APSIL -Chapter 114 The Density Experiment and the “Demonic Technique”

On the way out of the palace, Zhu Ying simply lifted the curtain of the sedan high, completely unafraid that outsiders would see her sharing the same carriage with Zhang Shou. Because of that, Zhang Shou was able to openly admire the many buildings of the northern imperial city along the route.

And with Zhu Ying beside him as the best possible guide, he listened to her explanations involving various historical anecdotes and figures while roughly taking in the appearances of the Six Palace Offices and the various eunuch administrative departments.

In this era, the female official system headed by the Office of Palace Attendants and the eunuch system represented by the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs were, at least according to Zhu Ying, almost equal powers within the palace.

Moreover, in terms of numbers, palace maids and female officials actually outnumbered eunuchs and imperial attendants by a significant margin. Even the female officials who were released from palace service after reaching the required age were considered excellent candidates for remarriage among official families.

The reason, according to legend, was that Emperor Taizu disliked the heavy reliance on eunuchs in previous dynasties, which had caused countless commoners to mutilate themselves in order to enter palace service.

But if that was true, then Chu Kuan’s claim that the eunuch faction had been passed down through generations and controlled the court would need a serious reexamination.

Listening to Zhu Ying’s explanation, Zhang Shou gradually steered the conversation toward the Ancient and Modern General Archive that the emperor had mentioned before.

Unlike Ge Yong, who always avoided answering directly, Zhu Ying immediately snorted.

“So that’s what you mean—the Inner Library? It’s behind the Inner Study Hall. I heard it was moved there from the southern part of the imperial city. It contains many manuscripts left behind by Emperor Taizu, but very few people are allowed to see them.”

The moment Zhang Shou heard this, his eyebrows rose.

“If that’s the case, then when His Majesty told Grand Academician Zhou of the Imperial Academy that if he personally requested it, they might not refuse to allow people inside to copy the records… was that merely to comfort him after he was falsely accused?”

“Of course it was. Even Grand Academician Zhou, not to mention the other grand academicians, rarely get the chance to enter the Ancient and Modern General Archive. Because of this, they hate the people from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs so much their teeth itch.”

“During my grandfather Rui Zong’s reign, there were also officials who were angry that a group of eunuchs controlled the belongings left by Emperor Taizu. But even Grandpa Rui Zong ignored them.”

“Actually, I’m curious too. When I was little, I secretly snuck inside once, but somehow I was mysteriously sent back out.”

Hearing this, Zhang Shou already felt that the emperor’s previous statement—

“Only after accomplishing a merit so great that no one could object would you be allowed into the Ancient and Modern General Archive.”

—was probably just another way of fooling him.

Yet the more he thought about it, the more curious he became.

Especially after seeing the two secret letters—one using binary encoding and the other using a substitution shift cipher—he couldn’t help imagining what treasures might be hidden inside the archive.

Could it be that the so-called manuscripts of Emperor Taizu were actually written in strange languages like English, French, or even phonetic symbols?

Or perhaps…

They were simply written using various encryption methods, deliberately preventing most people from understanding them?

Thinking about it further, although foreign scholars who invented binary claimed that the ancient Chinese Eight Trigrams were an early form of binary thinking, none of the classic mathematical works—from the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art to the other ancient mathematical texts—actually involved the most basic binary principle of carrying after two.

So saying that the binary cipher he had encountered earlier had nothing to do with Emperor Taizu?

Zhang Shou absolutely did not believe it.

Just then, a sudden voice rang out.

“Stop! Stop quickly!”

The sedan abruptly came to a halt without warning.

Zhang Shou, lost in thought, suddenly lurched forward. At the same time, Zhu Ying, who had been looking at him, also reacted a moment too late.

Their foreheads collided with a loud bang.

The next moment, Zhang Shou hurriedly covered his head and leaned back, while Zhu Ying rubbed her forehead and immediately stuck her head out of the carriage.

“Hey! What happened?”

“My goodness, Miss! I finally caught up with you!”

