Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

"Youth never returns, and a day never dawns again..." A young man's voice came from the box.

A hint of surprise flashed in her almond-shaped eyes; this little box could actually talk.

The burly man laughed and said, "How about it? Interesting, isn't it? I bought this for three hundred coins."

Ji Liang nodded slightly, her fair hands playing with the box, and said with a smile, "This is the first time I've seen such an exquisitely crafted object. Even the Mohists of yesteryear couldn't have created anything like this."

The burly man shook his head: "That's not all. This person is not only skilled in mechanical ingenuity, but also has unique insights into world affairs. Moreover, he is witty and truly interesting."

"Oh, hearing you say that, I'm quite interested in meeting this great talent you've mentioned."

"Miss Ji Liang, please follow me..."

The burly man led Ji Liang to a bustling street, where they saw Bai Su reading a young girl's palm from afar.

"Miss, it seems your relationship isn't going very well."

The petite girl immediately looked nervous. Ignoring the blush that her hand was being held by the handsome man in front of her, she couldn't help but ask, "Young Master Bai, what should I do?"

"It's actually not difficult, you just need to..."

Bai Su leaned close to the girl's ear and whispered a few words of advice.

The girl's eyes lit up immediately. She nodded, gratefully tossed down a string of coins, and then turned and left.

"Great, another order completed."

Bai Su crossed her legs, picked up the copper coins on the table, and began counting them one by one, humming a little tune as she did so.

Ji Liang's expression was somewhat strange. Why did this person in front of him look like a charlatan? Was he really reliable?

The burly man walked over slowly, smiling as he said, "Young Master Bai, weren't you selling this Illusionary Sound Box? Why are you suddenly telling fortunes?"

"Oh, it's a sledgehammer."

Bai Su looked up and saw that the person who came in was one of her regular customers, so she sighed helplessly: "There's nothing I can do, business is tough. The young lady playing the piano in the restaurant next door has been wearing thinner and thinner clothes lately."

"These days, competition is so fierce. If I don't learn a few more skills, how will I make a living in the future?"

"Oh, did you come with friends today? This young lady looks unfamiliar, is she from out of town?"

Bai Su put away the money on the table and glanced curiously at the woman in white in front of her.

"My surname is Han, and my given name is Liang. You can call me Miss Han."

Ji Liangxing's eyes darted around, and then she asked with great interest, "How did you figure out just now that that woman's marriage prospects were not good?"

Bai Su chuckled: "That's easy. That young lady was dressed so elegantly that she must have come from a wealthy family. What troubles could such a young lady possibly have? It's nothing more than bad luck in marriage or family discord."

"Since she can stroll around the street, it means that there is nothing wrong at home, and her parents are in good health and have no illnesses. So there is only one reason why she looks so worried: she must be having problems in her relationship recently."

Ji Liang's pretty face froze for a moment, then she couldn't help but nod: "I see. What did you just say to her?"

After a moment of contemplation, Bai Su said, "Recently, a young master has been pursuing her, and she is also very attracted to him. However, she is worried because he comes from a poor family. She wonders if he likes her as a person or if he is only after her family's money. So she wanted to ask me what she should do."

Ji Liang's almond-shaped eyes lit up, and a hint of interest appeared on her face: "So how did you help her?"

Bai Su smiled and said, "I told her to go back and change into some plain clothes, and then tell that young master that her parents do not approve of their marriage, and that she is willing to wear plain clothes, give up everything at home, and elope with him."

"If the other party is willing, it means that they are truly sincere. After this incident, they will let go of their doubts about each other, and their feelings will become purer."

Ji Liang nodded. That was a good idea.

She suddenly asked again, "What if the other party refuses?"

Bai Su chuckled and said, "That means the other party isn't sincere, but rather here to seize the family fortune. It's best to leave as soon as possible when faced with such a hypocrite."

Ji Liang gave Bai Su a strange look: "Is this your way of making a naive young girl see the ugliness of people's hearts?"

Bai Su shrugged: "It's not like I made him ugly. I just tore off the surface, that seemingly glamorous exterior. The reason you see the ugliness is because it was ugly to begin with."

"Relationships are like a sand dune. As the wind blows away the glitz and glamour on the surface, the true nature of things is slowly revealed. If you are sincere from the beginning, the answer you receive will surely be sincere as well."

"But if you start with insincerity, you're bound to get a disappointing answer."

Ji Liang couldn't help but nod: "To be able to say such profound words, could it be... that you too have had a heart-wrenching story?"

She was touched by Bai Su's words and looked over with curiosity, unable to resist asking a question.

Bai Su scratched her cheek: "No."

Ji Liang was speechless for a moment, and said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "Then why did you speak so eloquently just now?"

Bai Su said seriously, "You don't understand, do you? People who only have a superficial understanding of relationships usually arrange their marriage early on and get married and have children."

"Those who speak eloquently about matters of the heart and whose opinions are applauded are often single. Unfortunately, Mr. Bai is one of them."

Ji Liang was stunned for a long time.

It took her a while to come to her senses, and a smile involuntarily crept onto her lips. This young master Bai was truly a fascinating person, quite interesting indeed.

Chapter Thirty-One: Ji Liang's Invitation

"You're quite an interesting person..."

Ji Liang used her fair and slender hand to lift the stray strands of hair between her brows and place them beside her delicate ear, revealing her fair and silky alluring collarbone.

