"This old man just keeps adding useless features, huh."
Wen Mang curled his lips in disdain. Site 13 was great, but "uncle" was another matter entirely.
All day long it just pushed out flashy gimmicks with no substance, completely pointless.
Without much thought, he tapped both options in the submenu and exchanged them. Watching the red notification dot disappear instantly satisfied his obsessive tendencies.
First priority was simple.
Confirm whether the other side was a scammer.
Following the address given over the phone, he took a taxi. After passing through the reassuring gates of Sichuan University, Wen Mang asked around and eventually found his destination.
Sichuan University Archaeology Teaching and Research Laboratory.
"Hello, Qin Shi Huang. You can call me Dongfang Ye."
The woman standing before him carried herself with confidence. Her figure was neat and capable, and from her appearance, she looked more like a student than a professor.
They shook hands.
"So, how is it? This place does not look like a pyramid scheme base, right?"
Wen Mang flushed red with embarrassment.
"I was just being overly cautious before."
"Being cautious is a good thing."
Dongfang Ye's tone carried a faint layer of meaning.
She handed over several printed images.
"These are the photos my colleague showed me earlier."
Wen Mang immediately recognized them.
They were the same pictures he had posted on Site 13.
"Judging from the color, this is very close to real gold."
Once she started speaking professionally, her tone became smooth and confident. She laid out several comparison images of horseshoe gold and gold wuzhu coins.
"These are reference images provided by the Shaanxi Museum. Comparing craftsmanship details, the fine points align quite closely. There is a possibility they came from the same mold batch."
Wen Mang stared blankly.
This was his first time truly experiencing how terrifying expertise could be.
Everything Dongfang Ye pointed out looked like nothing more than a blur to him.
"Therefore, if possible, I would like you to bring the items over. We can conduct a proper craftsmanship analysis and dating."
Since she clearly was not short on funds, Wen Mang had no objection.
He was not completely ignorant either. Horseshoe gold and gold wuzhu coins were valuable, and they were often used as burial items.
Many had been discovered in Han tombs.
They were not prohibited collectibles.
When he left, Dongfang Ye personally walked him out. Along the way, students greeted her respectfully.
"Professor Dongfang."
"Save my number."
She brushed aside her short hair lightly.
"If you have any questions later, you can contact me anytime."
Then she added casually,
"By the way, I saw online that you received a calligraphy piece from Zhuge Liang?"
"That one is fake."
Wen Mang laughed helplessly. If that "Glory belongs to the people" piece were truly written by Zhuge Liang, then the story of Xiao He chasing Han Xin under the moon might as well be real too.
That would be ridiculous.
"I see."
Dongfang Ye nodded.
"If you have the chance, let me take a look. The imitation actually captures about thirty percent of the original spirit."
Wen Mang found her a bit strange.
…
Gong'an County.
Sun Qian sat upright in the side hall, posture straight and meticulous.
Nearby, Jian Yong and Mi Zhu whispered quietly. Both of them were puzzled.
The light screen had clearly ended.
Why were their lord and the others still here, looking as if they were preparing to sleep on the floor?
"There must be a reason."
Jian Yong spoke with certainty.
Looking around, whether it was Liu Bei or General Huwei Zhao Zilong, both had faint smiles in their eyes when they looked at them.
Exactly the same.
It was the same expression they themselves had shown when they first saw the light screen.
Not long after, the screen slowly unfolded again.
Still trying to watch me make a fool of myself?
Jian Yong scoffed inwardly.
"Zhuge Liang's calligraphy actually entered the light screen!"
That was Jian Yong losing composure.
Zhang Fei dug at his ear with his little finger.
"Xianhe, composure. Maintain the composure of a scholar. It is just a piece of calligraphy entering the screen. Why so surprised?"
As if he himself had not also sent wine into it.
Everyone focused their attention.
[Lightscreen]
[Thanks for the donation! This calligraphy from Kongming matches the video perfectly. It is honestly hilarious.
Also, I took a look at the paper. It is bark paper, and that is not cheap. Thank you, thank you. I will definitely put my heart into the next video.]
[Server Chat Log]
[MarchIfPaid: That calligraphy killed me, plus one. Quick question, what is bark paper?
Unshaken Tree: If I am not mistaken, this should be Linqu bark paper. One roll costs over three hundred now.
BeyondSky: This is basically the Zuo Bo paper from the Three Kingdoms period. Zuo Bo improved papermaking by adding mulberry bark as raw material and made a fortune.
NerdCourse: Funny thing is, he was actually a calligrapher.
VoidTracker: He neglected his main profession and became famous for papermaking instead.
GuardianGrass: If we are talking about completing the final piece of papermaking, we have to look at Great Song. Movable type printing is the perfect partner.
WildPinguin: The gap between woodblock printing and movable type printing being four hundred years is honestly wild. It is just one extra step.
SmokeBar: No way around it. Ancient times did not value technological invention. The only dynasty that encouraged it, Great Song, still got beaten badly.
WifiWarrior: Even so, Song Dynasty inventions crushed all other dynasties, with a total of thirty-eight technology progress points.
Wait, were we not talking about bark paper?]
Zhuge Liang copied every word he saw on the screen with utmost care, a faint smile appearing on his face.
So direct questioning was not allowed.
Then indirect probing would suffice.
Observe widely, infer from fragments, and deduce the whole.
Was it not simply a matter of thinking?
As he wrote, another thought arose.
Zuo Bo had achieved lasting fame, not because of calligraphy, but because he improved papermaking.
It seemed that later generations valued craftsmanship greatly.
Could it be that their so-called moving territories were also created by craftsmen?
To achieve something akin to divine feats through human hands alone.
If Huang Yueying saw this, she would surely be interested.
Zhang Fei, meanwhile, began counting on his fingers.
"Jin, Sixteen Kingdoms, Tang, Song, Ming, Qing, and that future dynasty with no emperor."
"Third Brother, what are you calculating?"
Liu Bei asked.
"Big Brother, from what the light screen has revealed, there are already seven dynasties, and that is not even counting those it has not mentioned."
"We are separated from that descendant by over one thousand seven hundred years."
"Does that not mean each dynasty lasts only about two hundred years?"
Zhuge Liang shook his head.
"It would not be so evenly divided, but even by that estimate, the land of China would face war and upheaval every two hundred years."
In this regard, the Han could look down on them slightly.
After all, the Liu clan had lasted over four hundred years.
Jian Yong could not help but say,
"The later generations are so powerful, and they value technology so highly. Could it be that the secret to strength lies in this 'technology'?"
Mi Zhu immediately objected.
"Brother Xianhe, the comments also said that the Song Dynasty had the highest number of so-called technology progress points, yet they were still beaten repeatedly. This suggests technology alone is not the answer."
Zhuge Liang raised his hand, stopping the discussion.
"It is too early to draw conclusions."
"Today, let us first discuss paper, and the art of printing."