On the bay window facing the morning sun, Fusu wore loose casual clothes and sat cross-legged as in his previous life. Sunlight fell on his handsome features, coating him with a golden aura that made him appear even more noble and imposing.
Hu Hai stared in a daze. Though his imperial brother’s appearance had changed, his bearing was even greater than before. Even in a modern room, it made Hu Hai feel momentarily as if he had returned to over two thousand years ago.
Hu Hai couldn’t help stepping forward, but immediately stopped. He looked down at his hair ends already scorched and withered by sunlight, then silently retreated to the shadows where sunlight couldn’t reach.
Yes, he was no longer that Qin Er Shi who could make trouble and be willful, but merely a ghost stealing a place in the mortal world.
When Fusu set down the book in his hands and looked over, Hu Hai steadied himself and recounted in detail what he had just seen through the golden ghost mask.
“A dragon-patterned bell that can make people obey commands?” Fusu stroked his chin, his handsome eyes narrowing slightly. He never doubted that such incredible ancient objects existed in the world, because that distant era of Xia, Shang, and Zhou was always praised as a mythological age – nothing would be surprising.
“If this object were used by imperial brother, it surely wouldn’t continue gathering dust.” Hu Hai chose his words carefully.
Since Fusu had agreed to move out of the doctor’s shabby small apartment to live with him, Hu Hai had immediately bought a very large, luxurious house. After all, in these two thousand-plus years, he had accumulated no fewer antiques than the owner – he just usually preferred keeping them in the ancient tombs where he temporarily resided. He didn’t understand much about those antiques, only picking one or two pleasing ones to sell when needed.
Fusu looked at his imperial brother with a half-smile. Though they had been together for several months, he still found that silver-white hair and blood-red pupils extremely jarring.
Imperceptibly averting his gaze, Fusu curved his lips in light mockery: “You know who the two previous rulers who used the dragon-patterned bell were, right? Did either have a good end?”
Hu Hai’s heart sank. The two emperors the owner had mentioned were King Zhou of Shang and Emperor Yang of Sui – both were rulers who lost their kingdoms, with posthumous titles of rare tyranny. Very few emperors could deserve those two titles. Hu Hai awkwardly didn’t know what to say and could only stand with hands at his sides. Since childhood, he had been unable to hold his head up before his imperial brother. He hadn’t expected it would still be the same after over two thousand years.
Seeing this, Fusu shook his head and chuckled: “Even our father has been accused of being a tyrant. Actually, these two weren’t entirely as foolish as depicted in history books – it’s all the result of millennia of accumulated slander.” Fusu pointed to the several stacks of history books beside him. These days, besides going to work at the hospital normally, he sat here reading history books.
“Di Xin was accomplished in both civil and military affairs. He led troops to unify the Dongyi tribes in the southeast, but paid a great price. There were too many Dongyi prisoners to suppress. Combined with his years of warfare that weakened the nation and caused widespread resentment, when King Wu of Zhou attacked opportunistically, large numbers of prisoners switched sides, resulting in the fall of the Shang dynasty.” Fusu summarized the historical facts he’d seen these past days, sifting through various accounts to choose the most likely conclusion. Di Xin was King Zhou of Shang’s name. In the Yin-Shang dynasty, the Ying clan was a major noble family of incomparable wealth, so Fusu knew something about these secrets – it wasn’t as described in the “Book of Documents.”
Hu Hai quietly listened with lowered head. He knew his imperial brother wasn’t deliberately teaching him with gentle kindness, but habitually discussing problems to organize his thoughts. If that person’s aspirations had aligned with his imperial brother’s, then it wouldn’t be him standing here now.
“As for Yang Guang… hmph!” Fusu smiled contemptuously. “That Li Shimin was equally guilty of killing brothers, murdering siblings, and forcing his father – why doesn’t he have an eternal infamous reputation?”
Hearing the usually gentle Fusu speak with rare cold sarcasm, Hu Hai, who was also guilty of killing brothers, murdering siblings, and forcing his father, broke out in cold sweat. Well, though strictly speaking he bore no responsibility for Qin Shihuang’s death, and Fusu’s death was orchestrated by Zhao Gao, Hu Hai knew his historical reputation was truly terrible – not slanderous fabrication by later generations.
