Reborn Treasure Appraiser: I Really Didn’t Want to Be an Expert

Chapter 336 The Founding Princess of the Qing Dynasty
Seventeen boxes of various sizes were padded with sponges, wrapped in foam plastic, and nailed tightly together with wooden strips.

Through the window, you can see police officers and document inspectors issuing inspection and rectification notices to each store.

The older man grumbled, "Old Sheng, has the boss lost his mind? In broad daylight, right under the noses of so many police officers, he's transferring goods?"

"Do you think the police are pushovers? Do you know what 'protesting too much' means? That's exactly what they're guarding against... Do you know how many companies the police caught secretly transferring goods out last night? A full nineteen!"

After gesturing for a moment, Lao Sheng sneered and pointed to the open door, "Guess again how many shops were closed this morning? Forty-two... And this is only the first day. See again in a few days?"

The old man was startled, and the fingers holding the cigarette trembled slightly.

No wonder the boss used both threats and bribes to force him to come and pick up the goods overnight.

No wonder they were loading goods at the back door while the front door remained open for business.
He swallowed hard and scoffed, "You deserve it. Who the hell put raw goods in the store?"

Old Sheng opened his mouth, but had no answer.

For so many years, which family hasn't done it this way?

We've investigated and cracked down on these practices before, but it's mostly been all bark and no bite. At most, they'll come to the store, look at the accounts, and give a few warnings. They won't come to arrest people or shut down stores unless they have concrete leads.

But they only arrested one or two families, unlike this time, where they not only came for real, but the scope of the crackdown was also so large.
"Stop nagging, load the goods and get out of here..."

While cursing, Lao Sheng pulled out a red envelope and slapped it into his hand: "No time today, but next time, I'll treat you to a bath: call three girls!"

The old man's expression softened slightly, and he took the red envelope and stuffed it into his pocket: "That's more like it!"

As they were talking, Lao Sheng's phone buzzed. He took it out and glanced at it: "All done, loading..."

The old man nodded and stubbed out his cigarette.

With a "whoosh," the security door opened, and the apprentice darted out with the key in hand.

He had just reached the car door and unlocked it when he suddenly stopped.

Right at my feet, under the wheel, lay a cell phone.

It's quite new; it's a brand new Samsung model.

Looking around, seeing few people nearby, the apprentice was overjoyed, bent down and picked it up: "Lucky me, I've found three thousand yuan for free..."

Afraid of being scolded by his master, he quickly removed the battery and stuffed it back into his pocket.

Reverse, load the goods, and set off.

About half an hour later, the Jinbei van drove out of Panjiayuan.

Inside the command vehicle, the expressions of the several people were quite different.

Yu Guang, Yan Wenjing, Han, deputy head of the special operations detachment, and Tu, deputy head of the detachment.

Upon receiving Yan Wenjing's report, both Deputy Chief Sun and Chief Yu's eyelids twitched a few times.

Today's mission is simply to have Lin Sicheng find some clues about Song Chun's involvement in tomb raiding and the resale of cultural relics, essentially giving her a heads-up.

In the blink of an eye, he created the "Tomb of Princess Gulun"?
What is a Princess Gulun?

The Empress's legitimate daughter, holding a rank equivalent to that of a prince.

How many tombs of princes are there in the entire country?

If these two really were the thieves, they are definitely the people most directly connected to Song Chun. Once we can verify this, there's no need for any further threats; we can arrest them directly.

The brigade leaders attached great importance to this matter, and fearing that Yan Wenjing lacked experience, they directly sent two branch commanders.

Now that the order has been given, the arrest operation must be carried out. There's only one problem: what if these two aren't tomb raiders, but merely transporting goods, and we don't apprehend them in time? Then this lead will be effectively lost.

Even worse, it might turn into a pot of undercooked rice.

With so many examples before them, both the brigade and the detachment chose to believe Lin Sicheng.

Trust his insight, trust his judgment...

While pondering this, the group held their breath and stared intently at the receiver.

The listening device was placed inside the cell phone, which was in the apprentice's pocket. The sound wasn't very loud, and there was a lot of static, but it was still barely audible.

At first, the two were just having a normal conversation: the master told his apprentice that Lao Sheng promised to treat them to a foot massage next time, and talked about which girl at which place was pretty, which buffet was delicious, and so on.

It didn't mention what kind of goods they received, who authorized them to receive them, or Lin Sicheng's deduction that they had just crawled out of the tomb.

