"Artifacts from the old dynasty? Those are major items in the antiques trade. We piled them all together. Come with me." Meng Huaichuan spoke as he walked. "This prince's residence was originally expanded from Prince Gong's Residence of the old dynasty, so there were plenty of old dynasty objects to begin with. Our household wasn't particularly interested in such things. Father and Grandfather only liked collecting magical artifacts."
Meng Huaichuan looked as though this were perfectly natural, but the others could barely hold it together.
Magical artifacts could be collected as antiques?
Li Qingxian said helplessly, "How did that saying go? Other people's history is merely the imperial family's genealogy. Other people's treasures are merely the Dingnan Prince's Residence's odds and ends."
"Ah, it's only because things in a prince's residence can be preserved for ages, while things outside decay and disappear. As the years pile up, things that weren't rare become rare. Take the famous Great Blue Porcelain. There were tens of thousands of pieces back then, but now you couldn't find even a hundred. My family only has a dozen or so. You'll know once you've used them—they're nothing special, and not even as practical as modern porcelain."
"No, thank you. We wouldn't dare use porcelain vases worth over a hundred thousand taels." Li Qingxian said.
Everyone laughed.
The group arrived at a corner of the courtyard, and Meng Huaichuan pointed ahead.
Thick blue cloth had been spread over the ground. Upon it lay objects of all sizes and materials: wooden ornaments, gold, silver, and bronze ware, porcelain and jade articles, as well as many exquisite everyday items. There were no fewer than three or four hundred pieces in all.
"Those are all artifacts from the old dynasty. Giving you all of them would hurt my heart, so