After a period of chatting, the door to Chen Zhongping's house was knocked.
Qin Xuan politely got up to greet the visitor, only to find it was a familiar face.
"Elder Shen?"
"Qin Xuan?!"
"What are you doing here?"
Both were bewildered, but Chen Zhongping was the first to react, taking the suitcase Shen Zhengyang was dragging behind him and ushering him inside.
"How do you two know each other?"
Sitting on the sofa, Ye Shuliang, also from the Gem Association, poured Shen Zhengyang a cup of tea.
Shen Zhengyang took the tea and chuckled, "Do you remember that peerless raw jade with three types of water from a single stone?"
"That's the one that kid Qin Xuan sold me!"
"Ah?"
"You're saying that jade raw stone, worth billions, was sold to you by Brother Qin?"
Hearing Shen Zhengyang's words, Chen Zhongping was also dumbfounded.
So, the gambling stone prodigy Shen Zhengyang was referring to was Qin Xuan!
However, recalling Qin Xuan's demeanor when facing antiques, Chen Zhongping suddenly felt it wasn't that surprising.
If Qin Xuan could pinpoint the exact age of an item, then identifying a mere stone would be even simpler and more casual.
Placing Shen Zhengyang's suitcase down, Chen Zhongping gradually opened it, revealing various boxes inside.
He then continued to ask Shen Zhengyang, "So, Elder Shen, you're selling these things to raise money to buy the raw stone?"
Shen Zhengyang nodded, "Isn't that obvious?"
"For this great treasure, I've emptied my entire vault."
"Did Wu Yang not mention it to you?" Ye Shuliang teased.
Shen Zhengyang's eyebrows shot up, "Mention it?"
"How dare he!"
After saying that, his eyes relaxed, and he smiled, "But ever since I returned from Ruili, Wu Yang has been incredibly obedient to me."
"When I decided to sell these things, he not only didn't object but even offered to contribute some of his own items to help me raise the money!"
"Even our Xi Yang gave me her accumulated New Year's money!"
Thinking of the changes in his family relationships these past few days, Shen Zhengyang couldn't help but stand up and bow to Qin Xuan.
Qin Xuan, not understanding why, quickly dodged, and Chen Zhongping and Ye Shuliang were startled, rushing forward to support him.
Unexpectedly, Shen Zhengyang pushed aside Chen and Ye, who were trying to help him, and insisted on reaching Qin Xuan.
"Qin Xuan, please, do not refuse me."
"If you hadn't made me recognize my own arrogance at the jade exhibition, I might never have reconciled with myself or my family in this lifetime."
"Therefore, you must accept this bow."
With that, Shen Zhengyang, unconcerned about the stares of others, bent his upper body and bowed to Qin Xuan.
Qin Xuan smiled helplessly upon hearing this but no longer dodged.
Only after the elder finished his gesture did he quickly step forward and help him sit down.
"Elder Shen, why must you do this?"
Shen Zhengyang shook his head, "You don't understand yet."
"But I hope you can remember, no matter how many right things you do in your life, don't be blindly confident."
"Listen and observe more in all matters, and heed the opinions of others in a timely manner."
Qin Xuan nodded in understanding, while Chen Zhongping took out the antiques brought by Shen Zhengyang. "Alright, alright, you two, an elder and a junior, stop lecturing each other."
"Come, come, Brother Qin, you take a look at the items Elder Shen brought first."
Hearing this, Qin Xuan got up and walked over.
Shen Zhengyang looked at Qin Xuan, completely bewildered, "Don't tell me you know about antiques too."
"Heh heh, I know a little, just a little."
Taking a round imperial seal from Chen Zhongping, Qin Xuan immediately heard its inner voice.
Round Seal: Look! I am the only round imperial seal after Emperor Qianlong became the Grand Emperor. My craftsmanship is exquisite, and my meaning is extraordinary. If you want to buy me, you can't get me for less than two hundred million!
After hearing its inner voice, Qin Xuan examined the jade seal in his hand.
On the top of the seal were two patterns, with the Qian hexagram from the Bagua in the center, and two divine dragons on either side.
These were homophones for Qianlong.
The body of the seal was inscribed with a fifty-six-character imperial poem, "Self-Inscription of the Grand Emperor's Seal."
The bottom seal surface was carved with the four characters "Grand Emperor" in Seal Script, arranged in a cross.
It exuded a powerful aura.
After his observation, Qin Xuan explained the specific details of the seal to the others.
Ye Shuliang immediately rushed over, and Shen Zhengyang looked at Qin Xuan as if he had seen a ghost.
"My goodness."
"Even I had to research extensively before daring to purchase this imperial seal at a high price."
"How did you immediately discern its value?"
"Could it be that you've also seen Emperor Qianlong's 'Qianlong Baoshu'?"
Qin Xuan smiled and shook his head without speaking. Ye Shuliang exclaimed, his face unable to hide his joy.
"This inscribed poem, the Grand Emperor's Seal, is the very one that was lost overseas!"
"The item my ancestor yearned to recover before his death, and it turns out it's in your hands!"
"Elder Shen, name your price for this imperial seal!"
"No matter what, I must buy this treasure from you today!"
Hearing this, Shen Zhengyang was immediately put in a difficult position. "I bought this imperial seal at an auction twenty years ago for over 40 million Dragon Coins."
"Now that twenty years have passed, I'm not entirely sure of its current price."
"How about this, Xiao Ye, you name a price, and you can take it if it's reasonable."
The two of them pushed and yielded to each other for a long time, unable to settle on a specific price.
Finally, at Qin Xuan's suggestion, the transaction was concluded for two hundred million Dragon Coins.
Continuing to look through the items, Qin Xuan successively appraised several more precious antiques for Chen Zhongping and the others.
The prices ranged from tens of millions to over a hundred million. In just half an hour, transactions totaling over a billion Dragon Coins were settled.
"There's only one last item."
"This is my most prized possession!"
"If it weren't for needing to quickly gather the payment for you, kid, I wouldn't have taken it out to sell!"
Seeing Chen Zhongping hand the large brocade box in his hand to Qin Xuan, Shen Zhengyang said to Qin Xuan with a hint of heartache.
Qin Xuan chuckled and untied the red rope binding the box.
Upon opening the brocade box, he saw a large, pillar-shaped artifact lying quietly inside.
It was round on the inside and square on the outside, with a drilled hole in the center.
Viewed from above, it resembled a jade disc, while its sides were carved with intricate patterns.
This, this is the Jade Cong King unearthed from the Hui region?!
Just by looking at its exterior, Qin Xuan, Chen, and Ye had already recognized the identity of this artifact.
It was the most representative ritual artifact for sacrificing to heaven and earth unearthed from the Hui cultural site, the Jade Cong, whose excavation had been broadcast live by Dragon Country Satellite TV a few years ago!
Its unique square pillar shape symbolized the roundness of heaven and the squareness of earth, while the outer square and inner roundness signified the connection between heaven and earth, allowing communication with the gods.
Such a treasure's research value was immeasurable, and it should have been collected by the National Museum.
How did it inexplicably end up in Shen Zhengyang's hands?
Chen Zhongping and Ye Shuliang looked at Shen Zhengyang with puzzled expressions, while Qin Xuan had even more questions.
Firstly, from a certain perspective, this Jade Cong bore a strong resemblance to the wordless jade tablet he had found in his cloth bundle.
Secondly, the Jade Cong was currently repeating the same sentence with great annoyance: How can the spiritual energy in this shabby place be so thin?!