No matter if you are a human or an immortal, you can still farm for me after traveling through time!

May took away the last bit of coolness, and Chang'an became increasingly hot as June approached. It seemed that as long as there was a little sunshine in the morning and evening, the scorching temperature would not drop, so more and more people came to escape the heat and cool down.

Rich families all have their own mountain villas to escape the summer heat, while ordinary people can only rely on hiking, swimming, and finding lush forests or lakes to avoid the heat.

I don’t know what happened, but it was unusually hot in June. A strong wind blew from the northwest, bringing yellow sand that covered half of Chang’an City, trapping people at home and unable to go out.

Faced with the sudden onset of scorching heat and a sandstorm, Ji Qingyue hurried back into the painting. The climate in the painting was determined by the outside world. If it rained outside, it would rain in the painting; if it snowed outside, it would rain in the painting too. Now that a sandstorm had begun, he had to go back to check on the situation in the field and wait until it was over before emerging.

Although there is a super minimum living security called magic land to ensure that the crops in the painting will not die suddenly, improper handling in extreme cases will still result in heavy losses.

……

Ten days had passed since Li Sanlang inspected the specimen, and the test results indeed showed the phenomena that Ji Qingyue had described. When the stone powder soaked in hydrochloric acid was placed on a copper coin and rubbed hard, fine silver-white powder like silver flakes appeared on the copper coin. When the copper coin was then placed on fire and burned, the silver-white powder disappeared, and at the same time a slight odor appeared, like a rotten egg, which caught Li Sanlang off guard.

Ji Qingyue explained that cinnabar is a mercury sulfide mineral, which contains a large amount of mercury. Mercury is quicksilver. To test whether there is mercury in the debris, you can observe it according to some chemical identification methods. The copper sheet replacement method used now is that mercury sulfide reacts with hydrochloric acid and rubs on the surface of the copper sheet to produce a silvery-white mercury-copper alloy. This alloy will disappear after heating. The friction process will also produce a hydrogen sulfide gas with the smell of rotten eggs. Li Sanlang was smoked by this stench.

Interestingly, when Li Sanlang went to verify it again a few days later, he found that there was no response at all!

As to why he wanted to test it again, one reason was that he wanted to be cautious and make sure the results were accurate, and the other was that chemical experiments were indeed interesting, just like a child who gets a new toy and always wants to play with it.

It was during this test that such a shocking discovery was made.

Li Sanlang picked out some more debris and continued testing, but the result was still no reaction. There was no silvery-white powder and foul smell like the first test.

These stone fragments may well have been swapped.

Ji Qingyue also agreed with Li Sanlang's guess. The absence of silvery-white powder indicated that the debris did not contain mercury, and the absence of odor indicated that it did not contain sulfur.

No matter how unevenly the elements are distributed, it is impossible for Li Sanlang to fail to detect the same results as the first test in several tests.

It only means that the evidence obtained from the Hu merchant has been replaced by someone.

Why was the evidence swapped? Who swapped the evidence?

To date, the true identities of the three merchants have yet to be ascertained, and the case was closed before the information provided could be fully verified, making further investigation impossible. However, Li Sanlang was thankful for his swift action, having completed the examination before the evidence could be swapped. The stone was confirmed to be cinnabar, proving that the three merchants had visited Jinzhou. This also proved, to a certain extent, that the travel permit was likely accurate, and that the identity information was forged.

After all, the cost of counterfeiting is still quite high. The more places where counterfeiting occurs, the greater the risk of being discovered.

Now he can no longer investigate the truth behind the case by himself, but he believes that all this is just the beginning. The purpose of silencing people is to hide a bigger secret - the whereabouts of cinnabar.

After some calculations, each box not only contains Shu brocade and silkworm seeds, but also cinnabar. Based on the capacity of the boxes and the proportion of Shu brocade, the cinnabar can fill about ten boxes in total.

It is not difficult to conceal such a large amount of cinnabar from others. So, who took the cinnabar?

Ji Qingyue returned to the painting and immediately went down the mountain and ran straight to the house. He lowered the doors, windows and rain shields to prevent sand from blowing into the house, and then drove the scattered livestock back to the brick house. The crops such as rice, wheat and vegetables still in the fields could only pray for good luck. I hope that the sandstorm is not too powerful or that the magical land is strong enough to allow the crops to survive this disaster safely.

Without selling vegetables as a way to consume fresh vegetables, the vegetables in the fields are now basically only used for seed preservation. The irrigation ditches are dug into the fields, and it is only necessary to open the ditches and release water every few days to ensure that the soil is moist.

When the seeds are stored in sufficient quantity, they are transported to the warehouse on the top of the mountain by mules and goats so that the shops can pick them up.

