stood frozen, his gaze fixed on the characters appearing in the gaps as the pancakes were turned. This was Jinwen! Extremely standard Western Zhou Jinwen, the precursor to seal script. This… this was clearly a bronze artifact. Based on its form, it should be the Shi Qiang Pan from the Western Zhou dynasty.
In an instant, Li Zhonglou’s hair stood on end, and his scalp tingled. He struggled to conceal the sharp glint in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that he would encounter a national treasure from the Western Zhou dynasty just by buying a pancake. It was an unbelievable spectacle, a rare occurrence in a thousand years! This Shi Qiang Pan was a ceremonial vessel used to serve food in royal households during that period, not much different from today’s iron pans. In fact, its shape hadn’t changed much over the years. However, its historical value was immeasurable. The Jinwen inscriptions alone made it a rare masterpiece of calligraphy. Any antique enthusiast would be captivated by such a national treasure. Li Zhonglou, who dedicated his life to antiques, was no exception.
Watching a national treasure being used as a flat-bottomed pan, being smoked and battered over a fire, Li Zhonglou’s heart ached. However, it was precisely because of this that the pan had remained undiscovered for so long. It was a heavenly windfall, an opportunity that fell from the sky. In his past life, after decades of studying antiques, he had never imagined encountering such an unbelievable situation. For a moment, his usually steadfast heart began to tremble uncontrollably.
“Alright, one pancake with shredded pork, eight yuan.” Amidst the turmoil in his mind, the owner handed him the finished product.
“Boss, are you selling this pancake stall?” Li Zhonglou took the pancake, forcing himself to calm down as he asked tentatively.