The person running over, sweating heavily, was none other than Chang Ning, the former “little steward” beside Consort Yu.

Apparently he had run far too desperately. Supporting himself with both hands on his knees, he gasped heavily for quite some time before finally straightening up.

“His Majesty has brought Grand Academician Kong of the Cabinet, Minister Lu of the Ministry of War, Grand Director Zhou of the Imperial Academy, Prefect Wang of Shuntian Prefecture, and several other officials to Grand Tutor Ge’s residence.”

“Grand Tutor Ge intends to personally test Doctor Zhang’s method regarding the Nine Chapters Hall plaque.”

“Although His Majesty did not specifically order it, Her Ladyship Consort Yu felt that the idea came from Doctor Zhang, and Grand Tutor Ge himself is conducting the experiment. It would be a pity if Doctor Zhang did not attend, so she specially ordered this servant to deliver the message…”

Before he could finish, Zhu Ying immediately shouted: “What are you still standing there for? Hurry! Go to Grandpa Ge’s residence!”

“The area must already be heavily guarded. Even the elite cavalry wouldn’t dare stop the sedan carrying the Empress Dowager’s insignia!”

Seeing that Zhu Ying had completely ignored him and already made the decision, Chang Ning, who had nearly run himself to death chasing them, immediately felt deeply wounded.

In the palace, regardless of whether they were high-ranking or low-ranking eunuchs, none were allowed to ride horses or take sedans. Whenever something happened, they could only rely on their own legs.

While he consoled himself that this was simply Miss Zhu’s usual personality, a golden flash suddenly flew out from the carriage window.

He instinctively reached out.

A heavy object landed in his hand.

Looking down—

Wasn’t it a gold ingot?

When he looked up, he only saw a jade-white hand withdrawing from the window.

It belonged to Zhu Ying.

At the same time, he heard Zhang Shou’s gentle laughter.

“Chief Chang, thank you for personally making this trip.”

“If you ever encounter difficulties calculating anything in the future, feel free to come find me.”

Chang Ning looked over and saw Zhang Shou leaning out from the other side of the carriage window, greeting him.

With both a reward and recognition received, Chang Ning finally felt this exhausting trip had been worthwhile.

He smiled and cupped his hands, watching them leave.

Only then did he sigh inwardly.

Thankfully, he had not simply sent some ordinary little eunuch to deliver the message.

He had personally chased after them.

At least, someone appreciated his effort.

Just as Zhu Ying had said, the emperor’s arrival together with a group of high-ranking officials at Ge Manor caused the surrounding streets to immediately be sealed off by the elite cavalry.

Relying on the sedan bearing the Qingning Palace insignia, along with several palace carriage drivers and guards, Zhu Ying pulled Zhang Shou into the sedan and hid inside without showing their faces.

They arrived at the entrance of Ge Manor effortlessly.

Only after Zhu Ying stepped out first did Xiong Wei, who came forward to greet them, reveal a surprised expression.

“Miss? Why are you here? Wasn’t the Empress Dowager summoning you and Doctor Zhang to Qingning Palace?”

“The meeting ended early. I heard His Majesty brought a large group of people to Grandpa Ge’s residence to see whether the Nine Chapters Hall plaque was hollow inside, so I immediately brought A-Shou here!”

While Zhu Ying chatted with Xiong Wei, Zhang Shou also stepped down.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he suddenly noticed that the person supporting him was somewhat unusual.

Turning his head, he discovered it was A-Liu.

Thinking back to how he had entered the palace through the North Gate without stopping, he wasn’t even sure whether A-Liu had secretly followed him on this half-day palace trip.

But he had no time to wonder.

Zhu Ying had clearly already convinced Xiong Wei and was waving at him to hurry inside.

So Zhang Shou simply grabbed A-Liu’s arm and quickly followed.

Better to keep hold of this guy himself.

Otherwise, who knew where he would disappear to?

Inside Ge Manor, the situation remained as before.

Most servants were deaf or mute.

The elite cavalry mainly guarded the walls and entrances, but there were not many soldiers inside.

