Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Luck?
"Senior Brother!" A figure slammed the door open, rushed over and hugged Zhu Dan tightly, crying loudly.
Zhu Dan was strangled so hard that it hurt. Looking at the delicate little boy in her arms, she wanted to sigh again.
This child's name is Gongsun Liu, and he and Zhu Dan, no, they are both disciples of Lu Sheng, just like the original owner.
The other brothers had already run away, and only the two youngest ones were left behind.
This is not right. Gongsun Liu is fine, he is only five years old and has always been treated like a fire boy. It is not surprising that Lu Sheng threw him away as a burden when he ran away.
But in the fragmentary memories, the original owner was highly valued by Lu Sheng.
Not only did Lu Sheng wear fine clothes and eat delicious food, he even brought her with him when he came to Xianyang to present elixir to Qin Shi Huang. For this purpose, he even found a way to bribe the palace servants with a large sum of money to avoid detection.
But when he ran away, he actually left the original owner behind?
This made Zhu Dan doubt his purpose.
This was also the reason why I decided to reveal my identity.
If Zheng Ge believed it, her transformation from male to female would be the perfect proof of the divine appearance.
If Zheng Ge doesn't believe it, it means that there is a leak in the Xianyang Palace under his control. He will definitely investigate it, and as a key witness, he will be able to survive.
"Okay, stop crying. Senior Sister is here." Zhu Dan was not good at coaxing children. She said stiffly, "Have you had breakfast?"
As the lowest-ranking member of the entire sect, Gongsun Liu was clearly not a lawless brat. Noticing the impatience in Zhu Dan's tone, she immediately stopped crying and said carefully, "I haven't eaten yet."
But he continued to hold Zhu Dan with both hands.
Zhu Dan understood his fear of being left behind, but was not used to this kind of closeness, so she pulled him away and said, "Then you eat first."
There just happened to be extra corn porridge.
Gongsun Liu's stomach was rumbling. He looked at her nervously, then knelt down obediently, lowered his head and started drinking the porridge.
He took a sip and looked at Zhu Dan.
That poor little thing held Zhu Dan's feet in place.
Forget it, she said a few words to Su.
Su was surprised and said, "I cannot make the decision on this matter. I need to consult the king."
Zhu Dan nodded, and after Su left, he was in no hurry to leave.
Perhaps he saw something from her expression, or perhaps the corn porridge was too delicious, but Gongsun Liu looked up less and less, almost burying his head in the bowl.
Gulp gulp, it tastes so delicious.
Is it really that delicious? Zhu Dan thought she was the only one with a beautifying filter. After all, untamed corn tasted really bad. But the next moment, her memory emerged of what they had eaten in the three days after Lu Sheng ran away.
Wheat rice.
Stone mills were not popular in the Qin Dynasty, and flatbreads were a kind of refined food that only the nobles could afford.
Firewood was also hard to come by, so the wheat rice was only roughly cooked. It was hard and mixed with stones that could break your teeth.
When Lu Sheng was alive, because he could refine elixirs, he and other alchemists were favored by Qin Shihuang. Their food, clothing and other expenses were comparable to those of the nobles in the palace. Some unfavored concubines did not live as well as they did.
There was plenty of corn and rice. If you wanted a change of taste, someone would immediately bring you wheat flour that had been cleaned of stones and ground finely, and the palace chef would make delicious flatbreads.
But Lu Sheng failed in his quest for immortality. Not only did he fail, he also ran away with the huge sum of money given by Qin Shihuang. This was like a slap in his face. The palace where the alchemist lived was immediately surrounded.
So there was no more corn or wheat flour.
There was only wheat rice, wheat rice mixed with stones.
Gongsun Liu suddenly had the hot corn porridge and savored every mouthful very carefully.
Even though he was full, he still tried to finish the rest, and even stuck out his tongue to lick the bottom of the pot and bowl clean.
He touched his stomach and felt a little uncomfortable because it was bloated.
Although I was ordered to work by my master in the past, I was always provided with enough food and clothing.
Not to mention corn, he had even eaten mutton, which was only eaten by nobles. As for clothing, his master would dress him up to look like a fairy boy.
Even during those days, although the wheat rice tasted bad, it could fill my stomach.
However, yesterday they were locked up in a dark room for interrogation, talking non-stop without a single word coming out, and hearing the screams of acquaintances... For the first time, little Gongsun Liu experienced the feeling of a life worse than death.
He was not released until dawn. He didn't know what happened to the others. He only knew that he had to go find his senior brother, no, now his senior sister.
The master and senior brothers he was familiar with were all gone, only his senior sister was still there. It was because of his senior sister that they survived yesterday.
