Ye Longlin's words stirred waves of discussion among the attendees.
The methods for aging paper were hardly a secret, and for those in the calligraphy and painting world, and the art community, it was not difficult. The challenge lay in painting on the canvas first, and then using external factors to age it.
Especially for paintings that had been aged for a long time, even some experts found it difficult to distinguish. The first method was particularly effective.
However, their mistake was that this painting had been aged too recently. The scent of pine wood still lingered on it, which was its greatest flaw.
"Come, come, let everyone have a smell. I'm also very curious if there's indeed a pine wood scent. If it's true, then Pang Yun has betrayed his master and ancestors. I will also order his blacklisting!"
Zhou Tao waved his hand and spoke directly, believing it was impossible for the scent of pine wood to remain. They had considered this issue before and had taken special measures to mask the pine scent. Furthermore, they had covered the entire painting with dry soil, so it was impossible for any pine scent to linger!
"Unfortunately, my nose is very keen."
Ye Longlin sneered. In reality, his nose wasn't that keen. This was a photograph from a file that Xuan Niao had sent him earlier, showing Zhou Tao and Pang Yun appearing together at a lumberyard, captured by surveillance cameras.
The Dragon Pavilion's intelligence system was similar to the Sky Net system, or rather, the Dragon Pavilion's intelligence system was an authorization for the Sky Net system, used to retrieve information from it.
Of course, their access could also be revoked at any time, equivalent to a...
Li Zhengyi hurried forward, his voice full of authority as he questioned, "Who exactly are you to dare cause trouble here? Don't you know what occasion this is? Are you trying to cause a scene?"
This individual's rank was many times higher than Zhou Tao's.
After all, he was an elder leader in the art world with real power.
"I simply hold a skeptical attitude towards the origin and truth of this painting, nothing more."
Ye Longlin smiled.
Li Zhengyi snorted again, standing opposite Ye Longlin, his gaze sharp and cold. "It's understandable to have doubts, and we welcome them. However, to raise doubts in a public setting, isn't that somewhat against the rules?"
Ye Longlin stated, "Those who gain fame through improper means and resort to conspiracies are always looked down upon by Ye. Even in the capital, my way of doing things remains the same. Talking about rules and occasions with such people is not my character."
This statement implied that Ye Longlin had confirmed the painting was fake, rather than Xia Mingzhong plaguing his creativity as Pang Yun had claimed.
Li Zhengyi shook his head slightly and ordered, "Apologize now, immediately!"
"We will discuss other matters after you have apologized."
The old man placed his hands behind his back, his gaze stern and displeased.
Zhou Tao's heart relaxed. This old man was also a fraud, yet he spoke with such righteous indignation, which was quite comical.
The visitors also realized that the situation was quite tricky and could only watch how Li Zhengyi would resolve it.
From Li Zhengyi's perspective, the question of whether the painting was plagiarized or original was no longer as important. The immediate priority was the reputation of the art world as a whole.
"Elder Li, please uphold justice for me. I, Pang Yun, am willing to stake my head as a guarantee that this painting indeed comes from my hand!"