This stench is somewhat familiar to Wu Liang.

It's very similar to the unique corpse odor that comes out of the coffin when the coffin is opened in a tomb.

But it is slightly different, because compared with the corpse odor emanating from the coffins of the tomb owners in ancient tombs, the smell here lacks a strong "stale smell" and does not feel like the smell of age.

Don't doubt it.

As the saying goes, there are specialties in the art. Some professional sommeliers in later generations were able to judge the approximate age of a wine just by smelling it.

Wu Liang has also excavated many ancient tombs and opened many ancient coffins since time travel. Therefore, although he cannot say that he is a master in the sensitivity to the smell in ancient coffins, he can still smell a thing or two, at least.

"Chen" and "not Chen" are definitely not a problem, this is professionalism.

"Wu Taishi, what's going on?"

Emperor Xian had been watching from the sidelines. Seeing Wu Liang's strange behavior, he immediately asked with confusion.

But after asking, he also smelled the stench coming from the iron box. He couldn't help but raise his hands to cover his mouth and nose, frowning and said, "What is this smell? Why is it so unpleasant?"

"Your Majesty, this is the stench coming from this iron box."

Wu Liang turned around and cupped his hands and said.

Seeing Emperor Xian's expression, Wu Liang already had the answer. Obviously Emperor Xian didn't know what happened inside the iron box and why such a stench was wafting out. That is to say, when Emperor Xian opened the iron box last time

, there is no such stench here.

"How...how could this happen?"

Emperor Xian asked in confusion.

"I wonder when was the last time your Majesty opened this iron box?"

Wu Liang then asked.

"About three or four years ago..."

Emperor Xian replied without hesitation, "At that time, Lu Bu had accomplished the feat of assassinating Dong Zhuo, so he asked me to observe the heirloom treasure of the Han Dynasty. In order to show my merit, I agreed to him."

Lu Bu?!

Wu Liang didn't know about this yet, but when he heard Emperor Xian suddenly mention Lu Bu, his heart suddenly "thumped".

You don't need to ask to know that when Lu Bu looked at the heirloom treasures of the Han Dynasty, the iron box must not have had this stench, otherwise Emperor Xian would not be so surprised at this moment.

The most important thing is that Emperor Xian mentioned Lu Bu.

Combined with the information he had pried out from Lu Bu's spy, Wu Liang had more reason to suspect that "Wang Mang's head" might be in Lu Bu's hands. After all, he had asked Emperor Xian to open the iron box and had close contact with "Wang Mang's head".

"head", so naturally there is an opportunity to subcontract him.

"Did your Majesty notice anything unusual at that time?"

Wu Liang pondered and continued to ask, "Or when observing these heirloom treasures, was there any accident that caused His Majesty's eyes to leave the treasures in the iron box?"

"Um……"

Emperor Xian immediately made a recollection, and after a moment, he suddenly seemed to have noticed something and said, "I remembered what Wu Taishi said. At that time, I was observing the treasures with Lu Bu at the back of the palace, and suddenly there was a eunuch reporting outside the door.

, saying that Wang Yun wanted to see him for something, I went out but did not see Wang Yun. When I came back, Lu Bu said that he had finished observing the treasures. I checked and found that there were no missing treasures in the iron box, so I went

I didn’t take it to heart...Wu Taishi meant that the heirloom treasures in this iron box might have been exchanged?"

"It's hard to say yet."

Wu Liang shook his head and said seriously, "It's true and it's not. We only need to open this iron box and have His Majesty personally verify it, and we can easily draw a conclusion."

Wu Liang didn't recognize Wang Mang, and naturally he didn't know what Wang Mang's head should look like. Even if someone casually placed a head in front of him and claimed that it was Wang Mang's head, he would have no way to tell the truth from the false.

Such is the snake-cutting sword.

The same is true for Confucius' clogs.

But Emperor Xian was different.

He is the person in charge of the treasures passed down from generation to generation in the Han Dynasty. He has some understanding of these treasures. Naturally, it is not that easy to fool him.

"What Wu Taishi said is absolutely true, so please trouble Wu Taishi to continue unpacking it."

Emperor Xian nodded repeatedly, but silently took a few steps back, as if he was worried that there was something terrible hidden in the iron box that would endanger his personal safety.

"..."

Seeing Emperor Xian like this, Wu Liang just shook his head and smiled.

In fact, he was not without worries in this regard, but he had already had the experience of opening coffins many times, and he was already used to it. He just nodded slightly to Prince Chamu, and the two of them calmly opened the coffin in front of Emperor Xian.

He took out the gas mask he carried with him and put it on his face.