Then, the old man seemed to fall asleep, snoring intermittently, while his apprentice hummed a song softly.

We kept driving, and after exiting the Fifth Ring Road, we arrived in Shunyi when the phone suddenly rang in the car.

The apprentice glanced at it, jumped up, and quickly answered the call: "Boss..."

"Ah, my master, he's asleep... Shall I wake him? Ah, alright..."

After a couple of pushes, the old man groggily opened his eyes. Upon hearing his apprentice say that he was the boss, his sleepiness vanished instantly, and he quickly took the phone.

Unaware of what the other person said, the old man quickly explained, "Boss, I was stumbling around in the mud all night, and I was so tired that I only managed to doze off for a bit. It's a beat-up car, and the noise was so loud, so I didn't hear you..."

"Yes, seventeen boxes. I saw the old man go in all dressed up. They're mostly... Ah, not going to Majuqiao? Where to send them then, Mafang? What, not even Mafang? Sending them to Zhangjiakou, oh well..."

"Don't worry, boss, I've turned the volume up to the maximum this time, I guarantee it won't cause any problems... Okay... Goodbye, boss..."

"Damn it, they're even wary of me?" The old man muttered after hanging up the phone, "Turn, head north, to Zhangjiakou..."

The apprentice was taken aback: "Why didn't the boss say so before? Why go through all this trouble?"

The old man cursed, "You don't know anything!"

I was wondering before: why make me make a trip when it's so far away?

It seems that from the very beginning, the boss planned to transport all the raw pit goods out of Beijing.

With the investigation so intense and the crackdown so urgent, it's definitely not just him and his apprentice involved; the boss must have arranged several groups. There aren't enough people in Beijing, so they had to transfer them over…

"Master, what should we do about our pit?"

"Deliver the goods to the boss first, then I'll find an expert to ask: after all, it's a princess's tomb, there might be some powerful traps..."

"Master, may I go home?"

"Go back home, wait until you've sold the goods and made the money, wouldn't it be great to go home with the cash?"

The old man cursed and swore, while his apprentice nodded and nodded obsequiously, leaving the group of people in the car dumbfounded.

The sounds were mixed, yet perfectly clear: Princess's Tomb.

What princess, the Gulun Princess?

After a long pause, the four team leaders turned around and stared at Lin Sicheng.

I had some doubts before, but what about now?
What's there to doubt?

Lin Sicheng remained calm and composed.

He was able to deduce that the Mu Mausoleum had been robbed based on a single copper coin. In comparison, this time there were far more clues than with the copper coin.

The accent of Zhangjiakou, the license plate of Zhangjiakou, the border between Hebei and Inner Mongolia, and the toll receipt from Zhangji Toll Station in Kangbao County.

Those two could only have come from Inner Mongolia.

Secondly, the desert.

North of Zhangjiakou, there is only one place that can be called a desert, and where cars cannot drive in and it takes most of the night to walk out: the Hunshandake Desert in Xilingol.

This place deserves a large part of the credit for Beijing's frequent sandstorms.

Most importantly, the soil on the vehicle's pedals is a mixture of red and yellow clay, cinnabar rammed earth, kaolin, tung oil-based clay, and willow charcoal dust.

There are no imperial tombs there, only princely tombs. If it is a prince, the soil for the burial mound is composed of: lime + clay + glutinous rice paste + sheep (or cow) blood + cinnabar.

If it's a prince: then there's only lime, clay, and glutinous rice paste.

The burial mound on the chariot pedal contained only cinnabar, but no sheep's blood, so there could only be one: Princess Gulun.

Lin Sicheng could even deduce whose grave it was that was robbed…

He smiled and asked, "Chief Yu, should we arrest him or not?"

of course.

Previously, the leader dared to make decisions even when there was absolutely no certainty, let alone now that they have direct leads.

"Arrest him!" Yu Guang nodded vigorously, then asked ambiguously, "Teacher Lin, do you think Xiao Yan should continue to cooperate with you and carry out the original plan, or should she come with us to take a look?"

You're the boss, why are you asking me this?
Lin Sicheng replied without hesitation: "Captain Yu, I want to go and see him!"

At the very least, I need to verify if my deduction is correct. I also need to see what Song Chun is so eager to move out of the country.

Yu Guang nodded and picked up the walkie-talkie: "All units, prepare..."

