PS: Second update tonight, seeking monthly ticket support! If you have any, please cast a few votes, thank you. "What kind of lock is this?" At this moment, Yu Feibai scrutinized the lock dial, frowning in thought. "It looks remarkably like a compass used by a Feng Shui master." Though unsaid, the locking mechanism inside the Golden Casket was perfectly circular.

The outermost ring consisted of the Twelve Earthly Branches, followed sequentially by the Ten Heavenly Stems, the Nine Palaces, the Bagua, the Seven Stars, **, the Five Elements, the Four Symbols, Yin and Yang, and other characters.

It did indeed bear a resemblance to the structure of a luopan (compass). "You are correct; this is a compass lock." At this point, Old Hou shook his head and sighed. "This type of lock requires no real technical skill, yet it is the hardest to crack.

Unless you know the password, the only way is to test every single combination until you hit the right one.

The problem is, the base number of combinations arranged like this is absolutely massive..." As he spoke, Old Hou managed a wry smile. "In the past year, we have only verified a small fraction of the massive number of possible passwords.

It’s mainly because it’s too tedious and has become a chore.

Inputting a hundred passwords daily is already causing young Qin and the others to complain bitterly." "That's only natural." Young Qin grumbled from the side, "We once hired someone at a high salary specifically to input passwords.

Moreover, while he was inputting them, we had to station someone next to him to watch to prevent him from cheating and skipping any combinations—that would have been a huge problem.

But he only lasted ten days before he couldn't stand it anymore and quit outright..." "I counted, and there are nine categories of options.

What is the numerical combination sequence from one to nine?" Yu Feibai asked, blinking. "We don't know," Wang Guan replied vaguely but with certainty. "It's definitely enough to drive a person insane." "Exactly right." Yu Feibai deeply agreed.

The mere thought of it made him shudder.

Constantly inputting passwords, and ensuring every single one was entered perfectly.

If even one mistake occurred halfway through, and after entering all the numbers the lock remained sealed, they would certainly have to start verifying all over again...

Thinking of this, Yu Feibai felt a chill down his spine.

He felt it would be better to just kill him outright.

Of course, there was another option: simply forcing the Golden Casket open.

After all, an ancient Golden Casket certainly wouldn't possess the self-destruct mechanisms of a modern, professional safe that activates upon external interference to destroy its contents.

However, the idea of brute-forcing the casket open was impossible.

Never mind the contents, the casket itself was an extremely precious cultural relic.

Although this casket had not been officially announced to the public, many people certainly knew about it.

Anyone who dared to act hastily and cause even the slightest damage to the relic would surely face public condemnation.

The entire point of excavating cultural relics is for better preservation, not destruction.

To violate this principle is no different from being a tomb robber. "This type of combination lock is very difficult to open," At the same time, Fang Mingsheng nodded. "If you don't know or have forgotten the password, the only recourse is to calculate it bit by bit.

Haven't I told you about that incident before? They couldn't excavate in other areas, and explosives were buried beneath the main door—who would dare saw or smash at it? Boom, and the whole thing explodes..." "So, besides this cumbersome method, there's no other way?" Yu Feibai frowned, sighing in disappointment. "I was really hoping to find out if the legendary archives of the Golden Casket Pact were actually inside." "It's not just you who wants to know; we are even more curious," Old Hou said with a helpless smile, yet lost in thought. "It’s not that there are no other methods.

It’s just that compared to this effective, brute-force method, the others are even less reliable." "What methods?" Yu Feibai’s eyes lit up, and he quickly pressed on. "The item is a supreme treasure from the Song Imperial Court," Old Hou smiled. "More precisely, it should belong to Emperor Taizong of Song.

If you can grasp his mindset and deduce the password he set, then unlocking it naturally becomes simple." "As unreliable as expected." Yu Feibai frowned, then pondered, "Speaking of which, what was Emperor Taizong's birthday? Or maybe his mobile number? It would be even better if we knew his WeChat ID..." "What nonsense are you talking about?" Wang Guan said, torn between laughter and tears.

How could there be mobile phones and WeChat in ancient times? However, the direction of Yu Feibai's thinking wasn't entirely unsound.

People generally have a habit of setting familiar numbers as passwords because they are easier to remember; perhaps Emperor Taizong was the same.

Of course, ancient birthdays weren't represented by a string of digits, but by the so-called Bazi (Eight Characters).

Modern historical dramas frequently mention Shengchen Bazi.

Some viewers might understand what this means, while others might not fully grasp its significance.

Shengchen (birth date) is relatively easy to understand: it refers to the year, month, day, and hour of birth.

As for the Bazi, it's because the ancient calendar system did not use purely numerical expressions but combined the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, creating a sixty-year Jiazi cycle.

This combination applied not only to the year but also to the month, day, and hour, all expressible through Stems and Branches—this is what the I Ching refers to as the Four Pillars.

Each pillar has two characters, making eight characters in total, hence the term Shengchen Bazi.

If they could know Emperor Taizong's Shengchen Bazi, and if they were certain he used it to set the password, it would certainly save a lot of effort; at least the numbers on the outer two rings of the compass lock would be settled.

However, Old Hou once again shook his head with a bitter smile. "We have researched not only Emperor Taizong's Shengchen Bazi but also the dates of his ascension to the throne and his eventual death, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem very effective." "...Then there's nothing to be done," Yu Feibai spread his hands. "As expected, apart from the brute-force method, the only other option is to hope for a blind cat to run into a dead mouse.