Then he met the strange looks from Emperor Xian and others.

The two of them walked to the back of the iron box and slowly lifted the lid of the iron box from the rear. Even if there was something terrible inside the iron box, they would definitely not be the first to threaten the person hiding behind the iron box.

They, and even if the stench in the iron box is poisonous and harmful, they will not bear the brunt.

And as the lid of the iron box was completely opened.

A stream of white mist-like air instantly rose up from the iron box, but it only took a moment before the white air dispersed into the air and disappeared without a trace.

This is most likely a normal natural phenomenon.

For example, the atomization phenomenon caused when two types of air with different humidities suddenly come into contact. Although Wu Liang cannot explain the specific principles of the atomization phenomenon, he has a slight understanding of it, so he is not too panicked.

"That is?!"

When Emperor Xian and others saw this scene, they were not as calm as him, and immediately took a few steps back in fright.

Especially the expressions of the female relatives at this moment have almost caught up with the expressions they had when they saw the shocking scene of black gunpowder. They were all crowded together and did not even dare to breathe a sigh of relief.

at the same time.

The stench emanating from the iron box was also a bit stronger than before.

Wu Liang was not in a hurry to put his head out to check the situation inside the iron box. Instead, he waited for a few minutes and waited for the stench to disperse freely in the air before cautiously looking inside.

It doesn't matter if you look at it, but it's a complete mess!

There was a pool of sticky dark liquid flowing from the bottom of the iron box.

Perhaps it was because Emperor Xian had been living a very unstable life in the past few years, especially when he escaped from Chang'an and was frantically pursued by Li Jue and Guo Si's troops. With so much displacement, it was natural that this iron box would not be stable.

Therefore, almost all the treasures in the iron box are now more or less contaminated with this dark viscous liquid, and some of them are obviously the kind of treasures that will never be recovered once they are so contaminated.

For example, a bamboo slip seems to have been completely soaked. This sticky dark liquid is as deep as ink. No matter what is written on the bamboo slip, it is probably impossible to distinguish it.

Another example is a clog with a simple shape.

Wu Liang suspected that this clog was one of Confucius' clogs. Unfortunately, at least half of it had been soaked in the dark liquid.

Other things are not much different.

The only difference lies in whether the dark liquid can be restored intact after cleaning it.

Among these treasures, Wu Liang noticed a wooden box one foot square.

This wooden box has also been seriously contaminated by this dark liquid, but this is not the point. The point is that there are various signs that this wooden box seems to be the source of this dark liquid. Even until now, the connection between the wooden box

There are still traces of liquid seeping out from the gaps!

"this……"

After Wu Liang confirmed that there was no foreign object in the iron box, he finally turned back to look at Emperor Xian, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, many of the treasures inside may have been seriously contaminated and damaged. Please come and identify them."

, in order to minimize the losses of the Han Dynasty."

He did not want to reduce the losses of the Han Dynasty, but mainly wanted to ask Emperor Xian to come over and be his tour guide responsible for explaining. Most people would not dare to think of such a distinguished tour guide.

"How could this be?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xian's face suddenly turned ugly. Seeing that Wu Liang, Prince Chamu and others were safe and sound, he came forward, pinching his nose, and looked into the iron box, accompanied by two eunuchs.

The next moment.

"This, this, this...why did it become like this? I always carry this iron box with me. It won't be blown by the wind or wet by the rain. Even my concubines have never been cared for like this. But in the end, I got this

Such a result, why is this?”

Emperor Xian's eyes suddenly turned red with anxiety, and he was about to cry. He sat down on the ground and wailed regardless of his appearance, "These are the treasures left by the ancestors of the Han Dynasty. I failed to protect them. I am so ashamed."

Ancestor of the Han Dynasty!"

"Please take heart, Your Majesty, there may be a chance to salvage some of the treasures."

Looking at Emperor Xian like this, Wu Liang was not sure whether he was acting or if he was really so sad, so he had no choice but to persuade him.

"Even so, I am still an unworthy descendant of the ancestors of the Han Dynasty..."

Wu Liang's words had an effect after all. Although Emperor Xian said so, he finally stood up with the help of two eunuchs and looked into the iron box again with sorrow.

"Your Majesty, this slip is probably completely destroyed..."

Wu Liang did not take action, but pointed to the dyed slip and said to Emperor Xian.

Emperor Xian immediately beat his chest and stamped his feet again: "That was the edict issued by Emperor Xiaowu when he ordered Wei Qing, Huo Qubing and others to 'divide the curtain'. From now on, there will be no royal court in the south of the curtain. It fully demonstrates the majesty of the Han Dynasty. Such an edict with historical significance
To be continued...