……

The grassland is vast and boundless. The asphalt road, like a long knife, cleaves the huge green carpet in two.

The windshield reflected shards of light as large trucks roared past, their coal ridges on the roofs resembling mountains.

The old man didn't dare to sleep anymore. He lit two cigarettes and handed one to his apprentice: "There are a lot of trucks on this road, be careful!"

The apprentice, with a cigarette between his teeth, said, "Master, don't worry..."

Before he could finish speaking, the phone rang again. The old man answered it with a forced smile: "Boss..."

"Yes, we've left Zhangjiakou and are on the national highway... just past Yefuling."

"Ah, not going to Zhangbei, but continuing north to Huade? Ah, good, good..."

After hanging up the phone, the old man cursed, "That bastard is really cunning!"

The boss was being cursed, and the apprentice didn't dare to say a word. Just then, the old man's stomach rumbled loudly.

"Let's eat first in Zhangbei." The old man tossed his phone onto the dashboard. "After eating, take a nap before we leave!"

"Oh no, what if the boss asks?"

The old man squinted and said, "Idiot, the car won't break down, the tires won't burst?"

"Oh……"

He replied with one word, but before the apprentice could even finish speaking, his mouth smacked: "Bang!"

The noise was so loud that the master and apprentice were startled, and the apprentice slammed on the brakes.

The car in front stopped too abruptly; the van was just a hair's breadth away from crashing into it.

The car behind followed very closely, right up to the taillights of the Jinbei van.

The apprentice, still shaken, asked, "Master, the tire burst?"

"It's not ours. It's making such a loud noise; it must be a big truck!"

As he spoke, the old man peeked outside.

But there were too many cars in front of him, and he couldn't see anything. Then, he glanced at the oncoming lane, and his face fell.

There were so many cars just now, one after another, but now not a single one has come?
It's likely that the truck had a tire blowout and then caused an accident. And most likely, it hit an oncoming vehicle, blocking the road.

Unfortunately, this place is in the middle of nowhere, so it will take at least half an hour for the traffic police to arrive.

Is it also my own fault for having such a mouth, as if it's been blessed?

Muttering curses, the old man took out his phone again and dialed a number. It rang seven or eight times before being answered.

"Boss, a coal truck was in an accident, and the road is completely blocked. I don't know when it will be repaired."

There was a long silence on the phone: "Have your apprentice take some photos and send them to me!"

"He's the boss, he calls the shots," the old man said, gesturing with his lips.

The apprentice turned off the engine, got out of the car, and stood in the middle of the road with a Nokia phone in hand. The accident scene wasn't far away, only twenty or thirty meters away, where a coal truck was lying diagonally across the road, with coal slag scattered all over the ground.

Further ahead, there was an endless line of cars. I turned around to take another picture, but still couldn't see the end.

"Click, click," seven or eight photos were taken, and the apprentice sent out MMS messages in one go.

But it was all for naught; it was all gray.

"Idiot, this place is so desolate, where would you find such a strong signal?" the old man cursed. "Couldn't you send them one by one?"

The apprentice quickly did as instructed, but it was still very slow; it took almost a minute to send one.

"Make a call once the road is clear!"

Then, with a "beep," the phone hung up.

The old man grunted and put his phone away. Then, his stomach started growling again.

He pressed his stomach and cursed, "Damn it."

If their boss hadn't been urging them so much, they wouldn't be stuck here at all; they would at least have had a meal in Zhangjiakou.

Now, things have gotten worse. I only ate a bowl of noodles when I left Beijing and arrived in Yanqing, but that was around 10 o'clock, and now it's almost 6 o'clock.

I didn't realize it until I looked out the window at the long line of cars and then at the sun setting behind the mountain peak, and my stomach grew even hungrier.

Just then, the door of the Honda minivan in front slid open, and two pairs of feet landed on the running board.

A man and a woman sat inside the car, leaning out. One was gnawing on a pig's trotter, and the other on a chicken foot, with bits of bone falling to the floor.

Okay, before I was just uncomfortable from being hungry, now I'm starving.

"Gulp," the old man swallowed hard, then pulled out his wallet: "Go, buy some."

"Huh?" The apprentice paused, then looked through the car window. "Looks like you're quite wealthy?"

"Who cares if he has money or not? I'm paying for it. It won't kill me to ask."

After being kicked, the apprentice got out of the car with a sheepish grin.