Especially after seeing Xiong Wei personally leading people in, nobody left their posts to question them.

When Zhang Shou passed through Ge Manor’s study and arrived before an inconspicuous small door in the courtyard wall, he heard Ge Yong’s familiar voice coming from inside.

“Good, good, that’s enough.”

“Quick, lift it out.”

“Be careful. Try not to splash too much water.”

It had already begun?

Zhang Shou exchanged a glance with Zhu Ying.

But before they could enter, Xiong Wei stepped forward and loudly announced: “Your Majesty, Doctor Zhang from the Imperial Academy and the Zhao State Duke’s—”

Before he could finish, the emperor’s laughter came from inside.

“No need to say it. It must be Yingying’s thousand-mile ears and wind-chasing legs.”

“I arrived only a moment ago, and they already followed right behind.”

“I was hoping the Empress Dowager would keep them occupied, but clearly that was impossible.”

“Since they came to watch the excitement, let them in.”

“Teacher is currently testing with gold from the Imperial Treasury and the Ministry of Revenue.”

Hearing that they were testing gold first, Zhang Shou immediately inhaled softly.

As expected…

They had reached this stage.

In ancient times, whether gold or silver was being cast, impurities could never be completely removed.

And there were always people seeking enormous profits who secretly mixed other metals inside.

Counterfeiting could almost be considered an open secret.

Now, this final layer of deception was about to be stripped away in front of the emperor and countless powerful officials.

He wondered how many people would suffer because of it.

When he entered, Zhang Shou saw a specially made square wooden basin.

A gold ingot was being carefully lifted out by two servants using a small net.

Drops of water fell back into the basin one by one.

Only after the gold stopped dripping completely did someone mark the water level on the side of the basin.

Soon, a voice announced: “Your Majesty, Grand Tutor Ge, honored officials…”

“The same scale was used. Both pieces weigh one jin and two liang.”

“This gold ingot displaced less water than the previous one. The previous engraving can still be seen below the waterline.”

“The estimated difference is roughly two li.”

The emperor personally led a group of officials forward to observe.

Instantly, the small wooden basin was surrounded.

Zhang Shou thought the emperor would surely explode after discovering differences in purity between Imperial Treasury gold and Ministry of Revenue gold.

But unexpectedly, the emperor casually said: “Good. The gold has been tested.”

“Next, throw in the silver.”

“And the copper paperweight and copper blocks. Test them one by one.”

After that, Zhang Shou watched as various small objects made of the same material and identical weight but different shapes were placed into the water-filled basin.

The results varied.

There was silver with roughly identical purity.

A copper paperweight that proved hollow.

Gold ornaments that were revealed to be counterfeit.

Finally, after most of the objects had been tested, the plaque written by Emperor Taizu was slowly lifted by several simple pulley systems.

It was carefully lowered above a huge wooden water tank that had been hastily prepared in Ge Manor’s backyard.

Before this, the water displacement measurements of the scraps and samples had already left clear marks beside the pool.

As the plaque was about to enter the water, Zhang Shou noticed everyone around him staring intently.

Even he became slightly distracted, waiting for the result.

But at that moment, a loud voice suddenly rang out.

“Your Majesty!”

“Such a demonic technique, once spread throughout the world, will cause suspicion everywhere among the people and officials!”

“Trust will disappear completely!”

“Your Majesty, please reconsider!”

“Immediately expel this Zhang Shou—this immoral and talentless person who merely seeks fame—from the Imperial Academy!”

“Do not allow him to desecrate Emperor Taizu’s imperial handwriting any further!”

Demonic technique?

Seeing the white-haired old man kneeling on the ground with an expression of grief and outrage, Zhang Shou almost wanted to laugh three times.

So something you don’t understand is automatically a demonic technique?

Then there would be countless “demonic techniques” in this world!

If this old man were thrown into the future, he would either point at everything and call it a monster…or kneel before everything and worship it as a divine miracle until his forehead cracked.

People who refuse to accept new things and cling stubbornly to old ideas have only one path left: spouting nonsense with absolute confidence.