Chapter 16: Innate Qi
The third day of February, the hour of Xu.
The two of them finished their investigation and returned. When they returned to the Yang family's house outside the city, Shen Kuo remembered something and stopped on the steps of the Yang's house. He turned around and looked at the thin crescent moon in the sky. He was a little dazed, as if something was touching his heart.
"Mr. Shen?" Xu Chong asked.
"Did I forget to ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Today is the third day of February, a crescent moon, dim but with a faint glow. On the eighth day of last month, there was a waxing crescent moon, brighter than today."
"So what?"
"There were more than a dozen people watching the Skeleton Monster transforming into a Hat Monster . They were standing in different positions, but no one saw the traction line nearby."
"I asked about this, but at that time there were dark clouds covering the originally dim moonlight."
"Dark clouds, that's great."
"Do you really think that the flying hat monster is controlled by someone with a thin string behind it?"
"I don't know either. I just heard that the Seven Sacred Swords trick is an illusion designed to deceive people."
The two of them talking on the steps startled the servants waiting at the gate. Someone opened the gate and interrupted Shen Kuo's thoughts.
He said no more, but handed the old donkey to the servant and walked into the living room, where Yang Wei De and his wife had already prepared a sumptuous table of food. They asked Shen Kuo and Xu Chong to sit in the main seats and started eating.
During the dinner, Yang Wei De asked about his experience in the investigation. Shen Kuo said that he only realized how difficult it was after he had visited the scene and questioned the witnesses. At present, there are not many clues, and we can only eliminate the impossible by elimination; but the worst thing is that after eliminating all the impossible, there is nothing left.
For him, the most puzzling thing is how the clouds and fog are formed. It is thick white fog, but it does not smell like rosin or sulfur, which shows that it is water vapor, not smog. The rest of the tricky things are just guesses that cannot be verified. He couldn't help but sigh when he said this.
Yang Wei De couldn't help but get nervous when he heard Shen Kuo sighing. He didn't care if Shen Kuo couldn't figure out the case. It would be abnormal if he could. He was just afraid that Shen Kuo would give up at this moment, which would make him look bad. The narrow-minded old Bao would definitely mock him for recommending someone who was not virtuous. In fact, as long as Shen Kuo endured for a while, no one would have made any achievements, and Bao Zheng would naturally not have the face to offend others.
So he advised Shen Kuo to meet Lao Bao tomorrow, or to look at other scenes without any solution before declining, and then he could prepare for the exam at home. Unexpectedly, Shen Kuo's fighting spirit was already ignited, and he said that he must get to the bottom of this matter and completely see through his opponent's deception.
Seeing Shen Kuo in high spirits, Yang Weide first breathed a sigh of relief, but then he began to worry about another thing. He also didn't think Shen Kuo could rely on his trick of treating sorcery as magic. He thought that there must be someone behind the hat monster, and it was clear that he had gone astray. He just hoped that his old friend would not delay the imperial examination because of the final setback.
After eating and drinking
He couldn't fall asleep for a while, so he sat on the bed and read the ten prophecies, but his mind was full of various things. At first, there was the vague hat monster and the skeleton, and then there was Xiao Ping curled up on his chest. He tried several times, but he couldn't get this scene out of his mind. He fought against his inner demon for a while, and finally fell asleep.
The fourth day of the second month, the hour of Mao.
Early in the morning, Shen Kuo rode a donkey to several ferry crossings on the Bian River to look for the passenger ship for the day, but he couldn't find it. Losing his luggage and money was a small matter, but his seal was also lost. He could only return to Yang's house first.
Xu Chong arrived very early to pick up Shen Kuo and go to the Military Headquarters to meet Bao Zheng.
Yang Wei De himself did not go. He had recently had a bad relationship with the unkind old Bao, so he followed Wen Yanbo's example and pretended to be sick and disappeared. But he was a little worried about letting Shen Kuo go alone, so he reminded Shen Kuo before leaving that Bao Longtu was colorful and sharp, and very difficult to serve, so he must maintain some harmony on the surface. Shen Kuo agreed immediately and rode his donkey with Xu Chong. Old Yang stood at the door, feeling a little uneasy as he watched them go away; Shen Kuo agreed too lightly, and he probably didn't realize that as his student, he would definitely be subject to preconceived prejudice and doubt, and he thought he would have a lot of hardship to endure.
