Legend of the Embroiderer

The night in the palace grew darker. Li Zhao and Su Mengyao sat in the study, with the desk piled with ancient books and manuscripts.

They have consulted a lot of information, trying to decipher the meaning of those mysterious symbols.

The pages of the "Book of Changes" annotations in Su Mengyao's hands were rustling as she turned them. Her eyes were fixed on the Bagua symbols in the book, trying to find clues from them.

"Your Highness, I think these symbols may be variations of the principles of the 'Eight Trigrams'."

Su Mengyao said softly, with a hint of excitement in her eyes, "Look, although the arrangement of these symbols is different from the traditional Bagua, the basic structure and meaning seem to be retained."

Li Zhao nodded slightly, took the book from Su Mengyao, and examined it carefully: "Indeed, although the arrangement of these symbols is complicated, there seems to be a certain pattern. We can try to decipher them using the Bagua interpretation method."

Su Mengyao frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then said, "However, the arrangement of these symbols has obviously been carefully designed and may contain some special meaning. We cannot simply interpret them according to the traditional Bagua."

Li Zhao pondered for a moment, a flicker of determination in his eyes. "Yao'er, we might as well start with the locations where these symbols appeared. They appeared in the woods outside the palace walls and in the academy, so this might not be a coincidence."

Su Mengyao nodded slightly, and she had some guesses in her mind: "Yes, these places may be related to the meaning of the symbols. We can try to connect these symbols with the places and see if we can find some clues."

Li Zhao and Su Mengyao took action immediately. They classified all the symbols they found by location and carefully studied the arrangement of each symbol and the environment in which it appeared.

After some effort, they discovered an astonishing pattern - the arrangement of these symbols did have some mysterious connection with the places where they appeared.

"My dear, look here!" Li Zhao pointed to a map on the table, which marked the locations where all the symbols were found.

"The arrangement of symbols outside the palace walls is more complex, while the symbols inside the academy are relatively simple. This may be because the terrain outside the palace walls is more complex, while the layout inside the academy is relatively simple."

Su Mengyao nodded slightly, a hint of excitement flashing in her eyes: "Yes, the symbols outside the palace wall may represent a specific location outside the palace, and the symbols in the school may represent a specific place inside the palace. We can try to match these symbols with specific locations and see if we can find some clues."

At this critical moment, a eunuch came rushing over with an extremely panicked look on his face, as if he had encountered something earth-shattering.

He gasped for breath and stammered, "Your Highness, Miss Su, something terrible has happened! We have discovered a large number of mysterious symbols in another wood outside the palace walls. Not only that, there are also many strange traces left there!"

Upon hearing this, Li Zhao and Su Mengyao couldn't help but look at each other. The moment their eyes met, they could clearly feel the astonishment surging in each other's hearts.

Li Zhao frowned, his face solemn as he immediately gave the order: "There is no time to lose. Lead the way quickly and take me there to investigate!"

Led by the eunuch, everyone rushed to the mysterious forest without stopping.

The bright moonlight fell on the woods like water, covering the entire scene with a layer of silver gauze.

The eunuchs held torches, opened their eyes wide, and searched the forest carefully, not missing any clues.

Hard work pays off. After a long search, they finally found those creepy symbols and many strange traces in an extremely hidden corner.

These newly discovered symbols are identical to those seen before, but their arrangement is completely different, making them even more confusing and unfathomable.

Just as everyone was contemplating these symbols, a sharp-eyed eunuch suddenly pointed to a spot on the ground and shouted, "Your Highness, look, there's some soil that's clearly been disturbed. It looks like someone has been here before."

Hearing this, everyone's attention was immediately drawn to that seemingly inconspicuous piece of land.

Li Zhao and Su Mengyao quickly squatted down, staring at the mysterious symbols with sharp eyes, their expressions focused and solemn.

Su Mengyao frowned slightly, her beautiful eyes staring at the symbol in front of her. Suddenly, she seemed to have discovered some important clue and exclaimed in a delicate voice.