Initially, he and Li Erlang thought they would earn enough fame and fortune from cotton to go to Chang'an, where they might even be recognized by the emperor after making great contributions. However, they discovered that this alone was far from enough. Even if they were lucky enough to meet the emperor, they couldn't save him. Would they have to tell the emperor, "You will die in an assassination attempt next year?"

Ji Qingyue was sure that if he conveyed the message to the emperor in various ways, he would be found within a day by the people sent by the emperor. Even if he could not be found, the Li family members around him would definitely be implicated, and what would happen at that time would not be something he could control.

The enemy is in the dark while he is in the light, so in the end he has to rely on himself to investigate.

Fortunately, all the credit for the cotton that belonged to the Li family went to Sanlang. Although the seventh-rank chief clerk of the Dali Temple was only a small civil servant in charge of archival file management, it could be regarded as his official entry into the officialdom of Chang'an. It would definitely be much more convenient for him to inquire about and collect some information in the officialdom.

It's unclear what the position of the Zuo Pushe, who pushed Li Sanlang into the Dali Temple, was. Because Miss Lu successfully avoided the banditry in Shandan, she fundamentally prevented the Zuo Pushe from turning evil. People see Lord Lu as a key driver of reform. Besides the Jiangnan case of embezzlement of military rations, the new tax promulgated two years ago was also driven by Lord Lu's planning and has now been successfully implemented nationwide.

From this perspective, Lord Lu can definitely be called a "capable minister" with an iron fist.

Many people in the officialdom are saying that the relationship between Li Sanlang and Zuo Pushe is complicated, and it is not a relationship of support. The reason why Zuo Pushe arranged for Li Sanlang to take office is because of his own daughter!

Miss Lu is about the same age as Li Sanlang. It is not uncommon for a man to be unmarried at the age of 18, but it is rare for a woman to be unmarried at the age of 18.

A girl who is eighteen and still unmarried is considered an "old girl" in Dali. Fortunately, Miss Lu has an extraordinary family background and has no trouble finding a husband. Lord Zuo Pushe, who loves his daughter very much, naturally treats her with caution, fearing that choosing the wrong person would harm his daughter.

Poor Li Sanlang, he could neither deny nor explain before the Lu family made a statement. He was afraid that saying something wrong would anger the Lu family and put Miss Lu in a dilemma, so he had to lower his head and ignore other people's gossip and silently complete the work at hand.

It's okay for a grown man to be talked about a few times, let others say whatever they want...

Speaking of which, ever since he met Miss Lu in the Lu family's villa after the Qujiang Conference, Li Sanlang has had no contact with the Lu family again.

The last time they met, it was Miss Lu who took the initiative to invite him. In addition to informing him that his appointment had been confirmed and asking him to go back and wait for news, there were also arrangements for a Buddhist ceremony at the Duke's Mansion.

Every year on July 15th, the Yuchi clan would go to Fu'an Temple to worship Buddha, and this year was no exception.

The difference is that on July 15th this year, the Duke's Mansion will not only offer sacrifices to Buddha, but also renovate the pagoda of Master Lingji.

"Ten years ago, after the war in the northwest, a devastating earthquake struck. The pagoda was already weathered and decayed from age, and the earthquake further crumbled and fractured, severely damaging it." Lu Lu told Li Sanlang, "At the time, the Duke's Mansion only thoroughly repaired the stone pagoda above ground and didn't dare touch the underground palace below."

"Why?"

"The master in the temple said that the time has not come yet and we cannot move." What Lu Lu and Li Sanlang were talking about was a secret that could not be known by outsiders. The maids watched from a distance, observing the movements in the yard.

There was hot tea and dessert on the table, but neither of them had the appetite to enjoy them.

Lu Lu continued, "Last year, monks cleaning the temple discovered that the pagoda was sinking, and they suspected the underground palace was damaged and needed to be repaired. The Duke's Mansion sent someone to inquire with the temple's master, and the master agreed that the underground palace could be excavated this year."

I have to say that Miss Lu's ability to obtain information is amazing. If she didn't have a good relationship with the Duke's Mansion and was not a Buddhist, how could an ordinary person know such detailed inside information?

Li Sanlang pondered, "When repairing the underground palace, we must take out all the items and put them somewhere temporarily. We will put them back when the new underground palace is completed."

"Indeed, the stone for the pagoda has been carved elsewhere. We'll just have to wait for an auspicious day to excavate the underground palace and rebuild it. I suspect the Duke's Mansion will be able to complete the renovations before the Buddha ceremony."

……

After the meeting, Li Sanlang told Ji Qingyue about this matter. Although they did not talk about the further steps, they both knew that it was necessary to investigate the room where the items were stored.

It is already the beginning of June, and there is only more than a month left until July 15th. There is still no new news from Miss Lu, and no one knows what the situation is in Fu'an Temple.

