Xu Qi'an received a warm welcome from Song Qing. The two sat at the table, holding fragrant tea and having a friendly conversation.

"To be honest, I was a little suspicious of you," Song Qing took a sip and said, "I've investigated your ancestors for the past eighteen generations."

Xu Qi'an wasn't surprised by this and smiled, "How did it go?"

"Too clean," Song Qing shook his head and changed the subject, handing over a stack of paper, "Take a look at my recent research."

Xu Qi'an thought to himself, "I've already prepared the joke about the wandering master, but you didn't even ask...you technology enthusiasts don't care about these things at all."

He took the manuscript and scanned it, almost spitting out his tea.

In addition to the plant grafting theory he had told Song Qing, this guy had come up with several other examples, such as:

Crossbreeding humans and horses.

There were many advantages, such as not having to worry about horse resources in the Great Feng, and soldiers not having to worry about not having excellent war horses. Because we are mature soldiers, we can be our own war horses...

Another example was capturing avian demon tribes and crossbreeding them with humans to create half-demons that could serve as an air force.

Get to know the monster girls...I mean, understand reproductive isolation...Xu Qi'an put down the paper, calmed his shaken worldview, and said, "I came to the Heavenly Observation Bureau this time because I need Brother Song's help with something."

"Speak freely."

"I offended Zhou Shizhong, you should know about it."

"Cai Wei told me," Song Qing put down his teacup and said seriously, "Unfortunately, I can't help you. The Heavenly Observation Bureau doesn't interfere in court affairs, and the emperor doesn't allow it. Besides, a minister with real power has exceeded my ability."

"Brother Song, don't worry. What I need you to do is simple..." Xu Qi'an explained his idea.

"That's impossible," Song Qing refused directly, "I, Song, am honest and upright, and I won't do such a thing."

Xu Qi'an thought for a moment and said ashamedly, "I didn't think it through...Brother Song, let's continue discussing your grafting theory. Forgive me for being frank, but it's impossible to succeed."

Song Qing frowned, sat upright, and adopted a rigorous attitude towards academic discussion.

"I'm sure you already know that the cat that must be kept in a glass jar is an example. But you must be wondering why it failed and where the problem lies."

Song Qing leaned forward, his breathing becoming rapid, staring at Xu Qi'an with wide eyes, "Do you know?"

"I didn't participate in the research, so I don't know the real reason, but I can provide you with a theoretical basis."

A theoretical basis?!What Song Qing lacked the most was theoretical basis. After all, founding masters were rare, and alchemy was vast and profound. In order to continue to advance, theoretical support was indispensable.

Under Song Qing's suddenly bright eyes, Xu Qi'an slowly said, "Have you heard of the periodic table of elements?"

What periodic table of elements? What does this have to do with my experiment? Ten thousand question marks flashed through Song Qing's mind.

His breathing became more and more rapid, feeling that he was about to touch the gate of the truth of alchemy. As a fanatic of alchemy, every hair on his body was standing up with excitement.

Before he could ask, Xu Qi'an said, "The principle of alchemy is equivalent exchange..."

...

The Duke Wei's Mansion was located on Quefu Street in the inner city, which was the territory of the nobles. Walking all the way, one could only see marquises, earls, and dukes.

The Duke Wei was a hereditary title that rose in the struggle for the throne three hundred years ago. The hereditary succession has remained unchanged until now, but in fact, it no longer has much power in its hands.

The side door opened, and a slightly round-faced young girl walked out under the escort of maids and guards. She was wearing a gorgeous silk dress, and the hem of her skirt reached her heels. As she walked, her embroidered shoes were faintly visible.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, she was beautiful and had bright and intelligent eyes. Her high-spirited temperament and the flying spirit between her eyebrows added to her aura, making her very eye-catching.

Zhang Yu-ying entered the sedan chair at the door, and the sedan bearers lifted the sedan chair and walked slowly towards the City God Temple.

Today, she was going to burn incense at the City God Temple, eat vegetarian food, and then go to the Wen Yuanbo Mansion to find a female friend she was familiar with to drink tea and chat.

She would take a look at the banned books secretly circulated among women, chat about which young masters were of marriageable age, comment on the outstanding scholars who passed the imperial examination this autumn, and guess whether they would pass the next spring examination.

Perhaps there would also be her future husband.

After walking two streets, the maidservant following the sedan suddenly heard a commotion.

Two carriages behind them were out of control for some reason. The coachmen held the reins tightly, waving their whips in panic, "Get out of the way, get out of the way..."

Pedestrians ran around in confusion.

"Quick, quickly stop the carriages." The maidservant was shocked and pale, commanding the guards to intercept the carriages while ordering the sedan bearers to avoid them.

The guards were not enough to handle it, and only intercepted one carriage. The other one hit two sedan bearers and the sedan chair overturned instantly.

The remaining two sedan bearers and maidservant instinctively tried to save themselves and dodged to one side, causing chaos in the scene.

After a brief chaos, the two carriages continued to run wildly, and the maidservant hurriedly got up and ran to the sedan chair to check, "Second Miss, Second Miss, are you okay?"

No one answered.The maid's heart sank as she abruptly lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and froze. A few seconds later, she screamed, "Miss Er is missing!!"

The sedan was empty.

......

In a small courtyard somewhere in the inner city.

Zhang Yuying knew she had been kidnapped, but she didn't know by whom.

She had been awake for a while, and after easing her initial headache, she had been in a state of fear.

