Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Qian Weidong thought for a moment: "It's been thirteen or fourteen years, hasn't it?"

"Have you ever seen that thing?"

Qian Weidong paused with his chopsticks: "I've met you before."

"Where?"

"Not here, somewhere else..."

Su Yuan waited for the rest of the story, but nothing came. After finishing his meal, Qian Weidong got up to pack his lunchbox.

"Let's go, it's getting dark."

Su Yuan picked up his toolbox and followed Qian Weidong outside, when he suddenly noticed the empty space at the main god's position!

This time, he was focused on repairing the cracks in Chunyang Zhenren's body, and neglected this place; many things pointed to this missing piece. He asked Qian Weidong:

"Um... Brother Qian, do you know what this main deity's position is all about?"

Qian Weidong turned his head and glanced at that area:

"They were asked to leave..."

"That's not something you can interfere with right now... Let's go!"

Su Yuan boarded the bread truck with questions in his mind, and Qian Weidong asked him:

"You don't need to come tomorrow, right?"

Come whenever you have time...

"Huh? Wasn't it fixed already?"

"Although the ground layer has been reinforced and repaired, some details still need further refinement."

Qian Weidong nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Su Yuan leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, thinking about the fate of the main god and the three others. He knew he wouldn't be the fourth!

Su Yuan didn't ask any more questions, but half an hour later, he still asked:

"What do you mean by 'please leave'?"

Qian Weidong didn't answer him immediately. After driving for another five minutes, he stopped at the side of a fork in the road, pulled the handbrake, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and handed one to Su Yuan.

Su Yuan took the cigarette but didn't light it; Qian Weidong lit his own.

"Did you know that many of these things in Taoist temples and shrines have a 'heart' inside?"

"The heart of the palace?"

Qian Weidong took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled, and continued:

"Yes, when the main hall was being built, something was buried under the foundation in the very center. Sometimes it was five grains and copper coins, sometimes it was a talisman. That's called the heart of the hall, and the energy of the entire hall is tied to that thing."

Su Yuan listened attentively, while Qian Weidong flicked some cigarette ash out the window.

"In the center of Yongle Palace, what's buried isn't grains or coins, but a stele!"

"monument?"

"Yes, it's a stele inscribed with 'The Divine Travels of the Pure Yang Emperor.' That stele was erected during the Yuan Dynasty and is part of the same set as the mural. As long as the stele exists, the vital energy remains; if the stele is gone..."

He didn't continue, and Su Yuan, holding the unlit cigarette, asked:

When did the monument disappear?

"1990."

Upon hearing this, Su Yuan realized that it was in the same year that the main god in the photo disappeared.

"Do you know who took it?"

Qian Weidong didn't answer, he just put out his cigarette and started the car again.

"Just fix those cracks, don't ask about anything else..."

Su Yuan wanted to ask again, but knowing he wouldn't answer, she simply leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, her mind racing:

"The stele...in the heart of the temple, the main deity was excavated in 1990, and a fissure appeared..."

These things are connected like a rope, one end of which is tied to Yongle Palace, and the other end is tied to something else? The workplace?

By the time I got back to work, it was already completely dark.

Su Yuan got out of the car, picked up his toolbox, and walked inside. The lights in the lobby on the first floor were on. Su Yuan went upstairs and passed the director's office, only to find that the door was closed and the lights were off.

He pushed open the door to his office, put down his toolbox, and sat down in a chair.

I saw a note on the table!

"Your dad and mom went back to their hometown. They knew you were busy and didn't call, but they told you not to worry. – Lin Xi"

Su Yuan looked at the note for a while, then took out his phone and called his mother.

"Hey, Yuan'er?"

"Mom, have you arrived?"

"We're here, we're here. We arrived this afternoon," his mother said. "Your dad went straight to bed as soon as he walked in the door, saying that the bed at home is the most comfortable."

Su Yuan heard his father's voice on the other end of the phone, but it was quite muffled, and he couldn't tell what he was saying.

"Your dad asked you if you've eaten," his mother said.

"have eaten."

"What did you eat?"

"box lunch…"

His mother sighed, "Another boxed lunch. Fine, you go ahead and do your thing. Oh, by the way, your dad asked me to tell you something."

"What?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then his father's voice came through, much clearer than before.

"Yuan'er, don't be afraid!"

Su Yuan was stunned for a moment.

"Fix what needs fixing, ask what needs asking, don't follow my example!"

After hanging up the phone, Su Yuan sat there, thinking about what his father had said. He took out a bronze mirror from his pocket and placed it on the table with the mirror facing up. He saw that the dark figure was still huddled in the corner, not moving!

Su Yuan asked, "Old Hei... when you say 'go home,' do you mean back to Yongle Palace? Or that seam...?"

There was no reaction in the mirror, but Su Yuan saw the dark figure move slightly. He stared at it for a few seconds, then asked again:

"Is that monument yours?"

The shadow suddenly disappeared, and the bronze mirror spun by itself on the table, landing face down. Su Yuan reached out to turn it over, but the mirror was so hot that his fingers were burned!

He waited a few more seconds before flipping it over, but there was nothing on the mirror, not even the little shadows of those people queuing up!

Su Yuan placed the mirror on the table, stood up, walked to the window, and stared blankly for a long time. The next morning, Su Yuan didn't go to Yongle Palace, but went to the storeroom instead.

At the warehouse entrance, Chen Xiaohe was smoking. Su Yuan nodded in greeting, then pressed his fingerprint to go inside.

Looking at Awu on the shelf, I walked past her, went to the box in the corner, lifted the canvas, and took out the "Interim Report on the Conservation Project of Yongle Palace Murals"!

Turn to the last page and look at that line of blue fountain pen writing.

He stared at that line of text for a long time, then flipped back to the cover. There was also a line of smaller print at the bottom of the cover:

— Yongle Palace Work Station of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, December 1989.

After mentally comparing the documents, he put them back in the box, covered them with the canvas, walked up to Awu, and stopped.

"Awu, there's something at Yongle Palace that wants to go home..."

No response.

"Perhaps just like you..."

There was still no response. Su Yuan stood there for a few seconds, then turned and went out. Seeing that the director's office door was open, he went over and knocked on the doorframe. Zhang Weiyi looked up at him.

"explain."

Su Yuan sat down in the chair opposite him:

"Director, is that a stele in the center of Yongle Palace?"

Zhang Weiyi paused, looking at Su Yuan:

"Who told you that?"

"It was... my own guess."

Zhang Weiyi just stared at him for a few seconds before putting down his pen.

"You guessed right!"

Su Yuan waited for him to continue, while Zhang Weiyi took out a cigarette from the drawer and lit it.

"That stele dates back to the Yuan Dynasty, and it's from the same batch as the mural. It bears the line drawing of the 'Chunyang Emperor's Divine Journey,' which served as the original for the mural. As long as the stele exists, its essence remains! Without the stele, the mural is just a shell!"

He took a drag of his cigarette and continued:

"In 1990, the monument was dug up."

"Who?"

Zhang Weiyi didn't reply, and Su Yuan added:

"Is it someone from your workplace?"

Zhang Weiyi's gaze towards him changed. It wasn't the kind of gaze one would give a newcomer; it was a feeling that Su Yuan couldn't quite put his finger on, like something had been exposed!

How did you know?

Su Yuan hesitated for a moment, then took out the bronze mirror and placed it on the table.

"That's what it said."

Zhang Weiyi looked down at the mirror and remained silent for a while:

"Xiao Su, there are some things you shouldn't know right now."