People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 6, The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic

"The medical classics are displayed on the second floor, including..." Qu Fu was still explaining to Xu Qing, but Xu Qing's attention was focused on the two divination sticks that appeared in her mind.

With eloquent words, he resolved Lady Hu's worries, earned a reward from the King of Han, and his future looked bright.

[A moderately auspicious sign; following the advice of the library manager, go to the second floor to find medical classics and obtain a fourth-grade opportunity. Good fortune.]

[Auspicious sign; Ignoring advice, you went to the third floor to peruse the books of Zheng Guo. Your future blessings will be long-lasting, and you will obtain a second-rank official position. Great fortune!]

Xu Qing examined the fortune slips on the two slips. Although his "golden finger" had only been activated twice, he seemed to understand its function.

Whenever he encounters a major event, he can draw lots to predict whether it will bring good or bad fortune. The fourth-rank opportunity he received when he treated Consort Hu should have been a reward from King Han An.

This time, he received two fortune sticks, both of which were very auspicious. This gave Xu Qing, who had originally planned to only read medical classics, a different idea in mind.

“Since you are a physician, I suggest you go and read the medical classics on the second floor. They contain not only medical books by famous physicians, but also diagnostic records and prescriptions compiled by the Royal Medical Academy of the Korean Royal Palace throughout the ages. They will be of great benefit to you,” Qu Fu said, stroking his beard.

Xu Qing snapped out of his reverie and bowed to Qu Fu.

"Thank you for your guidance, but I would like to browse through the library more to see if there are any classics that are more suitable for me."

"His Majesty allows you to take two classics with you at will. You may choose whichever you prefer, but please be careful when looking through them and do not damage the bamboo slips. After you have finished reading, please put them back in their original place," Qu Fu said.

"These bamboo slips contain the hard work of our predecessors and sages, so we must be careful."

Seeing Qu Fu's repeated instructions, Xu Qing also spoke seriously.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"Okay, I'll give you one hour. Go now."

"Thank you."

After bowing to Qu Fu, Xu Qing carried his medicine box and headed towards the stairs. He planned to go to the third floor first to see what the second-grade opportunity was.

Qu Fu glanced at Xu Qing going upstairs and continued to peruse the bamboo slips in his hand. As long as Xu Qing didn't destroy the bamboo slips here, he wouldn't bother with Xu Qing at all.

After passing through the wooden staircase, Xu Qing arrived at the third floor, where the library houses classic books from various countries and Korean history books.

Walking down the long corridor, Xu Qing passed through door after door, each bearing the name of a country: Chu, Wei, Zhao, Qi, and even Jin, which had been divided among the three families of Zhao, Wei, and Han.

When Xu Qing reached the last room, the words "Zheng State" were engraved on the door.

With excitement, Xu Qing pushed open the door.

As the door opened, a mixture of bamboo and ink wafted out, along with a hint of staleness and decay.

The room was filled with bookshelves, which were covered with old bamboo slips.

The State of Zheng was the first to rise to power and dominate the feudal lords during the Spring and Autumn Period, and was known as "the feudal lords of the world are all part of the Zheng faction".

After the division of Jin into the three states of Han, Zhao, and Wei, the state of Wei continued its expansion and conquered Daliang, which belonged to the state of Zheng. As a result, the state of Zheng was completely exposed to the blades of the three Jin states.

Taking advantage of the war between Chu and Wei, Marquis Ai of Han launched a military campaign and destroyed the internally troubled state of Zheng, thus realizing the ambition of three generations of Han rulers to destroy Zheng.

Because the ruler of Zheng ultimately surrendered the city, the state of Han easily occupied Xinzheng and naturally obtained all of Zheng's books without any loss.

Looking at the dozens of bookshelves in the room and the bamboo slips piled on them, Xu Qing felt a headache coming on. The fortune slip only said that there was a second-grade opportunity among these books from Zheng State, but it did not say where it was.

Does he intend to read through all these hundreds of bamboo scrolls within an hour? Even if he transformed into Nezha and grew three heads and six arms, it would be impossible.

"Damn it, where do I even begin to search?" Xu Qing frowned, but he was naturally unwilling to give up this second-grade opportunity.

"The divination says to peruse the books stored in the state of Zheng. So we can only peruse them slowly. Let's start by looking at the bamboo slips related to medicine."