Actually, my luck is quite good; may I have a try?" As he spoke, Yu Feibai looked expectant; clearly, his last sentence was the key point. "Of course, you may," Old Hou chuckled. "Since today's task is finished, and we have records related to this, we aren't afraid of you messing up the password sequence." "Haha, in that case, I won't be polite," Yu Feibai rubbed his hands together and joked, "If I unlock it, is there a reward?" "There is a reward," Old Hou actually nodded. "As long as you don't unlock it by going through the sequence, you will receive a bonus of one hundred thousand, a major commendation, and your year-end bonus will be doubled." "Wow, that sounds quite generous," Yu Feibai whistled, then put on a long face. "But, I don't think I'm part of the research institute.

The major commendation and year-end bonus have nothing to do with me." "Stop messing around," Wang Guan chided with a smile at this moment. "The lock hasn't even been opened yet, and you're already concerned about the reward.

Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?" "Laughed at for what? I'm fighting for my legitimate rights; I'm being completely open and above board.

What's there to laugh about?" Yu Feibai huffed, then squatted down next to the Golden Casket, beginning to ponder how to crack the lock's combination.

The Earthly Branches, Heavenly Stems, Nine Palaces, Bagua, Seven Stars, **, Five Elements, Four Symbols, Yin and Yang—there were nine categories in total.

But the number of choices within each category varied.

Therefore, the possible permutations were limitless, making the difficulty far from ordinary. "The Twelve Earthly Branches: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai.

Among these, Zi is held in the highest regard, so Zi must be first," Yu Feibai slowly analyzed. "As for the Ten Heavenly Stems: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui—of course, Jia is the most honored..." "The Nine Palaces: Zheng Gong, Zhong Lü Gong, Nan Lü Gong, Xian Lü Gong, Huang Zhong Gong, Da Mian Diao, Shuang Diao, Shang Diao, Yue Diao.

Emperor Taizong was the Emperor, so he must reside in the Zheng Gong; that is absolutely certain." Yu Feibai declared with conviction.

After selecting one option, he immediately beamed. "This Bagua is even simpler: Qian represents Heaven, and the Emperor is known as the Son of Heaven.

Naturally, this is the one." "The Seven Stars?" At this point, Yu Feibai hesitated slightly. "The Big Dipper's Seven Stars: Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Yu Heng, Kai Yang, Yao Guang.

Which do you think has a greater probability?" "You're guessing randomly anyway, so just pick one," Wang Guan joked, having little faith in Yu Feibai's decryption attempt. "Hmph." Yu Feibai curled his lip, hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind decisively. "Since he was an Emperor, he must have enjoyed supreme authority, so I'll choose Tian Quan...

Yu Feibai frowned, then became indecisive again. "Up, Down, East, West, South, North—which will it be? Never mind, Heaven above and Earth below—as the Emperor, he must be connected to Heaven, Huang Shang Huang Shang (Emperor, Emperor)—it's settled." After making a swift decision on the ** aspect, Yu Feibai’s finger moved to the Five Elements, then he smiled broadly. "Hehe, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—this is childishly simple.

This is a Golden Casket (Jin Kui), so it must be Metal! Even the Emperor's dragon robes are the color of gold; could it be anything else?" "That might not be the case," Just then, Old Hou chuckled. "In the Northern Song Dynasty, purple was esteemed.

The Emperor's dragon robes might have been purple, not the bright yellow of the Ming Dynasty." "Uh? Really or not?" Yu Feibai blinked, somewhat confused. "Didn't people say, 'The yellow robe is draped over him' (Huang Pao Jia Shen)?" "That saying is something derived from later generations," Old Hou smiled faintly. "In official history, it only mentions the Mutiny at Chenqiao.

Furthermore, the robes worn by Song Dynasty emperors, apart from the formal court dress for sacrifices, weren't overly particular in daily life—they often wore simple casual attire, which could be red, yellow, or purple, according to the Emperor's personal preference.

It wasn't as strictly regulated as in the Ming or Qing Dynasties." "The Song Dynasty advocated for a simple aesthetic; the Emperor needed to set an example and wouldn't wear anything too ostentatious," Wang Guan added with a smile. "I recall that high-ranking officials in the Northern Song Dynasty were allowed to wear robes with dragon motifs.

It seems Emperor Taizu once specifically asked Chancellor Zhao Pu, 'Why do your clothes have dragons, but mine do not?' Zhao Pu replied that it was because high officials were dragons among men, hence the dragon patterns on their robes." "You are correct," Old Hou chuckled. "In fact, elevating the status of the dragon exclusively to royalty only began in the Yuan Dynasty, reaching its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, becoming a symbol exclusive to the royal family..." "Hey, hey, hey, aren't we getting off-topic?" At that moment, Yu Feibai protested strongly. "The focus now is on me trying to crack the password, not on you all discussing the merits of historical imperial vestments." "Then continue," Wang Guan casually replied. "The Four Symbols: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise—which one will you choose?" "I was initially going to pick the Dragon, but after hearing what you said, it seems the Dragon wasn't such a big deal in the Song Dynasty, which makes this difficult," Yu Feibai hesitated for a moment.

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