Chapter 574: Chapter 561: Yes, It’s Him

“What about you all then?” Master Xue glanced around at the onlookers.

“Having Master Xue preside over this matter is the best and fairest outcome. We’ll abide by Master Xue’s decision,” someone shouted.

“We trust Master Xue’s judgment.” The others agreed after exchanging glances.

“Then, I’ll settle it as you have all agreed.” Master Xue took the rosewood paperweight from Zhuang Qinglan’s hand, “Let’s start with Zhuang Qinglan.”

“The paperweight is made of rosewood, specifically small-leaf rosewood. It’s heavy and intricately carved, and would likely sell for eighty to one hundred taels of silver in the market. Let’s round it off to ninety taels.”

“What do you all think?”

Mr. Feng and Mister Ye, who were looking on, carefully examined the weight and nodded, “Indeed, that is a fair price.”

“Then let’s settle it this way.”

Master Xue spoke up, “Zhuang Qinglan’s rosewood paperweight is estimated to be worth ninety taels.”

Upon hearing the figure, the onlookers drew in a breath.

Even though they all have the luxury of formal education and relative wealth, ninety taels is a drastic amount. That could buy a large house in a neighboring county. No regular person would be willing to spend all that for a paperweight.

Being the daughter of the Magistrate, Zhuang Qinglan really seems to spare no expense. No wonder she is so haughty and condescending.

However, if a paperweight in Magistrate Zhuang’s household is as extravagant, imagine how costly the rest of their things must be. Surely, Magistrate Zhuang is not an example of integrity.

No wonder his daughter is so arrogant, insolent and thinks she’s above everyone else.

In an instant, the crowd’s disdain for Zhuang Qinglan had increased dramatically.

Zhuang Qinglan, however, didn’t care. She believed they were simply envious of her wealth, and responded with a snort.

Master Xue squinted his eyes, “Next, it’s the calligraphy Zhuang Qingsui’s holding.”

“Even though the paper is torn, it can be restored to its original state by skilled craftsmen. Therefore, I would estimate this snippet would be worth one thousand taels of silver.”

One thousand taels?

Master Xue’s words left everyone in an uproar, frozen in surprise, forgetting even to inquire why the calligraphy was worth such a high amount.

Mr. Feng shook his head, “This paper may be torn, but in my estimation, it should be worth about one thousand and five hundred taels.”

“More than that, indeed it’s even possible that it’s worth two thousand taels,” Mister Ye exclaimed, “This price could even double to five thousand taels if the buyer had ever had a dispute with the artist.”

“Since the value of such items ultimately depends on the buyer’s preferences, let’s meet in the middle and call it one thousand and five hundred taels.”

Master Xue turned to Zhuang Qinglan and Zhuang Qingsui, “The valuations have been determined. Zhuang Qingsui owes Zhuang Qinglan ninety taels, and Zhuang Qinglan owes Zhuang Qingsui one thousand and five hundred taels. So, Zhuang Qinglan, you owe Zhuang Qingsui a total of one thousand four hundred and ten taels.”

“I suggest you pay Zhuang Qingsui promptly, so we can settle this matter.”

She needed to compensate Zhuang Qingsui with one thousand four hundred and ten taels of silver?

Zhuang Qinglan was dumbfounded for a while, then quickly gathered herself, “I refuse to accept this, Master Xue. It’s only a regular person’s writing. How can it be worth that much silver?”

The onlookers vigorously nodded their agreement, equally curious to learn why the calligraphy was valued so high.

Master Xue glanced at Zhuang Qinglan, “The calligraphy was written by Master Fan.”

Master Fan?

The crowd gasped collectively.

“You mean the same Master Fan renowned for his scholarly prowess?”

“Aside from him, there can be no other Master Fan. His reputation is not only based on his learning, but more importantly, his inherent pride.”

“Indeed, Master Fan has always been known to despise the wealthy and be indifferent to fame. He has never bowed to money, and his disciples are always outstanding…”

The crowd was abuzz with speculation. At the edge of the crowd, Fan Wenxuan stroked his beard, nodding in agreement.

That’s right, it’s him.

Yet, Zhuang Qingning frowned slightly.

She agreed with the comments regarding Master Fan’s indifference to wealth and power. Fan Wenxuan indeed didn’t care much for these things. Even his reputation wasn’t that important to him.

However, as for not bending for five bushels of rice…

Whether he would bend for rice, she wasn’t sure. But for rice cake, he would definitely bend over. If you added a couple of glutinous rice cakes, he might even stoop lower.

Thinking of Fan Wenxuan’s enthusiastic delight whenever he’s finessing food, Zhuang Qingning sighed in defeat.

“Are you suggesting that this young girl, who just claimed the calligraphy was written by her tutor, is a student of Master Fan?”

Not only is she a student of Master Fan, but he is also her personal tutor. What kind of person must she be for such a reputed scholar to lower himself to be her tutor?

Once someone made this observation, the crowd instantly turned to Zhuang Qingsui, their eyes filled with envy but no jealousy.

Greed simply couldn’t thrive under these circumstances. Being a student of Master Fan was such a lofty position that wouldn’t even dare to dream of. Thus, they could only feel envy, and a certain degree of admiration.

On the other hand, Zhuang Qinglan was grinding her teeth in anger.

This seemingly average young girl was actually a student of the renowned Master Fan!

“Now that you know the origin of the calligraphy, are you ready to pay?” Master Xue asked Zhuang Qinglan.

Zhuang Qinglan’s face turned pale.

There was no choice but to acknowledge defeat at this point, but…

Zhuang Qinglan briefly considered her options, then bowed her head to say, “I accept your decision, but I did not bring enough money with me. I will have to send a message home and have my family repay the amount to the miss.”

“May I trouble you to tell me her name, her address, and information about her family. My father will then send someone to deliver the sum.”

She would first investigate her household, then decide whether there should be further discussions in the future.

Zhuang Qinglan clenched her teeth.

“This calligraphy was a gift from my tutor to the academy. Since this money is being used for compensation, I’d like to suggest that you deliver one thousand four hundred and ten taels of silver directly to the academy,” Zhuang Qingsui answered.

“Your willingness to do so is commendable. On behalf of the academy, I will accept this,” Master Xue agreed, “The money will be temporarily stored in the academy’s treasury, and will be used as a reward for students with outstanding performance in this year’s summer exam.”