The moment Wang Guan threw open the iron coffer, Yu Feibai’s jaw dropped, his eyes seeming ready to bulge from their sockets.

"Haha, it seems this lock was somewhat corroded by centuries of time's erosion. A few light prods, and the lock mechanism loosened right open," Wang Guan said with a slight smile. In truth, he had cheated, using a special ability to see the entire internal structure through the gaps, which allowed him to open the iron coffer with ease.

At the same time, this explanation barely managed to convince Yu Feibai, though he couldn't help but sigh, shaking his head. "If I’d known, I wouldn't have gathered so many tools. I had to sneak around collecting them, like a common thief, and got interrogated by the old man dozens of times."

"You’ve had a hard time," Wang Guan said, feeling a touch of empathy.

After all, the provenance of this iron coffer seemed less than pristine. That was why, when he was in the sanatorium, even though he possessed the ability to open it, he hesitated for so long—fearing the nurses making their rounds might discover it and he wouldn't be able to offer a satisfactory explanation.

"It's finally done. Enough talk, quickly see what’s inside the box," Yu Feibai urged, his eyes fixed intently on the iron coffer, bordering on the desperate.

"Right..."

Wang Guan, no less excited, gently lifted the slightly sprung lid. Immediately, air flowed in, and a musty odor wafted out, forming a slight vortex in the space.

"Cough, cough..." Fine dust particles blew into their faces. Caught off guard, both men choked a little. Yet, neither made a move to retreat. They merely blinked, then bent down again to examine the iron coffer.

If this were a scene from a movie or a martial arts novel, opening the coffer would trigger hidden mechanisms or spray poison. Unprepared as they were, they would likely be dead.

Fortunately, they weren't so unlucky, and they clearly saw that the box held none of the expected gold or silver treasures. Instead, resting quietly inside were two distinct objects: one long and one square.

The elongated object lay at the bottom, thickly wrapped in strips of cloth. The square object rested on top, also encased in a piece of yellow silk, obscuring what the items truly were to their eyes.

After a brief look, Yu Feibai wasn't disappointed; rather, his voice trembled slightly. "Wang Guan, I have a feeling we might have stumbled onto something significant."

"How so?" Wang Guan asked casually, taking a slow breath to steady his own excitement.

"Did you see the dark dragon pattern on the yellow silk?" Yu Feibai whispered. "A five-clawed golden dragon motif on yellow silk—that couldn't be used casually in ancient times. I once saw a piece at the Palace Museum; it was specifically used to wrap the Imperial Seal."

"The Imperial Seal?" Wang Guan started, then his face lit up with joy. Scrutinizing the square object again, the more he looked, the more certain he became that it was a box, perhaps truly containing something as valuable as an Imperial Seal.

"We'll know soon enough,"

As he spoke, Yu Feibai reached out and carefully lifted the yellow-silk-wrapped square object. He then painstakingly peeled away the silk covering. Instantly, a box lacquered in jet black was revealed before them.

Without pausing to examine the box itself, Yu Feibai impatiently flipped the lid open. A shimmer of crystal-clear brilliance flashed out from the box before receding, returning to a warm, soft sheen.

"It really is an Imperial Seal," Yu Feibai exclaimed, his hands trembling slightly as he carefully lifted the object from the box.

Wang Guan observed closely. The Seal was carved from a pale blue-white jade. Its color, pure and creamy like congealed fat, carried a subtle brightness reminiscent of clear, flowing water. Atop the Seal was a magnificent, crested tiger-head knob. The tiger’s form was vivid; its eyes shone piercingly, its mane bristled, radiating majesty.

The Xi (Seal), was essentially a stamp. Before the Qin Dynasty, there was no strict demarcation between Xi, Yin (Stamp), and Zhang (Seal), nor for the various knobs—dragon, tiger, or qilin. However, after Qin Shi Huang unified the nation, a clear regulation was established: only the great seal used by the Emperor could be called a Xi; all others were forbidden from using that title.

From then on, Xi became the exclusive term for the Emperor's seal. Zhang Xianzhong had also established a dynasty and proclaimed himself Emperor; his great seal could barely qualify as a Xi. Of course, the immediate task was to confirm whether this jade seal belonged to Zhang Xianzhong.

"Quick, look at the characters engraved on the base,"

At Wang Guan's prompt, Yu Feibai hastily turned the Seal over to view the inscription surface. He saw four characters carved in seal script. However, because the script was reversed and some residual, bright red vermilion paste still clung to the surface, obscuring the writing, they couldn't decipher it immediately.

"Get some paper, I need to make an impression," Yu Feibai urgently requested.

"Where’s the paper..." Wang Guan searched frantically and suddenly spotted a glass mirror on the bedside table. An idea sparked, and he quickly brought the mirror over, positioning it directly over the seal face.

A reversal of the reversal yields the original. After a slight wobble, the Seal's characters immediately appeared in the mirror's reflection.

"Da... Xi... Zhi... Bao!" Yu Feibai read the seal script characters one by one, then burst out in mingled surprise and elation. "Just as expected, this is truly Zhang Xianzhong's Imperial Seal."

In his excitement, Wang Guan smiled and remarked, "You're so certain, aren't you worried it might be a fake?"