Fusu seemed unaware of Hu Hai’s strangeness and casually picked up a history book beside him, accurately turning to a page: “The ‘Book of Sui’ praises Yang Guang for pacifying Wu and Yue in the south and repelling the Xiongnu in the north – among his brothers, he alone achieved fame and merit. Yang Guang was appointed governor of Bingzhou at thirteen, entered court as governor of Yongzhou at eighteen, and was made general at twenty, leading troops south to destroy the Chen dynasty and unify Jiangnan. He then carefully won hearts and minds, resolving many political and cultural barriers. Later he led troops north against the Turks. This was the first true great unification of north and south since the Northern and Southern dynasties – otherwise how could there have been the Tang dynasty’s prosperity?”
“After Yang Guang ascended the throne, he created the imperial examination system for selecting officials – a system that continued for over a thousand years. He then reformed weights and measures, promulgated the Daye legal code, developed the Silk Road, and received tribute from all nations. Looking at Yang Guang’s first half of life, he could be called an enlightened ruler. Just seeing him set his reign title as ‘Daye’ shows his grand ambitions.”
The more Hu Hai listened, the more his face burned like fire. He had also ascended the throne at twenty, but understood nothing about governance. After forcibly interfering in several state affairs with disastrous results, he simply gave up completely. He had received no education from childhood, while Yang Guang was deliberately cultivated by Emperor Wen Yang Jian, precisely to prevent Northern Zhou generals from usurping the throne with military power. Emperor Wen probably never imagined that even blood sons with heavy troops and prestige wouldn’t be content to remain subordinate.
“They say Yang Guang moved the capital to Luoyang and engaged in grand construction projects. But moving the capital east was beneficial for controlling the entire realm – Chang’an in the west couldn’t effectively reach the Central Plains, so Luoyang remained an economic and cultural center even into the Song dynasty. As for the Grand Canal, connecting north-south transportation was a magnificent feat whose impact was no less than father’s construction of the Great Wall!”
Fusu was deeply moved. Though he spoke this way, he actually believed that for people’s livelihood, the Grand Canal was more useful than the Great Wall – but though his father had been dead for years, his respect remained unchanged. Emperor Yang’s construction of the Grand Canal was as costly in labor and resources as building the Great Wall. Such great projects benefiting the nation and people were difficult no matter who built them, yet later generations cursed while continuing repairs – this showed their value. But success and failure had the same cause – the over 5,000-li Grand Canal was completed in just six years, severely depleting the Sui treasury and exhausting the people, ultimately burying great troubles.
Hu Hai listened with flushed face and ears, feeling his imperial brother’s every word carried barbs and every character had pointed meaning. He simply raised his head and returned to the original topic: “Imperial brother, do you want this dragon-patterned bell or not?”
Fusu stared steadily at Hu Hai’s silver hair and red pupils. After a long while, he nodded: “Want it – why not? You go retrieve it, but remember to be careful above all.” Fusu’s tone returned to unhurried calm.
“Yes.” Hu Hai took a deep breath and turned to leave.
But Fusu could no longer read the book in his hands. His eyes looked toward the tree branches outside the window beginning to show green buds, seeing the spring colors blooming tenderly on the branches, lost in thought for a long time.
Lu Zigang carefully opened the brocade box on the right, revealing the simple dragon-patterned bell inside.
Regarding the owner’s proposed object-for-object trade, it actually wasn’t easy to arrange – the procedures were quite troublesome.
This dragon-patterned bell had undergone X-ray detection, fluorescence spectral analysis, thermoluminescence dating of clay, and various other appraisals. The experts all concluded this dragon-patterned bell was likely a replica from the massive bronze forgery craze of the early Qing period. It was too new – even the patina floated on the surface. Bronze artifacts couldn’t be carbon-14 dated as accurately as ceramics, but after this series of precise instrument appraisals, the experts all agreed to the owner’s object-for-object exchange request.
