People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Zhao Yan said irritably, "I don't know these things, and I don't want to know them. Right now, I just want to know how to open these bronze treasure boxes and obtain the treasure of the Azure Dragon Seven Constellations!"

Cao Ze's eyes narrowed slightly. Zhao Yan was very anxious, but he couldn't tell Zhao Yan not to rush at this critical juncture, otherwise Zhao Yan might punish him.

In this era, without power or influence, one's personal safety is easily compromised.

He paused for a moment, having already prepared his plan. He cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, there is indeed a way to open the bronze box."

After these words were spoken, the room fell silent.

Zhao Yan suddenly widened his eyes, "Quickly, tell me!"

Cao Ze said, "Just now I mentioned Duke Zhuang of Zheng. Does Your Majesty know why Duke Zhuang of Zheng harbored ambitions to plot against the Zhou Emperor?"

“The Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon!” Zhao Yan said in a hoarse voice.

Cao Ze said, "That's right, it's the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon."

"Legend has it that the Azure Dragon's seven constellations were once opened by Taigong, and the Zhou king obtained its power, which led to the Zhou replacing the Shang. Although King Zhou was cruel, it is undeniable that during his reign, the Shang was not weak, but it was defeated by the Zhou and its army was crushed twice."

"Later, to ensure the Zhou dynasty's longevity, Taigong and the Zhou king chose to reseal the bronze box. And the key to opening the bronze box was..."

Cao Ze paused, noticing that Empress Chang, Consort Ya, Han Cang, Zhao Yan, and Zhao Yan's guards were all staring intently at him, and slowly said, "The fortune of the entire world."

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned, and they all seemed to be deep in thought.

After a long while, Zhao Yan let out a long sigh.

"Where did you hear that, sir?"

“My teacher mentioned it to me casually before he traveled to the Arctic.”

Cao Ze directly shifted the blame to netizens.

He chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself, "The ancients really believed in this stuff."

"Destroy six kingdoms!"

Zhao Yan suddenly let out a hoarse cry, startling everyone present.

Cao Ze remained calm and composed.

Since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, every state that made it to the final rounds harbored the dream of conquering the other six states—it was an open secret.

Earlier was the State of Wei, later was the State of Zhao, and more recently was the State of Qi, which was crippled by the five states.

They are all powerful factions with the potential to unify the country.

At that time, the Qin state was still developing its strength cautiously, thinking about expanding eastward.

As for now, it's clear to anyone with eyes that the Qin state is the most likely to unify the various states.

However, few people could be certain that the Qin state would be able to achieve the unification described in the Gongyang Commentary.

The former glory of the State of Wei was even greater than that of the State of Qin today.

After a period of intense activity, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

It was reduced to a Warring States period where it could only compete with Han and Yan.

Especially in the chaotic state of Qin, where three kings died in succession, the ruler was young and the country was suspicious, relatives of the empress were everywhere, and the state was dominated by powerful ministers.

Many people believe that the Qin state's six generations of accumulated wealth will be completely wiped out in one fell swoop.

Zhao Yan's desperate cries could not change anything.

Every ambitious monarch dreams of conquering six kingdoms.

But dreams are just dreams; they can only be thought about in dreams.

As a result, Zhao Yan, due to emotional instability, fell into a semi-conscious state.

Another chaotic scene ensued, nearly scaring the old doctor Li who had just entered into the grave.

Cao Ze and Consort Ya walked side by side out of the palace.

As she reached the end of the passageway and was about to leave the palace, Consort Ya stopped and looked at Cao Ze.

With a half-smile, he said, "Mr. Cao Ze, what you just said wasn't the truth, was it?"

Chapter 170 The Marquis

Cao Ze's expression remained unchanged.

"What makes you say that, Your Highness?"

Ya Fei did not press further, but instead sighed softly.

"Sir already knows that I am the current guardian of the Bronze Treasure Box. Does sir believe that I have not investigated the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon?"

"I understand why you said that to the King, sir. The State of Zhao... can no longer withstand major upheavals."

"Instead of wasting resources and manpower, it would be better to let the king continue to govern the state of Zhao than to abandon Zhao and pursue that elusive thing."

Cao Ze looked at Ya Fei with some surprise, firstly because he was surprised by Ya Fei's imagination, and secondly because he did not expect Ya Fei to have such a clear understanding of the situation in Zhao.

