The jade vessels on the Nu River in Yongchang Prefecture were veiled in water spray as Shen Xitang’s leather boots crushed the charred scrolls of the *Yongchang Prefecture Gazetteer*. Xiao Heng’s Xiuchun Saber cleaved through a disguised jade-carving workshop, and as crates of raw jadeite met the sudden flare of subterranean fire, they revealed, right beside the "17th Year of Chongzhen" python-pattern ribbon, an inscription in Danish: "Oresund Depth Sounding Plumb Technique," concealing secret data on the salt spray parameters of the Kattegat!
"Lord Thousand-Householder, examine this abrasive jade sand." Her fingertips traced the spiral grinding marks on the emery disc. "This 'Nine-Star Jade-Cutting' method was recorded during Wang Ji’s three campaigns against Luchuan in the Zhengton era—how could it be contaminated with the tempering seal of Christiansborg, Denmark?"
The sound of sawing stone erupted from the jade yard. Twenty jade workers wearing rattan helmets charged from the smoke, the intaglio patterns on their water benches identical to the artillery projectile counterweight devices recorded in Bi Maokang’s *Illustrated Treatise on Military Equipment* from the Tianqi era. Shen Xitang’s Silver Silk shredded a piece of imperial green jade, revealing a fallen scrap page from the *Sound Secret Accounts*. Beside the official document claiming a "False Declaration of 5,000 Catties of Tribute Jade," an Icelandic note read: "Resold to Reykjavik for use as artillery barrel ra…
Chapter 214