Zhuo Yu Feng Yang Chapter 39

Chapter 39: An encounter with Pan Yuan, a mystery hidden in new objects

The next morning, just after dawn, Lu Jingyang excitedly knocked on Jiang Zhuo’s door with his wallet in hand.

“Boss Jiang, let’s go! The good things in the Panjiayuan morning market will be sold out if you go late!”

Jiang Zhuo glanced at him helplessly and slowly put on his coat: “Why are you so anxious? Good things won’t run away on their own.”

When the two drove to Panjiayuan, the morning market was already bustling with people.The sounds of hawking and bargaining are intertwined one after another, and the air is filled with the unique stale smell of antiques, mixed with the aroma of fried dough sticks and soy milk.

Lu Jingyang was like a playful rabbit, diving into the crowd, looking here and there.Jiang Zhuo followed leisurely, his eyes scanning the dazzling array of stalls, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the magnifying glass in his pocket.

Turning a corner, a small stall with miscellaneous items caught Jiang Zhuo’s attention.The stall owner is a gray-haired old lady, guarding a pile of copper and jade articles, with a tired look on her face. There are only a few scattered coins lying in the enamel jar in front of her.

Jiang Zhuo knelt down and his eyes fell on an inconspicuous copper seal.The copper seal was the size of a palm, and its surface was covered with mottled patina. The seal button was shaped like a curled-up chi tiger, and the lines were blurred by time. There was also a shocking crack on the edge, as if it had been broken by someone. It looked like a piece that no one cared about.

But as soon as his fingertips touched the copper seal, the system in his mind suddenly popped up a prompt: [Remnants of the official seal of the Qing Dynasty were detected, containing special inscriptions, related to the Internal Affairs Office of the Yongzheng Dynasty].

Jiang Zhuo’s eyes moved slightly, and he calmly picked up the copper seal and looked at it over and over.Fingertips brushed over the crack, and you could feel the uneven stubble. There were a few incomplete seal characters vaguely embedded in the section, which were covered with patina and couldn’t be seen clearly.

“Young man, you have good taste.” Seeing that he was looking at it seriously, the old lady said in a hoarse voice, “This seal was collected by my wife when he was young. It is said to be an ancestral thing. Unfortunately, one of the seals was broken. I have set up stalls countless times over the years, but no one wants to take it.”

“How much?” Jiang Zhuo asked, his tone so calm that no waves could be heard.

The old lady sighed, stretched out her wrinkled fingers and made a three sign: “I was thinking that it is an old copper piece after all. It has been priced at 500 yuan, but it has not been open for a long time. If you really want it, take the 300 yuan and think of it as clearing a stall for me and go home to buy a bottle of wine for the old man.”

Several stall-goers nearby heard the sound and glanced over. One of them curled his lips and said, “Madam, this broken copper lump is even expensive at fifty, and your price is too outrageous.”

The old lady ignored him and just looked at Jiang Zhuo longingly.

Jiang Zhuo didn’t bargain, just took out his mobile phone to scan the QR code to pay, and put the copper seal in his pocket.

At this time, Lu Jingyang ran over with a bunch of Bodhi seeds, his face full of pride: “Boss Jiang, look at the treasure I found! This Bodhi seed paste is so beautiful, it only cost me two hundred yuan!”

Jiang Zhuo glanced at the string of bodhi seeds and nodded: “It’s not bad, I haven’t been tricked.”

Lu Jingyang chuckled, glanced at the corner of the copper seal exposed in his pocket, and asked curiously: “What did you buy? It looks dark.”

“A copper seal, it looks interesting.” Jiang Zhuo said calmly.

The two of them wandered around until the sun rose high before leaving Panjiayuan with a bunch of “trophies”.

Returning to Xianyunzhai, Jiang Zhuo immediately took out the copper seal and placed it on the long table covered with velvet. He also took out a professional rust remover, a soft brush and a high-power magnifying glass.

Lu Jingyang stood aside and stared intently, not even daring to breathe.

After the rust remover is diluted, it is carefully applied to the surface of the copper seal. The soft brush is gently swept, and the thick copper rust falls off, revealing the dull copper color underneath.The pattern of the tiger seal button gradually becomes clearer, the tiger claws are strong, and the tiger head is majestic. At first glance, it is not an ordinary folk object.The outline of the seal characters on the seal surface is also revealed, but the crack runs right across the center of the seal surface, cutting off the seal characters at the waist. The remaining handwriting is incomplete and cannot be read at all.

“This seal looks like an official seal.” Lu Jingyang touched his chin, his voice full of surprise, “The Chihu button is usually used by officials, but it was cut too hard and it was hard to tell which yamen it belonged to.”

Jiang Zhuo said nothing, his eyes fixed on the incomplete inscription on the side of the copper seal.He took out a thin piece of rice paper, covered the inscription, and lightly rubbed it with a pencil.

Pencil shavings fell on the rice paper and slowly sketched out a few incomplete words: […Li…Ministry of Internal Affairs…Yongzheng…]

“Li? Ministry of Internal Affairs? Yongzheng?” Lu Jingyang’s eyes widened suddenly, and his voice rose a little higher, “Could this be related to the Li Mingshan who framed Tang Ying, right?!”

Jiang Zhuo’s fingertips paused, and the rubbing movement stopped.Although the handwriting on the rice paper was incomplete, the words “House of Internal Affairs” were particularly clear. The movement of the strokes was somewhat similar to Li Mingshan’s signature recorded by Tang Ying in the secret edict.

He picked up the rubbings and compared them carefully, his brows gradually furrowed.

This copper seal is probably no ordinary official seal.Its breakage was too flat. It didn’t look like natural damage caused by a collision, but more like someone deliberately broke it to cover up some key information.

And the incomplete inscription vaguely points to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of that year, pointing to that dusty past.

The setting sun shines through the window lattice and falls on the rubbings. The incomplete seal characters seem to turn into intriguing mysteries in the light and shadow.

Lu Jingyang looked at Jiang Zhuo’s solemn expression and thought in his mind: “Boss Jiang, this copper seal…could it hide any secrets related to Li Mingshan?”

Jiang Zhuo raised his head and looked out the window deeply.

The wind blows and the clouds move.

The story of Xianyunzhai, I thought it would be peaceful, but it caused waves again because of a copper seal I found by chance.

And this time, it may involve something deeper and more secret than Tang Ying’s injustice case.