The first shelf Hui Yue arrived at was completely filled with vases that ranged in age from as young as five hundred years to as old as three thousand years. Hui Yue was dumbfounded at the manner in which these incredible treasures were displayed.
At first, the young man was sure that these vases were fakes and disdain was evident in his eyes. But something kept bothering him, and after spending some time examining the details, he was pretty sure that they were genuine. Shock quickly replaced his disdain, and Hui Yue felt his heartbeat grow erratic. This also caused his breathing to become slightly irregular. If these vases were really genuine, then what about the rest of the items?
Although Hui Yue adored vases, he had no actual use for them so he slowly moved further into the shop eager to see what he would find next.
As he made his way through the shop, he noticed one treasure after another. A whole shelf was filled with ancient paintings that had been rolled up and stored one on top of another; stacked up three layers. Hui Yue felt deeply depressed when he noticed many old texts lying among those valuable paintings treated as though they were nothing, even though their value could very well be priceless.
Although the shop looked dodgy and was quite dusty, it was without a doubt a treasure trove. Hui Yue moved deeper into the shop, and each step caused his heartbeat to speed up. Due to this, he felt lightheaded for a moment. The next sight he came across was a stack of armor and weapons which had been dumped on top of each other in a corner.
Hui Yue spent a lot of time looking through the weapons and noticed that some of them bore the marks of master craftsmen, and no doubt had been used by the nobility and generals of ages long past. After staying in the shop for so long, Hui Yue had completely forgotten about Li Fen. He was immersed in his interest of the ancient times, of great heroes and wars.
Although Hui Yue knew he was in a shop, it was very much like he was visiting a museum except here he was allowed actually to touch and examine the treasures. Looking around, Hui Yue was certain that this shop contained even more treasures than the actual museums he had visited before.
Hui Yue walked past clothing, emblems, and books to reach the counter where he saw jewelry spread out. The moment he arrived he saw something which caused him to freeze and take a deep breath to mentally steady himself.
In front of him was the most beautiful phoenix crown he had ever seen, an astonishing fengguan. It was far more exquisite than the one that had been found in the tomb of the Wanli Emperor, and Hui Yue had never even heard of such a treasure being found before. This shop was filled with surprises.
The crown was on display in the middle of the counter, and it was, without a doubt, the most stunning head ornament he had seen in the shop so far. The crown was, oddly enough, not locked down or guarded with anything. It just sat there allowing customers to examine it through a mere glass cabinet.
After staring at it for a while, Hui Yue withdrew his gaze from this stunning piece to look at the counter for other intriguing items. A large grin spread across his face as his eyes fell on a box in a corner that had a sign which read ‘anything in this box is ¥600.’
Hui Yue noticed a blue gem that was extraordinarily similar to the one he had seen on the phoenix crown. He immediately went to the box and removed this beautiful item.
It was a hairpin that was unlike anything Hui Yue had ever seen before. It was a Blue Phoenix hairpin, and it had a body formed into an oval from an incredibly pure piece of white jade which was framed with golden swirls. Its wings were made from sapphires. Jade, gold, and sapphire swirled around each other creating elaborate patterns, beautiful tail feathers, and a long delicate neck towards a beautiful beak and face. Multiple pearls lined the face of the phoenix near the wing completing the look.
“Oh, you like the Blue Phoenix?” An old voice sounded from the corner. Hui Yue was startled as he had completely forgotten about the elderly lady, but he quickly looked at her with a respectful gaze and noticed a complex expression on her face.
Hui Yue gave a short nod to answer her question before once again looking at the beautiful hairpin. It had to be an exquisite antique, and he had no way of understanding why it would have been tossed into this cheap box. A worrying premonition appeared in his heart as he felt that he liked the hairpin more and more with each passing moment.
“Was it placed in the wrong box?” Hui Yue asked. The worry in his voice was evident as he pointed to the sign that read ‘anything in this box is ¥600.’ He could understand that she might feel cheated by taking such a low price for this masterpiece. That being the case, no matter the price, Hui Yue felt that he needed to own this particular piece of jewelry.
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