The car in front was right next to the car behind, and everyone could hear clearly. The apprentice said he wanted to buy food, and the young man in the driver's seat nodded and pointed inside.

Judging from the description, there seems to be a lot of food. There's cooked food, bread, drinks, instant noodles, and even a place to boil water.

Looking at the license plate: Lu B, it's probably going to Inner Mongolia for tourism.

Peering into the car, the apprentice called out at the top of his lungs, "Master, what are you eating?"

They rarely lit a fire when they were working on the pit, and they ate cold food three times a day. They were almost sick of it.

The old man licked his lips: "A bowl of instant noodles, and a pig's trotter, please..."

Before the words were finished, a surprised exclamation came from behind the car: "Hey, there's food? Buy some for us too, I'll pay extra..."

The Toyota SUV that was right behind them hadn't even finished speaking when the group of people came running over—three men and one woman.

You add a "逑"?
First come, first served; if you're slow, you'll miss out. You might even go hungry. The old man couldn't sit still, so he pushed open the car door and jumped out.

The old man had barely touched the ground when a man ran past him. He quickly closed the car door, his hand leaving the handle, but before he could even take a proper step, a powerful force struck him from behind.

As if hit by a car, the man was immediately thrown to the ground. While the old man was still in a daze, "snap," a shiny silver bracelet was put on his wrist.

The one in front was faster; he grabbed his apprentice's hair with a pig's trotter, and his two hands, holding chicken claws, had already locked the apprentice's right arm. The special agent running from behind grabbed the apprentice's left hand, stomped his foot into the bend of the lacquer roof, and with a "thump," the apprentice knelt down.

The whole process—handcuffing and gagging—took less than a minute.

The master and apprentice's pupils contracted sharply before they realized what was happening.

it's over...

The old man was startled and was about to give his apprentice a wink when a punch came flying at him.

"Put them in the car and interrogate them separately!" Yan Wenjing said coldly, flicking his wrist. "Go and fetch Teacher Lin!"

Lin Sicheng got out of the Iveco van and then into the Jinbei van.

Suddenly, the coal truck with the flat tire was inexplicably repaired, and the long line of trucks slowly began to move.

Business vans are in front, Jinbei vans are in the middle, Toyota SUVs are behind, and then Iveco vans are behind.

However, the convoy did not turn back to Beijing, but continued north along the Haizhang Highway.

About half an hour later, the convoy stopped briefly, and Lin Sicheng got out of the Jinbei van and went into the business van.

……

The specially designed vehicle features a steel seat and is fully equipped with handcuffs and shackles.

The old man's limbs were locked, his face was ashen, and his eyes bulged outwards.

He knew the people who arrested him were police officers, but he didn't know which police they were from, or what crime he had committed.

Strangely, after getting on the bus, no one asked him anything or paid any attention to him; it was as if he didn't exist.

It's not like I haven't committed crimes before, or that I haven't been to jail before. This is the first time I've seen such a strange policeman.

Just as I was wondering what was going on, the car stopped and with a loud bang, the partition behind the driver's seat was pulled open.

There were five people, some tall, some short, some strong, some thin. Four of them were quite old, at least in their thirties or forties, but only one had a face so youthful it looked like you could pinch water out of it.

What's even stranger is that the youngest one sat down opposite him.

But he exuded confidence, remained calm and composed, and was very composed.

Unsure what trick the police were up to, the old man lowered his head and remained motionless.

Another old hand?

Lin Sicheng sighed: He finally understood why Captain Yu had coaxed him into coming here.
He understands cultural relics, tomb raiding, psychology, and micro-expressions. Bring him here; one person can be as good as four experts.

Where can you find such a convenient, efficient, and professional ox or horse that you don't have to pay wages for?
With a sigh, he reached out and tore off the tape from the old man's mouth.

Even though he had already made his judgment, Lin Sicheng still looked at his face, neck, and hands.

"Boss Leg, nice to meet you!"

"Legs" refers to the leaders who dig pits, open wells, go down into tombs, and retrieve goods.

The old man's heart skipped a beat, and he remained silent: You fucking scammed me?

"Are you thinking I'm bluffing you? Are you guessing which police force we are, why we arrested you, and what crime we committed?"

"He even encouraged himself: No matter which case it is, no matter which police officer is from which department, they all refuse to speak today? It's okay, we'll take it one step at a time!"