"My dear, look! The arrangement of these symbols is surprisingly similar to the patterns on the embroidery supplies we stumbled upon in the academy earlier! However... there seem to be some subtle differences."

Su Mengyao whispered softly while stretching out her jade hand to gently gesture the differences between the symbols, with excitement flashing in her eyes.

When Li Zhao heard this, he nodded slightly to show his agreement.

His deep eyes were fixed on those mysterious symbols, and his mind began to think rapidly.

After a moment, he spoke thoughtfully, "Well, Sister Yao is absolutely right. In my opinion, these symbols are most likely not ordinary static signs, but a kind of cipher with specific patterns and the ability to change dynamically. I think someone must have deliberately used this obscure method to convey some key information."

Having said that, Li Zhao's eyes became more determined, and he already had some preliminary guesses in his mind about how to solve this mystery.

Just as the two were concentrating on studying these mysterious symbols, a burst of hurried footsteps came from afar.

The two looked in the direction of the sound and saw a palace maid running towards them in a panic with a look of panic on her face.

By the time she got close, the maid was already panting and gasping for breath, shouting intermittently, "Miss Su...something terrible has happened! Something happened at the academy...again!"

Su Mengyao's heart suddenly shook, and a look of astonishment instantly appeared on her face. She hurriedly asked, "What happened? How could this happen?"

The maid's body began to tremble uncontrollably, her voice trembling. "Your Majesty, someone accidentally found a letter in the academy's cabinet. The words written on this letter are extremely strange and bizarre, and it even mentions the so-called 'final plan'!"

Li Zhao and Su Mengyao couldn't help but look at each other, their eyes full of surprise and horror.

Li Zhao's face was solemn. He lowered his voice and said to Su Mengyao, "Yao'er, this is urgent. We must rush back to the academy immediately and find out what important contents are written in that letter."

At this moment, in the school, a group of palace maids were gathered together in panic, and everyone's expression was filled with fear.

One of the palace maids was seen tightly clutching a letter wrapped in cloth, and the handwriting on the letter looked rather hastily, sloppily and disorganized.

At this moment, Li Zhao and Su Mengyao hurriedly stepped into the school gate. They walked straight to the palace maid holding the letter, carefully took the mysterious letter from her hand, and then slowly unfolded it and examined it carefully.

When they saw the specific contents of the letter, they were shocked like a raging storm in their hearts:

"Respectfully addressed to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Su: The reforms you have implemented have seriously infringed upon the vested interests of many. Those seemingly ordinary embroidery items are merely a cover-up. Our true intention is to completely thwart your reforms. Now, the 'final plan' is on the verge of being launched. Even if you possess the power to see through the heavens and the earth, I'm afraid you would be powerless to reverse the situation and prevent it. —The mysterious person left a message."

Li Zhao and Su Mengyao's eyes met, and both of them revealed deep uneasiness and worry.

Su Mengyao opened her red lips slightly and lowered her voice, saying, "Brother Zhao, based on what this letter says, they clearly have a much larger plan hidden. If we can't quickly uncover their true intentions, this reform, which so crucially affects the fate of our nation, will inevitably end in disastrous failure."

Li Zhao nodded slightly, agreeing with Su Mengyao's opinion. A flash of cold light suddenly flashed in his deep eyes, as if it could penetrate the thick fog before his eyes.

He then responded in a firm tone, "That's right. We must not allow them another opportunity. Yao'er, you will remain in the palace for the time being and comfort those frightened palace maids and stabilize the situation. As for me, I will immediately leave the palace to investigate and search for any clues left outside the palace walls, hoping to track their whereabouts."

Su Mengyao nodded lightly, her beautiful eyes also flashing with a hint of determination: "Don't worry, my beloved. I will definitely stay here and wait for your safe return.

But this trip is full of dangers, so you must be careful!" After saying this, her delicate face showed a trace of concern.

Li Zhao resolutely turned around and walked away with steady and powerful steps. At this moment, his heart was already filled with a strong sense of mission.

He knew that time was running out and the task was arduous. If he couldn't quickly uncover the mystery and find out the truth, all the hard work and efforts of everyone before would be in vain.