After speaking, the group exchanged glances again. For now, these were all that could be seen; the rest would depend on the seal impression underneath.
Sun Chaofeng was the eldest among them. He took a deep breath and said to Jiang Xueyan, "I must trouble you, Miss, to flip the seal over so we can take a look."
Jiang Xueyan found it a bit strange; couldn't they just turn it over themselves?
She didn't say it out loud, but simply reached toward the seal. The several old Baochang over there hurriedly said, "Don't touch it with your hands; use a silk handkerchief. Slowly, slowly, you must be very gentle."
The reason they had Jiang Xueyan turn it instead of Jiang Quan was because a woman's hands are delicate and soft.
As a result, when Jiang Xueyan extended her hands, whether they were soft or not was unknown, but they were certainly not delicate; they were covered in the hard calluses left behind from martial arts training.
Fortunately, she held the seal very gently, allowing those elderly masters to bow their heads and examine it closely for a long time.
Sun Chaofeng said while looking, "The incised groove is curved, the edges are rounded."
The railings are narrow and uniform.
The layout is well-balanced, both grand and dignified.
“The face of the seal is worn evenly, the ink is thick and shows varying shades of depth.”
After saying that, the several attendants straightened their bodies again, their expressions turning somewhat solemn.
Jiang Quan listened with only a partial understanding and couldn't help but ask, "Then what is written on this? And whose seal is this?"
The several Chaofeng confirmed once again that these two young men and women were both illiterate.
Sun Chaofeng hesitated for a long time before saying, "The inscription on this is: 'By mandate of Heaven, may he live long and prosper.'"
Jiang Xueyan and Jiang Quan looked completely bewildered: What on earth is that?
Wang Chaofeng simply explained, "This item is extremely valuable. Please report this to His Majesty and make sure to find someone to investigate it thoroughly. Our level of knowledge is limited, so we do not dare to draw any conclusions."
Jiang Xueyan and Jiang Quan could tell from their expressions that the seal was certainly extraordinary. After seeing the men off, they carried the seal to the study.
At this time, Zhu Ci had just finished discussing the upcoming strategic deployment with Liu Zhaoji and He Gang, was currently drinking tea and making small talk.
Upon seeing Jiang Xueyan and Jiang Quan, Zhu Ci sat up slightly and asked, "What did they say?"
Jiang Xueyan repeated their judgment and finally said, "They said they do not dare to reach a definitive conclusion."
Zhu Ci took a deep breath and asked, "Is the inscription on the seal in Seal Script? What does it say?"
Jiang Quan said, "They said it is some kind of small seal script, it says.. Mandated by Heaven, may he live long and prosper."
Pfft!
Liu Zhaoji, who was drinking tea, He Gang instantly sprayed all the tea in their mouths out.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Wait a moment, let me sort this out, something isn't quite right! A kitten wraps its tail around a seal and looks around warily. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 129
Liu Zhaoji suddenly stood up and asked, "What thing?"
Zhu Ci's gaze was uncharacteristically vacant: "The Heirloom Seal of the Realm."
Based on the judgment of those people just now, this thing might, perhaps, or seems to be.. real.
He Gang also could not sit still: "No, wasn't it said that the Imperial Jade Seal had already been lost?"
Liu Zhaoji was somewhat educated; he looked up, thought for a moment, said, "Didn't the Later Tang Emperor Li Congke take the Heirloom Seal of the Realm with him back then?"
Zhu Ci thought to himself, "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
He only knew that the Heirloom Seal of the Realm had been lost, but he knew nothing at all about how or when it had disappeared.
Zhu Ci looked at that small seal and said bluntly, "Forget it, leave this matter to the Grand Secretary."
His own fondness for the Heirloom Seal of the Realm stemmed entirely from the fact that it had been passed down from the Qin Dynasty.
Even the First Emperor of Qin once used it!
If it were real, he would certainly not use it, but instead enshrine it.
As for the symbolic meaning of the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, it held no value in his eyes; just because it had fallen into his hands, did that mean he would bow and submit to whoever else held it?
Similarly, even if this were true, would the Qing Army surrender directly?
That's not right. The Manchus haven't begun Sinicization yet, so it is highly likely that these people are even more illiterate than he is; they probably have no idea what the Imperial Jade Seal is, even if they did, they might not care.
He Gang asked with some visible restlessness, "Whom does Your Majesty intend to send back to Huaian? The news was not suppressed before, so it is highly likely that this matter has already spread. If someone intercepts the person halfway, what shall we do?"
Liu Zhaoji also said from the side, "Exactly, the area around Huaian is too small, making it inconvenient to keep things confidential."
Zhu Ci was left dazed by what he heard: Is it really that exaggerated?
In fact, what Liu Zhaoji and He Gang did not dare to say aloud was: how could something as important as the Imperial Hereditary Seal be handed over to someone else? If it fell into someone else's hands, what if they simply declared themselves Emperor?
Most importantly, their Grand Secretary truly has the capability to declare himself Emperor; although it was unknown why he submitted to the Little Emperor back then, considering that even Li Zicheng bowed his head, it didn't seem that unusual.
Anyway, one still had to keep a watchful eye on this person.
Seeing the look of confusion on Zhu Ci's face, He Gang could only say, "Your Majesty, since the news has not been suppressed, why not simply recruit talents from all under heaven to come and authenticate it? If it is authenticated as genuine, it will also be appropriate to offer sacrifices at the Imperial Mausoleum and the Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum."
Seeing how serious each of them looked, Zhu Ci said helplessly, "We are at war; how can we have the time for this?"
Liu Zhaoji and He Gang said in unison, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. With us here, we will not disappoint Your Majesty."
