Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress
Chapter 1135 - 1140: The Fate of Bad Guys (5)

Chapter 1135: Chapter 1140: The Fate of Bad Guys (5)

Both the east and west sides feature suites, with the west side housing The Emperor’s study, filled with well-known ancient tomes, lone volumes, calligraphy, and paintings.

The western side is The Emperor’s living quarters, where one enters to find a fire kang presumably used by The Emperor to ward off the cold in winter. On the kang there are yellow cushions, a red flower-patterned kang blanket, mattresses, and backrests for bedding, while the floor has spittoons, a dressing mirror, Ruyi, and a smoothly cut knife. On either side of the kang, there are Kang tables and cabinets, on which are displayed treasures and stationery carved from jade, porcelain, enamel, bamboo, wood, ivory, and horn.

The bedroom further in contains a wooden couch, with the Purple Sandalwood dragon couch intricately carved and bearing a somber hue. It is draped with a bright yellow dragon tent, which has bright yellow tassels with Coral Beads dangling from it, making it tempting for anyone to lie down and fall asleep.

In addition, the indoor space is fully furnished with bookshelves, trinket shelves, incense tables, long desks, crescent tables, zither tables, chairs, Embroidered Stools, and writing cases, among other furnishings. Due to the small and convoluted space within the room, the furniture is mostly small and exquisite, featuring categories such as black lacquered and gilded, or inlaid with mother-of-pearl on a lacquer base.

Above the walls, besides hanging silk and paper, there also are imperial calligraphy, landscape paintings, flowers, and birds on insert screens or hanging panels, with frames mostly made from Purple Sandalwood, carved lacquer, and enamel borders, inlaid with materials like jade, gemstone, enamel, ivory, and Cui.

Upon entering the Royal study, a painting on the dragon case caught Cai Wei’s attention.

It was a realistic drawing of a skull, depicting a bizarre skull topped with a pair of sharp horns akin to that of a cow, and a somewhat smaller horn over the nose, resembling that of a rhinoceros. Yet, it was distinctively different, sporting a head shield near the neck area, quite unlike that of a rhinoceros.

Triceratops!

Cai Wei was shocked. It was obviously the skull of a triceratops, which she had seen in a museum in her past life and knew a bit about.

Triceratops was one of the strongest herbivorous dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period, with an estimated length of 7.9 to 9 meters, a height of 2.9 to 3 meters, and a weight of 6.1 to 12 tons. They possessed robust skin and tough horns and head shields, making even a Tyrannosaurus hesitant to prey on them. A mature Triceratops could completely overcome a mature Tyrannosaurus!

Unexpectedly, such animals existed in this world!

As she pondered, the man had returned from the morning court session. Seeing her holding the blueprint and standing thoughtfully in front of the dragon case, he chuckled softly and approached leisurely, taking the drawing from her whilst explaining, "This drawing was sent from the Governor of Qingzhou, claiming that the monster in it was found in Yuanning County of Qingzhou’s Erlong Mountain. I have already ordered them to send this skull to the Capital, and in about half a month’s time, Wei’er should be able to see it!"

Cai Wei raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why send it to the Capital?"

The man said, "Upon seeing this drawing, many ministers claimed it to be a dragon, worrying that Erlong Mountain contained dragon veins that could undermine the state of Great Jin. They all advised me to execute the residents within a hundred miles of Erlong Mountain to prevent future troubles. I did not want to disregard lives so lightly, hence the order to bring this skull to the Capital, to be studied before any decisions are made!"

"Because of a skull that is difficult to explain, a city’s population will be executed?"

Cai Wei was infuriated, wishing she could say a phrase common in her world: ignorance. This was clearly the skull of an ancient triceratops, just a dinosaur. How could it involve dragon veins and the state of the country?

Nangong Yi said, "I also do not wish to kill arbitrarily, which is why I ordered the skull to be transported to the Capital, where I will definitely find evidence to show that it is not a dragon head."

"Has The Emperor or any of the ministers ever seen a real dragon head?" Cai Wei retorted.

Nangong Yi paused for a moment, placed the drawing on the dragon case, and turned to Cai Wei, "No, what of it?"

Cai Wei said, "Since no one has, what evidence does The Emperor have to prove that it is not a dragon? The skull has two horns resembling those of a dragon, and its size is enormous, much like the dragons of legend. Once the skull arrives in the Capital and the ministers behold this astonishing find, they will surely be shocked. People usually attribute things beyond their understanding to gods or monsters. Thus, it’s likely that many will conclude it as a dragon."

I recalled from her past life, she had read in a book that during the Spring and Autumn period, someone unearthed a huge bone from the earth. The monarch, startled by the massive bone and unsure of the creature it belonged to, consulted the knowledgeable Confucius.

Cai Wei guessed that the huge bone was probably the skeleton of a dinosaur, but Confucius, unfamiliar with the term "dinosaur" and unwilling to admit his ignorance, told the monarch that the bone belonged to Fangfengshi, a giant executed by Yu the Great in ancient times.

This explanation was mythologized, fitting people’s psychological tendency to blame the unexplained on divine beings, and was readily believed. Confucius was revered immensely, deemed omniscient by many!

Having heard Cai Wei’s words, Nangong Yi’s expression darkened.

He had never been one to spare lives easily; killing was not a difficult task for him. But the thought of slaughtering so many innocents based on a skull was not something he could do.

Yet, should he refrain, and someone with ulterior motives used this incident to destabilize Great Jin’s nation, trouble would ensue!

Seeing Nangong Yi fall silent, Cai Wei walked around the dragon case and nonchalantly took a seat on the Dragon Chair, picked up a brush and ink, and began to sketch on the paper.

With her head bowed slightly, she diligently drew, her expression alternating between intense focus and thoughtful frowns. After a while, she finished drawing a realistic sketch of an animal skeleton, featuring four limbs and a tail, with a body size comparable to that of pigs or cows, and a skull that was the very "dragon head" on his case!

"What is this?"

Nangong Yi took the drawing from his woman’s hand, visibly surprised.

Cai Wei said calmly, "Triceratops!"