Chapter 1 — Death Exam

In the main entrance hall, the eunuch spread out a sheet of exam questions, written on it: "First-order two-hidden equation." The time-traveling girls around were overjoyed like crazy, thinking that they had met the emperor's "compatriot", competing with each other to show off their modern knowledge, dreaming of the exclusive harem. Only I have cold hands and feet. Because I know, this is not an elite selection at all, but a hunting and killing situation precisely designed for time-travelers—everyone who exhibits modern thinking will eventually be refined by the emperor into a "flesh and blood medicine" to prolong the dynasty's national fortunes. Looking at the group of "compatriots" who were about to enter the path of death, I drew on the exam paper a large, ugly turtle, then zigzagged down and wrote: "The king of bowls looks at green beans." That night, all the talented girls with perfect scores died without a single bone remaining, only I—the one pretending to be stupid—became the only survivor.

01

“Oh my god, this is so easy!”

Standing on my left is the young lady of the Prime Minister's court. She looked at the exam paper in the eunuch's hand, her eyes shining as if they wanted to knock the roof off the main hall. She held the pen and wrote furiously, muttering: "Suppose the chicken is The girl on the right is even more flamboyant, she is the orphaned daughter of General Tran Quoc. Not only did she solve the problem, she also scribbled on the back of the paper: 《Ratio and improvement of gunpowder》. She was so excited that her hands were shaking, it was the extreme excitement of meeting her "family", and also the shiver of ecstasy due to rising ambition. The entire main hall of Tru Tu Palace was filled with a strange atmosphere of excitement. Of the dozens of beautiful ladies, at least half of them had the expression "I understand", "I'm sure". Is space travel still worth it these days? Could it be sold wholesale in batches? It's just me, looking at the simple problem "X + Y = 10", cold sweat soaks the back of my shirt. I'm a programmer, these middle school math problems are like breathing to me. I also really want to write the answer, and also really want to find some comfort from "fellow people" in this backward dynasty. But we can't. Before traveling through time, I once bought an unfinished historical book called 《Yeu Van Luc Dai Wei》on the sidewalk. There is an unattractive note in there: "Even though the saint loved learning new things and called himself 'wise and knowledgeable', whenever a 'talented woman' entered the palace to propose a plan, the palace immediately burst into flames, the dead were all new concubines, and died extremely miserably, not even their bones remained." This is clearly a giant mousetrap. The bait is modern knowledge, and the prey—is us, who think we are bringing a "gold thread" here from time to time. This is not an elite selection, but a precise hunt and kill!

“Half a stick of incense left!”

The eunuch's high-pitched voice felt like a needle pricking my eardrum. His evil, triangular eyes were greedily scanning the young ladies who were attentively writing, as if they were not looking at the future concubine, but rather looking at each plate of hot meat that had just been brought out. I took a deep breath, trying to force myself to steady my trembling hands. Whoever can solve this problem will die. I grabbed the brush and dipped a ball of ink in large black on a piece of paper that should be filled with elaborate solutions. Then, relying on my terrible calligraphy skills, I drew a huge, terribly ugly turtle. To look even more stupid, I also drew a green bean opposite the turtle. Finally, I scribbled eight big words: "Wang bowl looks at green beans, looks right." When submitting my assignment, I intentionally put a little drool on the corner of my mouth and smiled innocently like an idiot. The chief eunuch walked in front of me, picked up the exam paper, his eyebrows furrowed so tightly that he could pinch a fly to death.

“What is this?” He hated holding the paper with two fingers like an orchid.

“He he… turtle… big turtle…” I took a sip of my saliva, “long life… for the king…”

The greedy look in his eyes immediately disappeared, replaced by undisguised contempt and disgust.

"Vulgar! Stupid as a pig!"

He conveniently threw my exam paper on the ground and even stepped on it a few times. Then he turned around and faced Miss Prime Minister who had just solved the two-hidden equation, changing to a smiling and flattering face: "Oh my, Miss Ly's words are truly dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, the solution is even more unparalleled in the world, it's like Van entering the world! I will immediately take you to Tuoc Tinh Lau, the emperor is waiting for you." Miss Ly proudly held her head high like a peacock with its tail spread out. Before leaving, she even glanced at me with contempt. That look seemed to say: local people are still local people, even if given a chance, they don't know how to take it. The general's daughter was also taken away. On the way, she happily introduced the gunpowder formula to the eunuch: "Your Majesty, this thing can level an entire citadel, the emperor will definitely like it!" The eunuch smiled even brighter: "Of course, of course, such sacred objects are the king's favorite!" In just half an hour, Tru Tu Cung had lost more than half of its body. Those "talented women" who achieved perfect scores were all carried by eight people in palanquins that night to "Tuoc Tinh Lau" - a place specifically reserved for favored concubines, saying that the emperor wanted to light candles to chat and discuss new studies. As for me, because of the turtle painting, I was considered "poor in mind and not worthy of serving the army", and was immediately sent down to Tan Gia Kho.

"Go, empty the toilet! You look unlucky!" The eunuch gave me a kick.

I took advantage of the situation and rolled around, lying on the ground laughing foolishly, secretly breathing a long sigh in my heart. Alive. That night, deep inside the palace, Tuoc Tinh Lau's lights were as bright as day. Everyone thought there was a romantic play taking place between handsome men and women, or a thousand-year-old anecdote between a king and a sage. Only I know, that place is hell. That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep, on the rotten, smelly board in Tan Gia Kho. In the middle of the night, a mournful scream that changed its voice tore through the night, echoing throughout the air despite being separated by several layers of walls. That's a woman's voice. Immediately afterwards there was a dull explosion, like a pressure cooker exploding. The old woman in the room turned around and mumbled: "The sky has changed again... what number is this? Retribution, retribution..." I snuggled in the musty blanket, biting the back of my hand, not daring to make any sound. I bet right. The so-called "golden hand thread", in this world, is not a chance encounter—but a spirit talisman.