At this moment, both Liu Zhaoji and He Gang were as hyperactive as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
They both felt that the Imperial Seal was most likely real. This was the Imperial Seal, after all; did this not mean that the Mandate of Heaven belonged to the Great Ming?
Liu Zhaoji had already begun to imagine driving the Tartars all the way back to the northeast in one go.
Zhu Ci looked at them, knowing that with these two around, it would be impossible for him to go directly to the front lines, so he could only sigh and say, "Fine."
After agreeing, he turned around and wrote a letter to Fu. Actually, he had originally intended to write a letter to Huang Chunyao as well, but since he had just given Huang Chunyao a warning, he wondered how much the other man had reflected on it, so he decided to set it aside for now.
In terms of their relationship, he was certainly closer to Huang Chunyao.
As a result, whenever he encounters something now, he prefers to let Fu handle it.
On second thought, it might be because among all the officials in the imperial court, Fu is the youngest, since Fu has not yet formed any factions with the literati, he is still relatively at ease.
When Fu received the letter written by Zhu Ci, he opened it while wondering what kind of mischief his Little Emperor was up to this time.
He understood Zhu Ci quite well by now; under normal circumstances, if the Little Emperor felt he was in the right, he would write a direct imperial decree. If he felt the Censorate would reject a matter, he would write a letter to him to conduct things behind the scenes or to win him over to his side.
It was just that after Fu Zhan sent the letter, before he had even had time to form any thoughts about that stagnant handwriting, he was shocked by the contents within.
Even for someone as steady as him, he couldn't help but sit up straight.
He read this letter carefully three times before placing it on the desk and looking up toward the window.
The sunlight outside the window was bright at this moment; although the weather had already turned cool, the autumn sunlight was even brighter than the summer sun.
It was a rare piece of fine weather.
Fu exhaled a long breath after a long silence.
The Heirloom Seal of the Realm.
Fu could hardly imagine what kind of chain reaction this news would trigger once it spread.
No matter how the scholars of the world view the imperial court today, once this news spreads, the Little Emperor will inevitably become the focus of everyone's attention.
Fu's fingers tapped the armrest of the Grand Master's Chair for a long while in thought before he picked up his eyeglasses from the table, put on a wide-brimmed hat, left his Duty Room, heading all the way to the Censorate.
Inside the Censorate, Huang Chunyao was fiddling with a wooden tripod; ever since the last incident, the entire Censorate had fallen silent.
It was not that he was afraid, but rather that he had discovered that although the Little Emperor said he would relinquish power to the Grand Secretariat and the Censorate and would be content just being a figurehead, in reality, the Little Emperor still held the methods to balance the Censorate.
This method seemed as though it wouldn't cause any trouble for the time being, but if things escalated, every single person within the Censorate would be forced to resign in disgrace.
Huang Chunyao reflected for many days before suddenly remembering a sentence the Little Emperor had once said: a triangle possesses stability.
At that time, Huang Chunyao did not understand the meaning of those words, but when he remembered them a few days later, he had someone fetch a tripod. After comparing it with square and rectangular wooden frames, he suddenly understood the meaning of that sentence.
The Little Emperor had told him long ago that while he had given the Grand Secretariat and the Censorate the power to restrain imperial authority, he also possessed the power to restrain the Grand Secretariat and the Censorate; no party could expect to become too powerful.
Once Huang Chunyao understood, he began to ponder seriously about the future direction of the Censorate.
Under these circumstances, Fu's sudden personal visit caught him quite by surprise.
Huang Chunyao stood up and asked, "What brings Grand Secretary Fu here?"
Fu did not waste any more words with him and directly handed a portion of the letter to Huang Chunyao, saying concisely, "Take a look at this."
Well, although this letter mainly concerned the appraisal of the Heirloom Jade Seal, a small part of it was Zhu Ci expressing concern for his health, asking if his eyes had been feeling uncomfortable lately or if he had been exposed to too much sun.
There was no need for Huang Chunyao to see such content, otherwise, who knew what this Left Censor would think.
Huang Chunyao was somewhat puzzled, but he didn't ask anything and simply took the letter and read it through.
Compared to Fu, his emotions were clearly far more intense.
After reading the letter, he immediately stood up, his hands trembling slightly as he held the thin slip of paper. After swallowing several times, he asked hoarsely, "Is this true?"
Fu said steadily, "It hasn't been confirmed yet, but it is eighty percent likely to be true."
Good, good, good." Huang Chunyao was instantly moved to tears, "Heaven has not been unkind to my Great Ming!
Fu did not speak, feeling slightly moved in his heart.
After reading the letter, he was not as excited as Huang Chunyao.
Because of his unique nature, he felt no attachment to Great Ming, or rather, to this world, always remained detached.
In his eyes, the Heirloom Seal of the Realm was nothing more than a tool, a tool that could elevate the imperial court to a higher level.
Fortunately, Huang Chunyao quickly composed himself. While wiping away his tears, he said, "This old man has lost his composure; I have caused Grand Secretary Fu to laugh at me."
Fu shook his head and said, "Censor Huang is a man of passion."
Although Huang Chunyao tried his utmost to restrain his emotions, he ultimately could not maintain his composure. He paced back and forth in the Duty Room, clutching that half-letter, before finally asking, "We should advise His Majesty to return to Huaian, no.. not Huaian, we should advise His Majesty to return to Nanjing!"
Now that the Square Jade Seal has been obtained, it is time for him to ascend the throne.
Fu glanced at him: "His Majesty has already made it very clear in the letter; if the Imperial Seal is authenticated as genuine, he can go directly to pay his respects at the Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum and the Imperial Mausoleum."