218 Bronze Mirror

"If it hadn't been for you, he wouldn't have rejected me! You know that he likes you, but you don't like him, then why do you have to be so close to him and give him hope?" Chen Mengqi criticized.

"Chen Mengqi, don't you think that you're being ridiculous? It has nothing to do with you if I stay close to him. He isn't your boyfriend, and you have no right to interfere in his personal affairs!" Although it wasn't the first time that Chen Mengqi had said that to her, An Qian still thought that it was ridiculous whenever she heard it.

"Nevertheless, he said that he only likes you." Chen Mengqi was jealous.

"So what? It has nothing to do with you," An Qian replied.

"You..." Chen Mengqi didn't know how to retort.

Who Le Zhengyu liked indeed had nothing to do with her, but because Le Zhengyu only liked An Qian she had no chance. She could only blame and hate An Qian.

At that time, a saleswoman walked over and reminded them. "Please do not argue in our store. There are other consumers here. Thanks."

"As long as this miss shuts her mouth, we'll be fine!" An Qian said. It was Chen Mengqi's fault, not hers. As long as Chen Mengqi didn't pick on her, she wouldn't argue with her in public.

After that, An Qian ignored Chen Mengqi, turning around to shop for clothing. Although An Qian's mood was affected, she was still interested in the fashionable clothes in front of her eyes.

An Qian pointed a dress hanging on the wall. "Please let me try this one."

Chen Mengqi was furious, but it wasn't the right time to continue arguing. She had already lost her face, so she left right away.

After Chen Mengqi was gone, An Qian said to Gu Ning, "I met Le Zhengyu when I was only 10. Our families have known each other for generations. Le Zhengyu and I aren't family, but we are more than family. There is only a girl in my family, so he always takes care of me like he's my older brother. Thus I'm used to having him by my side as my older brother. I can't face his affection towards me for now, but I'm not running away from it either. He also knows that he's only an older brother in my eyes, but he's unwilling to give up. In that case, we have an agreement. If I can't meet a man that I love before I turn 30, we'll get married. I know it's unfair to him, but the rules in love indeed aren't fair. The one who falls in love first loses."

An Qian told Gu Ning everything, because she needed to talk to someone right now.

Gu Ning agreed with An Qian on what she said. The rules in love indeed aren't fair. The one who fell in love first lost.

At least, An Qian and Le Zhengyu truly cared about each other, even though they treated each other more like family. Nevertheless, even romance and love could become familial affection after marriage.

The fact that An Qian made the agreement with Le Zhengyu proved the possibility that she and Le Zhengyu might end up being family.

"Ningning, come on and have a look. If there is anything you want, let me buy it for you," An Qian said.

The clothes in this store was a medium-level brand, and wasn't very expensive, so Gu Ning didn't hesitate. She picked a hat that she liked. "I think that this hat isn't bad."

An Qian bought a sweater, a coat, and a skirt. Later, An Qian and Gu Ning separated after shopping.

Gu Ning didn't go back home immediately, but went to Yuntai Mountain. She had delayed the scavenger hunt for so long, and she decided to have a look since she was free now.

Nobody was climbing the mountain in the night, so it was pretty quiet on Yuntai Mountain. There were no precious objects either, thus nobody was on-duty at night. There were cameras at the entrance, but it was completely dark around. Gu Ning easily got inside by climbing over the wall.

Although it was night, Gu Ning had Jade Eyes to help her see clearly. She ran to the top within an hour and 20 minutes then she swiftly took out rope from the telepathic eye space, and fastened it somewhere before abseiling down.

She stopped when she found the cave, and used her Jade Eyes to check the inside of it, in case there was anything dangerous. No danger was spotted.

Afterwards, Gu Ning used the tools to lever the out layer of the cliff. There was nobody around, so she wasn't afraid to make noise.

There were cracks in the cliff, and they got wider after a short while. Gu Ning only needed a gap that was wide enough to let her in. About an hour later, the crack became a wide gap. Gu Ning successfully got inside, heading straight to the source of the power.

She walked ahead for 20 meters and arrived at a cave that 10 square meters big. Its decoration was very simple. There was only a pile of sticks and a pot with several broken bowls on one side.

On the other side, there was a straw mat with a few pieces of clothing that had already become rags, and a large parcel the size of a pillow. The power came from the parcel, which meant that the ancient objects had to be in it.

Gu Ning didn't open the parcel right away. Instead, she used her Jade Eyes to see what was inside, in case there were any snakes or rats. Gu Ning was bold, but she was still scared of snakes and rats.

Luckily, there was only jewelry, bundles of banknotes and china. Thus Gu Ning went forward to open it. She didn't have time to study these objects in the cave, so she put them into her telepathic eye space and planned to study them when she got home.

After that, Gu Ning left the same way she came.

When she finally got home, it was almost 12 pm. Gu Man knew that Gu Ning went to meet An Qian today, so she thought that the two had been together all day and didn't ask further.

Gu Ning went straight to her room, taking out the ancient objects one by one. They all belong to a corrupt official in the Qing Dynasty, but some of them could be from other dynasties before Qing.

Gu Ning put the jewelry aside at first, and checked a bronze mirror first. She had read an introduction about it from the books of antiques.

The bronze mirror originated from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but the use of bronze mirrors in the Shang Dynasty wasn't universal. It was a rare item and only owned by very high-ranking people.

Later, it became popular in the Warring States Period, and was more delicate during Han and Tang dynasty.

Bronze mirror varied in different periods.

In the Yinshang Period, it was small, and the back of the mirror was geometrically decorated. In the Zhou Period, it was generally plain, but its button <anno data-annotation-id="a8a122e8-24fe-4ab6-bde7-b873acc3ff2d">form</anno> was variable. And there were a few bronze mirrors in the Spring and Autumn Period. Most of them had plain backs, and a few were decorated with tigers, deer and birds.

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="a8a122e8-24fe-4ab6-bde7-b873acc3ff2d">The button refers to a small knob in the center of the back which was used to attach the mirror to clothing.</li></ol></annotations>",