Chapter 3
Chapter 3
I glanced at the time. It was exactly 10:30 p.m.
Country A had a twelve-hour time difference from our country, which meant it was 10:30 a.m. there.
According to the news reports, that art museum opened at ten.
After the crowd of visitors flooded into the museum, Portraits of Successive Emperors vanished into thin air in full view of everyone.
And at that exact same moment, my livestream received Portraits of Successive Emperors from Emperor Huizong of Song.
Once people connected the dots, the trending searches exploded.
[Holy crap! I have a bold theory!]
[Same, person above me. I also have a bold theory…]
[What nonsense are you talking about? This was clearly a gift from Emperor Huizong of Song to the streamer. What does it have to do with the Country A Art Museum?]
[Waaah, Huaxia truly has the fortune of the nation on its side!]
[Bronze cauldrons, the twelve zodiac heads… all those cultural relics can come home now!]
I looked at the trending searches, then at Portraits of Successive Emperors in my hands.
I stopped hesitating and called the local museum directly.
To my surprise, even in the middle of the night, someone actually answered the museum’s phone.
“Hello, this is-”
“Hello,” I said, cutting off the operator and getting straight to the point. “I have two cultural relics here that I’d like to turn over to the state.”
I brought the two relics to the museum.
Late at night, the museum was brightly lit, with security fully in place.
The museum director personally led a group of staff members to warmly receive me.
When they saw the two cultural relics in my arms, their eyes filled with obsession and delight.
I handed the relics over. The director immediately put on gloves and began inspecting them with the utmost care.
After a long while, he finally lifted his head, his face flushed with excitement.
“That’s right. This dagger dates back to the pre-Qin period. Judging from its shape, it does indeed closely resemble the legendary Xu Furen Dagger used in Jing Ke’s Assassination Attempt on the King of Qin.
“And this painting is indeed Portraits of Successive Emperors by the Tang Dynasty master Yan Liben.
“Both cultural relics are genuine!”
The director glanced at me cautiously.
“Miss Xia, are you sure you want to turn these two cultural relics over to the state?”
I nodded without the slightest hesitation.
“I’m sure.”
The director gripped my hand in excitement.
“On behalf of all archaeologists across the country, I thank you for your contribution to our nation’s archaeological work!”
“It won’t stop with these two,” I said.
The director froze. “What?”
“I mean, there won’t only be these two.” I smiled.
“You must have been following my livestream, so you should know by now. As long as I want to, I have a way to obtain any cultural relics that belong to Huaxia, whether they’ve appeared before or not.
“These things that belong to us, to Huaxia-I will bring them back, one by one.”