Chapter 1 Inherent

In ancient China, especially during the Tang and Song dynasties, the Shangyuan Festival (Lantern Festival) might not have been the most important festival of the year, but it was certainly a very special one.

First, it fell after the Spring Festival and before the spring plowing season. It was a time when agricultural work had not yet begun, but the weather had already warmed up, unlike the cold of the New Year, making it perfect for going out.

At the same time, perhaps due to a characteristic shared by all of humanity, spring festivals have always been more lenient towards women. During the Song dynasty and before, although women always had some standing, only two spring festivals allowed women of all ages to freely go out and play... In the countryside, the Shangsi Festival (third day of the third lunar month) after spring plowing was undoubtedly the most fitting, as it was a good day for outings, bathing, and warding off evil. In the cities, the Shangyuan Festival was undoubtedly the main event, with its lanterns and prayers as timeless themes.

In fact, this extra respect and leniency towards women during spring festivals was likely the product of humanity's most basic instincts, a compromise and combination of procreation worship and free love with agrarian society.

This point can be clearly seen in the development of certain patterns in many primitive tribes and early civilizations... Whether good or bad, it is inevitable in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad.

It can only be said that even in a gradually conservative and continuously repressed China, these most basic human desires and needs could not be stopped.

After all, even foreign monks steal lamp oil, and the religiously-integrated Central Asian warlords like to keep *bacha bazi* (boy prostitutes). Everyone is human, and essentially the same.

Of course, by the Song dynasty, the Shangsi Festival, which was recorded in the *Zhou Li* (Rites of Zhou) and doubly certified by the Confucian ancestors, but was even more unrestrained, suddenly disappeared in the north and central plains. The Shangyuan Festival, with its more restrained theme, was promoted even further by the authorities... From this perspective, it seems to be a victory for feudal ethics.

The further deepening of traditional Chinese social repression and the weakening of women's actual social status also seemed to be facts.

However, as a result, for five days around the Shangyuan Festival, there was the so-called 'women traveling in the streets from night until dawn, men and women mingling', 'the four gates wide open, not forbidden day or night', and even the judicial institutions could take the opportunity to display instruments of torture, almost turning it into a Song dynasty version of Carnival, which could be considered another form of release.

Among these, it was generally acknowledged that the Shangyuan Festival in Dongjing (Kaifeng) was structured differently from other places.

For five consecutive days, from the fourteenth to the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, inside and outside the city, in the countryside, truly a million people poured out, with colorful lanterns all over the city, even extending to Yuetai and Qingcheng outside the city. At night, the entire city almost turned into a sea of lights.

Moreover, the uniqueness of the lantern scenery in the west of the city, the density of the lantern sea in the south, the luxury of the lantern market in the east, and the vastness of the lantern ground in the north have always been famous.

But all of these could not compare to the lantern sheds and lantern mountains opposite Xuande Tower, in the very center of Imperial Street.

The so-called lantern sheds and lantern mountains were large-scale lantern installations in the style of colorful sheds that the imperial court ordered craftsmen to build and pile up starting from the New Year. Each year, the shape and size were different, with some of the taller ones almost as tall as Xuande Tower, and some of the wider ones almost as wide as Imperial Street.

In fact, on the second day of the Shangyuan Festival holiday every year, which was the day of the Shangyuan Festival itself, the scholars, citizens, and common people of the entire Dongjing would often start occupying seats on both sides of Imperial Street from broad daylight, waiting specifically for the lighting of the lantern mountain and lantern sheds in the evening... This was like the Spring Festival Gala in later generations, regardless of whether it was good or not, it was always a specific staple, and the main event.

However, looking back, counting from the siege of Dongjing by the Jurchens in the second year of Jingkang, also known as the first year of Jianyan, it had been a full seven years since Dongjing had truly and properly erected a formal lantern shed.

But this time, during the New Year, there were vague rumors that the official was greatly pleased, and then allocated special funds to summon craftsmen to make lanterns... Considering that there were no major wars last year, and the official's authority was at a point where it could not be shaken, coupled with the return of the Empress Dowager Yuanyou to the capital, many people were inclined to believe it.

Senior officials also did not refute the rumors, because they had personally heard the conversation between the Minister of Revenue, Lin Jingmo, and the Zhao official, so they knew that last year's financial plan had actually exceeded its target.

