I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 143: The "Baoding Incense" No One Has Seen Before

In fact, Liu Ju didn't understand why the big black dog was barking only at him.

He didn't carry anything that could interest the dog, nor did he provoke it beforehand. Could it be because he was wearing the most luxurious clothes?
But this is not a bad thing.

From the expressions of the people when they saw this situation, it was not difficult to see that they had already had some doubts in their hearts, which in turn was tantamount to cooperating with his subsequent tricks.

Therefore, Liu Ju ignored the big black dog and just showed the five-zhu coins tied with hemp ropes to everyone present:
"Look carefully, everyone. The five-zhu coins in my hand are all the most common five-zhu coins, and the hemp ropes tied to the holes of these five-zhu coins are also the most common hemp ropes."

While speaking, he distributed the five-zhu coins to Gongsun Qing and several people around him like a magician in later generations, and motioned them to check.

"This……"

After hearing Liu Ju's words, everyone immediately perked up.

Although they were a little reserved in front of Liu Ju, they still took the five-zhu coins and hemp ropes together and compared them with each other.

So the comparison was made.

Everyone quickly determined that the five-zhu coins and hemp ropes in their hands were indeed identical, and even the fibers of the hemp ropes showed no difference.

"Your Highness, I have confirmed that this is indeed the most common five-zhu coin and the most common hemp rope."

As the victim, Gongsun Qing was the first to speak up and confirm.

"I have also confirmed it."

"I really can't see any difference..."

"The same goes for the final general."

Huo Guang and several others also nodded, and then looked at Liu Ju eagerly, expecting his next performance.

Liu Ju nodded slightly, then smiled slowly and said:
"Now that you've confirmed it."

"Then what you have to do next is to each carry a five-zhu coin and go to the houses in this yard one by one and light the hemp rope with an oil lamp."

"If the hemp rope burns smoothly after being ignited, and the five-zhu coin falls to the ground, it means that everything is normal in this house."

"If a hemp rope is set on fire but cannot be burned through no matter what..."

"This means that the evil spirit that the black dog attracted is hiding in the house. Doctor Gongsun's fortune has been declining in recent years because of this, and it is this evil spirit that is being nurtured."

"..."

Seeing that Liu Ju had stopped talking here, Huo Guang, who was always cautious, could not help but ask:

"Your Highness, what should we do next if we find a house inhabited by evil spirits?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

The others also asked further questions.

This is indeed a problem for them. After all, due to the times, they are more or less taboo about evil things, and can even be said to be afraid of them.

No one wants to be infected by evil spirits and bring misfortune to himself or his family.

"Don't worry, I will take care of the rest. I came here today to kill the evil spirits. I will never let them escape, and I will never let them possess you."

Liu Ju smiled confidently and gave everyone a reassuring look.

"In that case, I will go first."

Gongsun Qing knew that now that things had come to this, he could not escape the connection with the evil spirit no matter what.

So he made up his mind and took the lead to enter a small house next door, carrying a copper coin.

Liu Ju and the others followed closely behind.

Gongsun Qing quickly found an oil lamp, turned back to confirm with Liu Ju, then held the five-zhu coin in one hand and the oil lamp in the other, and carefully used the flame to burn the hemp rope that hung the five-zhu coin.

The hemp rope chosen by Liu Ju was made of ramie, which was also the most common raw material for linen cloth in the Han Dynasty.

Ramie is inherently flammable.

As a result, flames immediately rose from this point, and the flames began to spread upwards along the hemp rope with smoke.

Just two breaths later.

"jingle!"

The hemp rope had broken into two pieces, and the five-zhu coin fell onto the stone floor, making a crisp sound.

"call--"

Gongsun Qing couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, it seemed that there was nothing evil in this house.

Everyone's tense nerves relaxed slightly.

But soon some people started to get nervous again. Gongsun Qing had already been burned, so wouldn’t it be their turn next?

"cousin?"

Seeing that everyone was still hesitant, Liu Ju looked at Huo Guang.

"I understand!"

Huo Guang's expression tensed and he responded quickly. He had to bite the bullet and take the oil lamp from Gongsun Qing, then turned around and walked into the yard and into the next house.

After a while.

"jingle!"

The copper coin landed smoothly again...

By doing this one by one, everyone soon arrived at the fourth house.

The person holding the copper coin this time was a Qimen warrior officer. He seemed a little nervous at the moment. In front of everyone, he slowly moved the flame of the oil lamp closer to the hemp rope.

Soon, the hemp rope caught fire.

This flame didn't look much different from before, and the flame slowly extended upwards along the hemp rope...

The Qimen warrior officer breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, and everyone else also relaxed a little.

After two breaths.

The hemp rope seemed to be completely charred where it was burned by the flames, but it did not break as expected, and the five-zhu coin was still hanging in the air intact.

“This, this, this!”

Everyone instantly became nervous again, unconsciously moving closer to each other and looking around in panic.

"Swish!" Huo Guang's expression changed drastically. He drew the sword from his waist and protected Liu Ju behind him.

"Your Highness, what should I do now?"

