Due to the extended Q&A session with the professors, the planned 1 hour and 40-minute lecture extended to two and a half hours, resulting in the session ending right at lunchtime.
Upon realizing this, the professors who had been discussing with Liang En invited him to join them for a simple lunch at the school cafeteria.
Of course, this simple lunch wasn't just a polite term often used by Chinese people, but a truly simple meal consisting of a cup of coffee, a salad, and a sandwich.
This was mainly because the British tend to emphasize breakfast and dinner more, often opting for a simpler lunch, just enough to satisfy their hunger without being elaborate.
A prime example would be the famous fish and chips or sandwiches, which are standard British-style lunches. However, nowadays, British lunches also include exotic foods like fried noodles or burgers.
Naturally, the main reason for having lunch together wasn't just to eat, but to interact and foster relationships. So, after finishing their chosen meals, they quickly started chatting.
Since it was lunchtime, the conversation topics weren't particularly serious, quickly turning to lighter subjects, such as the antique shops and markets in Edinburgh.
"Honestly, probably due to the recent economic downturn, there are all kinds of good things circulating in the market," one professor mentioned after discussing the situation around Edinburgh with Liang En.
"At least the antique markets I frequently visit have recently seen an influx of items I’ve never seen before, and they seem to be of very high quality," he continued.
"Oh, really?" Liang En's interest was piqued upon hearing this. "Do these antiques have any common characteristics?"
"If there's a common point, most of these artifacts are from the late Bourbon Dynasty or the Imperial period in France, and they range from furniture to jewelry," the professor replied after some thought.
"So, I think they likely came from a noble family, as only nobles would have such comprehensive collections from centuries ago."
After lunch, Liang En bid farewell to the professors and left the school, then met up with Joan of Arc, who was waiting outside, and headed to the old town.
After a tour of the old town, they confirmed that the professors' information was accurate; there was indeed a new batch of 18th and 19th-century French antiques. However, the prices were quite off-putting.
Probably because these items had a distinct royal style, the antique dealers had marked up the prices by 10% to 20% above the market value, clearly aiming to profit from wealthy buyers.
Fortunately, this matter wasn't a secret locally, so after some discreet inquiries, they learned who the original owner of these artifacts was.
According to the antique dealers, the original owner was a British baron with seven or eight illegitimate children but no legitimate heirs.
Even worse, the legal heir to the baron was a distant nephew who was a high-ranking official in the Roman Catholic Church and thus could not inherit the title.
With no direct heirs, the baron's wealth wouldn't follow the traditional primogeniture inheritance but would be divided among his wealth heirs, i.e., his illegitimate children.
However, these illegitimate children found no use for such antiques, so to fairly divide the inheritance, they chose to sell these items.
Some obviously valuable items went to auctions, but not everything was suitable for auction, so they handed the more ordinary items to antique shops to sell, which is what Liang En saw now.
"I thought I might find something interesting this time, but there's nothing," Liang En complained while driving to the hotel.
"Those items in the antique shops looked fancy, but they were just common goods, and the prices were ridiculously high. I’d be a fool to buy them."
"I think you made the right choice because I just sent photos of some items to Marie, and she said they were just mid-level nobility items, not very valuable," Joan of Arc nodded.
"She also sent an email asking me to remind you to check on the arrangements she made back then whenever you have time."
"What arrangements? I don’t think I’ve heard about this before," Liang En asked curiously.
"Well, during the French Revolution, she actually prepared a series of wealth for exile, but the final whereabouts of that wealth are unknown," Joan of Arc explained.
"Most of the wealth was likely taken by others, but not all of it. According to her, some items should have survived."
"She forgot about this after her resurrection until she saw the photos today," Joan of Arc added.
"That's a rich person’s mindset. I certainly wouldn’t forget such a large sum of money," Liang En quipped.
Jokes aside, as soon as they returned to the hotel, Liang En looked at the list Joan of Arc forwarded to him to see if there was anything worth pursuing.
"These fixed assets are out. After so many years, the owners have definitely changed," Liang En first crossed out items like manors and castles.
These were obvious assets that others would have claimed once the original owners were identified. It was too late to go after them now.
However, some movable assets might still be in place. At least a few loyal guards would have hidden some items.
The only uncertainty was how many of those hidden items had survived to this day, which was what Liang En hoped to find out.
This task might have been challenging a few years ago, but not now. With many subordinates, such work was easy to accomplish.
Of course, not all tasks were delegated to subordinates. Liang En handled particularly crucial or dangerous tasks himself to ensure safety.
After all, human nature shouldn't be tested lightly, so Liang En tried to avoid putting his subordinates in such testing situations.
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