Chapter 2 Red Beans

Li Shiming walked at an unhurried pace along the garden path. He had thought about quickening his step, but he did not know whether Chief Escort Wang was watching him from behind. He needed to display his composure to settle Chief Escort Wang's mind.

Not until he left the garden area and saw his own courtyard, did he manage to relieve most of his worries.

Now he faced two choices. One was to report the matter to his father. His biological father was Li WenYuan, the Magistrate of Nanling Prefecture. Although only a fourth-rank official, he was the most powerful officer in Nanling Prefecture.

With the power that his father Li WenYuan held, it was entirely possible to summon experts to eliminate Chief Escort Wang.

The other option was to do as Chief Escort Wang had said and boil the medicine according to the prescription.

"Let's appease him for now. If there's no way to resolve the trouble, then I'll ask my father to take action!" he thought to himself.

Since Chief Escort Wang needed him to do a task, he wouldn't harm him for the moment. With the Three-day Soul-breaking Pills in play, Chief Escort Wang wouldn't be too wary of him.

Entering the courtyard with these thoughts, his maid Si Qin, seeing Li Shiming, quickly tucked something behind her before smiling and coming forward to curtsy.

Si Qin was Li Shiming's personal maid. Besides Si Qin, there were five other maids responsible for more menial tasks, and two nannies specifically to attend to him.

However, he did not like having many people in the courtyard, so, apart from Si Qin, the rest of the servants stayed in the servants' quarters and would not come over without being called.

"What are you holding in your hand?" Li Shiming, seeing Si Qin's bashful look, couldn't help but ask curiously.

"It's a trinket from Nanny Wang. I thought it was pretty, so I asked for a few!" Si Qin unfolded her hands, revealing the red beans she held.

Li Shiming couldn't help but shake his head. No wonder Si Qin was embarrassed, these were love beans. It seemed Si Qin had grown up and started to entertain thoughts of youthful romance.

He was about to ask Si Qin to run an errand but then scrutinized the beans again.

The tips of these love beans were black. He thought of the 'Mother Hen Bead', which is also among the love beans, but is highly toxic. Ingesting just two or three could be lethal.

Of course, few knew about the deadly poison within the Mother Hen Bead, since love beans grew in the far south. Most people would not only be unaware of their toxicity but couldn't even distinguish between Mother Hen Beads and love beans.

"Si Qin, go to Nanny Wang and ask how many of these black-tipped love beans there are, and collect them back, even those that were given away. Say that I want them, and give me the ones in your hand too!" Li Shiming ordered solemnly.

"Yes, Young Master!" Si Qin pouted slightly in displeasure but did not dare to defy his order and handed over the love beans she held.

"Also, summon Mo Yan over!" Li Shiming called out to Si Qin as she was about to leave.

Li Shiming entered the study. He first copied the prescription Chief Escort Wang had given him, transcribing only the amounts of each medicinal ingredient.

Having merged with the original occupant's memories, his calligraphy with the brush was quite passable.

The world he was in now bore similarities yet differences to his previous life. The country he resided in was Xia, and the written language was Chinese characters, even sharing the Confucian classics. This suggested that there was a considerable resemblance with his former life.

The reason Li Shiming knew the Confucian classics were the same was because he had read them in both lifetimes.

In his previous life, he frequented the university library, enjoying reading ancient texts. Although he had not delved deeply into the Confucian classics, he was nonetheless familiar with them.

In this life, he had been studying the Confucian classics from a young age, and by now, he was already a Scholar.

His title of Scholar was not obtained through his father's influence but earned through scholarship and examination.

Being a Scholar at the age of fifteen was not easy for the average person, but for someone with his family's academic heritage, it came quite effortlessly.

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Although he did not utilize his father's connections as a Magistrate, the learning conditions and resources at his disposal were beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Provided one was neither foolish nor unwilling to make an effort, with such conditions, becoming a Scholar through the academic examinations was merely a matter of time.

The geography of this world was different from his previous life. Take Nanling Prefecture as an example, there was no such large prefecture in the history of his former life.

Nanling Prefecture, located in the southern part of Xia Country, was connected to Central Capital in the middle and Guanhai Prefecture to the north by the Immortal Cutting Canal. Along with the four prefectures in the east and west, it was one of the seven most important prefectures in Xia Country.

As Li Shiming pondered this, the voices of Si Qin and the servant, Mo Yan, came from outside the door.

Mo Yan entered, carrying a wooden box with difficulty, and carefully placed it on the ground in front of him.

"Young Master, everything you requested has been made according to the blueprints. Please check if there's anything that needs to be changed, and I'll see to it immediately!" Mo Yan reported with a look of eagerness to please.

Li Shiming felt a thrill in his heart as he restrained his emotions and opened the wooden box.

Inside the box were the parts for a generator, all made according to the blueprints.

Just three days after having transmigrated, in order to power an uninterrupted electricity supply, he had utilized his knowledge of electricity from his previous life. Based on the memories of this world, he had designed blueprints which he handed over to Mo Yan to handle, and now Mo Yan had timely delivered them.

Before laying hands on the final product, he had prepared himself mentally. As long as the result was not too far off, he could completely correct any minor errors himself.

Yet, upon seeing the actual items, he was extremely surprised.

Setting aside the wooden parts, he looked at the iron gears he needed. At a glance, it was hard to believe that these items, with their intricate design, were produced by an ancient society. Their precision made him wonder if they were made on a lathe.

These were not the most difficult parts to make. The two toughest components to create were the magnets and the copper wire.

He picked up a magnet and found that it was perfectly shaped.

"Young Master, this magnet was made by the compass shop. We chose their best magnet for you!" Mo Yan explained upon seeing the magnet.

The compass required the magnet to be shaped in a special form. The same technique used to shape it according to Li Shiming's needs was not very difficult.

A smile appeared on Li Shiming's face. He nodded his head and then picked up the copper wire.

To tell the truth, the copper wire had been his biggest concern because it required the most skill to fabricate.

The copper wire in his hands was thin and soft, and its surface was covered with a layer of lacquer. Even by modern standards, it was a very fine copper wire.

"I commissioned this copper wire from the Wu family's jewelry store. When they heard you had requested it, they had their best craftsmen work overnight to make it!" Mo Yan did not miss any opportunity to curry favor.

"Well done. Si Qin, give Mo Yan two taels of silver," Li Shiming stated with a smile, fully aware of Mo Yan's keen desire to please and satisfied with his work.

Obediently, Si Qin took out the silver and handed it to a beaming Mo Yan.

"Mo Yan, don't gossip after you leave here. Keep the Young Master's matters confidential!" Si Qin softly instructed.

Although unaware of what Li Shiming intended to do with these items, with the Imperial Examination approaching, any involvement in matters unrelated to his studies would be troublesome if his father learned of it.

"Mo Yan, here is a prescription. Buy the medicine according to this formula and be quick about it. Also, bring me the records from the case at Tianxiang Building!" Li Shiming shifted his gaze from the wooden box and remembered the important reason he summoned Mo Yan, and he commanded in a serious tone.

With a new task at hand and the silver in his pocket, Mo Yan left happily.

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