As the daughter of the mighty marquis, her treatment was only slightly worse than that of the legitimate daughter, and far better than that of her other sisters. Her father and stepmother loved her dearly, and the legitimate daughter, who was both her sister and cousin, had a great relationship with her.

She had always been pampered and spoiled, and had never encountered anything like this before.

It was silent all around her, her hands and feet were tied, and a cloth was stuffed in her mouth. She was extremely afraid.

"Bang!"

The sound of the door opening came from outside the courtyard, followed by the sound of footsteps.

Zhang Yuying's heart suddenly tightened, and fear exploded in her heart. She didn't know what she was about to face, but it definitely wasn't a good thing.

"Hey," the sound of footsteps stopped outside the room, and someone laughed obscenely. "This woman is really beautiful. I just checked her out secretly. Her breasts are big and soft, and really comfortable."

"You're so disgusting..." Another person spoke up, paused, and added, "You didn't even call me over."

Zhang Yuying was both ashamed and angry, and tears swirled in her eyes.

The two figures continued to talk:

"She's still just a little chick."

Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original.

"Of course, this is the second daughter of the mighty marquis, still waiting in the wings."

Zhang Yuying was shocked. They know who I am, they know my father is the mighty marquis, and yet they dare to kidnap me?

This shows that the person behind the scenes is not an ordinary person.

"What do you think Master Zhou will do with this woman? Although she is an extremely outstanding beauty, it's not very safe to keep her around."

"Heh, you're overthinking it. Master Zhou will play with her for a while, and when he gets bored, he'll strangle her and bury her in this courtyard. Who knows?"

"When Master Zhou gets bored, we'll have a few sips of soup. This woman's delicate skin and tender flesh are much more tender than the women in the theater."

"Yeah, if it weren't for Master Zhou wanting to try something new, we would have taken care of her by now."

"Who said she's the son of the Ministry of Revenue's young master? Let's go, let's go drink."

"Is that okay?"

"It's almost dusk, we'll buy some wine and come back."

The sound of footsteps faded away, and then the sound of the courtyard door closing. The two of them seemed to have gone out to drink.

Master Zhou? The son of the Ministry of Revenue's young master?

Zhang Yuying had an image of a handsome young man in luxurious clothes flash through her mind, and remembered what had happened to her at last year's Lantern Festival.

He still hadn't forgotten about her...Tired of playing... Drink some soup... Bury the body in the yard and destroy the evidence... The pampered daughter of a wealthy family, who was carefully taken care of, trembled all over and burst into tears in fear.

"Wu wu..." She struggled to make a sound while wriggling her limbs, trying to break free from the restraints.

Suddenly, she noticed that the rope on her wrist had loosened a bit.

Zhang Yuying froze for a moment, then calmed down and stopped making any noise, but twisted her hands with all her strength.

After a while, the delicate skin on her wrist was rubbed raw and she finally managed to break free.

She immediately sat up, untied the rope on her feet, and walked to the door, patiently listening for a moment to make sure no one was in the yard. She walked carefully to the yard.

Looking around, she gritted her teeth and ran at a speed she had never experienced before, rushing to the yard door and pulling the latch.

The door didn't open, it was locked from the outside.

"Wu..." Miss Zhang let out a desperate cry.

...

Across the street from the yard, Xu Qi'an held a bowl of noodles in his hand, with Xu Xinnian standing next to him.

"You talk a big game." Xu Qi'an habitually teased Xu Xinnian.

Xu Xinnian ignored him and looked towards the gate, "Will she be able to come out? Why did they lock the gate?"

"The strong desire to survive can stimulate a person's potential. Trust me, she'll come out. Just climb over the wall." Xu Qi'an took a sip of the noodles and explained in a low voice, "If we don't lock the gate, there will be too much evidence."

This small courtyard was bought by Zhou Li outside, and there was a pretty woman living inside. Now that woman and the maidservants and gatekeepers in the yard, a total of four people, were all locked in the mirror by Xu Qi'an.

The jade mirror could hold objects as well as living creatures, and Xu Qi'an had tested it with his own servants at home.

If it weren't for that mirror, the plan to kidnap Miss Zhang would have been extremely difficult, and it might even have failed.

At this moment, the two of them saw a head pop out from the wall, and Zhang Yuying, with her messy hair, poked her head out.

After carefully looking around for a while, she climbed over the wall and jumped down.

She seemed to have sprained her foot and lay on the ground for a while without moving. After a long time, she cried while standing up bravely. She jumped and hopped to the street while leaning against the wall.

As a wealthy and pampered daughter, she had really been wronged to be able to do this.

They would come back when they went out to buy wine, at dusk... She looked at the setting sun and knew that she was truly safe for now.

Perhaps she wouldn't be able to run far before being caught, or perhaps they would meet face to face after a few more steps.

At this moment, a group of heavily armed city patrol guards passed by.Fearful of encountering bandits on the road, Zhang Yuying cried out in relief when she saw the approaching Yu Dao Wei guards. She shouted, "I am the daughter of Marquis Wei Wu. I have been kidnapped. Please save me!"

The Yu Dao Wei guards drew their swords and surrounded her. The onlookers stopped to watch as the head guard asked, "Who kidnapped you?"

"It was Zhou Li, the son of Zhou, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue," cried Zhang Yuying, breaking down in tears.

The curfew drums sounded in the distance.

Xu Qi'an put down his bowl and said, "Let's go find an inn to rest. We'll wait for news tomorrow."

PS: This chapter is 3200 words long, and it's both lengthy and tough.