"Senior Sister, I'm done eating." Gongsun Liu stood up, and her hand unconsciously grabbed Zhu Dan's clothes. Looking at the bowl that she had licked, her head drooped even lower.
The master once scolded him for having a good-looking face but being a piece of rotten wood despite being full of spiritual energy. Has he embarrassed his senior sister again?
"Okay, let's go." Zhu Dan's tone softened a lot. She had been starving for three hundred years, and she couldn't stand seeing people wasting food.
"Where are you going?" Gongsun Liu immediately became nervous, and Zhu Dan looked at Su who had just returned.
Su said respectfully, "The king has already opened a storehouse for Zhu Sheng. You can choose whatever you want from the storehouse."
Zhu Dan had previously told Su that he would need some jade and bronze to refine the elixir.
She emphasized the word "waste" because if the spiritual energy is extracted, no matter how precious the item is, it will most likely be destroyed.
Unexpectedly, Brother Zheng was willing to let her choose whatever she wanted. Zhu Dan's eyes became serious, and she felt more and more that he valued the golden elixir.
So if she found out in the end that she had lied to him... she shuddered.
However, as he entered the storehouse with great anticipation, his vision went dark. "Is this the private storehouse that His Majesty values most and never allows anyone to enter?"
"Of course." The palace guard in charge of the storehouse was very proud of his status and was particularly dissatisfied with Zhu Dan's disappointed tone. He solemnly introduced, "This bronze spear is a treasured item from the collection of Your Majesty's great-grandfather, King Zhaoxiang of Qin. This one is the Qin Gong Ding... This bronze chariot..."
He took Zhu Dan through them one by one, speaking eloquently, describing each bronze artifact like the back of his hand and praising them highly.
As he thought, Zhu Dan, the country bumpkin, was indeed stunned and felt even more helpless in tears.
According to this person, the bronze artifacts here are at least forty to fifty years old, and at most nearly a hundred years old, but why is the brightest one only covered with a thin layer of spiritual light?
After careful calculation, it is probably a hair's breadth more than what the alchemy furnace absorbs.
Zhu Dan asked the palace maid for jade and activated the alchemy cauldron.
The jade shattered in her palm. Zhu Dan was disappointed. It was not even as good as bronze.
Only half a hair.
The only good thing is that the purity is higher. With just a slight touch of the soul, it is sucked into the alchemy furnace without using the accompanying fire, so it is not subject to the limit of once a day.
Wasting such a valuable antique just to get an extra strand of hair every day?
In the end, Zhu Dan did not touch the bronze artifacts, but only took some jade to thank Zheng Ge.
Unless necessary, she doesn't even want to take the jade.
It takes tens of thousands of years for jade to form, so it's such a waste to convert it into spiritual energy.
When Su Qutong was speaking, Zhu Dan perked up. This was her first official meeting with her idol, so she couldn't be too disappointing. Yesterday's meeting didn't count.
I just regret that there is no mirror here.
A minute later, Zhu Dan walked into the hall, took a deep breath, and bravely looked up at his idol. Almost immediately, his eyes froze, and he blurted out, "Your Majesty, where is your throne?"
After saying this, I realized that this was the Qin Dynasty, there were no chairs, and kneeling represented the host's courtesy and respect for the guests.
I was very happy that Brother Zheng valued me, but Zhu Dan thought indignantly: So many lousy emperors in later generations had the dragon throne, why didn’t I, Brother Zheng, the first emperor of a unified feudal dynasty, have one?
It must be arranged.
"Your Majesty, I will make you a dragon throne."
"Dragon Throne?" Ying Zheng looked at the woman whose worries were written all over her face, and ignored her rudeness. "What is this?"
“This is a long story.” Zhu Dan excitedly explained the relationship between the dragon totem and the emperor’s three lives and three generations.
The chair the emperor sits on is called the dragon throne, and the clothes he wears are called dragon robes. The pattern of the five-clawed golden dragon can only be used by the emperor, and the four-clawed python robe is for the prince... Suddenly, Zhu Dan felt something flash in his eyes, and the dormant alchemy cauldron in his soul seemed to have signs of waking up.
But it was only for a moment.
Zhu Dan blinked. His eyes might be hallucinating, but the alchemy furnace would not.
The natal alchemy cauldron was connected to her soul, and she felt its joy, as if it was saying, "We are saved!"
Zhu Dan's eyes lit up when he just promised to make a dragon throne for Zheng Ge. Could it be that the key to obtaining spiritual energy lies in Zheng Ge?
