Lin Yuling looked closely and said:
"This exquisite jadeite lock is indeed fake, but it did not come from my Wanbaozhai. If His Highness King Qi doesn't believe it, I can call the five appraisers who appraised it that day to testify."
After Lin Yuling finished speaking, he called in five appraisers. After looking at it together, the five of them came to the same conclusion as Lin Yuling.
One of them was one of the best in the field of appraisal, so he said to King Qi:
"Your Highness, I never tell lies. The imitation of this exquisite lock is too rough and far different from the firm one we had back then!"
King Qi's face softened after hearing this, and Di Xue quickly struck while the iron was hot.
"Your Highness, I think there must be some misunderstanding. Why don't you withdraw the troops first and let's take a long-term discussion to see if there is any problem."
After Di Xue finished speaking, she whispered without waiting for King Qi's reply:
"The envoys in the city are still here. What they know is that there is something wrong with your treasure, King Qi. Those who don't know and those who are interested may spread rumors and it will be detrimental to you."
After the words fell, King Qi still had some tough words, but he still asked his men to withdraw.
Seeing that the situation was improving, Di Xue continued:
"Your Highness, please tell me what happened after you took away the exquisite lock, so that we can find out what's wrong."
King Qi nodded and told what happened.
It turned out that the King of Qi bought the Linglong Lock and locked it up in a secret room. However, all the royal family and nobles from the capital heard the news and came to watch it, including Li Yong.
And it was Li Yong who suggested that King Qi simply hold a treasure appreciation conference to give these people a feast for their eyes.
So the King of Qi prepared for the conference, but on the day of the conference, he made a fool of himself. The exquisite lock turned out to be a fake.
"Could it be that Li Yong did something?" Chu Ran asked after listening.
But King Qi shook his head:
"That's impossible. I was there the whole time while he was watching, and I didn't let him touch the exquisite lock."
"Then when did this thing fall out of the bag?"
Chu Ran was thinking, and Di Xue was also recalling King Qi's words. There seemed to be something wrong, but she couldn't be sure.
This is what Lin Yuling suddenly said:
"His Royal Highness King Qi, have you changed the brocade box containing the exquisite jade lock?"
Her words also diverted Chu Ran's attention to the box.
Chu Ran took the box from the boy's hand and looked at it carefully. After a while, he frowned and said:
"There's definitely something wrong with this box!"
"How is that possible? This box is said to be insect-proof and moth-proof, and the lock on it is extremely complicated. This is also a treasure!"
Chu Ran nodded, and then said thoughtfully:
"This box is indeed a treasure, but the structure of the box is not as it appears on the surface."
Di Xue got closer and saw that the box was indeed different from ordinary boxes. It smelled of a faint aroma, and it seemed that it was indeed made of some kind of wood soaked in insect repellent liquid using a special process.
While Chu Ran was observing, Di Xue asked:
"His Royal Highness King Qi, where did you get this box, and when did you replace it?"
King Qi thought about it and said, "I bought this box from the ghost market!"
From King Qi's narration, Di Xue learned that this box was bought by a vendor in the ghost market, and there were many people who wanted to buy it at that time.
King Qi got the news from Liuzhi, a ghost market vendor who often bought things.
Di Xue and Chu Ran looked at each other and had the same idea in their minds. This may be a trap set for King Qi. The real buyer of the box may be only King Qi.
Chu Ran knocked down the box and after a while he came to the conclusion:
"This box is hollow, and there should be another layer inside. Perhaps His Highness Prince Qi's real jadeite lock is inside!"
After Chu Ran finished speaking, King Qi hurriedly asked:
"How could this happen? This box turned around on its own?"
"Uncle Jiu, after you put the real exquisite lock into the box, did it turn out to be a fake when you opened it again?"
After Chu Ran finished speaking, King Qi nodded: "I didn't think there was anything wrong with the box before, so I didn't care about it. But as soon as you said it was true, the lock became fake after putting it in this new box."
Listening to the conversation between the two, Di Xue asked:
"Then how do you exchange the real and fake locks in this box? Can you open it and take out the real lock?"
"This box is called the Yin-Yang Box. There are no requirements for the materials used to make it, but the mechanism inside is small but very complicated. To put it simply, after you put something in, it will turn upside down, and the original thing will be turned upside down to the bottom of the box, and it is It won’t be flipped over to return the bottom to the top, this can only be used once!”
Chu Ran paused and then continued:
"So someone must have deliberately designed the mechanism and the fake jade lock in advance, and then hid the real one at the bottom of the box after Uncle Nine bought it."
"But what is this person's purpose? He didn't steal the real thing."
After King Qi finished speaking, Di Xue thought for a moment:
"Perhaps this person's purpose is not to lock the door, but to anger King Qi and try to harm Wanbaozhai!"
After Di Xue said that, Chu Ran also agreed. The two of them once again thought of Wanbaozhai's previous help, which was to reveal to Di Xue the person who auctioned Manrong San.
Could it be that the person behind these two incidents is the same person?
While Di Xue was thinking, King Qi was already urging Chu Ran to open the yin and yang box.
"Uncle Jiu, if you open the box violently, the items inside may be damaged. Please wait for me to study it and take out the lock completely."
When King Qi heard that it might be broken, he immediately stopped urging him. Chu Ran found some tools in Wanbaozhai and began to study the unlocking.
"Master Di, I heard that you are from Shu, so you are used to coming to Yuanjing." Seeing that Chu Ran was not paying attention to him, King Qi turned to question Di Xue.
"I'm quite used to living there." Di Xue responded, but there were also ripples in her heart. She had lived here all her life in her previous life, so why wasn't she used to it?
"Then when you look for a husband in the future, should you also look for him in Yuanjing? Look at how handsome my boy Chu Ran is."
As soon as King Qi's words came out, Chu Ran almost broke the box:
"Uncle Jiu, stop joking, the box is about to be opened."
"I'm coming over right away. Be careful and don't break my baby."
Finally, with Chu Ran's efforts, the box was opened, and inside was the authentic jade lock.
I saw that the lock was completely emerald green without a trace of impurities. The various parts were spliced together and it was difficult to open. Only by mastering the know-how could it be unlocked.
King Qi couldn't hold the treasure in his hand, and he also knew that he had wrongly blamed everyone in Wanbaozhai.
"What happened today was that I was reckless. I will definitely support the next auction of Wanbaozhai. Today, I bought everything on the first floor of Wanbaozhai to express my apology."
"His Royal Highness, Prince Qi, you are welcome. It is enough for you to come and support me. I will reserve a private room for you next time for the auction, just waiting for you to come."
After Lin Yuling said something, she gave King Qi enough face.
Di Xue asked King Qi not to tell anyone about the discovery of the real bag, so that he could go to the ghost market to investigate and find out the real person behind the scenes.
King Qi agreed and told Di Xue to ask if she needed anything.
After King Qi left, Lin Yuling insisted on being older than Chu Ran and Di Xue, but they refused. Wanbaozhai was implicated in this matter, so there was no need to thank them.
The sun had just set when the ghost market on the outskirts of the city opened.
After Di Xue and Chu Ran dressed up in disguise, they came to the gate of the ghost market.