In that case, spending tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of strings of cash to put on a show... and also make the Shangyuan Festival market livelier, collect more business taxes, and sell some lottery tickets to recoup some of the costs... might not be a bad idea!

However, despite the rumors, until the start of the Shangyuan Festival holiday in the eighth year of Jianyan, no one had seen any lantern sheds erected in front of Xuande Gate. There were only lantern riddles under the corridors on both sides of Imperial Street, and the usual vegetarian meal from Xiangguo Temple was bestowed on senior ministers above the rank of Secretariat-Chancellor. Therefore, people could not help but feel somewhat disappointed with the court and the official.

However, while disappointed, no one would bring it up... If anyone did, other officials would use the excuse that the country was not yet at peace and that frugality was necessary to put them in their place.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, with no major military actions throughout the year, a full economic recovery, and exceptional stability in the court, this year's Shangyuan Festival in Dongjing, despite the lack of large-scale participation from the imperial family and the government, was still close to the grand scale of previous prosperous years.

In fact, perhaps because they had been repressed for so long, the activity among the common people seemed to be even greater.

For five consecutive days, not to mention the night lantern markets and lantern riddles, even during the daytime, the *cuju* (ancient Chinese football) field in the north of the city held five days of exhibition matches. The lottery shops near the gates of the inner city added special movable-type lottery tickets for the Shangyuan Festival, with prizes of one hundred strings of cash for every ten *wen* (copper coins) being drawn on the spot every day. It was said that the five days' prizes were personally sealed by the three empress dowagers and two imperial concubines... The first day's drawing was at Zhuque Gate, the second day at Xuanqiu Gate, the third day at Wangchun Gate. On the fourth day, many people flocked to the three gates of Lijing Gate, Luhe Gate, and Chongming Gate, buying dozens or hundreds of tickets for their whole families, but unexpectedly, the prize was still at Wangchun Gate!

By the fifth day, which was the eighteenth day of the first month, before dusk, the eunuchs from the Inner Attendants Bureau simultaneously opened the imperial sealed small boxes in public in front of each gate, but unexpectedly, in addition to a movable-type string of one hundred *guan* (strings of cash) specified by Empress Dowager Zheng, there was actually a movable-type string of one thousand *guan* specified by the official!

At this point, everyone understood that this was the official's personal compensation for not having lantern sheds. It must be known that even those who could not do accounts roughly knew that this kind of six-movable-type lottery ticket, sorted by six gates, was actually not large in scale. The court sold only six or seven hundred *guan* worth of them each day, and basically all of it was used for prizes.

This one thousand *guan*, for the usually stingy Zhao official, was really a loss, and could be considered some kind of sincerity.

Enough of the digression. Soon, the one hundred *guan* prize was drawn at Chongming Gate, and the one thousand *guan* prize was drawn outside Luhe Gate... and it turned out to be a military man of barbarian origin who had spent only eighty *wen* to buy eight small tickets with auspicious movable-type characters for the Northern Expedition!

How many people cursed in secret was unknown, but this kind of six-movable-type, sorted, printed lottery ticket, distributed in six gates, was clean and fair, not too big and not too small, everyone bought it randomly, and even the official could not easily cheat. After cursing the barbarian, they could only envy him in their hearts.

After all, one thousand *guan*, for these middle-class and lower-class people who were willing to buy lottery tickets, was enough to buy a house in the city to pass down to their descendants, set up a shop to pass down to their descendants, and still have hundreds of *guan* left for their burial expenses.

This was roughly the financial freedom of the bourgeois class in the feudal era.

But in any case, with the arrival of the evening of the eighteenth day of the first month, and the last start of the lantern market, this carnival seemed to finally be coming to an end.

However, therefore, early in the morning on the nineteenth day of the first month, the Zhao official, accompanied by the two imperial concubines, as well as several princes and princesses, appeared on the still relatively deserted Xuande Tower.

Not only that, but soon, the three empress dowagers, whether it was the newly returned Empress Dowager Meng, commonly known as Yuanyou, or Empress Dowager Zheng, commonly known as Ningde, and Empress Dowager Wei, commonly known as Chengping, who enjoyed themselves in the harem and rarely appeared in public, were actually brought by the official to ascend Xuande Tower.

