Some knowledge, if no one points it out, you might struggle immensely and still not grasp what it is. But once pointed out, it’s no longer rare, like the formula for gunpowder.

Just take the simplest mnemonic: “One saltpeter, two sulfur, three charcoal, add some white sugar, big Ivan.” Earth saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, when matched with the copper scale of sixteen taels per catty used in this era, result in a 16:2:3 ratio.

Adding white sugar increases the burning time and gas production. Gunpowder with this ratio, if exploded in a sealed space, is comparable to a micro-nuclear bomb indoors; likely even officials like Yun Yang and Si Cao couldn’t withstand it.

Sulfur is available in the medical hall.

Charcoal is also easy to make.

The so-called earth saltpeter, scientifically known as potassium nitrate, is actually the wall frost on mud walls. Ancient people would “dig the wall roots” to obtain earth saltpeter when making fireworks and firecrackers.

Luo City still has an extremely large number of houses built with a mix of brick and mud. Chen Ji remembers wall frost being everywhere.

While the Jing Dynasty military affairs department is painstakingly seeking the secret formula for firearms, perhaps it would be better to find Chen Ji instead of going to the Liu family!

Even front-loading gun drawings of all kinds, what’s difficult about them to Chen Ji? A front-loading gun consists of the front chamber, powder chamber, and tail screw. From small handguns to large city gate cannons, Chen Ji has a slight understanding of one or two…

But most importantly, since Chen Ji arrived here, every time he met figures like Yun Yang, Jiao Tu, and Si Cao, he was always restrained by others, simply because he had no ability to resist.

But now he does.

The next moment, someone interrupted Chen Ji’s thoughts: “May I ask the three of you, do you have any works? Why aren’t you speaking anymore?”

Liu Qu Xing and She Deng Ke exchanged glances, unsure of what to do. After all, this was a literature meeting, and it was indeed improper for them to just come and freeload food and drink without any works of their own.

However, Chen Ji suddenly showed a smile and said: “We just came to freeload food and drink with the invitation the prince’s mansion gave the medical hall. We are not skilled in this way, so everyone enjoy yourselves, and we will take our leave. She Shixiong, Liu Shixiong, I heard the waiter, Little Zhang, at the restaurant opposite the medical hall say that there’s a Mu Xin Zhai noodle shop on the adjacent Zheng He Street that makes extremely good knife-cut noodles. I’ll treat you.”

Having said that, he turned and left, without any embarrassed expression. If he could, he could; if he couldn’t, he couldn’t. There was no need to pretend to be strong.

Everyone has their specialized skills. You understand art, and I also understand art… My art, perhaps, can even see off your art.

Chen Wen Zong and Chen Wen Xiao looked at Chen Ji’s back, serene and self-satisfied. While chatting and laughing with friends, he seemed completely unaffected by the literature meeting, nor did he take the recent events to heart.

He suddenly felt that Chen Ji wasn’t just saying angry words, but genuinely hadn’t thought about returning to the Chen family.

But how could the tall and magnificent gate of the Chen family not be something everyone yearned for? How could someone actively abandon it?

At the seat, the White Carp County Princess looked at the Shi Zi: “Brother, did you invite him?”

“No,” the Shi Zi shook his head: “I don’t even remember sending an invitation to the medical hall… But it’s not important!”

The White Carp County Princess thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up: “It’s boring here, I’m going out for a walk!”

The Shi Zi looked at his sister’s back, wanting to speak but stopping: “You…”

…

…

On the way back.

“She Shixiong, why did you stand up for me?” Chen Ji asked curiously.

She Deng Ke walked on the road, his tall and strong figure appearing less burly because he was lowering his head. He said in a low voice: “Yesterday I almost harmed you, I’m sorry, my head was confused at the time. Our two years of friendship was destroyed by me, I truly deserve to die.”

Chen Ji asked again: “Were you just trying to save Chun Hua’s life at that time?”

“There was also a private matter. Chun Hua said if this matter succeeded, she would beg Jing Fei to betroth her to me, and then we would live a peaceful life together.”

Liu Qu Xing sneered: “You believe everything Chun Hua says. Your family is so poor, can she abandon the luxury and wealth of the prince’s mansion and follow you?”

She Deng Ke retorted: “She’s not that kind of person… Chen Ji, you can’t tell my brother and my dad about this, they’ll beat me to death if they know.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Chen Ji said with a laugh.

On the side, Liu Qu Xing was a bit annoyed: “I don’t know what my dad was thinking, giving me this name. And I’m also truly unpromising. They all say Wen Qu Xing has descended to the mortal world, but how come I just can’t understand those classics. Now when I go out and introduce myself, I’m a bit embarrassed to mention my own name.”

Rising from a countryside fellow in the morning to ascending the emperor’s hall in the evening, this was the biggest dream of Ning Dynasty scholars.

But this wasn’t Chen Ji’s dream.

What was his dream? He once dreamed of being a diplomatic military official, but neither the Ning Dynasty nor the Jing Dynasty were worth him sacrificing his life for, so he currently had no dream.

