Chapter 1073 The Secret in the Imperial Study
The candlesticks in the bedroom were filled with new wax, and the jade reclining deer on the antique display shelf still maintained the angle at which Prince Jiang Ke had last placed it.
Xiao Zhan's lantern illuminated the dragon pattern on the top of the bed. Jiang Xue's fingertips stroked the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars engraved on the bed surround, pausing briefly at the place where Cao E jumped into the river.
The mechanism made a slight sound, and when the sandalwood board was turned over, it brought out an old scent mixed with ambergris.
In the brocade box lay the white fox tail that she had hunted when she was twelve years old, and next to it was the ice-crack teacup that had been burned when she became a 15-year-old.
At the bottom was a faded colorful thread, which she had casually tied around her brother's wrist on the Dragon Boat Festival, but she didn't know that he had treasured it until they said goodbye in late spring.
Xiao Zhan placed his palms on her trembling shoulders, the warmth seeping through the silk fabric into her skin, and her tears finally rolled down like a dam bursting, onto the coiled dragon pattern on his collar.
Xiao Zhan stroked the red corners of her eyes with his fingertips: "Don't be sad, Xiaoxue, emotional fluctuations are not good for the fetus in your belly.
The one that my brother loved the most when he was alive was you. If he were still alive, he would definitely not want to see you crying all day long."
Memories of the past came to his mind. Even if he was willful and made mistakes back then, as long as his eyes turned red, Jiang Ke would always put aside his imperial dignity and coax him in a gentle voice.
He once promised to protect her and let her live a free life, but now he shoulders a heavy responsibility and can no longer do as he pleases as before.
Jiang Xue took a deep breath and turned the bed mechanism: "Yun Che, let's split up and investigate. Let Fu Dong and the others focus on the study area."
She knew that the truth was slim after 16 years, but she would never be at peace if she didn't get to the bottom of it.
In the study, Fu Dong was standing on tiptoe to explore the cracks in the blue brick wall.
Jiang Xiaoan leaned against the carved wooden frame and sighed, "If there was something fishy back then, the evidence should have been destroyed long ago. I think your majesty's visit is just to comfort the princess."
"You talk too much!"
Fu Dong glared at him and said, "The secret compartment in the southeast corner has not been checked yet."
Jiang Xiaoan shook his head helplessly. This girl would show no mercy at all when it came to the princess.
Then he thought that at least his love rival was a woman, and he felt relieved and continued to look through the books.
In the bedroom on the other side, Jiang Xue stared at her brother's favorite jade bamboo screen.
As the setting sun outside the window dyed the glazed tiles amber, I suddenly heard hurried footsteps coming from the courtyard.
"Your Highness!" Jiang Xiaoan rushed in clutching a half-rolled torn map: "The inkstone under the desk is actually the hub of the mechanism, the secret room is hiding..."
His voice stopped abruptly, and the edge of the map was stained with dark brown marks.
Jiang Xue took the fragment with trembling fingertips.
There is a secret room in the East Palace that even she doesn't know about. How many secrets does her brother have?
The familiar handwriting on the yellowed paper made her pupils shrink suddenly - this was clearly the handwriting written by Jiang Ke three days before his death.
In the cold stone room, three figures were reflected by the bronze lamp.
Jiang Xue stroked the wall of the secret room with her fingertips, and the moss glowed faintly under the candlelight.
Her eyes fell on the ironwood table in the center, where a square box made of black iron lay alone, with the Big Dipper pattern engraved on its surface.
"This seven-star lock has a hidden mechanism."
Xiao Zhan touched the box surface lightly with the scabbard, and the bronze star pattern moved with the force: "For the first layer, you need to choose two of the four characters of 'Heaven and Earth', and for the second layer, choose one of the eight trigrams."
Jiang Xue's wide sleeves swept across the dust on the box surface, and a few star patterns suddenly glowed with fluorescence.
Her fingertips trembled slightly: "Yun Che, bring me my silver silk gloves."
The scene of her royal brother holding her hand and gesturing on the sand table suddenly appeared before her eyes. Those seemingly random astrological games actually contained the solution to the mechanism.
As the palace lanterns swayed, Jiang Xiaoan suddenly blocked them with his arms: "Wait! The location of the third star of the Big Dipper..."