"The Dragon Throne is quite good," Ying Zheng praised. He knew from his standardization of weights and measures that he was very satisfied with this move to centralize power and demonstrate authority. "But the most important thing is the Golden Elixir. Leave these to the palace servants."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I already have an idea." Zhu Dan changed his guilty conscience and responded loudly.
Ying Zheng pointed to two Qin Mos to help make the dragon throne. Upon learning that they were the famous Mo family, Zhu Dan was overjoyed. Professional matters should be left to professionals.
The dragon throne was complex and would not be made in three to five days. Returning to her residence, she instructed the two of them, "First, make an ordinary chair, no, a stool for me to see."
Because she is not used to kneeling, she either squats or stands, or simply sits on the bed. It would be convenient to get a few stools, the height of which is just right for this kind of low table.
Zhu Dan dipped his finger in water and drew a pattern. "That's it. It's made of a few pieces of wood. Can you make it in a quarter of an hour?"
"certainly."
A quarter of an hour later, the four pillars and a chair seat were assembled using mortise and tenon structure.
The moment the chair took shape, Zhu Dan was stunned. Some mysterious power fell on him and was absorbed by the alchemy cauldron.
Almost instantly, a crack on the alchemy furnace was repaired.
The next second, golden power floated out from the mouth of the cauldron and merged into his soul. Zhu Dan almost moaned. It was so comfortable, as if he was soaked in spiritual liquid, and all the illnesses in his body were gone.
The dull pain in my limbs disappeared and I felt so relaxed.
Is this spiritual energy? No, it should be more substantial!
Like... luck?!
After determining the origin, Zhu Dan suddenly realized and opened the door to a new world.
The spiritual energy in this world is too scarce. If I rely solely on it to make pills, I'm afraid that even if I use up all the jade and bronze artifacts in Zheng Ge's treasury, it still won't be enough. But if spiritual energy is not enough, I can use this luck to make pills.
Zhu Dan is very familiar with the word "luck". She is what the cultivation world calls a person with great luck.
However, Zhu Dan has always equated destiny with luck. Her luck is indeed good. She never comes back empty-handed when entering a secret realm, and she often finds bargains at auctions. But she has only sensed destiny but has never truly touched it, let alone being able to transform it into golden power to repair her soul after being tempered in the alchemy furnace.
Zhu Dan looked at the stool as if she were her own mother, thinking to herself, this is not just a stool, it is clearly a turning point in my life.
Stools and chairs became popular only in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was a dynasty with many nations coming to pay tribute. It was not only powerful but also prosperous. The Qin Dynasty was not lacking in power, but it was also prosperous... Zhu Dan thought sadly, let's set a small goal first and catch up with the Tang Dynasty.
So, how to get luck? She pondered, staring at the stool, which Qin Chao did not have.
Before this, people could only kneel or squat. Later generations sat on the ground with their legs apart in a relaxed posture, which is called "sitting in a jig" here.
Zhu Dan remembered that after Jing Ke failed to assassinate Zheng Ge, he used this gesture to express his contempt for Zheng Ge.
But in fact, even sitting for a long time can be harmful to your body, not to mention kneeling. The weight of the body is on the legs, which can cause poor blood circulation and even leg nerve necrosis.
From kneeling to sitting on a chair is progress and a good thing.
So, will you gain good fortune by creating new things that benefit the country and the people?
Zhu Dan almost instantly thought of paper, one of the four great inventions.
She believed that no invention was greater than paper.
Paper is thin and light, making it easier to carry and preserve than bamboo slips, and also more conducive to the dissemination of knowledge.
Enlightening the people, what a huge influence this would have.
Zhu Dan couldn't help but laugh when he thought about the fortune that would come like a waterfall after the invention of paper.
Historical records show that Zheng Ge had to review 120 kilograms of memorials every day. If he had paper, it wouldn't be so cumbersome.
Also, the Hundred Schools of Thought is said to be an era in which countless wisdoms were gushing out, but there is very little historical data on either the Qin Dynasty or the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period before the Qin Dynasty. If there were paper, it could have been recorded and passed down to future generations.
Zhu Dan snorted. People in later generations scolded Zheng Ge for burning books and burying scholars, but the scholars he buried were the alchemists who deceived him. The burned books were also retained by the government. It was just a one-size-fits-all unified thought in the backward era.
Once we have paper, wouldn’t it be great if we could open libraries all over the country?
Confucius said that there is no greater virtue than to admit one's mistakes and correct them.
Zheng Ge has many shortcomings due to the limitations of the times and his lifespan, but it doesn't matter. Now that she is here, her alchemy furnace can be used, and she will do her best to prevent regrets from happening.
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