Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Four Spirits' Seal

  To Liu Jian, everything that had happened suddenly was like a dream.

  Innumerable things that would only happen in the world had actually happened to him. After waking up, he was always in a daze.

  Like Ah Chu, dislike Ah Chu...

  Liu Jian still can't make it clear until now, and what happened yesterday made him even more confused.

  Ren Ao did not send Liu Jian out to do labor as usual, but kept him in prison and reported to the authorities of Pei County. He asked Ren Yao to bring 50 Qin soldiers to guard Liu Jian. The leaders of the Qin army were two iron eagle sharpshooters, one named Li Bi and the other named Luo Jia.

  These two were Ren Yao's confidants and naturally understood what he meant.

  As long as Liu Jian didn't make any moves, they wouldn't bother with him either, letting him wander around in prison like a masterless lonely soul.

  Lü Zhi never appeared again.

  Along with that, Lv Jia also never came again.

  Apart from Lady Gan, Shi Fu, Tang Li and Cao Wu Shang would often come to visit Liu Gan. In addition, there was another person who came to visit Liu Gan, named Zhou Shi (pronounced as "fu", or "brush"). He was the soldier who was shot in the thigh by a stray arrow at the Battle of Changyang, and whom Liu Gan had risked his life to rescue.

  Zhou Shi came forward, first to thank Liu Quan for saving his life on the battlefield, and secondly to bid farewell to Liu Quan.

  According to him, he has a friend who is now doing well in Daliang. So he plans to go to Daliang to join that friend and tells Liu Gan that the favor of saving his life will never be forgotten for this lifetime. In the future, if there's an opportunity, he'll definitely find a way to repay it.

  As for whether Liu Kan listened or not, perhaps only heaven knows.

  A month later, Lü Zhi got married!

  The wedding was not held in Pei County, but in Liu Bang's hometown, Fengyi Zhongyangli. In other words, from now on, Lü Zhi will stay in Zhongyangli and won't return to Pei County unless something big happens... That day, Liu Quan sat silently in his cell, without saying a word or eating anything. He just faced the wall, alone, stupidly, like a madman muttering to himself.

  In past life, I passed through a sea of flowers, without a single petal sticking to me.

  I didn't expect to be reborn, but I encountered such a thing.

  It's the punishment of heaven, or perhaps... Liu Quan's heart was very clear, whether he liked Lü Yu or not, this karma would have to be borne for a lifetime. Reborn in this era, it had been exactly one year now. Before, Liu Quan could muddle along, hoping to rise to prominence. But in this year, he learned many things... Rise to prominence? Or should he first dissolve into this world.

  Earlier, Liu Kan had a bystander mentality towards the people and things around him.

  But now he understands... there are too many differences between himself and this era. Now is the time for him to make a change.

  Changing an established way of thinking is actually...not easy!

  Spring goes and summer comes, summer passes and autumn arrives.

  Before he knew it, Liu Jian had already spent a year in the prison of Pei County. However, during the second half of that time, Liu Jian was no longer required to perform labor.

  The reason is simple, after what happened, Ren You worried that Liu Guang would get into trouble.

  In Ren You's eyes, Liu Quan was 15 years old, and it was the age of vigor and strength, when one would fight for dominance at the slightest disagreement. Drawing swords against each other was a common occurrence in the five hundred years since the Spring and Autumn period. If something like this happened, if Liu Quan were to suddenly run away during labor service and stir up trouble... just thinking about it made Ren You afraid. When this guy got angry, it wasn't a small matter.

  Whether it's for protection or out of fear, Ran You must keep a close eye on Liu Quan.

  Fortunately, Liu Jian did not show any abnormalities. Every day in prison, he practiced martial arts, recognized characters, and read books, everything looked so natural.

  Gradually, Ren Yao also stopped paying attention to this matter.

  However, the Qin army sent to guard the prison did not withdraw and Li Bi and others were still there.

  This is also an inevitable thing. Liu Kan's bravery is well-known to everyone, and if he intentionally hides his emotions, who can know?

  In case this guy sees the guard slackening off and makes some unexpected move, it's hard to say. So Li Bi and Xia Jia, after being warned by Ren Xiao, didn't dare relax their vigilance for a moment. However, while they were vigilant, Li Bi and Xia Jia did not block those who came to visit Liu Yan. Madame Yan and others could still come and go freely, visiting Liu Yan as before.

  "Brother Ren, you said... what's so good about Liu Ji? Why do all of you respect him so much?"

  Liu Kan grasped Ren Gao and humbly asked for advice.

  Ren Ao rubbed his head, "What's good about it? I can't say it clearly either. Anyway, everyone feels pretty comfortable around Liu Ji... He's quite cute, right?"

  Cute?

  Liu Kuang almost spat out blood. The word "cute", when used to describe a child, or a girl, is acceptable. But when this word is placed on a man in his thirties, it doesn't sound so comfortable... Liu Bang, cute?

  Ren A said: "We are just a group of common people. Tu is a butcher, Lao Zhou blows the xiao at funerals. Xia Hou that kid, every day idle, besides driving for others, there's nothing else he can do. Lu Wan, his ancestors were all poor farmers, and by his generation, they only had a few acres of land left. Old Cao and Xiao Sheng's situation might be slightly better...