Indeed, even after nearly twenty years of governance, the Zhao state after the Battle of Changping remained outwardly strong but inwardly weak.

In this era known as the Warring States period, any country that dared to merely recuperate without preparing for war would soon be plundered by other Warring States.

Not participating means certain death.

"Your Highness, Consort Ya, is exceptionally intelligent and saw through my thoughts at a glance."

Ya Fei couldn't help but rub her forehead and groan weakly, "It's always 'ice-snow clever'... How many girls have you said that to so many times?"

Cao Ze chuckled. He did know how to use other words, but he was used to this one and thought it sounded pretty good.

He and Ya Fei went to Fei Xue Ge.

Ya Fei smiled and dismissed Xue Nu, who wanted to be affectionate with Cao Ze, as if she had no worries at all.

She brought Cao Ze here on important business.

She dared not easily let the Snow Maiden know about the bronze treasure box containing the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon.

This is a curse, not a blessing.

Snow Maiden stared with her deep blue crystal eyes, sulking as Ya Fei and Cao Ze mysteriously went upstairs.

In her sister Yafei's words, there's a problem, there's definitely a problem!

The snow woman couldn't help but start to let her mind wander.

In a secluded room in a hidden hut in Feixue Pavilion, Yafei took out a bronze treasure box that she had hidden away.

On the surface, this bronze box is unremarkable.

Find a skilled blacksmith, spend a few taels of silver, and he can forge an exact replica in less than half a day.

However, only experts, or those with strong spiritual power, can perceive the strangeness of this bronze treasure box.

Whenever I try to use my divine sense to detect what's inside, it vanishes without a trace, as if it were mud sinking into the ocean.

"Amazing, truly amazing."

Cao Ze clicked his tongue in admiration.

Ya Fei stared blankly at the bronze treasure box on the table.

After a long while, she let out a long sigh.

"Ever since I adopted Xue'er that year, I've come into contact with this treasure box. After my brother entrusted it to me for safekeeping, I don't know how much I've secretly researched about it."

Cao Ze stroked the patterns on the bronze box.

It's more like a bronze-gold treasure box than a bronze one.

Its surface is not grayish-green like that of ordinary bronzes.

Cao Ze took a closer look at the patterns on the side of the bronze box.

It corresponds to the seven directions of the Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions.

“Kang”.

Cao Ze muttered to himself.

Ya Fei snapped out of her daze.

"Yes, it is the Kang constellation. The Erya (a Chinese dictionary) says: 'Kang is the throat of a bird.' In the interpretation of the seven constellations of the Azure Dragon, it is the throat of the dragon."

Cao Ze said, “The Book of Changes, Qian hexagram, says: ‘Nine at the top: The dragon that has gone too far will have regrets.’”

Ya Fei remained silent for a long time.

He said softly, “Confucius said: ‘When one is noble but has no position, high but has no people, and virtuous people are in low positions but have no support, then their actions will inevitably lead to regret.’”

"Does the gentleman have any complaints?"

Cao Ze paused for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head, saying, "No, it was just a thought."

He paused, then said, "Your Highness just mentioned in the palace the attack on Baiyue by the allied forces of Han and Chu back then. I wonder if you could tell me the details?"

He was very interested in this matter.

Aside from the fact that he was going to South Korea later, there was also the Baiyue treasure mentioned in the original work that he had just thought of.

In addition, there was the "Seven Mansions" scroll he obtained, and the "Azure Dragon" scroll, which might still be in the cold palace of Korea, in the former palace of the King of Zheng.

He found it very interesting.

It seems that most of the clues about the Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions converge in South Korea.

As the youngest of the seven kingdoms.

I have no idea what secret it holds.

If he remembered correctly, many years later, one of the reasons the Yin-Yang School killed Han Fei was that Han Fei knew something he shouldn't have known—the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon.

When Ya Fei heard Cao Ze inquire about the Han-Chu allied forces, she asked curiously, "Do you really intend to help my brother find the Seven Constellations of the Azure Dragon?"

Cao Ze first shook his head, then nodded.

"Yes and no, it's just curiosity. I think no one can resist exploring the secrets behind this thousand-year-old mystery."

Ya Fei's large, almost anime-like eyes curved into a smile as she said, "The Han-Chu alliance was, in a sense, a disgrace to the Han state, and it almost led to its demise."