Chapter 90: Camel Skin
This tapestry, when carefully examined, had a total of five layers, making it particularly thick.
Now, placed before the two of them, was the middle layer.
Because of Xu Youyou’s delicate handling, the painted pattern was perfectly preserved.
This layer was divided into two sections.
One section depicted a territorial map.
The other section featured a portrait—of a Qing dynasty figure wearing an imperial crown.
The edges and gaps of the artwork were filled with dragons.
“Camel skin,” Lu Jingyao hesitated for a moment before adding, “The person in the portrait… seems to be Emperor Qianlong.”
He took out his phone, searched for existing portraits of Emperor Qianlong, and placed the phone screen next to the tapestry’s image for comparison. Sure enough, there was a strong resemblance. “He appears to be in his forties or fifties here.”
Xu Youyou carefully compared them and then asked, “And this map, is it a territorial map of the Qing dynasty?”
Lu Jingyao glanced at it and responded, “Zhunghar is included on the map, which means it must be after General Zhao Hui’s campaign to reclaim the territory. That would place it after the 22nd year of Qianlong’s reign.”
Xu Youyou wasn’t overly concerned with the exact date of the painting. What interested her more was another question: “Is this thing valuable?”
Lu Jingyao nodded. “There should be many people willing to buy it back. Estimated value—nine figures.”
Xu Youyou’s heart leaped with excitement.
Lu Jingyao added, “But if you do intend to sell it, I’d recommend taking it to the capital.”
Xu Youyou nodded in understanding. She knew what Lu Jingyao meant—many of the former Qing dynasty loyalists still resided in the capital, and they would likely be willing to pay a high price for an artifact related to Emperor Qianlong.
Thinking about how this tapestry, which should have been hanging on a wall, had instead been trampled underfoot by the Lu family for so long—almost thrown into the trash—she figured that if Emperor Qianlong knew, he’d probably be rolling in his grave with rage.
Now that Lu Jingyao had seen the full tapestry, he had no reason to stay any longer. As he got up to leave, he added, “I’ll be heading to the capital soon. I have some connections with an auction house there. If you’d like, I can accompany you to deliver this to the auction house.”
Xu Youyou’s eyes lit up. She had never been to the capital in either of her two lives. It was completely unfamiliar territory to her. Having someone familiar with the place lead the way would be a huge advantage.
After Lu Jingyao left, Xu Youyou carefully rolled up the tapestry and stored it in her large home safe before calling Aunt Zhang to clean up the entryway.
That night, she slept soundly.
The system seemed to be running a bit slow. Xu Youyou had just woken up in the morning when she finally received her reward.
[Congratulations, Host! You have completed the hidden treasure-hunting task and earned the reward: Advanced Porcelain Appraisal Skill.]
Xu Youyou was instantly overjoyed. With this new skill, she felt more powerful than ever. Her fingers itched to test it out immediately.
With that thought in mind, she went straight to a museum.
Without needing to read the porcelain descriptions, she could recite the exhibits’ details almost identically to the professional museum guides.
But the more she realized this, the more restless she felt. After all, museum artifacts could only be admired from behind glass—she couldn’t touch them at all.
“Sister Xu, let’s go to Antique Street.” Xu Youyou suggested.
Xu Fang had been doing her homework recently and immediately offered, “Boss, apart from Antique Street, there’s also an antique morning market in Shanghai.”
Xu Youyou’s eyes lit up. “Where is it?”
Xu Fang explained, “The antique morning market isn’t open every day—it only happens once a week on Fridays. It starts at 4 AM and wraps up by noon.”
Hearing this, Xu Youyou was intrigued, but since Friday was still two days away, she decided to head straight to Antique Street instead.
The vendors there were the same familiar faces. Xu Youyou even spotted the stall owner who had previously sold her a fake Doucai cup.
The narrow-eyed vendor recognized Xu Youyou and greeted her warmly, “Miss, you’re back! I’ve got some new top-quality items on my stall this time. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”
Xu Youyou humored him and browsed through his items.
Her focus was mainly on the porcelain pieces.
“This big vase is from the Qianlong era! Look at this aesthetic—bright reds and greens, definitely something he’d like. And check out the bottom seal. Miss, I’ll give you a good deal—500,000 yuan, one price only.” The vendor promoted enthusiastically.
Xu Youyou chuckled, “Why don’t you sprinkle some dust on it? It looks so new—not like something from the Qianlong era, more like last week’s production.”
The vendor forced an awkward smile. “Oh, come on now! If you don’t like it, take a look at something else.”
Xu Youyou casually picked up a celadon-glazed bowl nearby.
“Miss, that’s a Ru Kiln celadon-glazed bowl—” the vendor began to explain.
But Xu Youyou interrupted, “There are only two surviving Ru Kiln celadon-glazed bowls—one is in the Forbidden City Museum, the other in the British Percival David Foundation. Are you saying this one is from Britain?”
The vendor let out a dry laugh, “Miss, you know too much. Coming here is a bit unfair to us vendors, don’t you think?”
Xu Youyou didn’t respond, simply continued browsing. With her new skill, she could tell authenticity with just a glance.
“You’ve been looking for a while now—why not buy something? I’ll give you the cost price.” the vendor suggested.
Xu Youyou didn’t believe a word of that but wasn’t too concerned about spending a little money. “Alright, if I find something I like, I’ll buy it.”
As she spoke, her hand suddenly paused over an item, but she quickly masked her reaction and casually asked, “How much for this plate?”
The item she had spotted was a blue-and-white porcelain plate with a six-character “Made in the Guangxu Era of the Great Qing” mark on the bottom.
“This is a Guangxu-era imperial kiln piece. One price—20,000 yuan.” the vendor stated.
Xu Youyou almost suspected he was an expert, but she decided to test him further. “It looks too new. What do you think?”
The plate showed no crackling patterns or signs of repair. It looked just as fresh as the fake Qianlong vase from earlier.
The vendor hesitated before saying, “Miss, I paid quite a bit for this plate, so I can’t sell it too cheap.”
“300 yuan,” Xu Youyou offered.
The vendor immediately responded, “Deal!”
Xu Youyou: “…”
She sighed internally—these vendors really were all talk. She had clearly overestimated the bargaining price.
The vendor happily wrapped up the plate. Xu Youyou walked away, waiting for a system notification, but there was none.
“Hey, I just scored a treasure!” she reminded the system.
The system hesitated before replying: [Value too low.]
Xu Youyou insisted, “But this is an actual Guangxu imperial kiln piece. If I hadn’t bought it, it would have been mistaken for a modern replica, wouldn’t it?”
The value of imperial kiln porcelain was closely tied to the nation’s prosperity. During the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns, porcelain pieces could fetch sky-high prices. But by the Guangxu period—late Qing dynasty—imperial kiln porcelain was more transparently priced.
Her blue-and-white plate was worth around 30,000-50,000 yuan.
After a long silence, the system reluctantly sent a notification:
[Congratulations, Host! You have independently identified a treasure without system assistance. Reward: 300 yuan.]