  Hehe, but how good can it get?

  Mr. Xiao wanted to learn to read and write, but he couldn't even get into a private school; Old Cao was even more miserable, because his family had no money, he was expelled from the private school... Ah Qiang, we people, who can look down on us in our daily lives? To be honest, sometimes when I think about it myself, I feel uncomfortable.

  Indeed, Ren Ao and his kind are truly a group of wretched people living at the very bottom of society.

  Ren Ao said: "But Liu Ji gives us a different feeling. You haven't interacted with him, so you can't feel that kind of feeling... When we're with Liu Ji, we can feel that we actually have a lot of abilities. Liu Ji is a person who has more experience and knowledge than us. However, when we're with him, we find out that we're not useless after all, and we can do many things."

  Is survival valuable?

  Liu Kan seems to have understood a bit!

  Liu Bang is indeed famous in history for his ability to know people and use them well. Zhang Liang, Han Xin, and Chen Ping were not very successful before they joined Liu Bang, but after joining him, they were able to achieve great things that shocked the world, which was no coincidence.

  Perhaps it was Liu Bang's idleness, crudeness and ignorance that led to his great achievements.

  Everyone does their best, and this is also a remarkable achievement!

  After understanding this truth, Liu Jian became even more silent. However, people who came to visit him could see that he was not decadent.

  Days just passed by like this, one after another.

  Before long, it was October. The temperature wasn't actually very low, but the chill in the wind made people clearly feel that winter had arrived.

  That day, Liu Quan was sitting on the steps of the gatehouse reading a book when Xun Yu hurriedly ran over.

  The Qin army guarding the prison did not stop him, and Shi Zu came straight to Liu Gong's side, grabbed him with one hand, "Ah Gong, have you heard?"

  Liu Kan's face was perplexed, "What did you say?"

  Shan Food smiled and said: "The emperor is going to be enthroned. On the first day of the first month, the emperor will go on an eastern tour and also hold a ceremony at Mount Tai. It's said that after the ceremony, he'll make a tour of the east, who knows, maybe he'll even come here... Ah Qiang, I'd better congratulate you in advance!"

  "Congratulations to me? The Emperor's eastern tour has nothing to do with me. Why should I be congratulated?"

  Liu Kan looked at Shen Shi with a puzzled expression, somewhat unclear.

  Shan Shi said: "This is what Old Tang told me... He said that after the Emperor's Fengshan ceremony, there will definitely be a general amnesty, you can come out ahead of time!"

  Ah, it seems there really is such a saying.

  The emperor's enthronement, the emperor's accession, and the emperor's marriage will all be accompanied by a general amnesty to demonstrate the emperor's vast benevolence.

  However, Liu Quan suddenly thought of something else. He grabbed Xun Shi's arm and said in a low voice, "Brother Xun, at the beginning of the year when we were brewing spring wine, I asked you to keep 300 jars of Suishui Huadiao. Did you do what I told you to do?

  He was taken aback at first, then nodded and said: "Of course, what you've instructed me to do, when have I ever done it poorly? However, I just don't quite understand, why did you ask me to specially customize those three hundred four-ling-patterned bu jars? If we're going to store wine, wouldn't ordinary vats be sufficient? Those four-ling-patterned bu jars cost a pretty penny, I had to specially go to Wu Zhong to commission someone to fire them in a kiln, the expenses were quite high."

  Liu Kan hehe smiled...

  A container used for holding wine and water. Simply put, it's a wine jar.

  Appeared in the early Zhou Dynasty, flourished in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period. However, the Si Lingwen Zun mentioned by Shen Food is very different from the early Zun.

  The biggest difference lies in the fact that the four-spirit glazed pottery has a layer of glaze on it. Although it can't be compared with the glazed porcelain of later generations, for this era, this kind of four-spirit patterned pottery is undoubtedly a high-end product. Due to the immaturity of glazing technology, not all ceramics were glazed. Even if one went specifically to glaze them, not every attempt at glazing would be successful.

  The technique of glazing is especially well done by Wu Zhong.

  According to Shi Zhi's words, even in Wu Zhong, not everyone is willing to open a kiln and hang glaze, after all, the success rate is really too low.

  For these three hundred and four spiritual porcelain vases, he spent a high price of 10,000 yuan per kiln to invite the best local craftsmen.

  Moreover, before opening the kiln and glazing, it was said that regardless of success or failure, one kiln would cost 10,000 yuan. The three hundred Four Spirits Pattern Vases had actually spent a total of 40,000 yuan.

  Liu Kan didn't ask again about the quality of those four spiritual patterned jugs. He believed that since Shen Shi had spent 40,000 coins on them, it was unlikely that there would be any better jugs in the world than these three hundred four-spiritual-patterned jugs. Putting down the wooden tablet in his hand, Liu Kan hesitated for a moment before pulling Shen Shi along and leaving.

  He found Li Bi who was on duty and said straightforwardly: "Lord Li, I want to request an audience with the county magistrate, it's about the imperial sacrifice of Mount Tai, please report to Lord Li."