Felix carefully opened the combination lock on the briefcase in front of William, donned white gloves, and delicately placed a square, milky white jade seal on the table.
Curious, William put on gloves and cautiously picked up the jade seal to examine it. The first thing he noticed were the characters "Nine Dragons and the Emperor's Treasure" carved on it. This made William nervous. After receiving confirmation from Felix, William's breath became uneven with excitement. This was the long-lost Han Dynasty imperial jade seal.
With a trembling voice, William asked, "Is this real?"
Felix, seeing William so excited, quickly nodded. "Of course, Mr. Devonshire. This was mortgaged to the bank by a French National Bank client a month ago. The client had to sell his family's collection due to the stock market crash, and this jade seal is the finest artifact among them, priced at $20 million. Mr. Grace spent over a month consulting the best appraisal agencies in Europe to authenticate it before allowing me to present it to you. He thought you would be very interested in this great Chinese jade seal."
"Of course I'm interested, this is a national treasure," William said, caressing the nine dragons on the seal with delight. These foreigners really didn't know the value of what they had. If this seal was genuine and brought back to China, it could easily fetch billions of dollars.
Taking a deep breath, William carefully placed the jade seal back into the briefcase and asked, "How much do I need to pay to own it?"
Felix smiled and said, "As a gift from Mr. Grace, you only need to pay $16 million to have it."
Without hesitation, William signed a check for the National Bank and handed it to Felix. "Please keep it in the National Bank for now. Once I finish my business here, I'll have it sent to Oxford Castle. If you come across any other valuable Chinese artifacts, let me know. And thank you to President Grace."
Felix took the check without looking at it and pocketed it. "No problem, Mr. Devonshire. This is a great time to buy Chinese antiques. Many European collectors are in need of money, and prices might be about half of what they used to be. The French client also has other valuable Chinese artifacts, and the bank has many more from other clients. If you're interested, we can fly directly to Switzerland."
"No problem, I'd love to take a look. Let's go now, Felix," William said with a smile.
Ambrosio, overhearing that William was about to leave, glared at Felix before quickly saying, "Wait, darling, weren't we going to look at the house on the Upper East Side today? Are you not buying it?"
William, in an exceptionally good mood, thought to himself that the value of this jade seal alone could buy him dozens of those 369-square-meter apartments in New York in a few years. Moreover, he was buying a New York property mainly for investment and as a place to stay. It wasn't a necessity.
Looking at the anxious Ambrosio, William hugged his girlfriend and said, "Sweetheart, what I need to do is more important. You go ahead and look at the Upper East Side house and the Long Island estate. If you like them, let me know and I'll sign the check."
"Alright, I'll let you know if I find one I like. I'll take these two days to look at all the properties."
"Okay, I'll have Felix arrange for someone to accompany you. They'll stay with you the whole time, and you can ask the bank staff for anything you need. Right, Felix?"
Felix smiled and nodded. "No problem, Mr. Devonshire. I guarantee our staff will take good care of Ms. Ambrosio."
Thinking about living in a mansion in New York, Ambrosio finally let William go, happily seeing him off before heading out with the bank employees and a specially-arranged real estate agent to look at properties.
Their first stop was the $35 million penthouse in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Standing on the balcony of the 26th-floor penthouse, looking at Central Park across the street, Ambrosio nodded in satisfaction. She was very pleased with the location and the decoration layout. She wondered how to convince William to buy this house, her face slowly turning red as she thought about some "fitness positions" she could offer him in return.
Ambrosio was satisfied, but if William had come to see the house himself, he would definitely not have bought it. Just a few kilometers away stood a uniquely designed skyscraper towering among the buildings.
Completely focused on the Chinese artifacts, William had no idea he might soon regret not coming along.
Later, with Ambrosio's sweet persuasion and her promise of some special fitness positions, William agreed to buy the Upper East Side house without much thought.
Laughing, he moved the phone away from his ear to avoid Ambrosio's excited squeals. After a few comforting words, he hung up.
After spending over ten hours traveling to Switzerland, William got off the plane to find the National Bank's Vice President, Jang Grace, waiting for him with a big smile.
They hugged and exchanged greetings, and Jang Grace rode with William to the National Bank.
In the bank's reception room, Jang Grace introduced William to five or six experts in Chinese antiques. After getting acquainted, Jang Grace led William and the experts to a vault in the bank's basement.
Felix had called the National Bank before leaving New York, so the bank had already prepared a selection of Chinese artifacts, including porcelain, paintings, and jade. The array was as impressive as a crafts store.
William, not an expert in antiques, relied on the experts' introductions, selecting items that he had heard of and found appealing.
Famous pieces like works by Tang Bohu, Ming and Qing dynasty official kilns, and Ming Dynasty Hetian jade caught his eye. After several hours, he selected more than twenty pieces. After the National Bank presented authentication documents from major European appraisal agencies, William signed a check for $18 million to Jang Grace.
With the artifacts stored securely, William boarded a plane back to New York, feeling a bit unsatisfied. Before leaving, he specifically instructed Felix to keep an eye out for any Chinese artifacts mortgaged to the bank in the future.
This time, he had easily acquired more than twenty artifacts, each likely to sell for tens of millions of yuan in the future. He quickly realized that Chinese antiques were still undervalued in Europe, and in a decade or so, their prices would increase tenfold or even more.
This allowed William to fulfill his dream of collecting antiques while making a substantial profit.
This new interest in Henry's Templar treasure also piqued his curiosity. He was eager to find the ship named *Sherlock*.
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