The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

The next morning, an even more explosive piece of news spread like wildfire throughout the streets and alleys of Bianjing City.

—Someone actually dug up a stone with a magical aura in the dry well at Xiangguo Temple! I heard it was even inlaid with gold!

This news was naturally spread overnight by Jiang Lin's Beggars' Clan brothers. Meanwhile, Jiang Lin, the mastermind behind this grand scheme, was leisurely sitting in a secluded meditation room in Xiangguo Temple, sipping fine cloud and mist tea while listening to the gradually rising clamor of voices outside the wall.

"Master Ouyang, is everything arranged?" Jiang Lin put down his teacup and looked at Ouyang Xiu, the literary leader sitting opposite him.

The usually composed and dignified Ouyang Xiu was now covered in a fine sheen of sweat. In his hands he held a sandalwood box, inside which was the fake jade seal that Shen Kuo had artificially aged overnight using chemical reagents and physical methods.

Although it was fake, Ouyang Xiu's hands still trembled uncontrollably: "Headmaster, I've lived most of my life, and this is the first time I've done something like this... this kind of swindling and deception. Are we really going to hand over something so taboo to Li Liangzuo?"

"Wrong, it's not about 'giving' it to him, it's about letting him 'snatch' it by his own ability." Jiang Lin shook his finger, a cunning glint in his eyes. "Lord Ouyang, psychology tells us that if we give something away for free, given Li Liangzuo's suspicious nature, he won't even touch it."

"But if he went through countless hardships, even shed blood, and paid a huge price to get it, he would have unwavering faith in it and cherish it as a treasure."

Ouyang Xiu swallowed hard, seemingly understanding but not quite. He felt that this young headmaster's methods of manipulating people's hearts were even more terrifying than those old foxes in the imperial court.

Jiang Lin's plan was brutal yet effective: create chaos so that the jade seal would fall into the hands of Western Xia spies under "extremely accidental and dangerous" circumstances.

At noon that day, Xiangguo Temple held a grand prayer ceremony to "celebrate the auspicious omens from heaven".

The people of Bianjing, already itching to get out of their seats due to the rumors, practically crammed the entire Xiangguo Temple into a frenzy. The place was packed with people, the incense burning brightly, and even the imperial guards maintaining order were jostled and pushed about.

Just as the Dharma assembly reached its climax and the abbot was preparing to bring out the "auspicious omen" for the people to admire, an accident occurred.

The young novice monk who was responsible for carrying the wooden box tripped over his own foot as he walked down the steps, and with a cry of "Ouch!" he fell flat on his face.

The wooden box slipped from my hand and fell open with a "thud," revealing a square piece of jade, missing a corner and inlaid with gold, that rolled onto the bluestone slab below the steps.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the moment the jade touched the water on the bluestone slab, an astonishing scene unfolded!

With a soft "sizzle," a thick white mist suddenly rose up around the jade. Amidst the swirling mist, it seemed as if faint streams of light were flowing across the surface of the jade, truly as if it were protected by the aura of a real dragon!

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted in chaos!

"Dragon aura! Everyone, look! That's dragon aura!"

"A living deity has appeared! This is definitely the Imperial Seal of the State; it produces smoke when it comes into contact with water—a divine auspicious sign!"

No one knew that Shen Kuo had simply filled the groove at the bottom of the jade with quicklime and some kind of fuming agent, which would produce a violent reaction upon contact with water. But in the eyes of the people of the Song Dynasty, this was a miracle.

The Western Xia spies, disguised and lurking at the front of the crowd, were practically bulging their eyes in disbelief. This strange phenomenon, this design—it was exactly the same as the Imperial Seal of the State recorded in ancient texts!

"Protect the auspicious omen! Quickly separate the people!" Several men who appeared to be imperial guards, but were actually Jiang Lin's men in disguise, began shouting, and the scene instantly spiraled out of control. The people, hoping to absorb some of the divine aura, desperately pushed and shoved forward.

In the chaos, someone suddenly shoved her, and Niu Aihua, seemingly flustered, dodged left and right, but in reality, she precisely kicked the still-smoking jade stone, like kicking a football, right to the feet of the Western Xia spy.

That Western Xia spy was a ruthless character. Seeing such a tremendous achievement about to fall into his lap, he didn't care about being exposed. He made a snap decision, took off his outer linen robe, and wrapped the jade and mist tightly around it.

"Someone's stealing our auspicious item!"

"Grab that barbarian! Don't let him get away!"

A deafening battle cry erupted behind him. Several Imperial Guards brandished their swords and spears and gave chase, but their efforts were all bark and no bite. Each time, their blades grazed the scout's scalp, forcing him to carve a bloody path.

The Western Xia scouts unleashed their fastest speed ever, and with their comrades desperately covering their escape, they stumbled and crawled out of Xiangguo Temple, running all the way back to the post station.

boom!

The door to the inn was flung open, and the scout, covered in mud and panting like a broken bellows, knelt down in front of Li Liangzuo with a thud, holding up a package soaked in sweat and mud.

"Your Highness... Your Highness! I... I've got it!"

Li Liangzuo suddenly stood up, his hands trembling uncontrollably with excitement. He dismissed his attendants, even Yeli Yuqi was driven outside.

The room was deathly silent. Li Liangzuo swallowed hard, his hands trembling as he unwrapped the package layer by layer.

It was a piece of jade that wasn't particularly striking, with a warm, lustrous color. One corner was noticeably damaged, which had been skillfully repaired with gold. Although it was stained with mud and water, it couldn't conceal the sense of age and vicissitude it possessed.

"The He Shi Bi jade... When Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, the Empress Dowager smashed a corner of it and set it with gold..." Li Liangzuo murmured to himself, "It matches up! All the features match up!"

Then something even more amazing happened.

As Li Liangzuo's warm palm tightly gripped the jade seal, the originally blurry engravings on the bottom of the jade began to slowly reveal clear characters under the catalysis of his body heat, and the characters also emitted a faint blue-green fluorescent light.

Li Liangzuo even stopped breathing. He turned the jade seal over, held it up to the candlelight, and stared intently at the glowing ancient seal characters on the bottom.

This is the Imperial Seal of the State. The inscription on it should be Li Si's famous saying that has been passed down through the ages: "Having received the mandate of Heaven, may its longevity be everlasting!"

With these eight words, Li Liangzuo would be the rightful ruler of the world!

He stared wide-eyed, carefully identifying each character by tracing the strokes.

However, when he finally deciphered the eight characters displayed on the seal, the almost distorted expression of ecstasy on his face instantly froze.

His blood seemed to drain away in an instant, and an extreme terror emanating from the depths of his bones instantly spread across his face. As if electrocuted, he slammed the jade seal onto the table, staggered backward, and crashed into the wall with a thud.

The jade seal, emitting a faint glow, lay quietly on the table. The inscription on it was not, "By the mandate of Heaven, may your life be long and prosperous."

It was, in fact, an even more deadly prophecy.