That's not all. Grand Councilor Lü Haowen and other ministers in the capital also appeared one after another... Lü Haowen was picked up from Jingyuan by someone, almost simultaneously with the empress dowagers. The other grand councilors were supposed to start their official duties today, so they ran right into the situation... and the official had decreed that the grand councilors, together with the senior Secretariat-Chancellors, should ascend the tower to accompany him. Other officials, whether in office or retired, should sit quietly and attend along the corridors on both sides of Imperial Street according to their final ranks.

Since the official was going to put on such a display to meet his subjects, who would not come? Not to mention that the senior Secretariat-Chancellors all ascended the tower, even those monks and Taoists among the officials also ignored the fact that they still had incense oil to clean up in their temples and quickly changed into brand new robes, gathering together in a hurry.

They were breathless when they arrived, but when they got there, they were dignified and otherworldly.

After this group of people arrived, something changed on the Imperial Street, which was frighteningly wide, in front of Xuande Tower. Numerous craftsmen, carrying various tools and materials from the palace, poured out of Xuande Gate and began to assemble a strange, huge thing that looked a bit like a large lantern... but was also uncertain.

At the same time, the Imperial Guards, fully armed, were stationed around this object, strictly forbidding anyone from approaching.

Soon, with this uncharacteristic surprise attack by the Zhao official, the entire city of Dongjing immediately seemed to come alive. Countless scholars, citizens, and common people, regardless of how late they had stayed up last night, gathered together, so that Xuande Tower was soon as crowded as the gates of the inner city had been in the past few days.

And the craftsmen were still working hard on something, only the noise gradually increased.

Frankly speaking, at this time, whether it was the senior ministers on Xuande Tower or the common people watching the excitement below, eighty percent of their attention was not on this thing on Imperial Street... After all, there was a 'precedent' for this kind of thing. Whether it was for the official to have fun with the people, or to promote Yuánxué (mathematics) like the last time they made a semi-sphere, everyone would just watch the excitement... Their eyes were more on the Zhao official and the three empress dowagers, two imperial concubines, two princes, and three princesses.

There were too many noteworthy things in this combination:

The Zhao official himself, wearing a scarlet robe and a winged *putou* (official's hat), went without saying.

But Empress Dowager Yuanyou, who had made the greatest contribution to Zhao official's enthronement and was the source of his legitimacy, happened to be the one least related to him by blood. Moreover, the matter of handing over documents on behalf of the two emperors had just come to light, so that the seven or eight years of peace between the two sides had completely ended.

Empress Dowager Wei was theoretically close to the Zhao official, but according to rumors, this empress dowager was the most... difficult to describe, almost no different from Imperial Concubine Pan... Whether it was the large candles or the large parrots, these were real stupid acts that those who were interested could find out about... But she could not be blamed for this. If the Zhao official had not stood out, she would have been an insignificant figure in the harem of the Retired Emperor, just like Imperial Concubine Pan would not have had such good fortune today if she had not been a lucky survivor and become pregnant from the start.

Empress Dowager Zheng was the most well-known, and her popularity among the people and her level in the harem were also recognized as the highest, but she was the most silent and the quietest one.

The two imperial concubines, needless to say, the fact that there was no empress, and that there might not be an empress in the future, was enough for these two to sing opposing arias for the rest of their lives... However, today Imperial Concubine Pan was dressed unusually gorgeously, complementing the official's scarlet robe. Unknowing commoners who saw them from afar might even think she was the empress!

As for Imperial Concubine Wu, it was probably because she was already showing, so it was not appropriate to wear those close-fitting and gorgeous clothes, right?

The two princes, who were both still in swaddling clothes this year, could not be seen clearly. After only showing their faces, they were properly taken back by older palace maids, but it was these two who had the shortest 'appearance' who received the most attention... Some people certainly knew what was going on, while others, in the context of a less sophisticated reality, could not help but have confused thoughts, which was almost inevitable.

As for the three princesses, one was promised to Yue Pengju's (Yue Fei) son, one was promised to Wu Jinqing's son, and one was promised to Han Liangchen's son... Of course, since they were princesses, it did not matter even if the three princesses were huddled around the official at this time.

Speaking of which, waiting was long and boring, and after looking at them for a long time, it was just like that, but Xuande Tower was destined to be a place where many things happened.

Not to mention other things, just the fact that the official sat on the tower for several hours, and was at a distance that was actually very far from the common people, but looked very close, and in public... This was a rare good opportunity, so in history, countless common people took the opportunity to jump out and appeal to the emperor, submit memorials, and present treasures here.

