Reborn As Super Heiress
Chapter 444 - 440: Painting Within a Painting

Chapter 444: Chapter 440: Painting Within a Painting

Huo Sining rubbed the small knife on the edge of the paper, evidently intending to separate the layers of the paper.

Ma Liwen began to feel uneasy in his heart, could it be that he had really been mistaken, and that beneath this paper, there really was something else hidden?

Huo Sining didn’t care about what expressions or thoughts Ma Liwen had at the moment; she carefully and attentively abraded the edges.

The paper on the surface of this painting was raw Xuan paper, and separating it from the lower layer of cooked paper and sizing without damaging the paper itself required immense patience.

Huo Sining, filled with theory but lacking practice, was doing this for the first time, which is why her technique was not that skilled. By the time she had abraded the paper open, fine beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.

But at this moment, she couldn’t care less about those things and gently lifted the first layer of Xuan paper.

Seeing the complete drawing beneath, everyone was surprised and their eyes widened in astonishment.

After Huo Sining slowly tore off the first layer of cooked paper, beneath this complete replica of "Li Duanduan’s Registration Picture," there was indeed a hidden secret!

Nobody could have expected that another "Li Duanduan’s Registration Picture" was actually hidden underneath the forgery. On this drawing, the first red seal on the left was the four characters "Xueputang Seal," which was indeed Tang Yin’s personal seal.

What surprised everyone even more was that on this painting, in addition to Tang Yin’s personal seal, there were four or five other personal seals. Huo Sining did not recognize many of them, but she could clearly identify two, Qingshixiang Laoren and Mr. Banqiao.

"Qingshixiang Laoren," whose real name was Shi Tao, was a grandmaster of painting with immense spiritual energy from the late Ming to early Qing Dynasty.

Shi Tao’s life was full of hardship, and after becoming a monk, he wandered for half his life. It was such experiences that gave his paintings a unique style.

Whether it was figure painting or landscape painting, he could portray a charm unlike others. His brushwork was uninhibited, his ink technique was lively, and his style was ever-changing.

"Mr. Banqiao" referred naturally to Zheng Xie, also commonly known as Zheng Banqiao. He was a Qing Dynasty painter, one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, and his poetry, calligraphy, and paintings were all uniquely outstanding, earning him the title of "Three Excellences."

Both of these individuals had placed their personal seals on Tang Bohu’s famous painting, enough to prove the authenticity of this piece.

It was only then that everyone’s attention fell on the painting itself, Tang Bohu’s "Li Duanduan’s Registration Picture," where at the center, the author depicted a scholar with a Wen Sheng cap and a neat eight-character mustache.

The scholar was lounging in front of a table, his facial expression and his relaxed posture displaying his scholarly elegance and charm.

To the left of the desk were two maids, one in a red dress and the other in a white blouse and skirt, their colors bright and layered.

The guest seated to the right was Li Duanduan herself.

She held a white peony in her hand, her pose graceful and enchanting, every frown and smile full of allure and rhythm.

Behind Li Duanduan, there were four maids in total, surrounding her like stars around the moon, highlighting the importance of Li Duanduan’s status.

The background was a mountain and water folding screen, and inscribed on the screen was a poem by Cui Ya:

Li Duanduan from Shanhe Fang, truly capable of bringing white peonies to life. Who would believe in New Manchuria’s golden abundance, where the price of rouge reaches even the penniless.

Compared to the first replicated "Li Duanduan Drawing," the characters’ demeanor and actions in this painting appeared exceptionally lifelike, and even the lines of the characters’ clothes were more fluid and fine than those in the first one. The entire painting was vivid and elegant in color, natural and free in style, with an elegant tone.

Tang Dynasty beauties were mostly plump and graceful, with a disposition that was languid and content. This was greatly related to the customs of the Tang Dynasty and the prosperity of the time.

From this painting, one can see that Li Duanduan and the numerous maids didn’t exhibit the inferiority often associated with women; on the contrary, they vaguely possessed an air of superiority, looking down upon all others. This was indeed the charm of the ladies of the Tang Dynasty.

No one would think anymore that this painting was a counterfeit. Everyone found it unbelievable.

Whether Puyi actually took this painting to New Manchuria wasn’t important. What made everyone curious was who had ended up with this painting and who wanted to forge it, employing such a clever technique to hide the real painting beneath the fake one.

In ancient times, landscape and figure paintings often used raw Xuan paper, which absorbed ink well and was particularly suited to ink wash and freehand brushwork due to its strong texture.

With such paper, brushstrokes could be delicate, and the variations of dry, wet, thick, and light were numerous and distinct.

Therefore, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and even in the Republic of China period, the vast majority of artists used raw Xuan paper.

After completion, ancient paintings would go through the mounting process, with a layer of cooked Xuan paper typically applied under the scroll.

Cooked Xuan paper is made from raw Xuan paper through processes such as alum treatment, smoothing, pulp dragging, powder filling, color deepening, sprinkling gold, waxing, and glue applying.

Because of its sizing, cooked Xuan paper is very thick, less breathable, and not prone to ink bleeding, which makes it suitable for regular script and clerical script, and also for preservation.

As a result, this paper was often used for mounting, applying the raw Xuan paper with paste on top of it.

The forger took advantage of the thickness of cooked Xuan paper, pressing two sheets of raw Xuan paper together, and used a special method to hide the authentic "Li Duanduan’s Registration Picture" within.

Moreover, they drew an exact replica of "Li Duanduan’s Registration Picture" on the first sheet of raw Xuan paper, perfectly concealing the red seal, which would most easily reveal the true painting beneath.

The most ingenious part was that this "replica" of the "Li Duanduan Drawing" easily led one to judge it as a counterfeit, thus losing interest in collecting it.

By exploiting everyone’s lack of interest in counterfeits, the forger hid a genuine painting within a fake one, making it completely indiscernible that there was more than meets the eye.

The "replica" of the "Li Duanduan Drawing" had changed hands many times, unknown to countless people, and no one had ever discerned the truth of the painting.

"No wonder no news about this painting surfaced over the years. It was hidden within a forgery!"

To see such a priceless rarity unveiled, Elder Qin was both excited and moved. "Although the mounting of this painting used the most traditional method, it must have been the work of a master artist. The skill in mounting alone is so superb, this person is definitely not a nobody."

"If I’m not mistaken, he must have used the now lost Hidden Mist technique."

"Hidden Mist technique?" The others, never having heard of it, looked at Elder Qin curiously, all ears.

Elder Qin nodded and began to relay the lost method: "The Hidden Mist technique was said to be an extremely famous mounting technique during the Song Dynasty. Its original purpose was for repairing certain damaged ancient paintings, masking their flaws to make them appear more perfect."

"But over time, it gradually evolved. The applications of the Hidden Mist technique became more widespread. Many people used it to hide their collected antiques, creating a quality that was opaque, leading others to mistake them for forgeries, thus warding off covetousness."