Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 282 The Sacred Diagram of Tai Chi!

Jade?

The princess took the uniquely shaped jade from her waist.

This was bestowed upon her by the fake emperor on the day she was named Crown Princess.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial decree specifically stated that the emperor instructed Jiang Yueli to wear it at all times as a sign of imperial favor.

After Tan Lin deduced the fake emperor's identity, Jiang Yueli suspected that there was something wrong with the jade, but she had no evidence.

Not only that, but we also dared not keep them off for too long.

The fake emperor's methods were unpredictable, and she feared that if she kept it hidden for too long, he might find out.

Zhou Wei took the jade and examined it carefully.

If there's anything special about this jade, it's its shape. Aside from that, its texture is warm and smooth, and it's no different from any other beautiful jade.

“This piece of jade doesn’t look complete,” Zhou Wei said suddenly after examining it for a while.

Everyone looked at her in surprise, and the two princes were even more puzzled.

They didn't even know where the jade came from.

The eldest princess explained, "Eldest brother, second brother, this jade was bestowed upon me by the emperor. When my fourth brother failed to seize the throne and was deposed, an imperial edict came from Hexi Palace to bestow upon me the title of Crown Princess. This jade was given to me at that time."

Upon hearing this, the two princes immediately took the jade to examine it.

"Weiwei, how can you tell that this jade is incomplete?"

Zhou Wei didn't know how to explain it. Seeing that there was pen and ink on the desk in the room, she picked up the pen and started drawing on the paper.

Everyone crowded around to watch, and when they saw a complete Tai Chi diagram appear.

The eldest prince placed the jade directly into the diagram and explained to the second prince, who couldn't see it clearly, how the Tai Chi diagram was composed.

"How ingenious! Looking at it this way, the jade is indeed incomplete; the other half is missing. But Zhou Dianjun, how did you come up with this picture?"

Everyone in Zhou Wei's world knows about the Tai Chi symbol, but in the Great Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Wei seems to have never seen it.

"You haven't seen this pattern before?" Zhou Wei asked.

Everyone shook their heads. Zhou Wei then asked, "Then how do you describe Yin and Yang?"

The second prince said, "Yin and Yang exist naturally; why should they be explained?"

Zhou Wei understood; it seemed that the concept of the Tai Chi diagram did not exist in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

No wonder she felt the jade pendant of the eldest princess looked familiar at first glance!

The Tai Chi symbol, one of the sacred symbols, has been the subject of various myths.

However, Zhou Wei has always felt that it is not an exaggeration to mythologize the Tai Chi symbol.

"Everyone, this diagram is extraordinary. For ordinary people, it may be something they have seen and forgotten, but for cultivators, it contains the rules of heaven and earth. By understanding just a little bit of it, they can gain new insights into the world."

Both princes were shocked upon hearing this.

The two even subconsciously looked out the window, afraid that someone was eavesdropping.

The second prince casually picked up a book and covered it with the Tai Chi diagram.

He cautiously said, "Zhou Dianjun is truly... an extraordinary person! If this map is really as miraculous as Zhou Dianjun says, even the most blessed lands and grotto-heavens will be shaken."

Seeing this, Zhou Wei couldn't help but laugh.

"Your Highness need not be nervous. This picture is not the point. It is something that children may draw casually when they are being playful."

"The important thing is the meaning conveyed by this picture, which requires great wisdom to comprehend. If anyone could understand the rules of heaven and earth just by looking at it, wouldn't the world be full of gods and immortals?"

Upon hearing this, the second prince nodded thoughtfully.

After a long pause, he exclaimed, "Zhou Dianjun is so young, yet his thoughts are so profound. He must read a lot of books. I am truly ashamed of myself!"

Zhou Wei scratched her head. She was far from being well-read; she was merely lording it over others by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Zhou Wei didn't want to explain herself after the Second Prince's flattery.

Let him think that way; the eldest princess still needs the help of the two princes.

