Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1533: Chapter 1517: Jiazi Yichou

Old Qian held the ancient sword, carefully admiring it once more, a deep look of joy flashing in his eyes. Clearly, this old professor was very fond of this sword.

”You mentioned ’Water Margin,’ so you must know Lu Junyi quite well. What’s his nickname, do you know?”

Huo Sining nodded slowly and said, ”Generous and righteous, his fame spreads across the land. Lu Yuanwai’s full name is Junyi, and his nickname is the Jade Kirin.”

The basics of antiques include the requirement to be well-read and understand historical figures. For this, Zhou Shitao had her read many ancient texts thoroughly, including ”Water Margin” and ”Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which were, of course, required reading.

In the past two years, Huo Sining had read countless ancient books, although she devoured them without much care. Fortunately, she had an exceptional memory and could remember about seventy to eighty percent of what she read, gradually solidifying her foundational knowledge. So when Professor Qian asked this question, she answered effortlessly.

”Exactly, Lu Junyi’s nickname is indeed the Jade Kirin. According to your statement, most ancient swords served as ornaments, but this sword shows clear marks of chopping and fighting. It’s evident that its owner used it as a weapon, not just a decorative item.”

”Lu Junyi captured Shi Wengong alive and followed Song Jiang in expeditions north and south. In quelling the three major threats to the Song Dynasty—Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La—he managed to capture Bian Xiang, slay Du Xue, kill Fang Han quickly, eliminate Li Tianrun, and defeat Si Xingfang. During these events, it’s impossible that he didn’t engage in close combat, so I believe he definitely had a sword. This is one reason I think this ancient sword was Lu Junyi’s weapon.”

Old Qian’s tone was aggressive, and as he spoke, his gaze towards Huo Sining was sharp.

But Huo Sining just listened quietly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, without much change in her expression.

Professor Qian’s words seemed somewhat reasonable, but they were just reasons, not concrete evidence, similar to her previous analysis.

”That’s one reason; what’s the second?” At this point, one of the attendants cooperatively stepped in, sensing no one else was speaking and immediately played along.

Professor Qian glanced up at the attendant, inserted the sword back into its scabbard, then inverted it, pointing at the position of the sword’s hilt, and looked at Huo Sining, asking:

”My second reason, and the crucial point why I believe this sword is Lu Junyi’s companion sword, lies in this hilt. Do you see anything special about it?”

Huo Sining looked down at it, smiled faintly, and said, ”Are you referring to the ancient jade embedded on both sides of the hilt?”

Old Qian nodded and said, ”Yes, exactly these two pieces of ancient jade.”

”Huaxia’s ancient swords are also graded. Generally speaking, the quality and grade of a sword relate significantly to the status of the user.”

”Swords used by people of high status are inlaid with gems or jade stones. Naturally, the emperors and the royal family might even have swords made of gold.”

”Although this ancient sword didn’t use gold, its hilt was inlaid with ancient jade, indicating that it was a high-grade item in ancient times, unaffordable for ordinary people. It’s quite fitting for Lu Junyi, the first deputy marshal and commander of soldiers at Mount Liang.”

Upon hearing this, Huo Sining nodded imperceptibly.

The ancient sword was indeed inlaid with a piece of jade on both sides, and the material was Qingbai Jade, with brownish speckles, and the texture was delicate and shiny. Judging by the transparency and color of the jade, it was indeed high-quality Hetian Jade. Just these two pieces of jade alone could fetch tens of thousands on the market.

Seeing Huo Sining remain silent, Old Qian’s eyes flashed with a hint of disdain:

”The crucial evidence I want to highlight is on these two pieces of jade. Look closely, isn’t there a carving of a kylin on the jade, with words beneath it?”

Old Qian shot a cold glance at Huo Sining, intent on teaching this ignorant girl a lesson.

She dared to challenge his judgment with two poorly-founded points, which infuriated Old Qian. He was determined to give this young girl a proper lesson.

Huo Sining hadn’t noticed the jade inlaid on the sword’s hilt because she considered the use of jade as decoration on ancient swords fairly common, and the jade itself was genuinely ancient, so she didn’t pay attention.

”Words?”

Upon hearing Professor Qian’s question, she finally examined it closely.

The two pieces of ancient jade inlaid on the sword’s hilt indeed featured reliefs of kylin shapes, very vivid and intricate. On the handle below the kylin, there were indeed carved words. Both sides had two characters, but Huo Sining didn’t recognize them.

”Are they in ancient script?”

Seeing that Huo Sining didn’t recognize them, Mr. Feng joined in, identifying them as traditional characters, though unable to specify further.

Seeing their perplexity, Old Qian’s disdain grew, his eyes gleaming with a hint of pride. He snorted lightly and explained:

”See, this is what I’m talking about. You overlooked such crucial evidence due to lack of experience and knowledge. Even if you saw it, you wouldn’t recognize it, hence the oversight. Older people like us know more than you young folks. You should be more grounded, proceed step by step, and be humble, rather than flaunting superficial knowledge!”

After a pause, Old Qian continued to explain: ”Yes, the characters on this ancient jade are in ancient script. It’s a variant of a grass script used after the Han Dynasty. It slightly differs from the ordinary grass script and is used mainly by people of certain status.”

”The words below the jade kylin say ’Jiazi’ on the front and ’Yichou’ on the back. Jiazi and Yichou are precisely Lu Junyi’s birth characters and year. Combined with the jade kylin on this sword, do I need to spell out who the sword’s owner is? This is the fundamental and most crucial evidence for my judgment that this sword belonged to Lu Junyi!”

After Old Qian finished his explanation, Mr. Feng and Old Zheng were stunned, even Liao Song and Zhong Zifan were flabbergasted.

Initially, after hearing Huo Sining’s analysis, they found her reasoning quite convincing. But now, with Old Qian presenting such strong evidence, their inclinations unconsciously tilted towards Old Qian.