Ji Qingyue is getting anxious! Li Erlang and Li Sanlang are also getting anxious!

But their anxiety was in vain. Outsiders only knew that the Duke's Mansion sealed off Fu'an Temple at the end of April and did not allow anyone else to enter.

Because the emperor banned Buddhism, many people were afraid of breaking taboos and did not dare to enter Buddhist temples to worship Buddha. Only those who wanted to worship their family members would enter Fu'an Temple. Those who could worship their family members in Fu'an Temple were all prominent and well-known figures, and their families were certainly not simple.

As a result, after the Duke's Mansion sealed off Fu'an Temple, the only people who could enter the temple besides those from the Duke's Mansion were the nobles. It was said that even the places these nobles could go to would be restricted, and no outsiders were allowed to approach the tower.

Li Erlang and Li Sanlang couldn't even enter the gate of Fu'an Temple, let alone Ji Qingyue.

They could only wait for Miss Lu, see if she had any good ideas to bring them in, and then find a chance to get the fifth scroll.

……

After the sandstorm, Ji Qingyue stayed in the painting for another two days, tidying up the fields and orchards after the disaster and dealing with the severely damaged fruit trees and crops.

This sandstorm was not only fierce but also extremely powerful.

It was the first time that Ji Qingyue had seen such a fierce sandstorm. The sky was blocked out and the wind and sand were rolling. If he couldn't find a place to hide, he would probably be buried by the yellow sand.

After coming out, he realized that not only the northwest was plagued by natural disasters, but Lingnan was also hit by a rare wind disaster - a hurricane.

The news of the disaster in Lingnan quickly reached Chang'an, and people only then realized the severity of the disaster.

"Rows of houses and broken windows, tiles falling off and roofs smashed. Rocks were hit and tall trees were uprooted. The force overturned the Bohai River and the sound shook the earth..." This was written in the disaster report sent from Lingnan. After reading it, the emperor decided to make the report public so that people would know about the disaster in Lingnan.

Ji Qingyue speculated that the sandstorm in Chang'an was most likely related to a typhoon in the south.

Just when he was worried about the disaster in the south, the emperor issued another shocking decree - inviting all the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan to Chang'an to donate money to Lingnan, and the "three major families" must be among them.

Zhao Tonghai from the Zhao family of Yuezhou, Bai Chunfu from the Bai family of Jiangzhou, and Qi Tianxiong from the Qi family of Yangzhou.

Ji Qingyue always felt that the emperor had been planning this for a long time. It just so happened that the news of the serious disaster in the south came, which was like a pillow hitting the ground while sleeping. A reason was given to him for free, so he ordered the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan to raise funds for disaster relief.

Although it was a compulsory donation, no one dared to refuse.

It was originally intended to be a sacrifice to ward off disaster, but once refused, it instantly became a case of disobeying the order and being executed immediately.

Shortly after the decree was issued, when the wealthy merchants from Jiangnan were heading north, a team appointed by the emperor went south to Jiangnan with the imperial sword.

These were news that came later. After the sandstorm, the people of Chang'an gradually resumed their previous lives, working as they should and farming as they should.

Ji Qingyue returned to his peaceful life of lying down and running a shop. Sanlang punched in for work on time every day, and Erlang Shen went out early and came back late mysteriously, as if he was carrying out some mission.

Just when the wealthy businessman from Jiangnan arrived in Chang'an, new news came from the Ministry of Rites: the return date of Princess Gu'an has been set, and next a girl will be selected from the royal family to be named a princess and marry the King of Tuyuhun. Two pick-up teams will go to Tuyuhun at the same time to pick up Princess Gu'an and send the princess to Tuyuhun safely.

Nearly fifty years later, Dali finally welcomed another marriage opportunity.

I wonder whether I can continue the duties of the Grand Princess Gu'an, consolidate the alliance between Dali and Tuyuhun, and promote friendly coexistence between the two countries.

Ever since the Uighurs killed Princess Heguang, Dali no longer offered them any marriage alliances. They always fought whenever they could, and this time was no exception.

At this critical juncture, a military report came from the northwest border: The Uighurs are invading the border from the south!

Li Erlang received the order and immediately returned to the barracks.

Without having time to say goodbye properly, and without waiting to attend Yang Jinyu's birthday party, Li Erlang hurriedly left Chang'an and rode back to Ganzhou.

Just as he came suddenly, he left as suddenly as before.

Because the war broke out suddenly, people speculated that it must have been caused by the sandstorm.

There was little rain in April and May, which led to a severe drought on the grassland. Otherwise, why would the Uighurs launch an attack at this time?

You should know that in previous years, the Uighurs would invade the Dali border during the autumn harvest when the soldiers and horses were fat and strong, so that they could get higher returns.