Among them, the appeals to the emperor were of course handled by special personnel, just like in front of the Imperial Academy, while most of the latter were rewarded and casually dismissed. However, there were also negative examples, such as Emperor Huizong (Emperor Zhao Ji), who was in high spirits, being persuaded to be frugal, and personally ordering the execution of those who tried to persuade him.

"Official, your subject begs to present a divine object!"

Sure enough, after the tower gradually became quiet, a lowly official of the level of prefect or governor in the corridors on both sides of Imperial Street, seeing that the opportunity was rare, could not hold back any longer and raised the object in his arms high, stepping out of the crowd... and was, as expected, directly stopped by the strictly guarding Imperial Guards.

Zhao Jiu glanced at this person, and although his eyesight was excellent, he did not recognize who this person was, nor was he familiar with the voice, so he was about to wave him away.

But at this moment, Imperial Concubine Pan, who was on one side, suddenly grabbed Zhao Jiu with both hands and interjected, "Official, that person is a former grand councilor, you must not treat him lightly..."

Not only Zhao Jiu, but many people on the quiet Xuande Tower instinctively looked at this imperial concubine, and then most of them turned back together.

Only the Zhao official continued to examine the red silk clothes on Imperial Concubine Pan, and then smiled slightly and said, "Since the imperial concubine has spoken, it is fine to meet him..."

Since the official had given the order, someone waved from the tower to signal his release.

Taking advantage of this time, Zhao Jiu turned to face Lü Benzhong, who was standing behind him, "Secretary Lü, do you recognize this person?"

"How could I not recognize him?" Lü Benzhong, regardless of the fact that his father was not far away, immediately stroked his beard and smiled, nodding his head. "To let the official know, this person is named Cai Mao, and he is indeed a former grand councilor, and comes from a family of grand councilors. His father is named Cai Que, and his father-in-law is named Feng Jing... I am very familiar with this person."

His words were so relaxed that Ren Baozhong could not help but glance at Lü Benzhong... He really could not help with the skill of being born into the right family.

"When did he become a prime minister?" Zhao Jiu did not care about Ren Baozhong's gaze, but was slightly stunned, and then immediately asked again, and as soon as he asked, he immediately realized, "Is he one of the twenty-six prime ministers of Jingkang?"

Lü Benzhong smiled again and nodded, "The official is wise."

But Zhao Jiu immediately became puzzled again, "The twenty-six prime ministers of Jingkang, either were captured and directly died for their country, or among those who survived, those who advocated peace and surrender were all demoted, and I have never pardoned them. As for those who advocated war and defense, I have no reason not to use them, right?"

Imperial Concubine Pan was slightly nervous, and at this time, that person hurried up, panting, but actually quickly climbed to the top of the tower... In response, although most of the officials on the tower had strange expressions on their faces when they saw this person, they still stood up to greet him and gave him a slight bow.

Seeing this, Lü Benzhong smiled even more mischievously, "The official is absolutely right!"

Zhao Jiu's mind was confused for a moment, but as soon as he turned around, he suddenly realized - so this Prime Minister Cai was neither for war, nor for peace, nor for surrender, nor for defense when the Jin army besieged the city?!

Of course, he must have escaped in the end!

And most likely he was stripped of his position by Li Gang for this reason! Perhaps because he was not for peace or surrender, he could not be stripped of everything, so he could only be stripped to the level of prefect, so that he could escape calmly, become a free man, and then follow Empress Dowager Yuanyou back here and sit there shamelessly.

With this thought, Zhao Jiu could not help but turn his head to look at Imperial Concubine Pan, who was full of fragrance beside him... He was also speechless in his heart, but he could not help but be somewhat understanding in his heart.

"Your Majesty!"

Just as Zhao Guan Jia's thoughts were turning, former Prime Minister Cai Mao finished paying his respects to the empress dowagers in the middle, and then quickly approached with a box in his hands, with a happy expression on his face, and directly bowed and saluted. "Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty! This subject returned from Yangzhou to the north, and passed through the Huai River. While on the boat, I saw a red light in the water illuminating the sky. I had people carefully salvage it, and unexpectedly obtained an ancient seal from the riverbank! The Huai River is where Your Majesty rose to power. Isn't this the will of Heaven?"

