Chapter 96

Li Er turned to look at Lu Dongxing, fearing that Lu Dongxing would be annoyed by Yang Bo's擅自行动, but he saw that Lu Dongxing was smiling and walking forward with Yang Bo.

The old man stopped in front of a dilapidated tile-roofed house, turned his head, and said, "It's called eight and a half because this family has a damaged bronze ding. The others can still be sold, but this one... sigh!"

The old man explained and pushed the door open.

Yang Bo had no complaints, but he was secretly excited because no one else would want a damaged ding, but he was different. He remembered very clearly that one of the nine dings cast by Emperor Huizong of Song was already damaged at the time!

The old man, with good intentions, wanted to help this family. When Yang Bo walked in, he found the reason. Inside the house, the walls were bare, and the room was dark and smelly.

"Li Si! Li Si!" the old man called out.

Yang Bo and Lu Dongxing both looked at Li Er, who was embarrassed, "I don't have a younger brother!"

At that moment, a "hey" came from inside the house, and a round ball rolled over. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a man with amputated legs, lying on a skateboard.

Yang Bo saw that the man was covered in dirt, and a pungent smell hit his nose. His disgust vanished, replaced by sympathy.

The old man explained, "Li Si had a car accident five years ago. His wife and child ran away, and now he lives alone, unable to do anything!"

After saying this, he turned to Li Si, "These gentlemen want to see the large ding in your house. Where did you put it?"

Li Si, who looked to be in his forties or fifties, spoke in a low voice, "Someone is coming to see my damaged ding? I had someone help me move it to the back of the house last year. I'll take you there!"

Yang Bo was a bit anxious, "You put it in the back? Is it covered? If it's exposed to wind and rain, it will rust!"

"Wind and rain? So what? My father dug it out over ten years ago, and we've always treated it like a treasure, but what good has it done? People used to come to see it out of curiosity, but in recent years, no one has come, and no one has even offered to buy it!"

Yang Bo felt helpless, knowing that the man's life was difficult, and it was already a great effort to keep it for over ten years.

They walked around the house, and behind it, there were a few poplar trees. Under the trees, a ding was placed. The ding was already damaged, with part of the wall collapsed and a large piece missing.

The inside of the ding was covered in leaves, and the entire ding was rusted, with green rust water staining the ground green!

Yang Bo quickly walked over and carefully examined the patterns on the ding. He found that the patterns were still clear, though covered in rust. On the side of the wall, the characters "Bao Ding" (Treasure Ding) were written in regular script!

Yang Bo was overjoyed. A light flashed before his eyes, gradually converging on the middle of the bronze ding, thickening until a beam of light shot out and entered his eyes. Yang Bo finally confirmed that this was the bronze ding cast by Emperor Huizong of Song!

Yang Bo stood up, and Lu Dongxing walked over, pulling Yang Bo aside.

Yang Bo was puzzled, not knowing what was going on.

"What do you think of this ding?" Lu Dongxing asked.

Yang Bo didn't hide anything, "It's genuine, and it's a real treasure. Even though it's damaged, its cultural value is greater than that of the other dings!"

Lu Dongxing was confused, "Why is its cultural value greater if it's damaged?"

"Because this ding wasn't damaged now, but it was already damaged during the time of Emperor Huizong of Song. This is clearly recorded in historical records. Therefore, finding this ding is very important for verifying the authenticity of other bronze dings!"

Yang Bo explained, fearing that Lu Dongxing wouldn't believe him. He added, "After the nine dings were cast, Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, moved them to the Nine Cheng Palace. The next day, Zhao Ji went to the Nine Cheng Palace to perform the ritual of offering sacrifices. When he reached the northern ding, it suddenly cracked, and the water spilled out. Zhao Ji was stunned. Cai Jing immediately knelt down and said, 'Your Majesty, the cracking of the northern ding indicates that the Liao Kingdom will have internal turmoil, and we can take the opportunity to destroy them, unifying the Great Song.'"

Lu Dongxing nodded and asked, "What are your plans? What will you do after buying it?"

Yang Bo was taken aback but quickly understood that the other party had other plans. "Mr. Lu, you decide. You can do whatever you want with it!"

Lu Dongxing didn't refuse, "I want to buy it and hand it over to the Jinling police, who will then donate it to the museum. What do you think?"

Yang Bo, of course, had different plans, but he couldn't say anything at this moment. He could only nod, "That's a good idea. Let's do it as Mr. Lu suggested!"

Lu Dongxing smiled, "Don't worry, you won't be short of your commission!"

Next, they discussed the price. In Li Si's condition, even if they offered him 10,000 yuan, he would accept it. But for a wealthy person like Lu Dongxing, this was just a number. He waved his hand, "Brother Li Si, I'll give you one million yuan for this ding. Can you accept that?"

Li Si was stunned, completely speechless. The old man slapped him, "What are you standing there for? Quickly agree!"

Li Si nodded repeatedly, "Thank you so much!"

Lu Dongxing waved his hand, "No need to thank me."

The payment details were naturally handled by someone else. Yang Bo quickly pulled the old man to the next house, as they didn't have much time left. The local cultural relics bureau would definitely start setting up checkpoints soon, but they wouldn't think to come here right away.

The second house was more impressive, with high walls and a two-story villa.

The old man knocked on the door and explained their purpose. A middle-aged, fat man came out to greet them.

The fat man was somewhat arrogant and said to the old man, "Uncle Wu, you must make it clear to them that I won't sell this ding for less than two million yuan. The one from the second family was sold for 1.5 million yuan not long ago!"

Yang Bo stepped forward, "The price is negotiable. Let's take a look at the goods first."

The middle-aged man didn't insist, and they all went to the back yard, where they soon saw a complete bronze ding.

Yang Bo walked over and saw the inscription "Feng Ding" (Wind Ding). Without further inspection, he turned and walked out, "Sir, let's hurry. What was the name of the family at the village entrance? They have one too, right?"

The old man was a bit confused, "You're done already?"

The middle-aged fat man was anxious, "What does that mean?"

Yang Bo couldn't explain to him that the Wind Ding had already been taken by Yuan Yezhi, and this one was definitely fake. He said, "There are eight dings in total, and I can't take all of them. I hope to see them all and choose two!"

The middle-aged fat man said, "Since you have a choice, don't come back later!"

Yang Bo turned and left, with no intention of coming back!