As he spoke, Lin Sicheng opened the folder: "Silver tiger-shaped knob, Qing Dynasty Manchu seal 'Guanqi Zhangjing', a national first-class cultural relic. Gold setting inlaid with pearl, the pearl's center is diamond-engraved with the character 'Tian' (Heaven) in gold, a gold ornament of a Jin Dynasty princess, a national first-class cultural relic."

"The saddle bridge is engraved with lotus vines and inlaid with wolf's eye stone; the saddle of a Yuan Dynasty imperial son-in-law is inlaid with gold and silver, a national first-class cultural relic. The military tally of the Qing Dynasty Fengzhen Hall garrison commander is a national first-class cultural relic..."

After a slight pause, Lin Sicheng closed the folder: "Forget it, it's too much trouble to go through them one by one. Let's just do a total: seventeen boxes, twenty-nine first-class cultural relics, fifty-seven second-class cultural relics, eighty-two third-class cultural relics... You can calculate for yourself how many years you could be sentenced to?"

"I don't know!" the old man gritted his teeth. "I'm just a deliveryman?"

"Delivering goods, do you believe it yourself?" Lin Sicheng smiled. "You say you don't know, but Boss Sheng of Jinluzhai definitely does."

The old man froze, his heart pounding.

These police officers knew where the goods came from.
As he pondered this, his pupils suddenly contracted: a string of prayer beads was wrapped around the wrist of the young man opposite him.

This is a product of Jinluzhai, and it was transferred to Sheng Qingfeng by Jinluzhai himself.

The key point is that he had just seen it this morning: when he arrived at Jinluzhai, he couldn't get through to the back door, so he went to the front door.

At that time, there were two men and a woman standing at the door. One of them, wearing a suit, was holding the string of beads up to the sun.

At the time, I thought to myself, "Is this some kind of idiot? This is a jade bead, not a jade disc. How can you see anything by looking at it in the sun?"

But why is it in the hands of the police?

Suddenly, as if struck by a flash of inspiration, he leaned back sharply and opened his mouth wide.

He didn't recognize the man, but the one sitting behind him was the bodyguard among the three people he'd met at the entrance of Jinluzhai that morning, the one who was looking at the beads.
Is that guy over there... that Taiwanese guy?
"Brother Yang, you remembered?" Lin Sicheng smiled. "What a coincidence, we just found out about Jinluzhai, and you just delivered yourself to our doorstep?"

"So, you'd better confess. If you don't, Boss Sheng will have to. He won't dare betray the boss anytime soon, so he'll have to pin the blame on you. In the end, you'll have to take the lion's share of the blame..."

"In this way, you've helped the boss, helped Boss Sheng, and helped your apprentice: he's so young, his wife is so beautiful, and his child is so small, so he can get away with serving fewer years in prison..."

What am I supposed to carry?
The old man cursed under his breath, still gritting his teeth.

If it were that easy to confess, wouldn't all those years in prison have been for nothing?

"It seems Boss Yang doesn't believe in superstitions?"

Lin Sicheng pulled back the curtain of the van and pointed outside: "Look carefully, where are we going?"

Where else can we go besides Beijing?
Just as he was pondering this, the old man suddenly froze.

A low building with colorful lights on its roof: Zhangbei Hotel?
The police did not return to the capital, but headed north.

Sheng Qingfeng confessed that he gave the police the delivery address.
But that's not right.

Along the way, the boss made at least ten phone calls, each time pushing things forward a little bit, like squeezing toothpaste.

First it was Majuqiao, then Mafang, then Zhangjiakou, then Zhangbei. And then, Huade again?

Even now, I don't know where the boss receives the goods, so how did Sheng Qingfeng know?

Just as they were wondering, a young man's voice came from inside: "Boss Yang, now you know where we're going, right? Xilin Gol, Hunshandake!"

"Sandpits are hard to dig, aren't they?"

After a slight pause, Lin Sicheng leaned back: "Aisin Gioro Yatu, the eldest daughter of Huang Taiji, the eldest daughter of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, the elder sister of Emperor Shunzhi, the aunt of Emperor Kangxi... Princess Gulun, Princess Xingping, the founding princess of the Qing Dynasty... You dare to rob the tomb of such a person?"

Lin Sicheng spoke slowly and softly, but it was like a thunderclap in my ear.

His head was buzzing, and the old man's face turned white at a visible speed.

(End of this chapter)