No one to protect, nowhere to protect, only barely protecting himself, being carried away by the flood of this era.

Today, the words gunpowder and sword seeds held a fatal attraction for him.

When these two things are placed on the scale, perhaps it represents the scale of fate, which will tilt towards him.

Just as he was thinking, someone behind him shouted: “Chen Ji!”

Chen Ji turned his head and saw the White Carp County Princess chasing after him. She was still dressed heroically, her white clothes and red pendant unchanged.

However, today her hair was tied in a silver silk cloud chignon, and below the cloud chignon was a string of beads, swaying as she walked.

Chen Ji asked doubtfully: “Does the County Princess have something?”

White Carp didn’t say the reason, just waved her hand: “Let’s go, I’ll treat you to a meal on Zheng He Street. We’ll eat those knife-cut noodles you just mentioned!”

Having said that, White Carp put her hands behind her back and led the way, her steps light and proud. Chen Ji looked at her, only feeling that she was like a free antelope.

The three Shixiong looked at each other, and Chen Ji suddenly said: “You go ahead, I’ll go back to the medical hall and call Liang Mao Er…”

Two quarters of an hour later, inside the knife-cut noodle shop, the White Carp County Princess rested her arms on the tabletop and supported her chin, her eyes wide as she looked at the stack of bowls and dishes in front of Liang Mao Er: “Five bowls, six bowls, seven bowls… Chen Ji, you’re truly something else!”

Chen Ji then looked at Liang Mao Er with a smile: “Eat your fill tonight, you might not eat this much tomorrow morning.”

Liang Mao Er carefully looked at White Carp: “County Princess… Am I eating too much?”

Chen Ji said seriously: “The County Princess is chivalrous, we are all children of the jianghu, how could she dislike you for eating a lot?”

“It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, a bowl of noodles is only a little money!” White Carp took out her purse with a slightly pained expression: “But you really can eat… No wonder everyone was drinking last night, only you were quietly eating like crazy on the side.”

Liang Mao Er awkwardly explained: “I don’t know why either, I’ve been able to eat a lot since I was little. When my brother was ten, I was three, and I ended up eating more than him.”

White Carp no longer minded this matter. Since she was treating guests, she would treat them generously.

After she settled the bill, she turned to Chen Ji and asked curiously: “Earlier they were saying those things about you at the literature meeting, why weren’t you angry?”

“There’s nothing to be angry about.”

“Then I helped you speak, will you not collect a road toll from me in the future?”

“No.”

White Carp was angry: “Then I won’t help you speak anymore in the future, just let them scold you rotten!”

Chen Ji laughed: “They can say whatever they want, but time will prove everything.”

On the side, Liu Qu Xing suddenly said: “Chen Ji, you actually know how to write poetry, I’ve seen it.”

“Hmm?” Chen Ji was slightly stunned.

Liu Qu Xing said in a low voice: “I saw you secretly studying at midnight once, making excerpts on the back of prescriptions. So I took advantage of your sleep to secretly take them to see what you were excerpting, and I saw half a line of poetry.”

White Carp asked doubtfully: “What did you write?”

“A person walks between heaven and earth, suddenly like a distant traveler.”

White Carp only felt that as she read out this half line of poetry, she was as if walking alone in a snowy mountain, with dusk covering everything, especially lonely.

That day Chen Ji woke up from dusk, people were coming and going on the street, yet he hadn’t waited for his family, and he casually wrote down a messy poem at night, which was seen by Liu Qu Xing.

White Carp slowly looked at Chen Ji: “This is your…”

Before she could finish speaking, a head poked out from behind and said in surprise: “Chen Ji, is this your poetry? Since you know how to write, why didn’t you say anything at the literature meeting?”

Chen Ji was also stunned. He saw the Shi Zi and the little monk behind them. The main character of the literature meeting had actually secretly run out at some point. Was he that careless?!

Moreover, it was a bit strange. Did this world not have this line of poetry? Clearly, the Double Ninth Festival story was exactly the same.

He responded with a thick face, unfazed: “I occasionally came across this half line, but I don’t have the full poem yet. Besides, I don’t intend to go down this path, poetry books are not my aspiration.”

The Shi Zi had held back for a long time, then suddenly rubbed his hands awkwardly and laughed: “Well… Don’t you want to earn money? Can you sell this half line of poetry to me?”

Chen Ji: Huh?

The Shi Zi explained: “These three years at Dong Lin Academy have been suffocating. Those literati write a poem a day, write one when they see a lotus, write another when they see the moonlight, but I don’t even have a single fart. I know some literati are saying behind my back that I’m a straw-bag Shi Zi, so I always want to write a poem to shock them, but I really can’t write one… How about this, this half line of yours is powerful enough, sell it to me for ten taels of silver. I’ll have face, and you’ll have silver, how about it?”

“Deal!”

Writing poetry was unnecessary, but selling half a line of poetry… He could do that.