Chapter 208

Sure enough.

As the archaeological team cleaned it.

First, a pencil was discovered.

Now it could be confirmed that this was indeed a pencil case.

Soon, a second pencil, then an eraser, and inside there was also a compass.

Everyone was dumbfounded; please don't tell me this compass is a cultural relic.

However, at this very moment.

Just as the mud on top was about to be completely cleaned away.

The archaeological team suddenly took out a small stone from inside.

After wiping the stone and mud off it, it revealed a milky white texture inside.

Everyone was stunned. Could it be that there really was treasure in the pencil case?

Chen Feng and the others felt their hearts jump into their throats.

Damn, there really was treasure; they never would have guessed it.

Just by the texture and the feel, it was very obviously like a piece of jade.

Until this small stone was cleaned, Chen Feng was shocked.

The archaeological team members let out exclamations one after another: "My god! This is a seal!"

*Wow~~*

Once this was said, everyone couldn't handle it.

There really was treasure hidden in the pencil case.

But this thing was too small; they couldn't see it at all, and one by one, they couldn't help but want to rush in to take a look.

The group of officers led by Director Chen suddenly felt immense pressure.

Fang Yang also hurriedly walked up, and Chen Feng consciously handed over the seal in his hand.

The system panel followed closely behind.

【The Empress's Seal】

【Era: Western Han Dynasty】

【Owner: Lü Zhi】

【Specifications: Square, 2.8 cm per side, 2 cm in total height, weighs 33 grams】

【Design: Carved from Xinjiang Hetian mutton-fat white jade, the jade color is pure and flawless, crystal clear and moist. The knob of the seal is in the shape of a crouching *chihu* (hornless dragon) in high relief, with a fierce image and a vigorous posture. The face of the seal is incised with the four characters "Empress's Seal" in seal script.】

【Reason for loss: In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, peasant uprising armies dug up the Changling Mausoleum to steal the treasures inside. In ancient times, tomb robbers wouldn't take jade artifacts, and since many were illiterate, they threw this seal away like trash. It wasn't until 1968 that it was picked up by a 13-year-old student named Kong Zhongliang while playing in a water channel. At the time, he thought it looked nice and had characters on it, so he wanted to polish it off and carve his own name on it. Later, it was accidentally lost here...】

After reading the summary, Fang Yang's brain felt a bit dizzy.

This was actually thrown away as trash by tomb robbers.

And it just happened to be picked up by this child, and the main thing was that he wanted to polish it off.

Thank goodness he didn't polish it off; otherwise, this cultural relic would probably have disappeared forever.

Chen Feng asked suspiciously: "This thing looks like Xinjiang Hetian jade to me. I don't know if my judgment is correct, and do you know whose seal it is?"

Fang Yang smiled: "It is indeed a jade seal. If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Empress's seal of Liu Bang's wife, Lü Zhi!"

As soon as these words were out, the crowd was in an uproar!

【Popularity】 +1+1+1+1...

—【I haven't read many books, don't lie to me. This thing is about the size of a fingernail, and you're telling me it's a jade seal? Please don't tell me the Imperial Jade Seal is also this small; I guarantee I won't laugh at you! This is the Empress's jade seal, after all; it doesn't make sense for it to be this small!】

—【Treasure hidden in a pencil case—what is wrong with this world? Am I already outdated? It completely overturned my worldview. Does this mean that from now on, whenever I walk on the road and see something, I have to take it out and flip through it? Maybe there's treasure inside!】

—【Facts have proven that as long as it's dug up by Fang Yang, it absolutely cannot be thrown away as trash. Maybe there's treasure inside the trash. Today has truly opened my eyes. Tea canister, pencil case—next time, will he dig up a water vat, and the vat will be full of treasure!】

—【Shouldn't jade seals be bigger than a fist? Could it be that the Empress's are all this small? Or are the ones on TV wrong, and I've been misled? If this is truly the seal of a Western Han Empress, then its cultural value is terrifyingly high. It's definitely a national treasure!】

At this moment, the scene was filled with the noisy sounds of discussion.

Although they believed Fang Yang, this small stone didn't look like a seal an Empress should carry.

It had no presence at all and was pitifully small.

Just imagine, if even a pencil case could hold it, it must be tiny.

However, Chen Feng and the others didn't doubt it, because they knew that seals in the Qin and Han dynasties were indeed this size.

But they didn't know this was actually Lü Zhi's seal.

You have to know that in over 2,000 years of Chinese history, this is the only Empress's seal ever discovered.

If it were confirmed, its value would once again shock the archaeological world.

