Undoubtedly, after such an event occurred, the Yun Family's representative in charge of the handover and the appraisers could no longer sign off on the documents for acceptance.

It could even be said to be a stroke of luck.

If they had signed, most of the responsibility for what happened afterward would have fallen on their heads; but since they hadn't signed yet, all responsibility naturally fell on the Art Center and the main person in charge who borrowed the authentic work.

Consequently, the Art Center, the Calligraphy Association, and the "The Emperor's Cause" Film Crew, which was supposed to be filming properly, became the unlucky parties.

However, after watching ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) this surveillance footage, it was difficult for both Xiao He and Liu Rulan to speak up for the people at the Art Center.

If judged solely from the surveillance, the burning of this authentic work was truly a tragic injustice and far too absurd.

Furthermore, it was riddled with suspicious points.

First of all, it was a habit for many people to conduct the final inspection and signature after the goods were loaded into the carriage. Setting aside the issue of procedural order for a moment, why did everyone at the scene have to conduct the handover at another location in the warehouse? 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

You didn't leave a single person there to keep watch?!

Additionally, why would this carriage suddenly catch fire? Was some kind of combustible material placed inside in advance?

Moreover, since the authentic work had already entered the carriage, it meant the packaging and protection were already well-executed. So why was it so easily burned to fragments when the fire broke out?

Clearly, the staff on-site took immediate measures to extinguish the fire and rescue the item as soon as they discovered it, which was quite fast. Yet, looking at the photos of the rescued fragments of the authentic work, the damage was extremely severe.

Xiao He felt there was definitely something fishy going on here.

To continue investigating further, one would need to trace the source of the truck, the basic backgrounds of the people on-site, and then eliminate suspects one by one...

However, Xiao He did not continue investigating in that direction.

After all, he wasn't a criminal investigator, and this wasn't his business to manage. The Police, who also had this surveillance footage, should have the easiest access to information. Besides, a week had already passed; the Police must already have investigation results...

The next moment, a portrait appeared before the two of them.

"Eh?"

Looking at the photo and the red stamp below it, Liu Rulan didn't dare ask Xiao He which corner of the internet he had scoured to find this data. Instead, she stared fixedly at the person in front of her, very puzzled: "This person looks a bit familiar..."

Where had she seen this young man before?

Instantly, Liu Rulan's thoughts drifted back to last month.

It was the night of the premiere of "making the best of a bad situation."

On their way back to the hotel, Xiao He had invited a young man into the car and dropped him off at the Calligraphy Association.

Xiao He had only emerged from the entrance of the Calligraphy Association after a delay of about ten minutes.

Although what happened that night was just a small interlude in their busy lives, and many things had happened and many people were met since then, Liu Rulan could still remember the other party's name—

"Qian Wenhao?" the woman murmured softly. "He's a major suspect in this case? Why? Why would he burn this authentic work?"

"Impossible!"

Xiao He instinctively spoke up to refute. "Qian Wenhao... he wouldn't do something like that."

Initially, because of Qian Wenhao's abrupt invitation, Xiao He indeed suspected that Qian Wenhao had other motives, guessing whether he wanted to pull a bait-and-switch to keep Emperor Chen's authentic work in the country.

But for one, forging an authentic work wasn't that simple; it required many special materials and tools. In a situation where he had merely helped write a piece of calligraphy, it couldn't possibly pass an appraiser's inspection.

Secondly, Xiao He had later chatted intermittently with Old Mr. Qian from the Calligraphy Association during breaks in the filming of "The Emperor's Cause," and he had slowly come to understand the person that was Qian Wenhao.

Although Qian Wenhao was indeed somewhat impulsive and would contradict Old Mr. Qian regardless of the occasion, questioning the strategies of the association and the authorities, he was essentially a very pure person.

Because he didn't want Emperor Chen's authentic work to leave China in the future, he had a big argument with Old Mr. Qian at the Art Center to express his dissatisfaction.

And because he simply liked the historical figure of Emperor Chen as well as Emperor Chen's calligraphy, he had asked Xiao He for a piece of calligraphy as a memento after learning that Xiao He had a strong ability to mimic calligraphy.

But to say he had any malicious intent? There probably really wasn't any.

After all, he said whatever was on his mind. And looking at Old Mr. Qian's current status, one knew that other elders in his family must be quite extraordinary as well. Would he risk doing something that was destined to be discovered?

That was definitely impossible.

Moreover, despite Old Mr. Qian looking helpless and disgusted every time he mentioned Qian Wenhao, Xiao He could see that this senior actually thought very highly of Qian Wenhao and intended for him to inherit his mantle in the future.

So, after getting a general understanding of Qian Wenhao from Old Mr. Qian, Xiao He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If the authentic work had to go back, then let it go back. Days are long, and Yun Ziqi is currently developing his career in China. Looking at the Yun Family's actions in recent years, they likely want to return to the country as well. There might be chances to get the authentic work back in the future. But if a young man with a bright future were to be implicated and lose his innocence and time, it wouldn't be worth it.

He just never expected...

Xiao He had a complex expression; he never expected to see Qian Wenhao's name in the Police investigation report.

And looking at the investigation report they provided, Xiao He couldn't even bring himself to say that Qian Wenhao had no suspicion at all—

Because the report clearly stated that during the exhibition of the authentic work, Qian Wenhao had repeatedly violated regulations by entering the Art Center late at night to have close contact with the piece.

Therefore, if there was a problem, he had every opportunity to tamper with the authentic work during that period.

In this way, why the fire started inside the carriage and why the authentic work was so severely damaged were all explained.

The report even contained detailed surveillance screenshots.

They were all surveillance shots from different dates but the same place. In the images, Qian Wenhao was leaning over the authentic work, carefully using a brush to brush something, occasionally catching it with a tray, and using a handheld light to continue studying the flow of the strokes.

His identity and background were quite special, so he indeed could have had access to those keys and passwords; the people at the Art Center were not on guard against him.

But why?

Was looking through the glass during the broad daylight not enough? Did he have to open the glass and peek even closer at night?

Could it be that he really was copying a forgery?

Xiao He looked at the surveillance, feeling a bit dazed. As a complete layman, he didn't understand Qian Wenhao's actions, and he never expected this kid would become one of the main suspects in the destruction of Emperor Chen's authentic work.

Thinking back now, they had indeed met Qian Wenhao at the entrance of the Art Center that night.

So from that time on, this kid had been sneaking into the Art Center at night to study the authentic work?

"I remember he's the child from Old Mr. Qian's family, right?"

Liu Rulan didn't know that Xiao He's mind was already in a mess and was still muttering along.

"Since you believe in him, he should be innocent. It's just that from the clues the Police have found so far, things look very unfavorable for him."

Most importantly, after Qian Wenhao was taken away for investigation, his mental state was extremely poor, and he refused to cooperate with the investigation. He had never given a precise reason for entering the Art Center late at night, which instead caused the suspicion on him to gradually increase.

The matter had thus fallen into a deadlock.