Zhao Jiu hesitated to speak, the three princesses plus two of the three empress dowagers all showed curiosity, while Empress Dowager Zheng was the same as the surrounding senior ministers, including Li Guang, and did not look sideways... or rather, was too lazy to look sideways. Imperial Concubine Wu, who was pregnant, frowned slightly, but also tried hard not to look.

As for Imperial Concubine Pan, she was temporarily nervous and directly strangled the official's arm beside her so hard that it hurt.

And although Zhao Jiu was strangled so hard that it hurt, he still hesitated to speak to the former prime minister in front of him... There was no way, this act was too rough! So rough that he did not want to take it!

Only this kind of young master from a family of prime ministers who was good for nothing but escaping, and who had been hiding in Yangzhou for seven years, would dare to do such a low-grade and crude act in front of him! Only someone as stupid as Imperial Concubine Pan beside him would turn to a doctor in desperation and cooperate with such a washed-up prime minister!

But then again, Imperial Concubine Pan at least knew that the affairs of the court had to be handled by someone of the prime minister level, which could be considered progress, right? I wonder if her uncle had given her any ideas from afar?

Just as Zhao Jiu was struggling, Lü Benzhong could not bear it any longer, and directly blurted out from the tower, "Your Majesty, drive this villain out! This person was once as famous as the prodigal Prime Minister Li Bangyan, and was nicknamed the Bootlicking Prime Minister! He relied on flattering Emperor Zhezong to overturn the case for his own father, and then relied on flattering Cai Jing and his son to become an official. Finally, he relied on flattering Liang Shicheng to become a prime minister when the Retired Emperor Daoyun Emperor fled south at the end of Xuanhe, which was then extended to Jingkang... Even the Retired Emperor Taishang (Zhao Ji) looked down on him!"

Lü Benzhong spoke recklessly, and the surrounding ministers pretended not to know. Even the two empress dowagers also turned away after being slightly embarrassed... Only Imperial Concubine Pan still held on to Zhao Jiu and did not let go.

But interestingly, this Prime Minister Cai Mao did not take Lü Benzhong's words to heart at all. He just listened quietly to the other party and then continued to respectfully offer the wooden box in his hands, showing great tolerance. "Your Majesty, Lü Benzhong's intention is nothing more than to say that I am fabricating and presenting false objects, but please think, Your Majesty, I came here because Empress Dowager Yuanyou returned north from Yangzhou this time. Yangzhou no longer needs garrisoning, so I came with her. The difference was only one day... Then may I ask, how could I have obtained an antique in just one day? Your Majesty, this jade seal was indeed washed out of the Huai River in the place where Your Majesty fought."

Zhao Jiu finally became a little impatient, and turned his head to signal.

And Ren Baozhong understood, and immediately crossed over Lü Benzhong to take the wooden box, inspected it again, and then respectfully presented the jade seal, which looked like a real antique, to the Zhao official.

Zhao Jiu took the jade seal, flipped it over casually, and was immediately stunned, but he immediately flipped it back, holding the jade seal for a long time without speaking. After a long while, he flipped it open again, glanced at it, but then flipped it back again, and then still fell into a long silence.

At this point, if it were not for the fact that the hard wings on both sides of the official's *putou* were shaking constantly, proving that his strange actions just now were real, everyone would probably think it was a static image.

But then again, seeing the Zhao official's posture, the surrounding atmosphere gradually reversed. Imperial Concubine Pan was temporarily excited, and the surrounding ministers also gradually became uneasy, so that a small number of people who lacked composure gradually turned their heads to look - to put it bluntly, this official should not be manipulated by such a thing, right?

Especially since Imperial Concubine Pan was so obvious, it was likely that she had communicated with some members of her family in advance for the sake of her son.

"Secretary Cai." After stopping for an unknown amount of time, Zhao Jiu finally held the jade seal in his hand and smiled. "You have really given me a surprise!"

Almost everyone around was stunned, only Cai Mao could not help but feel overjoyed, and bowed down in public.

As for Imperial Concubine Pan, she obviously became nervous with anticipation again.

"Give Secretary Cai a seat." Zhao Jiu turned his head and instructed the dumbfounded Lü Benzhong, and then looked at the others, slowly saying, "Just a small thing, let's wait and see."

Saying that, this official directly reached out and pointed forward, and then sat upright and did not move again. No one on the tower, whoever it was, dared to neglect, and even Cai Mao, who had hurriedly retreated to the edge of the tower to sit down, sat upright and stared intently at the strange thing in front of Xuande Tower.