The two of them went around the less-traveled north gate from outside the city. This way they could avoid the busy roads in the city, be faster, and of course also to avoid being seen.
The two men rode their horses (donkeys) side by side, chatting about the case and explaining the locations where the crimes took place.
Xu Chong had been to all the sites, some of which he was the first to arrive, so he knew a lot. The site of Shan Xiongxin's tomb was preserved because it was located in the northeast corner of the city and was originally a deserted place. The site of the Pig Killing Alley in the south of the city no longer exists, because thousands of live pigs came ashore from the Bian River every day and were crowded into the alley. In such a place with constant flow, it is naturally impossible to preserve anything. As for the collapsed Sheji Altar in Yongqiu County, nothing was found there, but it was not destroyed either, so you can go and take a look.
The sites he listed did not include the Imperial Garden in the palace, which was understandable. How could it be so easy to enter the Forbidden City?
When Shen Kuo arrived at the entrance of the Military Headquarters Office at Xihua Gate, he did not expect it to be such a shabby and cold office. There were several horses tied at the entrance and bursts of barking of dogs could be heard from inside.
The two men dismounted and saw several dogs chasing each other in the courtyard, a civet cat dozing on the courtyard wall, and several soldiers turning the soil with hoes. This place seemed more like a rural courtyard than a government office.
"Brother Xu, these dogs are..."
"Oh, they were used to eat pig offal a few days ago. The adults suspected that the whole cage of dead pigs in the Pig Slaughter Alley had eaten poison, so they caught some wild dogs to try, but none of them died. Now these dogs won't go away, so they have to stay here to guard the door."
"oh."
"Look at the loose rammed earth over there. It's the soil taken from the Yongqiu Altar. I want to find the strangeness in it."
"What kind of weirdness do you want to find?"
"Mr. Bao wants to find out why the altar was shaking that day."
"Any results?"
"Every day when the city gates were opened, dozens of baskets of soil were taken from the altar and checked. It was still the same soil, nothing unusual was found."
The two men walked into the inner hall, and a chicken jumped out from the threshold with a clucking sound.
Shen Kuo was stunned again.
"Oh, it was raised to test the pig food that day." Xu Chong said with a smile.
"Can't we try it with a dog?"
"The profiteers in the Pig Slaughter Alley feed only bran, which the dogs won't eat. We can only use chickens."
"What can you find out?"
"I have ten hens and I can collect seven or eight eggs every day, but not a single one dies."
I continued walking inside, but saw a stone tablet in front of the lobby, but the words on it were unclear.
Shen Kuo looked at the stone tablet in confusion.
"Oh, this was the front gate of the Imperial College of the previous dynasty. There was a dismounting stone tablet there, but it was later abandoned and turned into a government office of no importance like the Military Headquarters. Your Excellency is waiting inside, let's go in."
The two of them stepped inside quickly.
But behind the desk, Bao Zheng was looking at a piece of paper with his head propped up. He raised his eyes slightly to glance at Shen Kuo, but did not stand up or speak, and continued to look down at the paper.
"Sir, this is Shen Kuo, the chief clerk of Haizhou recommended by Yang Shaoqing." Xu Chong said.
Bao Zheng knocked the paper on the table and said, "Shen Kuo, you are so good. Last time I wrote to you, I urged you to go to the capital on the second day of February. Although I didn't mention the emperor's order, I did mention that the Minister of Literature was eager to see you. You should have known your limits, but you still missed the deadline."
Shen Kuo quickly knelt down and said, "Sir, it is only because the journey is too long and something unexpected happened along the way that I was unable to arrive in time. I am very sorry."
"What kind of accident?"
"A widowed woman on the same ship was being hunted by her husband's family, who wanted to drown her in a pond for infidelity. I tried to save her, but ended up delaying the trip."