She fiddled with the exquisite wooden box on the table for a moment, then looked at Bai Su with great interest in her almond-shaped eyes: "Young Master, you must have learned such a wonderful thing from a famous master. May I ask who your master is?"

"I once followed an old man in the mountains and studied for a period of time. Due to my mediocre talent, I could only learn a few basic skills and still do not know my teacher's name. I apologize for making you laugh, Miss..."

Bai Su glanced at the beautiful woman in front of her, pondered for a moment, and then feigned a regretful expression.

Because his work was too novel and he was too young, it was hard to believe. Fortunately, he fabricated a story about learning from a master to make it more believable.

In a sense, he wasn't lying.

After all, as a person from a later era, one must have studied at least several hundred books, and sometimes tens of thousands, from childhood to adulthood. What he has mastered is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Ji Liang looked at his leisurely and carefree appearance and had no doubts in his heart.

After all, she certainly wouldn't believe that someone so young yet so talented could have such a mentor behind them.

Even she, if not for her family having served as prime ministers in Korea for five generations and her upbringing in a scholarly family, would have found it difficult to achieve her current level of knowledge.

She looked at Bai Su with curiosity in her almond-shaped eyes: "Since you have such skills, why don't you go to the court to become an official? With such exquisite craftsmanship, you could get a government position even in Xianyang, which would be better than being exposed to the wind and sun here."

Bai Su gave her a strange look: "Relying on this little toy?"

Ji Liang smiled and said, "Even many useless Confucian scholars can be recruited as officials. You have a skill, so why not? Don't underestimate yourself."

Bai Su curled her lip: "I could easily be a wealthy man living a carefree life, surrounded by beautiful scenery, fine wine... and beautiful women by my side. Why should I make things difficult for myself by wading into the muddy waters of Xianyang?"

Miss Zhao once wanted to invite him to take up an official post, but he hesitated for a long time because it was too troublesome.

Most of the officials in the Great Xia Dynasty today are from the six states, resulting in numerous factions.

If you do something poorly, you'll easily offend people; if you do something too well, you'll also easily offend people. You'll offend people no matter what.

Of course, what troubled him the most was that he was increasingly unable to understand the First Emperor in recent times.

The massacre of alchemists, which was originally supposed to begin four or five years later, happened a few months earlier than planned, after the summons was made in Xianyang.

They even recalled Fusu, who had been exiled to the border regions, to Xianyang.

The First Emperor shifted his focus from the northern nomadic tribes to the lands of the six former states, and began the integration of the prefecture-county system.

Bai Su was completely baffled by this.

He always felt that there was a shadowy figure beside the First Emperor, guiding him from behind, causing the history in his memory to gradually derail and undergo many changes.

Who exactly is it... Li Si, Wei Liao?

Or is it Feng Jie or Meng Yi?

He racked his brains for a long time but still couldn't guess who it was, so he simply gave up and decided to live a peaceful life in the city, relying on the system's help to do some small business and make a modest fortune.

The Great Xia Dynasty is too complex; I'm afraid I can't handle it on my own.

When Ji Liang saw Bai Su's dismissive attitude towards Xianyang, his eyes lit up.

She tentatively asked, "Muddy Waters? Do you harbor a deep grudge against Xianyang?"

Bai Su nodded without hesitation: "Of course! You don't know, I spent two whole years repairing the Great Wall in the borderlands. Do you know how I spent those two years...?"

The thought of his own experience of being surrounded by endless yellow sand, his mouth filled with sand with every breath, brought tears to his eyes.

If it weren't for his drawing skills, a relatively rare skill that made his work easier, he might have perished in the frontier and never returned.

Ji Liang glanced at the sincere emotions in Bai Su's eyes and could sense that there was no falsehood in them.

She couldn't help but sigh, "It seems you couldn't escape the clutches of that woman from Xianyang either."

Bai Su was taken aback: "Also? Could it be that Miss Han also suffered a terrible fate?"

"That's it."

Ji Liang nodded slightly, a hint of resentment flashing in his almond-shaped eyes.

"I didn't expect that this Miss Han had also served in the corvée labor service..."

Bai Su looked at her with a hint of sympathy, as if she had met a fellow villager while traveling far away.

Ji Liang sighed, his tone somewhat frustrated, "I've always wanted revenge, but my plans have been repeatedly thwarted."

She was of noble birth, being the descendant of five prime ministers of the state of Han. She originally intended to serve the King of Han after completing her studies, so that the state could become prosperous and strong.

But before she could even come up with a plan, the state of Han fell to the iron cavalry of the Great Xia. Although the former land remained, the country itself had completely disappeared and became a county of the Great Xia.

The country is gone, and the family has declined.

What angered her even more was that the First Emperor, not content with seizing her country, plundering her land, and enslaving her people, actually collected books from the six states and burned all the historical records of the various states.

This is the seed that will completely destroy South Korea!

As a subject who received the king's salary and obeyed his orders, she always loved her country very much.

In a fit of rage, she squandered her fortune and associated with wandering knights and assassins from all over the world, plotting her assassination scheme.

According to her investigation, the First Emperor's tour of the country followed a certain pattern, and on one occasion he happened to pass through a place called Bolangsha.

The terrain there is uneven, which would slow down the carriage considerably, and the surrounding high slopes make it an ideal place for a high-altitude assassination.

So she arrived at Bolangsha several months in advance to plot the assassination with the strongman she had invited. She racked her brains to make the plan perfect and took care of every aspect.

However, she didn't expect that after waiting for half a year in Bolangsha, there was still no news, which puzzled her greatly.