If I appear more mysterious and unpredictable, it will boost the confidence of the two princes!

At this moment, the eldest prince said, "Yue Li, if the man was talking about jade, and it is related to your jade, why did Father bestow this thing upon you?"

"My father's ecstatic expression at the time seemed genuine, so this thing must have been extremely important to him, yet he so easily bestowed it upon you. I really don't understand."

Zhou Wei replied, "Your Highness, there's nothing I don't understand."

"If you treasure something and then easily give it away to someone else, it can only mean one thing."

"This thing would bring you more benefits if it were with someone else than with you!"

Zhou Wei was now certain that the fake emperor had no good intentions in bestowing this jade upon the princess.

However, according to Jiang Yueli, the jade should not be removed for too long.

The fake emperor is quite cunning; if he discovers it, things will be even more difficult to deal with later.

The two discussed it and decided to stick to the status quo and deal with all changes as they went along.

Maintain the status quo for now!

Seeing the princess hang the jade back on her waist, the eldest prince finally asked the question that had been puzzling him for a long time.

"Yue Li, have you had a bad time in the palace all these years? Or has Father treated you badly?"

"Why do you say that, elder brother?" the princess replied while fastening her jade pendant. "I have been corresponding with you, elder brother, and I have mentioned in my letters that the emperor has treated me very well over the years."

"If that's the case, why does Yue Li address him that way?"

The eldest prince spoke with a bitter smile on his face.

The princess and Zhou Wei exchanged a glance but did not answer immediately.

Both of them knew that the matter of the real and fake emperors would have a huge impact on the two princes.

They had a very hard time living in their fiefdom!

If it weren't for their mutual support and the presence of Princess Ruiyao, the Queen of Spirits, they probably wouldn't have been able to persevere.

If they knew the truth, would their bodies be able to handle it?

Seeing that Jiang Yueli and Zhou Wei did not answer for a long time, the eldest prince sensed that something was wrong.

He asked with some anxiety, "Yue Li, has something happened?"

The eldest princess sighed, "Eldest brother, what I'm about to say may seem absurd, but I won't lie to you. What I'm about to say is probably the truth. After you hear this, you two brothers should calm yourselves down."

The princess's words made the two princes even more nervous.

They couldn't guess what had happened in the palace, and could only look at the eldest princess with worry.

Jiang Yueli hesitated for a long time before saying, "The emperor in the palace might be a fake!"

These words struck the two princes like a thunderbolt.

The eldest prince's body trembled violently, and he staggered, almost losing his balance.

A multitude of images flashed through his mind in an instant.

There are scenes of his childhood when the world was still unstable, and the days he spent with his father in the military camp; and scenes of him accompanying the Great Zhou Emperor to offer sacrifices to Heaven after the Great Zhou Dynasty was established.

There are also scenes of a happy family of four in Consort Rong's palace!

These past memories flashed through the Crown Prince's mind like a revolving lantern.

It was like he had a dream, and in the end, all the beauty disappeared.

The scene then shifts to the Great Zhou Emperor's disgust towards Consort Rong, showing his loathing gaze upon seeing her and her brother.

And there's Consort Rong, sitting alone in the palace, waiting for the Great Zhou Emperor every night!

Eventually, these images overlapped and became a pair of eyes.

The eldest prince shook his head, trying to see those eyes clearly.

When the dust settled, he discovered that those eyes had fallen on someone he never expected.

It's that man!

The man trapped beneath the prayer mat in Hexi Palace!

A sudden, indescribable sadness welled up in the Crown Prince's heart.

Two streams of tears rolled down his cheeks as he asked, trembling, "Yue Li, is he really my father? The man who suffered in He Xi Palace, the man who struggled so hard to save me and Yue Jie?"

The eldest princess supported the eldest prince and felt his body trembling slightly.

He nodded: "Yes, that person should be our father."

Upon hearing this, the eldest prince's vision went black, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and fainted.