"Can the widow be saved?" Bao Zheng asked.
"Saved."
No one could see the change in Bao Zheng's expression, but his voice became more soothing:
"If that's the case, it can make up for the missed date. You get up first. Xu Chong, tell me: Have you been to Shan Xiongxin's tomb?"
"yes."
"Have you heard about the other cases?"
"I also heard Lord Yang and Xu Jieji talk about it."
"Any ideas?"
"Your Excellency. I have heard some of the testimony and I find this matter quite strange."
"How strange."
"The hat demon first appeared in Shan Xiongxin's tomb on the eighth day of the first lunar month, when it was a waxing moon and the moonlight was dim. In addition, when the hat demon appeared, dark clouds obscured the moonlight."
"So what?"
"The pigs in the Pig Slaughter Alley were possessed by the Hat Demon and died on the 28th day of the first lunar month, when the moon was waning and Emei Mountain was almost dark."
"Well..." Bao Zheng turned around and faced Shen Kuo, "Of course I know about this."
"Whenever the hat monster appears, it always chooses a time when there is no moon. There must be some reason for it."
Bao Zheng stood up, twirling his beard, and walked back and forth behind his desk. "Your teacher Yang Wei De also mentioned this. He said that the reason we chose the time when the clouds were thick was because all ghosts and spirits must avoid the three lights, otherwise they will be easily suppressed by the innate energy."
"The theory of Gangqi may have its mysteries. However, I think that we cannot explore the root of the matter. Mysterious things cannot be used as evidence. The reason I imagined is simpler."
"Please speak." Bao Zheng said anxiously.
"We chose a moonless time to prevent the traction line from being exposed under the moonlight."
Bao Zheng walked around the table and approached Shen Kuo: "Tell me more details."
"I haven't gone to Slaughter Pig Alley to question witnesses, so I dare not make a definite conclusion. However, I feel that flying objects like Kongming lanterns can only fly up or drift with the wind, and cannot move according to a preset direction. The hat monster stayed in the air without rising or falling, and was able to escape. There must be a reason. The witnesses on Yulin Street said that it went straight to the palace; the people in Slaughter Pig Alley also said that it flew straight over the low wall. Why did they all go straight? The only reasonable explanation I can think of is that there is a very thin silk thread pulling it. The surface of the silk thread is painted black, and there is no moonlight at the time, so it is not easy to see."
"Well, that is indeed the direction I speculated, but I did not think as deeply as you did. Shen Kuo, although you and Yang Shaoqing are master and apprentice, you are closer to the truth and not as mysterious as he is. You don't have to rush to draw conclusions. These days, Xu Chong will take you to various places to have a look. Also, this is not the first time that the hat monster has appeared in this dynasty. There was a precedent when the previous emperor was in power thirty years ago. The records are all in the Sitianjian. You can ask Yang Shaoqing to look for some."
"yes!"
"Sir," Xu Chong said, "Last night, Master Shen and I went to the scene at Yulin Street, and Master Shen seemed to have some insights."
"Tell me what you think quickly."
"Sir, I would like to demonstrate something or two. Can I borrow a few things?"
"Which things?"
"Rattan paper, fish glue, thin thread, and a clothes-cutting knife are all you need."
"You have paper, but no pen and ink?"
"No, the rattan paper is hard, just right for folding the skull."
Old Bao waved his hand and asked the people around him to prepare. Soon everything was ready. Shen Kuo sat there, cutting paper with a knife, and then cutting, pasting and folding it. He actually made a skeleton that was slightly smaller than a real person, with hands and feet that could move. It was surprisingly lifelike. Then he took off his clothes and put them on him. He took the paper skeleton to the stone tablet outside. Bao Zheng and Xu Chong followed him out.
"Please look, sir. If this skeleton is in front of the stone tablet, and someone is hiding behind it..."
He turned around and hid behind the stone tablet.
"When the clouds and mist rise..."
Lao Bao saw the paper skeleton being dragged behind the stone tablet and disappeared. He had understood Shen Kuo's thoughts and couldn't help but smile.