At this time, the common people watching below were still in a daze because of the perspective problem, but many of the imperial elites who forcibly suppressed their thoughts and focused their attention on Xuande Tower on Imperial Street suddenly froze, and then suddenly realized - it turned out that the Zhao official was really making a lantern, a giant lantern that was not put out at night to have fun with the people, but was instead displayed in broad daylight.

It was just that the outside of this lantern was not a paper-covered cage, but a boneless cage covered with precious and thick silk, which was now spread out on Imperial Street, more than ten *zhang* (approx. 3.3 meters) square, but no one knew how to cover it up. Would they temporarily build a frame?

And the bottom was not an ordinary tray, but a huge bamboo basket with sandbags all around, which could allow several soldiers to stand in it and operate the bellows.

As for why they were operating the bellows, it was because there was not a small candle in the basket, but a huge simple stove with its own blower, and the stove was filled with good quality coal and charcoal soaked in precious oil and wax... There was also a chimney on top that was roughly narrowed.

The stove was lit, and with the soldiers' hard work, the chimney, which could be manually tilted, was directly aimed at the boneless silk cover that had been spread out to a certain area.

The next moment, just as the onlookers were still watching the excitement, many people on Xuande Tower had already lost their composure and stood up... just like when they watched the semi-sphere being pulled by horses back then.

No one else, some smart people had already realized what this thing was, it was just a big Kongming lantern!

However, Kongming lanterns could fly into the sky.

That's right, it was one of the weapons of transmigrators, a hot air balloon... Zhao Jiu finally realized after that illness that he could not spend all day busy with the proper business that an official should be busy with, but should do some of the proper business of a transmigrator, the official's leisure business.

So, he picked up his science and technology revitalization plan again.

In fact, Zhao Jiu wanted to make hot air balloons back in Nanyang, but every time even small-scale experiments would fail... The reason was very simple, he was an engineering dog who studied signals and systems, not materials science, let alone chemistry, and not even a welder. He really did not know how to make fireproof materials, so every experiment basically ended with the silk being scorched.

As for the so-called salamander cloth, which was asbestos cloth, it was too expensive and too rare this year, and once enlarged, it seemed a bit unrealistic.

Of course, Zhao Jiu put in a lot of effort this time. On the one hand, he was prepared to create a big news event for the Shangyuan Festival in the eighth year of Jianyan no matter what, so he prepared to use ceramic chimney utensils to protect the flames. On the other hand, he was diligently investigating rumors of fireproof materials other than salamander cloth while he was 'ill'.

And the two made progress almost at the same time. The former was considered feasible with careful operation, while the latter occasionally received many claims. One of them talked about a fire in a family in Shaoxing, where a wooden bucket was able to survive. Later, after investigation, it was found that it was a special bucket used to purify water... Later, after asking people about this, it was found that many places had similar things. The older the wooden bucket for purifying water, the more often it could be preserved in the fire.

In this era, the chemical used by the common people to purify water was very simple, which was the alum sold exclusively by the government, which was the 'Fan' in the name of Fanlou (restaurant).

After all, Zhao Guan Jia was an engineering dog. Although he did not know what alum was composed of, it did not prevent him from experimenting with soaking silk in extremely concentrated alum water... As a result, it really became fireproof.

This was how this experiment, which had been delayed for four or five years, came about today.

It was also a disgrace to the transmigrators.

In a trance, with the exclamations of the surrounding scholars, citizens, and common people, the silk was quickly bulged up by the hot air, and soon formed a large ball, standing straight in the center of Imperial Street, and then gradually floated upward.

After a while, the senior ministers and imperial family members on Xuande Tower were even more dumbfounded... because they saw with their own eyes that the huge basket gradually became shaky after carefully throwing down many sandbags in order, like the Kunpeng in Zhuangzi's *Xiaoyao You*, preparing to soar ninety thousand *li* (approx. 500 km).

And finally, with the throwing of another sandbag, a huge shadow shrouded Xuande Tower. This Kongming lantern, the number one in the world, flew up slowly and firmly in a posture that all smart people could 'understand the principle' of.

But the more it was like this, the more shocking it was.

This time, it was even more shocking than the semi-sphere pulled by horses back then! Because it was more direct and obvious!

It could only be said that Zhao Guan Jia had done his best for the sake of Yuánxué (mathematics).