This dragon-patterned bell had been kept in the storage room because historically there were few transmitted bells, but its final destination had never been decided. This dragon-patterned bell wasn’t high enough grade to be a national-level artifact – it was far from qualified for museum display cases. This actually solved the problem of an idle item. Though people didn’t understand why the owner would trade three priceless antiques for this dragon-patterned bell, they all imagined it might be some family heirloom.
Lu Zigang hadn’t taken out the copper clapper the owner had given him. His request for this copper clapper was on impulse, remembering how he had once assembled a wordless stele in Ya She – this time it was his turn to figure it out, right? Moreover, since the owner valued this dragon-patterned bell so much, the more modern instruments couldn’t appraise it, the more curious Lu Zigang became. He was certain this dragon-patterned bell had magical properties, so he dared not presumptuously install that copper clapper in public, instead sneaking into his laboratory after work.
Lu Zigang put on gloves and held the palm-sized dragon-patterned bell, turning it over to see the bell cavity was indeed empty, with a connecting component at the bottom.
Lu Zigang secured the dragon-patterned bell with a stand, then opened the small brocade box on the left, took out the copper clapper, and carefully used tools to install it. He then waited quietly for several minutes.
Nothing happened. Lu Zigang held the dragon-patterned bell and stared at the exquisite dragon patterns, hesitating whether he should shake it to try.
Though the owner had warned him at the end not to shake the dragon-patterned bell to make it sound, he had also warned him not to let the kun cutting knife touch blood! His kun cutting knife had long been stained with blood, yet nothing had happened.
Lu Zigang was always careful and cautious by nature – a necessity in his profession – so he held the dragon-patterned bell thinking left and right for a long time without reaching a conclusion.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t shake that dragon-patterned bell.” A sudden voice rang out in the laboratory.
Lu Zigang was startled and nearly dropped the dragon-patterned bell. He carefully placed it back on the soft cloth before looking up at this second uninvited guest.
That Young Master Hu still wore the white hooded coat, his handsome face still so pale, silver-white hair smoothly tied back, red pupils staring fixedly at the dragon-patterned bell before him.
Lu Zigang remembered that chaotic night several months ago. After learning his past life memories and waking up, he saw the longevity lock broken in half in Hu Hai’s hands. His mind was confused in that moment, and he instinctively felt Hu Hai was the reincarnation of Xia Zelan, whom he had obsessed over in his past life, causing inevitable inner turmoil.
But after gradually calming down over these days, Lu Zigang had also gradually let go. Past life matters were ultimately like a great dream. His changed attitude toward the owner was partly because the owner remained that same person after all these years, but Lu Zigang wouldn’t think the Hu Hai before him was Xia Zelan – they were completely different people. Xia Zelan was already dead, becoming a brand in his past life’s heart – unable to be smoothed away or removed. He would miss and remember, but he was no longer the Lu Zigang of his past life either.
Steadying himself, Lu Zigang asked this Young Master Hu who casually entered and exited the forbidden storage area irritably: “Why can’t it be shaken?” Lu Zigang maintained his usual attitude, though knowing this young master surely harbored significant secrets, he wasn’t interested in knowing them.
Hu Hai was too lazy to fabricate lies. Moreover, as a Qin prince who had even been emperor, he naturally wouldn’t compromise his principles over such small matters. So he merely raised an eyebrow indifferently: “Didn’t the person who gave you this copper clapper tell you not to shake it?” Hu Hai spoke with certainty because he had seen everything through the golden ghost mask.
Lu Zigang was completely convinced this time. Even Hu Hai said so, so he must know something. Seeing Hu Hai’s gaze fixed on the dragon-patterned bell, his red pupils undisguisedly emanating fervent light, Lu Zigang instinctively said: “You came for this dragon-patterned bell? No way – this dragon-patterned bell already has an owner.”
Hu Hai knew everything about his transaction with the owner. Though he hadn’t clearly seen what grade of antiques the owner had given Lu Zigang, he was confident he could produce more antiques to compete. So Hu Hai took out something like a silk handkerchief from his chest and threw it to Lu Zigang: “This is my offer to exchange for this dragon-patterned bell.”