Chen Feng looked at the pencil case and asked Fang Yang suspiciously: "Could this have been picked up by an elementary school student and put inside, then lost?"

Fang Yang laughed: "Probably!"

"This... is simply bizarre. Where did you determine that this is Lü Zhi's Empress's seal?"

"There are two reasons. The first reason is its design. You see, the *chihu* carved on top—the last time I dug up Liu Ci's tomb, there were many *chihu* patterns on it."

"In the Han Dynasty, the *chihu* represented power and strength; all the imperial family liked to use it for decoration."

118. Lü Hou's Life Experience, Shoveling Through Cultural Relics? (Please subscribe!)

"The second reason: Sima Qian's *Records of the Grand Historian* once recorded that Lü Zhi's Empress's seal was a square seal with a red knob, carved from Xinjiang Hetian mutton-fat white jade, and it had the four characters 'Empress's Seal' carved on it!"

"Combining the two, it can basically be determined that it is Lü Zhi's!"

Chen Feng nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

But the audience at the scene didn't understand. In their impression, shouldn't a jade seal be held with both hands and stamped?

This Empress's seal was as small as a fingernail; it was really hard to connect the two.

The foreman said slowly: "Talking nonsense. This thing is an Empress's jade seal? Picking a jade seal out of an elementary school student's pencil case—who would believe that if you told them!"

Although many people didn't want to admit it, in their hearts, they had to acknowledge that he wasn't wrong.

Fang Yang shook his head and explained with a smile: "Let me give you a bit of popular science. Before the Han Dynasty, when paper hadn't been popularized, bamboo slips were used to write, including imperial edicts at the time, which were written on bamboo slips. If you don't believe me, you can go home and check the materials!"

"Think about it: how wide is the bamboo slip on TV? It's only a little over a centimeter. If it were that super-sized jade seal, how would you stamp it? You couldn't!"

"Some people might say imperial edicts were written on silk! I won't even discuss whether they were silk at the time; let's just talk about the ink paste. Even if you wrote an edict on silk, you'd have to use ink paste to stamp it."

"But the problem is, there was no ink paste at the time; it didn't appear until the Northern and Southern Dynasties. You couldn't just dip it in ink and stamp it; that would just create a big, messy blot."

"In the Qin and Han dynasties, people used ropes to tie up the written bamboo slips, then added sealing clay to the slips and stamped the seal on the clay to leave an impression."

"If this impression remained intact, it meant it hadn't been tampered with, and the slips were safe!"

【Popularity】 +1+1+1+1.

—【Damn, learned something new. So the seals back then weren't used for stamping; I always thought they were. No wonder it was said that Su Qin wore the seals of the six states; it looks like they were all such small seals. If they were all that big, I'm afraid he wouldn't even be able to fasten his belt!】

—【According to this, what about the Imperial Jade Seal? Could it be that the lost Imperial Jade Seal is also this small? I'm confused now. Could it be that what's shown on TV is all wrong? Is the real Imperial Jade Seal actually only as big as a thumb?】

—【TV has misled me. I always thought imperial edicts were written on silk; it turns out they were bamboo slips before the Han Dynasty. I passed by a stall last time, and he told me it was the lost Imperial Jade Seal and wanted to sell it to me for 100 yuan. Thank goodness I didn't have money in my pocket, or I would have been scammed!】

—【No wonder when I went to the museum last time, that gold seal was only thumb-sized. I was wondering why they made it so small; logically, they wouldn't be short of that little bit of money. Thanks to Teacher Fang for the science lesson; I learned something. I can go brag to my friends again.】

Everyone was stunned.

This once again overturned their previous imagination.

Thinking carefully, what Fang Yang said made a lot of sense.

At that time, everything was written on bamboo slips; a huge jade seal would have been useless.

Most importantly, there really was no ink paste to stamp it with.

Even the fellow worker next to him understood: "Boss, what he said seems to make a lot of sense!"

"Go, go, go... get lost!"

Fang Yang smiled and continued to explain: "In the Qin and Han dynasties, whether it was the Emperor, the Empress, or the ministers, everyone's seals were very small, at most as big as the one in my hand. The sizes were all regulated, probably a little over 2 centimeters today."

"The Empress's Seal I'm holding now can be considered the largest. As for the ministers, they were probably even smaller. You can go to the museum to see them when you have time."

"All the seals unearthed before the Han Dynasty were this small. The Dian King gold seal I dug up a few days ago was also this small; do you all remember?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately realized: "Oh, right! It seems I really haven't seen such big seals from before the Han Dynasty!"

"Damn, I really learned something. I always thought that as long as it was a jade seal, it was as big as the ones on TV!" ===== CHAPTER 209 =====