Before he finished speaking, Xiao Zhan had already grabbed his wrist and asked, "When did Brother Jiang become proficient in astrology?"
"When the late prince set up this mechanism, he specially made the method of opening the box into a nursery rhyme."
Jiang Xue took off the jade pendant from her waist. The groove in the seven-star pattern fit perfectly with the jade pendant. "Fudong, hold the lamp closer."
Jiang Xiaoan stared at the gradually revealed secret compartment and couldn't help muttering, "If this is really a treasure map, it should be divided into three parts to match the storybook."
The voice was interrupted by the sound of metal clicking. The moment the second layer of the secret box popped open, dozens of pieces of gold foil flew around and weaved into a star map in the candlelight.
“It’s the Xuanji map!”
Xiao Zhan waved his sleeves to block Jiang Xue, but she had already reached out to stop the falling gold foil: "These directions..."
The voice stopped abruptly, and in the innermost ebony interlayer, a half-faded baby swaddling clothes lay quietly.
Jiang Xue staggered backward and knocked over the lampstand. The firelight made the phoenix pattern on the swaddling clothes flicker.
When Xiao Zhan supported her, he felt her cold fingers: "This pattern is similar to the princess's first birthday dress..."
"Go back home."
Jiang Xue suddenly took the swaddling clothes into her arms, the gold foil rustling in her sleeves: "Summon the official historian of the Imperial Observatory immediately."
When he turned around, the jade pendant collided with the mechanism box, making a clear sound, which echoed in the secret room.
"Not necessarily."
Xiao Zhan tapped the sandalwood table with his fingertips: "If the prince really got the treasure map, given his character, he would definitely present it to the emperor instead of hiding it in a secret cabinet."
As he spoke, the candlelight flickered in the celadon lampshade, casting a mixture of light and dark on his profile.
Jiang Xue nodded, the pearls on her ears swaying gently in the moonlight: "The clouds are clear and transparent."
She clutched the silk handkerchief tightly in her sleeve, and the remaining night dew on the stone steps of the East Palace wet the hem of her skirt.
The carriage rolled over the sound of the midnight bell and drove into the princess's residence. Jiang Xue went straight to the dressing table in the bedroom.
In front of the gilded bronze mirror, she tremblingly pushed open the sandalwood jewelry box inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The phoenix hairpin with jade tassels was lying quietly on the red silk.
Xiao Zhan saw her placing the golden hairpin against the coiled dragon keyhole of the ebony box, but she did not dare to move for a long time.
"Xiaoxue."
He moved the embroidered cushion and sat down next to her, his warm palm covering the back of her slightly cool hand: "Can I help you unlock this chain lock?"
Jiang Xue's nose was covered with sweat. As she watched the other party pick up the golden hairpin, a crisp movement sound came from the lock core.
The second layer of the black iron box revealed its true appearance, with a Yin-Yang Bagua plate embedded between the eight treasures patterns.
When the last copper button with the word "Wu" was put back in place, the innermost brocade box finally appeared.
When Xiao Zhan unfolded the oil paper package, the aroma of pine smoke and ink mixed with the scent of aged borneol wafted towards him.
The six words "My sister Xiaoxue personally" on the letter were like a sharp blade that cut through the night. Jiang Xue suddenly grabbed the corner of the table, her knuckles turning white.
"Do you want me to read it to you?" When Xiao Zhan handed her the letter, he found that her fingertips were as cold as if they had been dipped in cold spring water.
Jiang Xue shook her head, her lips bitten until they bled.
She suddenly grabbed the cold Junshan Silver Needle on the table and drank it all. The tea slid down her porcelain white neck into her clothes, and a whimper like a little animal came from her throat.
Xiao Zhan silently stuffed the copper heater into her arms and watched the flames cast flickering shadows on the edge of the letter paper.
The candlelight flickered in the twilight. Xiao Zhan suddenly held the other's fingertips: "Xiaoxue, your fingertips are so cold, do you remember the secret letter in the box?"
Jiang Xue stared at the sandalwood box on the desk in a daze: "Seven days before my brother passed away, he personally sealed this thing for me. At that time, he always said that there was a surprise hidden in my birthday gift, but he refused to reveal a word."
She stroked the gilded lines on the box with her fingertips. "Later, we dug deep in the East Palace but couldn't find it. Who would have thought it was hidden in the secret room of the imperial study?"
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