The officer holding the five-zhu coin even trembled in his voice.

He didn't dare to let go, nor did he dare to move, and could only ask Liu Ju helplessly.

At this moment, everyone felt that the temperature in the house dropped a lot in an instant.

There was a chill quietly invading their bodies, causing the hairs on their bodies to stand up.

However, Liu Ju did not have this feeling at the moment.

He could even tell them responsibly that it was all just their illusion.

The reason why the hemp rope could not burn was because he had done something to it that was invisible to the naked eye.

In fact, this trick is very simple.

He simply ordered someone to find some brine, which is the most common salt solution used in salt drying and boiling, and soaked the hemp rope in it for a while, and then dried it.

Although this hemp rope looks the same as ordinary hemp rope, it has actually been contaminated by certain chemicals in the brine.

Liu Ju couldn't tell what the chemical substance was for a moment, but it was probably some magnesium or potassium. This chemical substance could cause the hemp rope to only burn on the surface and not burn inside, so naturally it could not be burned through.

In later generations, this was actually just a trick that could not be shown to the public to deceive people.

Before the opening up, some people used this method to defraud people in rural areas. However, with the popularization and promotion of anti-fraud science, it was rare to deceive people before Liu Ju traveled through time.

But he certainly won't explain this to these people.

Seeing that the effect had been achieved, Liu Ju just smiled, raised his hand to push Huo Guang aside, and said seriously:

"Don't panic, everyone. Since I dare to come here, I naturally have ways to deal with the evil spirits. Stand in the middle of the room and leave some space for me to drive away the evil spirits."

While talking.

He didn't know when a piece of white silk cloth and a not-so-big leather water bag appeared in his hand.

Seeing this, everyone quickly leaned together and looked at him with anxiety and curiosity.

Liu Ju then shook the piece of silk cloth, and like the children's game of "Drop the Handkerchief" in later generations, he jumped around in a circle around the crowd, muttering to himself as he spun around:

“Ahhh~~”

“Ahhhhhh~~”

"Ah Sai brother, Ah Sai knife, Ah Sai brother bring a knife~~"

"Take an egg, take an egg, take an egg, take an egg, take a knife~~"

"Oh my waist~~Oh my waist~~"

"Aunt swimsuit, aunt undress, aunt swimsuit, aunt undress~~~"

"Auntie, come soon~~"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh-"

"Auntie, you are depressed -- depressed~~"

"..."

Of course, he couldn't remember those high-level magical terms such as "Taishang Laojun hurriedly obeys the order".

Moreover, even if he could remember it, he was worried that it would be inconsistent with the gods existing among the people in that era, and there would be no audience. He was too lazy to write one, so he simply came up with the idea of ​​"no words are better than words" to mainly create a sense of atmosphere.

"..."

Listening to the divine song that seemed to have a melody coming out of Liu Ju's mouth and watching him jumping around in a dreamy manner, no one wanted to laugh at all.

Instead they all held their breath at this moment.

I was afraid that I would accidentally affect Liu Ju's spellcasting, and not only would I fail to get rid of the evil spirit, but I would be possessed by it instead.

About a minute later.

at last.

"Hey! Don't run away, you evil spirit!"

Liu Ju suddenly stopped singing and dancing, pointed to the southeast corner of the house and shouted.

"!"

Everyone shuddered at the sound and looked in the direction Liu Ju pointed...but they saw nothing except the corner of the wall.

But Liu Ju suddenly bit off the stopper of the water bag, poured the yellow liquid with a strange smell into his hands, and then walked to the corner in three or two steps.

Then he pressed the white silk cloth that he had been holding in his hand against the wall, and slapped it with his other hand!
"!!!"

Although everyone didn't know what Liu Ju had done, they all trembled at this moment.

And when Liu Ju withdrew his hand again, everyone's eyes widened again!
Because they clearly saw...

A bloody handprint suddenly appeared on the white silk cloth!

"This, this is?!"

Everyone's face was filled with shock and their pupils trembled.

Liu Ju was very satisfied with their reaction and couldn't help but smile in his heart.

Within the territory of the Celestial Empire at this time, except for a few small countries in the southern border, turmeric was not produced at all, nor was it used as medicine or seasoning, and it didn't even have a name.

Therefore, it is impossible for anyone to know that turmeric water turns red when it comes into contact with alkali, and it is naturally even more impossible for anyone to see through his trick.

And this little bit of turmeric powder was discovered by chance in Liu Che's carriage with six golden roots a few days ago.

According to Su Wen, these turmeric powders were local specialty spices that the Dian Kingdom delegation presented to Emperor Liu Che when they came to present their letter of surrender some time ago, and they also gave this thing a very impressive name - "Baodingxiang".

Liu Che liked this unique spice very much, so he brought it with him on his carriage and burned it during this trip.

Liu Ju had not been interested in this thing before.

It was not until Emperor Wu of Han issued an edict ordering him and Gongsun Qing to go to Donglai to await the gods that he suddenly came up with the plan of "creating gods" and entrusted Su Wen to steal some out.

(End of this chapter)