My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

White steam rose from the copper pot.

Li Chen looked through the steam at Changsun Wuji's frozen smile.

"Can't sleep at night?" Changsun Wuji repeated. The fat on the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Li Chen put down the white towel he was using to wipe his hands. He leaned back in his chair.

"Old Cheng is looking at himself, at the Cheng family." Li Chen picked up his water glass and took a sip. "You're looking at the Changsun family. But the Changsun family is tied to the Emperor, tied to the Empress Dowager, tied to the very foundation of the Tang Dynasty."

Changsun Wuji did not respond.

His hands, which were holding the sandalwood box, tightened suddenly. His fingernails scraped against the wood, making a faint hissing sound.

"You're a smart man," Li Chen said, looking at him.

"Some things, if you don't know them, you just keep moving forward step by step. But if you do know them and want to change, a single thought can have far-reaching consequences. Can you bear the karmic repercussions?"

Changsun Wuji remained silent.

The soup in the hot pot was bubbling and churning.

Red oil splattered on the copper edge.

He looked down at the wooden box in his arms, which contained his life. He had originally intended to trade his life for a trump card.

"What if the original future had brought great calamity upon the Changsun family?" His voice was hoarse.

"Now that you know, are you going to run off to rebel? Or go and kill people?" Li Chen retorted.

In short, he kept Changsun Wuji rooted to the spot.

Yes.

So what if I know?

If the emperor and empress are implicated, or the crown prince, would he really kill them all?

Changsun Wuji closed his eyes.

My eyelids trembled violently.

It took the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

He opened his eyes.

He exhaled a long breath of stale air.

"Your Highness is right." Changsun Wuji bowed deeply. "Your subject was presumptuous."

He didn't mention the matter of opening the Heavenly Book again.

Holding the wooden box, he turned around.

Following the original path, we slowly disappeared into the darkness.

His steps were somewhat heavy, and his back view showed a hint of desolation.

Li Chen watched him leave.

He picked up a piece of scalded mutton, put it in his mouth, and chewed it.

……

The snow has melted.

Tender green buds sprout from the willow branches along the Wei River.

When the spring breeze blows, the earthy smell of soil covers the perfumed scent of Chang'an.

Spring plowing is about to begin.

The Qin Prince's Mansion, East Side Courtyard.

"Bang! Bang!"

The sound of the blacksmith's hammer echoed for half a month.

With dark circles under his eyes, Li Tai pushed open the door, carrying a newly assembled curved plow in his hand.

His purple robe was covered in oil stains and rust, and his face was smeared with black ash, but he grinned like a madman.

"It's done." He waved the tools in his hand at Cui Wanqing in the courtyard. "The first batch is 30,000 bundles. 10,000 shi of base fertilizer."

Cui Wanqing was dressed in a light blue outfit. She looked capable and efficient.

She reached out and took the curved plow. She weighed it in her hand.

"So light?" she blurted out.

"Light, but hard." Li Tai patted the gleaming iron plowshare. "Steel forged in a blast furnace. It won't break."

Cui Wanqing nodded. She turned and waved.

Outside the courtyard gate, the Cui family's convoy had already formed a long line. The men in blue robes rushed in, unloading goods and loading them onto the carts. The cart wheels rolled over the bluestone slabs with a dull thud.

Sunrise at the West Market of Chang'an.

The door panels of the Cui family's farm tool shop in Qinghe had just been removed.

The outside was already packed with people.

They were all farmers dressed in coarse cloth shorts.

He clutched the copper coins strung together with hemp rope tightly in his hand.

"Really selling for fifty coins?" An old farmer stood on tiptoe and peered inside.

"Fifty coins! Plow and a bag of base fertilizer included!" The shopkeeper banged on his gong. "The blueprints were revised by His Highness Prince Wei! Supervised by the Cui family of Qinghe! No bargaining, no extra charges! Line up, one plow per household!"

The crowd erupted.

In previous years, a cast iron straight-shafted plow would cost at least several hundred coins. Even if you gritted your teeth and bought it, the iron sheet would still be brittle.

The old farmer trembled as he pulled out his money and exchanged it for a curved plow.

He touched the bent wooden shaft, feeling uneasy.

"How can you possibly exert any strength on something so twisted and convoluted?"

"Why don't you go down and try it yourself and you'll see!" the worker shouted at the top of his lungs.

……

Thirty li outside the city.

The outer perimeter of the imperial estate of the Lu family of Fanyang.

Lu Gui, the steward of the Lu family, stood on the edge of the field, wearing a silk-lined jacket.

He was holding a thick ledger in his hands and had a straw in his mouth.

He was doing the accounting.

"This spring was dry. The soil is hard. Turning the land is slow." Lu Gui spat out the straw. "Tell the tenants to increase the rent by half a percent. If anyone doesn't have enough oxen, they can borrow some from the manor for ten coins a day."

The servant next to him nodded and bowed as he wrote it down.

In the field not far away, dozens of farmers were shirtless, pulling straight plows.

The two strong oxen in front were panting heavily.

Three men were pressing down hard on the plow handle from behind, their faces flushed red and veins bulging.

"Slow down! Haven't you eaten yet?!" Lu Gui yelled.

Just then, a person walked over from the neighboring land belonging to the Cui family of Qinghe.

It's Old Sun.

He was in his fifties and was so thin he was practically skin and bones.

He was leading a mangled old yellow ox.

He carried a newly bought curved plow on his shoulder.

Lu Gui glanced at it and chuckled.

"Old Sun, your son has been conscripted for corvée labor. With your old bones and that dying ox, how long do you think you can till those ten acres of land until autumn?"

Old Sun ignored him.

He walked to the edge of the field and put down the curved plow.

Put the cow harness on.

The old ox lowered its head and nibbled on some dry grass.

Old Sun gripped the plow handles with both hands.

Take a deep breath.

With a flick of his wrist, he swung the thin bamboo stick.

"drive!"

The old ox took a step forward.

"laugh--"

A crisp sound.

The dark steel plowshare sliced ​​into the cold, hard soil without any resistance, just like cutting tofu.

The curved plowshare changed the point of exertion.

Old Sun didn't press down with all his might.

He simply held the handle steadily.

The black soil rolled outwards like ripples on water along the plowshare.

The cow goes away.

Turn over the soil.

The speed was surprisingly fast.

Lu Gui's laughter sounded stuck in his throat.

His eyes widened.

Watching Old Sun walk quickly across the field, leading a skinny ox, all by himself.

We reached the end of the field ridge.

We need to turn around.

Normally, when a straight-shafted plow turns around, it takes three men to lift the entire wooden frame, leaving them exhausted.

Old Sun simply twisted his wrist.

The wooden disc at the front of the curved plow spun around. The ox turned, and the plowshare deftly drew a semicircle, cutting directly into the next furrow.

"Whoosh—"

Another straight line of turned soil.

The calligraphy brush in Lu Gui's hand fell to the ground.

The sun slowly climbed to its zenith from the east.

Half a day.

Old Sun single-handedly turned over three acres of land until it was perfectly level. The clods of soil were broken up, and the soil was of uniform depth.

He stopped the cow.

He picked up the water gourd hanging on the cow's horn, uncorked it, and took a big gulp of water.

His chest rose and fell gently, and he barely gasped for breath.