Chapter 334: Shocking the World! The Tomb of Zhuge Liang, the Shu Han Prime Minister! (2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Although I do not yet know why a Fengshan ritual would take place at such a low altitude, I’ll act under the assumption that it is indeed the case for now!” “With this in mind, I reckon that the object in this box must be a jade seal!”
Qin Rubing asked in disbelief, “Are you sure that it’s a jade seal?”
“I can’t be certain. We will find out once I open it! But I truly think that this box houses a jade seal!”
Luo Feng chuckled as he opened the box.
As expected.
Inside was a square jade carving, about 30 centimeters in size.
It lay peacefully in the wooden box.
Atop the jade, perched a coiled dragon carved from jade.
“Holy crap! It really is a jade seal, the host is truly incredible, isn’t he?”
“Amazing, you can even dig up a jade seal in a place like this?”
“What kind of ceremony is this? It must be an ancient tomb; there must be an ancient tomb underneath!”
Luo Feng smiled faintly, took the jade seal out of the box, then turned it over to look at the bottom, saying, “This is the treasure of the emperor…” After putting the jade seal back in the box, Luo Feng did not pay much attention to it.
Having dug up so many good things, he did not find this jade seal particularly noteworthy.
“There are two types of jade seals used in the emperor worship or Fengshan rituals: the treasure of the emperor, and the emperor’s tribute to heaven!”
“The former is specifically used for grand sacrificial ceremonies, such as ancestor worship and offerings to the gods.”
“The latter, mainly used for worshiping heaven and earth, is of higher rank.”
“The clues we have right now are rather chaotic, and whatever event that was conducted here does not seem to be a worship nor a Fengshan ritual!”
What is the difference between a worship and Fengshan ritual, you ask?
Firstly, there is a difference in status. Anyone can perform worships, and they should; every year during traditional festivals like Qingming, Dragon Boat, Zhongyuan, and Chongyang, people pay homage to the gods and their ancestors. The emperor also worships his ancestors in front of his ancestral temple. Fengshan, however, cannot be performed by ordinary people; and even the emperor cannot do so without demonstrating outstanding merits from both past and present.
Secondly, Fengshan rituals are often conducted on Mount Tai. Ancient people believed that Mount Tai was the most prestigious of the Five Sacred Mountains. As such, conducting the ritual at Mount Tai meant reporting one’s extraordinary achievements to the heavenly gods and declaring one’s legitimacy as the Son of Heaven to the world, thus promoting the idea of divine right.
In the term “FengshanO,” the first character refers to worshiping heaven, while the second character means worshiping earth. The emperor would first perform the “earth” ceremony at the foot of Mount Tai, then climb to the top of the mountain for the “heaven” ceremony.
Separated, the characters of “Fengshan” signify worshiping heaven and earth.
“Sigh, I am really in the dark. How about this: let’s dig a bit more, and if we still come up empty-handed, then everyone can rest and sleep!”
“Let’s deal with it tomorrow!”
Luo Feng muttered helplessly as he headed towards the place where the dragon’s breath converged.
Plop, plop…
After digging continuously for about half an hour…
Clang!
[ You have uncovered: ? ]
[ Dynasty: Eastern Han to Three Kingdoms period! ]
[ Value: ? ]
What the heck?
What does this mean?
Even the item is marked with a question mark?
To be honest, this was the first time Luo Feng had ever encountered such a situation. Had the system malfunctioned? It was truly incomprehensible. But was the artifact really from the Three Kingdoms period?
Luo Feng was completely dumbfounded… After some thought, he decided to continue digging.
This ceremonial site seemed quite abnormal.
Eight stone tablets bearing the word “Han.”
As well as a jade seal.
It looked like both a worship and Fengshan ceremony…
“First and foremost, I need to determine when this Fengshan or worship ceremony took place.”
“I must first rule out the possibility of it being from the Han Dynasty!”
“Because the item marked earlier was from the Three Kingdoms period! As long as these items were placed here together, it would be impossible for a Han Dynasty ceremony to feature artifacts from the Three Kingdoms period, right?”
“If I were to dig up an artifact from the Qing Dynasty, you could only say that this was a Qing Dynasty altar or consecration!”
“After all, later generations can use antiques from previous eras, but not artifacts from the future!”
“So, as long as a Three Kingdoms period artifact is unearthed, then the altar must have been constructed during the Three Kingdoms period!”
“And the ruling powers during the Three Kingdoms period were Wei, Shu, and
“This place must be on the land of the Shu Kingdom!”
“If it is the Shu Kingdom, then everything becomes more understandable, as the Shu Kingdom aimed to restore the Han Dynasty!” “It would be quite normal for them to have these items here!”
“After all, the Han Dynasty is the ancestor of the Shu Kingdom!”
Upon reaching this point, Luo Feng felt that his speculations were getting closer to the truth.
Soon, Luo Feng excavated the object.
To his surprise, it was a large stone.
The stone was massive; it was half a meter thick after being dug up, and it still was not completely unearthed.
He continued digging…
Before long, he was already three meters deep into the ground…
Despite this, the end was still not in sight?
“Brothers, I can confirm that this must be an altar!” Luo Feng said with a wide grin.
“An altar? Shouldn’t it be the top of an ancient tomb?”
“We dug up a jade seal; I think it is an ancient tomb!”
“It is impossible; it must be an altar!” Luo Feng did not pay attention to the
three-meter-long stone; he would find someone to dig it up another day, as it was too exhausting for him to fully unearth at this moment. He continued to dig towards another glint of gold.
With a clang, his Swallowtail Hoe vibrated.
The soil gave way to reveal a large altar. And the treasure marker was beneath the altar? “What the hell! Is this an altar or an ancient tomb?” “Could you please stop being so elusive?” Whose tomb was it?
And why was it placed beneath the altar?
Did they want to suppress the fortune of the nation through the altar?
Luo Feng continued to dig towards several other treasure markers.
Located above these treasure markers were still the large, circular altars.
And beneath the altars, the treasure markers remained…
He dug up several more locations, and they all revealed huge, round altars.
And still, beneath the altars, the treasure markers persisted…
