Legend of the Embroiderer

In the vast and deep woods outside the palace wall, the bright moonlight fell on the ground like a veil, as if covering the entire forest with a layer of silver light.

The night wind blows gently, bringing a hint of coolness, making people feel a chill rising up their spines.

Li Zhao and Su Mengyao stood side by side, quietly beside the piece of soil that had obviously been turned over.

In the moonlight, you can clearly see the strange symbols carved on the surface of the soil.

They are crooked, intricate and as elusive as a mysterious spell.

After careful observation and comparison, the two were surprised to find that these symbols were surprisingly similar to the patterns on the embroidery supplies they had accidentally found in the school! Obviously, this was no coincidence.

Li Zhao frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice with a serious expression: "Yao'er, in my opinion, these symbols are most likely secret codes used by some people to convey information." His eyes were fixed on those strange symbols, and various possibilities were rapidly thinking in his mind.

Su Mengyao nodded slightly, indicating that she agreed with Li Zhao's opinion.

Her beautiful eyes sparkled with intelligence as she whispered, "These symbols look quite similar to some ancient cipher. Perhaps they're connected to some unknown secret of a neighboring country."

As she spoke, all sorts of guesses and inferences emerged in her mind.

Li Zhao and Su Mengyao looked at each other, and they could read deep worry in each other's eyes.

They know very well that behind these seemingly insignificant symbols, there must be crucial information hidden.

To successfully crack these mysterious ciphers is like climbing a steep and dangerous peak, which is full of difficulties and challenges.

"My dear, the situation is urgent. Have you thought of a way to deal with it?"

Li Zhao asked in a low voice with an anxious look on his face, a glimmer of expectation flickering in his bright eyes.

Su Mengyao frowned slightly, and was silent for a while as if thinking about something. Then she slowly said, "I once heard Mr. mention that in ancient times, there was a mysterious code called the "I Ching Bagua."

It seems to me that these strange symbols we see might be related to this. So, let's start our investigation from there.

"Hearing this, Li Zhao's originally tense expression relaxed a little. He nodded slightly to show his agreement and said hopefully:

"That's great. Without further ado, let's head to the library to look through the relevant texts, hoping to find some clues."

Just at this moment, a eunuch hurriedly ran up to the two of them, looking extremely panicked.

He was heard gasping for breath as he shouted, "Your Highness, Miss Su, this is terrible! Someone just discovered a large number of the same symbols in another dense forest outside the palace walls. There are also some puzzling and strange traces left there."

Upon hearing the news, Li Zhao and Su Mengyao looked at each other, their hearts in their throats instantly.

Li Zhao acted decisively and shouted, "Hurry up and lead the way. Lead me down to investigate!"

After saying that, he and Su Mengyao followed closely behind, walking quickly towards the mysterious woods.

In another quiet and deep forest, the moonlight as bright as water shines on the ground through the gaps between the lush branches and leaves.

A group of eunuchs, holding lanterns, carefully moved through the forest, scanning the surroundings with eyes as sharp as hawks, not missing any details.

After searching for a long time, a sharp-eyed eunuch finally found something in a very hidden corner and shouted in surprise: "Come and see! I think we found something here!"

Everyone gathered quickly upon hearing the noise. Sure enough, in that shadowy corner, a host of mysterious symbols and some puzzling, strange traces suddenly appeared.

These newly discovered symbols are strikingly similar to those seen before, but their arrangement is completely different, as if they contain some special pattern or deep meaning.

At this moment, another eunuch noticed something strange on the ground. He squatted down and gently touched the soil that had obviously been disturbed with his fingers. Then he raised his head and reported to Li Zhao and Su Mengyao:

"Your Highness, there's some disturbed soil here. Judging from these traces, it seems someone once stayed here briefly."

Hearing this, Li Zhao and Su Mengyao hurriedly squatted down and moved closer to take a closer look.

Su Mengyao frowned slightly and stared at the symbols and traces thoughtfully. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, as if she had caught some important clue.

She lowered her voice and said to Li Zhao beside her, "Brother Zhao, don't you think the arrangement of these symbols is very similar to the pattern on the embroidery we accidentally found in the school? However, upon closer comparison, I can still detect some differences. In my opinion, these symbols are most likely a kind of encrypted text in a state of flux."

After saying this, a hint of excitement that was hard to conceal flashed in her eyes.

Li Zhao nodded slightly in agreement, and began to ponder in his heart, and couldn't help but have some guesses:

"In my opinion, these mysterious symbols are most likely the coded text used by those people to transmit real-time dynamic messages. The most urgent task now is to quickly decipher the deep meaning contained in these symbols. Only then can we understand their true hidden intentions."

After saying that, the two of them rushed back to the palace without stopping.

As soon as they entered the palace, Li Zhao and Su Mengyao plunged into the sea of ​​books and began to read through the vast ancient books, hoping to find the key clues to unravel the mystery of these ciphers.

Time passed minute by minute, and the two of them searched intently, not missing any clues.

Hard work pays off. After some arduous efforts, Su Mengyao's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had discovered a new world. She shouted excitedly, "Brother Zhao, come and look over here!"

She pointed excitedly at the yellowed ancient book in her hand - a page in the ancient annotations of the "Book of Changes". On the page were some patterns that were extremely similar to the symbols they had discovered before.

Li Zhao approached the mysterious symbols cautiously, examining them carefully without blinking, fearing to miss any details.

He frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "These symbols do seem to bear a strong resemblance to the 'Eight Trigrams' symbols recorded in the book! But... why is the arrangement so strange? It seems completely different from the conventional 'Eight Trigrams' layout. Could it be that they are actually a mutated 'Eight Trigrams' cipher?"

Su Mengyao, who was standing aside, nodded slightly, indicating that she agreed with Li Zhao's opinion.

A subtle glimmer of hope flashed across her beautiful eyes, and she whispered:

"In that case, why not boldly try to use the original interpretation method of the Eight Trigrams to decipher these strange symbols? Perhaps, behind these seemingly chaotic symbols, there is some crucial information that can even change our destiny!"