"A fake? Impossible," Yu Feibai countered.

"Oh? You’re that sure?" Wang Guan was somewhat perplexed. After all, Wang Guan could use his special abilities to verify the authenticity and approximate age of the Seal. But Yu Feibai lacked such a gift.

If simply seeing the inscription "Dà Xī Zhī Bǎo" was enough to authenticate the Seal, then people could carve any piece of jade into that shape, etch the characters, and flood the streets with Imperial Seals.

"Of course, I am," Yu Feibai nodded seriously, chuckling broadly. "Unless the story you spun about digging up treasure in the deep mountains was a fabrication to trick me, all the evidence points to this being genuine."

"So that's how you reasoned it out," Wang Guan felt a slight disappointment, having hoped Yu Feibai could make a detailed and definitive assessment based on the Seal itself. That would have been a chance for him to learn something new.

"What's with that expression?" Yu Feibai frowned. "First the treasure map, then the Xī Wáng Shǎng Gōng coins, and now the Tiger Might Token—we have a clear line of evidence, isn't that enough?"

"Not enough," Wang Guan shook his head. "If there were no supporting evidence, and you just happened upon this Seal, could you truly verify its authenticity?"

"The world isn't made up of 'what ifs.'"

Grumbling slightly, Yu Feibai asserted confidently, "But don't underestimate me. At the very least, I can determine that this jade is truly top-grade material. Do you know what kind of jade this is?"

"Hetian Jade?" Wang Guan guessed.

"No, it’s Dushan Jade from Nanyang."

Yu Feibai preened slightly. "Heh, stop guessing every jade is Hetian Jade. Although most Imperial Seals from previous dynasties were carved from beautiful Hetian Jade, there were occasional exceptions."

"I spent a good amount of time researching Zhang Xianzhong these past couple of days while tracing the origins of the Tiger Might Token."

Pausing, Yu Feibai continued with a smile. "China’s Three Great Jades are Hetian Jade, Xiuyan Jade, and Dushan Jade. Of these, only Dushan Jade originates from the central plains. Given the chaos and turmoil of the late Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xianzhong might have managed to acquire Hetian or Xiuyan Jade through plunder. But for a piece of jade this large, suitable for carving an Imperial Seal, the best choice would unequivocally be Dushan Jade."

Wang Guan nodded slightly, finding some merit in the logic. Indeed, the Seal, exceeding ten centimeters in both length and height, possessed a fine, supple texture and a translucent luster—undoubtedly superb jade material.

In those years of war and unrest, transportation would certainly have been hampered. Zhang Xianzhong would also have been preoccupied with defending his territory and campaigning. It’s unlikely he would have had the mind to send men to distant regions to procure Hetian Jade. Therefore, settling for the next best option, using Dushan Jade to craft the Seal, made sense.

Of course, while this reasoning held some weight, it could only serve as reference, not as the primary basis for authenticating the Seal.

Meanwhile, Yu Feibai added with a grin, "Also, when visiting the Imperial Seals at the Palace Museum, I overheard the docent discussing the evolution of seals across the dynasties. There was one specific detail that stuck in my memory."

"What detail?" Wang Guan quickly inquired, now quite energized. When authenticating an artifact, seemingly insignificant small details often play a decisive role.

"Before the Tang Dynasty, Imperial Seals sometimes featured dragon, tiger, or qilin knobs. But in the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan's grandfather was named Li Hu and served as a minister in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, titled Duke of Tang—which is where the Tang dynasty name originated," Yu Feibai spoke fluently. "Thereafter, when Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, to avoid his grandfather's taboo name, they ceased using tiger-knobbed Seals."

"Consequently, after the Tang Dynasty, the form of Imperial Seals became largely standardized. They exclusively used dragon knobs—coiled dragon knobs, crouching dragon knobs, entwined dragon knobs, facing dragon knobs, and so on. The tiger-knob form was never seen again."

Yu Feibai smiled affably. "Coincidentally, while researching these past few days, I found historical records stating Zhang Xianzhong was tall with a sallow complexion, and fiercely brave in battle, earning him the nickname 'Yellow Tiger' and being known as the Eighth Great King. Since Zhang Xianzhong rose from the ranks of peasant rebels and favored the 'Yellow Tiger' moniker, often comparing himself to a fierce tiger, it is highly probable that only he would have commissioned and used a tiger-knobbed Imperial Seal."

"Clap, clap, clap, clap..."

Wang Guan couldn't help but applaud softly, giving a thumbs-up. Setting aside all other factors, just listening to Yu Feibai's analysis provided an eighty percent certainty that this object was indeed the Imperial Seal Zhang Xianzhong used when establishing his reign.

"You flatter me, you flatter me,"

At this, Yu Feibai suddenly became modest, grinning. "If you aren't reassured, you can always have experts examine it. Or, better yet, take the vermilion paste from the bottom of the Seal for analysis. That paste must be several centuries old, too."

"We'll discuss that later. Right now, I need to see what treasure is hidden in the coffer alongside the Seal, clearly an object of equal importance," Wang Guan said enthusiastically, reaching out to pull out the long, cloth-wrapped item. (To be continued)