"Since Qian Wenhao is investigating, did he find anything in private?"

Xiao He recalled the surveillance footage he had seen and asked very tactfully.

Although he didn't know much about this field, Xiao He knew that modern technology already had the relevant techniques to detect the age and traces of calligraphy, paintings, and cultural relics. Since Qian Wenhao had been investigating privately for so long, he should have already had an answer.

Elder Qian sighed deeply.

"The problem is, the Police did indeed find the recorded data from the relevant instruments, but the final results all showed that there were no issues with the cultural relic."

Whether it was age testing or material analysis, none of the investigative traces left by Qian Wenhao contained any evidence to support his suspicion.

This was almost equivalent to saying that Qian Wenhao's suspicions were all products of his own imagination.

The authentic work by Emperor Chen, "stability of the world", which the Yun Family had lent out, has no issues; it's the real deal.

"Since there's no evidence and no other appraisers dare to assert that this work is a forgery, what is the underlying logic behind Qian Wenhao's suspicion? There must be a catalyst, right?"

Xiao He was truly puzzled.

The backgrounds of the appraisal experts involved in this entire process were all quite authoritative; they were people with high levels of trust and renown in the cultural relics world. So many people on the scene had no suspicions, so why did Qian Wenhao suddenly have doubts?

Furthermore, after he had his suspicions, why didn't he say anything? Why didn't he explain the reason clearly?

What secret was he still hiding that even the Qian family and the Police were unwilling to disclose?

Elder Qian also shook his head dejectedly: "I don't know."

"However..."

He narrowed his eyes, and after thinking for a moment, he finally told Xiao He his thoughts: "However, if there were a forgery that would show no issues even through machine testing—where the age and materials are all correct, and even an experienced appraiser would find it hard to distinguish truth from falsehood—it reminds me of a forgery technique. But I can't be certain if there's a connection between these matters."

"Oh?"

Xiao He's interest was piqued. "What technique?"

Elder Qian closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment before slowly uttering eight words: "Old materials, new craftsmanship; using the old to imitate the old."

-

"Old materials, new craftsmanship; using the old to imitate the old."

Inside the meeting room, Officer Chen moved the mouse, displaying a PPT behind him.

"This is a method of using authentic scrap materials to create high-level forgeries. It uses the real to confuse the fake, destroying objects to create objects. It is one of the most top-tier and rarest techniques in today's antique forgery world. Forgers extract and reprocess worthless ancient scrap paper and old pigments so that the age of the work's materials perfectly matches the corresponding year. This can easily fool most instrument tests currently on the market. It first appeared in works related to authentic Zhang-style Calligraphy. It was only after circulating in the market for decades that the truth was discovered in a ghostwriter's suicide note..."

"Three years ago, the Old Bronze Engraved Fake Inscription Case announced by the Supreme People's Procuratorate involved using old bronze vessels to commit forgery and fraudulently obtain auction qualifications..."

"And two years ago, this extreme scam suddenly emerged in An City, and most of it revolved around authentic works of calligraphy."

Officer Chen paused as he spoke, his eyes full of gravity: "The wickedness of this matter lies not only in the forgery and deception, but in destroying real cultural relics to manufacture fakes. They use other parts of contemporary relics—either fragmented or cheap—to create more valuable imitations and then smuggle them overseas to obtain huge profits."

"Because An City's antique market has been very active over the years, by the time the Police discovered this group, they had already collected a large number of antiques from An City's antique market, all of which are now unaccounted for. Currently, it is preliminarily suspected that these items have been damaged and turned into fakes, circulating in overseas markets."

Speaking to this point, Officer Chen couldn't help but sigh.

An City has a deep historical background and numerous cultural relic remains. In the countryside, it's even common for ancient objects to be found occasionally during house construction or field work. Consequently, various antiques and curios circulate frequently in the market, making the antique market historically very prosperous.

This group's initial appearance was very low-profile. It wasn't until a coastal city caught a smuggling case that the Police accidentally discovered this antique smuggling chain. They traced it back to An City, and finally, Officer Chen established a task force to investigate this case with full authority.

"There's actually such a technique?"

The other members of the investigation team were shocked. Officer Mi was older and more experienced; although he hadn't handled criminal cases in this specific field, he grasped the key point: "So, it's difficult to determine the authenticity of such fakes even with machines?"

"Yes." Officer Chen nodded, his tone somewhat heavy. "Their forgery technique is very mature; it ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) could even be called the most astounding forgery crime in China's modern history. Even experienced historians and antique appraisers might not be able to truly make a judgment when faced with such a work."

"Then is there really no chance at all? Can't any flaws be found?"

A Police Officer couldn't help but ask anxiously.

Officer Chen nodded slightly: "Naturally, there are still some."

"Although the materials are all old, the creative method is ultimately modern. If one must speak of flaws, then the only way is the most primitive method—looking at the technical content and style of the creation."

The others looked at each other in bewilderment.

Thus, Officer Chen could only continue to explain: "Take a calligraphy work as an example. The paper is old and the ink is old, but the person replicating the handwriting may not necessarily be able to 100% replicate the brush strength and the height of the artistic conception of the original calligrapher."

Sometimes human judgment can be more precise than a machine's. If even machines are fooled, then they can only consider following the most traditional appraisal methods to rule things out one by one—

A Police Officer's mouth couldn't help but twitch: "Looking at the artistic conception?"

To put it in plain terms, doesn't that mean relying on a gut feeling?

But for them in the Police, a "feeling" was the answer with the least reference value.

Didn't that sound ridiculous?

-

Meanwhile, after hearing a similar answer, Xiao He hesitated for a moment and also asked very tactfully: "Then, Elder Qian, don't you all... have even a tiny bit of a feeling?"

He was a layman; he looked at calligraphy just for fun. At the time, he did indeed feel that the piece of writing in "stability of the world" was very good—magnificent and showing profound skill—so Xiao He truly gained some insights because of that work.

But Elder Qian and those other old calligraphers who often gathered there to study... Uh, asking this was indeed a bit mocking and provocative, but with so many people in the Calligraphy Association, did not a single person really find any clues?

Elder Qian fell silent again.

Very well, Xiao He seemed to hear the sound of a Dao heart shattering.

"Actually, thinking about it carefully now, in terms of age, Emperor Chen was only thirty when he wrote this calligraphy. He himself came from a military background and was not a famous calligraphy master. His calligraphic skill might indeed be inferior to other masters who left their names in later generations. This is also evident in Emperor Chen's other remaining authentic works. So at the time, we all believed that 'stability of the world' was the proof of the highest peak of Emperor Chen's calligraphic artistic conception."

Elder Qian said slowly, "Even now, I am very certain that the calligrapher of this work definitely has skills superior to mine."

Elder Qian was already the most senior person in the association. Since even he hadn't spoken up, the others naturally believed it without a doubt.

Moreover, before that, everyone had already heard of the story behind this authentic work from the Yun Family. Appraisers both at home and abroad had issued relevant certifications. In the subsequent cooperation, both the Yun Family and the Art Center attached great importance to it, specifically finding professional and authoritative institutions to conduct instrument testing. The documentation was complete, and many people guaranteed it; the authority was as solid as a mountain. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Consequently, as these layers were added one after another, Elder Qian didn't know at this moment whether the authority everyone trusted was right or wrong.

When an authoritative conclusion becomes an established fact, who would still question it?

Who would even dare to question it?