Of course.

This is just Xu Yun's baseless speculation, without any evidence to support it.

After all, this era and the future are separated by a full nine hundred years, and no one can say for sure what the true historical details are.

Perhaps in real history, Empress Dowager Xiang did indeed just take such a fall, and it was all just a coincidence?

Then Xu Yun shook his head, pushing these thoughts aside.

He turned and said to Xiaoli:

"The Empress Dowager is unwell, and as a junior, Prince Jian should visit her as is proper.

Since that's the case.

Miss Li, let's focus on our own matters first; the master is already waiting in the study."

Upon hearing this, Xiaoli nodded, a hint of anticipation flashing in her eyes.

Then Xu Yun led Xiaoli through several courtyards, eventually arriving outside Old Su's study.

Or more accurately, Old Su's academy:

As a renowned bibliophile whom even Emperor Shen Zong of Song envied, the Old Su family's library in Records of the Grand Historian contained a staggering ten thousand volumes, vast as a sea.

In normal history.

When Old Su returned to Jingkou, he even directly leased three carriage teams, deploying dozens of carriages just to transport his collection back to Jingkou.

Therefore, in this residence.

The location of Old Su's collection was not a single room, but a courtyard consisting of three two-story pavilions.

When Xu Yun and Xiaoli arrived at this courtyard, Old Su was seated at a stone table, examining a microscope.

That's right.

A microscope.

Of course.

This was a simple microscope, crudely made by craftsmen based on blueprints provided by Xu Yun, with a magnification of only over twenty times.

After all, higher precision lenses require calculations to prepare, such as the lens maker's formula 1/f = (n-1)(1/r1 - 1/r2), etc.

Moreover, one must consider various indices of the glass product.

Even if Xu Yun directly applied the formulas, it would take at least another half month just to possibly complete it.

Not to mention Xu Yun intended for Old Su to derive and experiment on their own, which would take even more time, at least over a month.

But high magnification precision is one thing, and a low magnification microscope is another.

Just like how Old Su once created a five-times magnification telescope.

In the Northern Song period, without the need for professional formula derivation, you could grind your way to a set of low magnification microscope lenses.

Although a microscope magnifying over twenty times is not sufficient to observe cell structures, it can barely serve as introductory equipment for microscopic fields.

At least it satisfies Old Su's curiosity or something of that sort.

Upon entering the courtyard, Xiaoli obediently saluted Old Su:

"Good morning, Uncle Su."

"Oh, Qingzhao is here."

Old Su shifted his gaze from the microscope, greeting Xiaoli first.

Then he let out a light "hmm" and asked about the same topic as Xu Yun:

"Hmm? Why isn't Prince Jian here?"

Xiaoli exchanged a glance with Xu Yun, then retold the earlier words:

"To Uncle Su, some matters arose in the palace today..."

Old Su listened quietly, and a glint of insight flashed in his eyes:

"What? The Empress Dowager has fallen?"

As a former Prime Minister, Old Su maintained neutrality between the old and new political factions for a long time, so his political skills were actually quite high.

Upon suddenly hearing the news of Empress Dowager Xiang's fall, many speculations instantly crossed his mind.

"If the Empress Dowager recuperates and releases power, the pressure on Prince Jian will likely increase....."

However, given that Xiaoli could only access general situations, insider information was obviously unavailable, so many judgments couldn't be accurately made.

Therefore, after pondering for a moment, Old Su decided to set this matter aside for now, planning to investigate through his own channels later.

Then he pulled his thoughts back to the present, picked up a box from the table, and said to Xu Yun:

"Xiaowang, in the box is the cockroach that was killed, pressed with a glass slide as per your request, see if it's suitable."

Xu Yun took the wooden box, gently opened the lid, and looked inside.

At this moment.

The wooden box contained several cockroach glass slides, which had been pre-disinfected with alcohol, so they didn't appear too disgusting.

No one knew who crafted the slides, but the gas tightness and neatness were very well-done.

Then Xu Yun took an empty glass slide and moved the microscope under the shade of a tree.

He adjusted the slide holder to its lowest position and began the operation.

He placed the slide into the gap at the rear of the slide holder, slowly pushing it forward with both hands.

Simultaneously, he spoke to Old Su and Xiaoli:

"The movement while placing the slide should be gentle, ensuring it faces the light hole directly.

Then, look through the eyepiece with your left eye, rotating the reflector with both hands like this until you see a bright field of view."

Old Su watched Xu Yun's way of rotating the reflector and mimicked it with empty hands.

Then he nodded, indicating he remembered.

Xu Yun continued to operate while explaining:

"Once the light is adjusted, slowly rotate the turret to align the low power objective lens with the light hole."

"Then focus both eyes on the eyepiece, turning the coarse adjustment knob to slowly lower the tube until the objective lens is close to the slide."

"Look through the eyepiece with your left eye, turning the coarse adjustment knob to slowly raise the tube.

"Until you see an image, then finely adjust with the fine focus knob for a clear view."

After completing the final step, Xu Yun clapped his hands together and said,

"These are the steps for focusing a microscope. Once these steps are completed, you can begin observing the image."

Old Su nodded, prepared to ask about any steps he hadn't memorized, but was interrupted by Xiaoli's words from the side:

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