After making her decision, Xu Qing began looking for bookshelves displaying medical knowledge.

Fortunately, the Koreans responsible for organizing the books placed similar bamboo slips on the same shelf, and each shelf was labeled.

Xu Qing easily found the bookshelf related to medicine, picked up a bamboo scroll, sat down on the ground, and began to read. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the scripts of many vassal states were quite different, but they were basically derived from the inscriptions used by the Zhou royal family, and some states even had similar scripts.

The three states of Han, Zhao, and Wei originated from the state of Jin, and both Jin and Zheng were branches of the Zhou royal family. The scripts of these two states were mostly derived from inscriptions or transformed from inscriptions.

The original owner was exceptionally intelligent, but his father felt that it would be a waste of his talent to study medicine and become a medical officer. Therefore, he wanted him to study Confucianism and pursue an official career.

Most Confucian classics were written in inscriptions from the Zhou royal family to demonstrate their adherence to the Zhou rites. Therefore, Xu Qing was familiar with inscriptions and could read them without much difficulty.

Besides inscriptions and Korean script, Xu Qing also recognizes the scripts of the Qin, Zhao, and Wei states.

Unfortunately, before the original owner of this body reached adulthood and entered officialdom, his father died of illness.

Knowing that he had no background, the original owner of this body thought it was a pipe dream to enter officialdom in Korea, so he took over the baton from his father and entered the palace as a physician.

This is precisely why the original owner of this body was only a mediocre person when it came to medical skills.

"Zheng Gong's medical report?"

Xu Qing opened the bamboo slip after looking at its name. Inside were records of the diseases suffered by the rulers of the State of Zheng throughout history, as well as their treatment plans and diagnostic records.

Since he had already decided to look through it, Xu Qing planned to take a quick look. If he couldn't get the second-grade opportunity, he could just consider it broadening his horizons and improving his medical skills.

After quickly glancing through one scroll of bamboo slips, Xu Qing continued to peruse it.

[Xu Gong's Prescriptions], [Medical Commentary], [The Art of Medicine]
Xu Qing kept flipping through the bamboo scrolls. These scrolls were not the ordinary classics or medical books of physicians, but mostly the insights of famous doctors or medical officials in the State of Zheng.

Before I knew it, half an hour had passed. I put the scroll of "Medical Commentary" back in its place and got up to stretch my stiff limbs.

"I've read several books, but apart from 'Medical Commentary,' none of the others have been of any use to me. Oh well, I'll just keep reading 'Medical Commentary' next." Xu Qing said, and began searching for "Medical Commentary" on the bookshelf.

As Xu Qing searched, he finally found the second volume of "Medical Commentary" at the very top of the bookshelf, though it was positioned rather high up.

Looking at the medical annotations at the top, Xu Qing jumped up slightly and grabbed the bamboo slip. As she took the bamboo slip down, she also took down the bamboo slips below it.

Xu Qing steadied himself and watched as the bamboo slips he had been pulled down fell to the ground.

These bamboo slips have been around for who knows how many years. When the bamboo slips fell to the ground, the hemp ropes used to connect them snapped, and the bamboo slips scattered instantly. Some bamboo slips even cracked in two.

Looking at the bamboo slips scattered on the ground, Xu Qing frowned, because there was a piece of cloth-like material among the bamboo slips.

Xu Qing put down the bamboo slip in his hand, squatted down and picked up the piece of cloth that looked like a piece of cloth.

The golden cloth was sandwiched between the bamboo slips, as if it had been deliberately hidden there.

Xu Qing carefully examined the bamboo slips, then moistened his hand with saliva and vigorously wiped both sides of the slips. Soon, a tiny crack appeared in Xu Qing's eyes.

A glint of light flashed in Xu Qing's eyes as he pulled a sharp knife from his medicine box. This knife was something their medical officers always carried to clean wounds.

With the blade aimed at the gaps on both sides of the bamboo slip, Xu Qing applied slight force, and the bamboo slip separated, causing the golden cloth sandwiched in the middle to fall out.

Xu Qing put down the bamboo slips and the knife, and quickly picked up the cloth, on which were written four large, crooked characters.

"The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic!"

Xu Qing's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the cloth in her hand.

This doesn't make sense, does it? The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic shouldn't be appearing at this time, Xu Qing thought to himself.

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(End of this chapter)