"Well, it turns out to be such a trick."
"I dare not say it yet." Shen Kuo stood up from behind the stone tablet, "I can only explain some questions."
"That's quite an ingenious idea. I thought someone was hiding in the jujube tree, but there is no shelter on the tree, so how can a person standing there not be seen? If he is behind the stone tablet, the problem is solved immediately. Why did you think of this?"
"Because I think that the skeleton must be fake, then who recited the prophecy? Someone nearby has been seen long ago, so it can only be hiding behind the stone tablet. And the hat monster must be a light thing that rises and cannot bear weight. The skeleton's body is too close to a person to carry it, so it can only use a trick to hide."
"However, what the butchers in Shazhu Lane saw was a hat monster flying in the air, and they vaguely saw a skeleton monster sitting on it."
"I think it is a fake made of very thin material. However, the skeleton in front of Shan Xiongxin's tomb was wearing a coat but it did not fall down. It was also performing a puppet show in front of everyone. The material used was very thin and easy to see through. If it was thick, it would not be able to fly up. The Tengjiao paper I used is made of old vines in the mountains of Zhejiang. It is thick enough to support the coat, but it is still too soft for a puppet show. So I think what everyone saw a few steps away that day was most likely a real skeleton, but there was someone hiding behind it to manipulate it."
"That makes some sense. Well, you're here at the right time."
"How to ascend and why there is fog, I still don't understand."
"Don't worry about these. I see that you are quite knowledgeable. You should also go to the Imperial Garden in the palace. Perhaps you can find out some differences. I discussed this matter with the guard, Mr. Shi, a few days ago. I will give you the badge for entering the palace first. But now the palace is very strict. The Ministry of Personnel or Yang Shaoqing must have the seal on your previous letters and notes. It must match the seal you bring with you before you can enter the palace. Can you bring that seal with you?"
"Sir, this is a troublesome matter. I lost my seals on the way."
"Or because of saving the widow?"
"Exactly."
"This is troublesome. Zhang Maonze, the chief steward of the Imperial City, is also a rigid person. The first time you enter the palace, you must check the seal. The reason behind this cannot be disclosed to too many people."
"Sir, what's the difficulty? Can't we just do it conveniently?" Xu Chong, who was standing aside, said with a smile.
“How to do it cheaply.”
"In the street market outside the Daxiangguo Temple, there is a monk who has two unique skills. One is that he cooks delicious pork, and the other is that he can carve seals that are indistinguishable from the original. If someone in the capital city loses a seal and needs it urgently, they will bring a letter with a previous seal to him, and he will make it in half a day. He calls himself a 'convenient seal'."
"You are fooling around too. How can you be so frivolous when entering the palace?"
"Sir, we have to make an emergency decision. Since you have to verify your identity when you enter the palace for the first time, Master Shen must not be an impostor. You can first ask the monk there to carve a piece and we will know after taking a look."
“The laws of the country no longer exist.”
Bao Zheng sighed vaguely and shook his head but did not say anything to stop him. It seemed that he had no choice but to make an emergency decision, so he took out his waist badge and gave it to Shen Kuo. However, he saw that the waist badge read: "Anyone who meets the night watch, hang this waist badge when leaving. It is not used at the four gates of the imperial city." On the other side, it also engraved Shen Kuo's temporary identity: "The chief of the Imperial Academy of Astronomy." It seemed that he had been preparing for a while.
"This is a temporary assignment. Although he is a minor official, he can repair the armillary sphere of the Imperial Academy in the palace and enter and leave the palace in the name of the Imperial Palace. In addition, he has a salary of 11 strings of cash per month."
"Yes, sir." Shen Kuo took the sign and breathed a sigh of relief. He was now penniless and hesitated to ask Yang Wei De for a loan.
"This item is of great importance, so it must be hidden well and not seen by outsiders. I often see eunuchs hanging the palace badges outside and parading them around the city, hoping that they will be tempted to steal. They really deserve to be punished."
“Students understand.”
Shen Kuo solemnly hid the badge close to his body.