The huge hot air balloon had flown to the same level as the people on Xuande Tower. Almost everyone on the tower exclaimed in shock, and Zhao Guan Jia did not speak, but unlike the others who leaned forward to look, he was the only one who did not look sideways and sat as usual. The hard wings on the *putou* above his red robe did not tremble at all this time.

"Don't panic, Captain Bei!"

Yang Yizhong, whose figure could not be seen from below, shouted loudly at the basket above. "There are ropes pulling it from below. Operate as before. Don't throw any more sandbags for the time being, just add and reduce fire and slowly go up... When we take off the hook, you can also operate with the sandbags and drift with the wind. There will be cavalry to find you."

A response came from the basket, but the voice was already trembling and somewhat distorted.

But at this time, what could the soldiers above do? Even the one who was nicknamed Single-Handed Dragon, whose hands were so steady that they were amazing, could only drift with the wind and clouds at this time... This huge Kongming lantern continued to rise with the ropes dragging below in a determined posture, until the dozens of *zhang* of rope were exhausted, and only then did it temporarily stop at a position more than ten *zhang* above Xuande Tower.

And this situation lasted for less than a stick of incense (approx. 5 minutes), and the ropes directly broke, and then the huge hot air balloon flew farther and farther and higher and higher in the midst of the city's astonishment and panic, and finally slowly went northwest along the slight southeast breeze.

The Imperial Guards had already chased out on horseback under the leadership of several captains.

At this time, unlike the panic in various parts of the city, the atmosphere on Xuande Tower was unexpectedly quiet. As people who had witnessed the entire process of the hot air balloon taking off, they had some idea in their hearts... And the result of having an idea was that most people were still dumbfounded, just looking at the black dot in the distance in the sky. A few people were whispering, but they did not dare to discuss loudly, from the empire's prime ministers to famous monks and great Confucians, all fearing that speaking loudly would startle someone or something.

And Zhao Jiu watched for a long time, then suddenly got up, holding the ancient seal and leaving calmly.

Zhao Guan Jia walked in a hurry, and also suddenly. The ministers could only hurriedly get up to see him off. The several empress dowagers had their own retinues, and even Imperial Concubine Wu, who was slightly pregnant, could not easily catch up... Only Imperial Concubine Pan hurried to catch up, and could be considered to have kept up with his footsteps.

The two did not use their retinues and walked quite fast. Zhao Jiu did not say a word the whole way, but with his hands behind his back, surrounded by armored soldiers, eunuchs, and palace maids, he walked forward, and only stopped suddenly after entering Yiyou Gate.

Imperial Concubine Pan looked at Zhao Jiu with a slightly expectant expression, and Zhao Jiu looked at the woman in front of him, several times wanting to slap the jade seal in his hand onto her face to wake her up, but for some reason, after holding back at first, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the woman in front of him was quite pitiful... This woman was so stupid that she was harmless, and instead made people feel pity.

In the end, Zhao Jiu's feelings of pity vaguely took the upper hand, and then he suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and smiled. "Go and rest! I have my own considerations for the affairs of the outer court... But these clothes are too conspicuous, so don't wear them when you go out in the future."

Imperial Concubine Pan was finally relieved, and with a bit of extra expectation and several eunuchs and palace maids, she turned into the harem from the side door, while Zhao Jiu held the jade seal and continued to walk north, all the way to Linhua Gate, entering the mulberry fish pond area, and only then did he sit down in the stone pavilion where he had not been for a long time.

At this time, he finally flipped open the ancient seal in his hand for the third time, and then saw the words on it clearly for the third time.

Four large characters, the shape of which was ancient and outstanding, did not prevent Zhao Jiu from being able to easily understand them after living in this world for seven years - Yuán Zuò Mián Cháng (May Yuan's Reign Be Long).

That's right, the jade seal said 'Yuán Zuò Mián Cháng', not 'Dé Zuò Mián Yán' (May Virtue's Reign Be Long). Wu Guifei's own eldest son, Zhao Yuánzuo, was truly blessed! At such a young age, a treasure jumped out of the Huai River to act as a tribute, saying that he was the true master of destiny!

To be honest, if it had really been something like 'Dé Zuò Mián Yán', he might have directly let that flatterer go!

ps: Routine offering of a new book, *I Have an Apartment in the Late Ming Dynasty*, a new book by old author TX Cheng Zhi.