Chapter 78

The Grand Summer Palace.

Outside the main hall.

The Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and various scholars stood quietly outside the hall, watching the officials frown in deep thought, feeling extremely pleased.

However, with the appearance of two figures.

Suddenly, all eyes were drawn to them.

"His Highness, Prince Qin?"

"Isn't that Gu Jinnian?"

"Why did they call him here?"

"It is Gu Jinnian."

As the name "Gu Jinnian" echoed, the entire court of the Furo Dynasty turned their gaze.

They were particularly sensitive to this name.

Outside the hall.

Emperor Yongsheng looked at the approaching Gu Jinnian, his brows filled with indescribable pleasure.

"Your student, Gu Jinnian, pays respects to Your Majesty."

"May Your Majesty live for ten thousand years, ten thousand upon ten thousand years."

Not far away.

Gu Jinnian did not continue to run quickly. With all the high-ranking officials and foreign envoys present, if he ran, wouldn't it be a loss of dignity?

He came before Emperor Yongsheng, showing great respect, and greeted him as a student.

However, at the same time, Gu Jinnian also glanced at the scepter beside him.

"Jinnian, there's no need to be so formal with your uncle."

Looking at Gu Jinnian, Emperor Yongsheng had a full smile, then he glanced at the Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and others.

He then looked back at Gu Jinnian and said,

"Jinnian."

"This object is called the Moonlight Scepter, bound by twelve golden chains, and there is a spiritless stone on it, making it impossible to remove by force using true qi or magic."

"Is there any way you can solve this?"

Emperor Yongsheng spoke directly, without any unnecessary words.

He had high hopes for his nephew.

But before Gu Jinnian could speak,

The voice of the Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire already rang out.

"Your Highness, I have heard of your great name."

"Your Highness, I have long admired you."

The Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire smiled and then pointed to the Moonlight Scepter.

"This object is a legendary treasure of our Holy Roman Empire, called the Moonlight Scepter. However, it is not the real one but a replica, yet it is invaluable."

"And it involves a legend of the Holy Roman Empire, specifically..."

The Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire looked at Gu Jinnian. Although it was their first meeting, he was not overly surprised but wanted to continue praising the Moonlight Scepter.

However, Gu Jinnian's voice already rang out.

"Your Highness, there's no need to explain. On the way here, His Highness Prince Qin has already informed me."

Gu Jinnian interrupted the long speech that was about to follow.

Instead, he quietly looked at the Moonlight Scepter.

On the way, Li Sui had roughly explained the situation, and he also knew the intentions of the Furo Dynasty.

Wasn't it just to provoke the Grand Summer Dynasty?

Looking at the scepter, with the Moonlight at the top and the Grand Summer bloodstone at the bottom, fixed by twelve golden chains, it was hard to believe there wasn't some hidden meaning.

But etiquette is like this; as long as the face isn't torn, even if they are clearly trying to provoke you, you have to endure it.

Especially since his uncle was the Emperor of the Grand Summer Dynasty, it was fine to scold his own people, but for foreign envoys, he had to maintain his image. Otherwise, it wouldn't just be the Emperor's face that was lost, but the face of the entire country.

But Gu Jinnian was different.

He could be more unrestrained.

"Oh, so Your Highness understands."

The Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire still smiled, but his smile was slightly stiff.

"Is the Emperor of Furo curious about how to remove this scepter?"

Gu Jinnian spoke, looking at the other party and asking.

"Yes."

"This has been a puzzle for the Furo Dynasty for thousands of years. My father said that the Grand Summer Dynasty must have wise people, so he specially sent me to seek the answer."

The Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire smiled and spoke.

But at that moment,

Gu Jinnian had already approached the scepter, and without any hesitation, he gathered his magic power and directly cut the twelve golden chains.

The scepter had a spiritless stone, but the golden chains were not spiritless. Even if they were pure gold, they could not withstand the magic power.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

The sound of the twelve chains breaking echoed.

Instantly, all the officials changed their expressions.

And the Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire spoke out of turn.

"Rude."

"You are destroying our national treasure. What are you doing?"

He shouted, somewhat losing his composure.

But as the twelve chains were cut, the Moonlight Scepter began to sway slightly, but fortunately, there was a red bloodstone below, so it did not fall.

At this moment, everyone was somewhat puzzled, looking at Gu Jinnian.

Even Emperor Yongsheng's expression was calm, but even the Crown Prince and Prince Qin had somewhat unpleasant expressions.

This was a precious gift from the Furo Dynasty, and Gu Jinnian directly destroyed it, which would not be good if it got out.

"Your Highness."

"Do not lose your composure."

At this moment, the Tenth Princess of Fuso spoke, looking at the Third Prince and saying so.

The Third Prince also realized he had lost his composure and calmed down, but there was still anger in his eyes as he looked at Gu Jinnian.

"Your Highness."

"Why did you destroy our Furo treasure?"

The Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire spoke, looking at Gu Jinnian and asking.

Hearing the Third Prince's words, Gu Jinnian turned around, his gaze calm.

"Does the Emperor of Furo want to know how the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire removed the Moonlight Scepter?"

"Didn't I already tell you?"

"It was done this way."

Gu Jinnian spoke, appearing very calm.

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.

Because Gu Jinnian directly destroyed the treasure, they did not immediately realize it, but now it seemed that it could be removed.

It really was like that.

"You are destroying it, not removing it."

The Third Prince spoke, thinking Gu Jinnian was being sophistical.

However, Gu Jinnian shook his head and said,

"You are wrong."

"This is the only answer."

"May I ask, did the Moonlight God ever say that the golden chains cannot be cut?"

"Or did the Emperor of Furo ever say that the golden chains cannot be cut?"

Gu Jinnian spoke calmly, asking the Third Prince.

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince was stunned.

Because it was indeed not said.

At this moment, a voice rang out.

"Indeed."

"This is the only answer."

The voice was Li Shan's. He looked at the Moonlight Scepter, his face showing a sudden realization.

"What does the Chancellor mean?"

An official, curious, could not help but ask.

At that moment,

Li Shan took a deep breath, looked at the Moonlight Scepter, then at Gu Jinnian, and slowly spoke.

"We have all been deceived."

"These twelve golden chains are actually our preconceived notions and our arrogance."

"The Moonlight Scepter is incredibly splendid and luxurious. Even the chains are made of gold, a rare treasure, so when we saw the Moonlight Scepter, it was an unparalleled treasure."

"Combined with the legend of the Moonlight, it gave us the illusion that sincerity is the key, misleading us to think about solving the problem."

"But in reality, the problem is to remove, and the answer is also to remove. The golden chains not only bind the Moonlight Scepter but also our wisdom."

"Brilliant, truly brilliant."

Li Shan spoke.

When Gu Jinnian cut the golden chains, he had a sudden realization. Now, after thinking about it, he immediately understood.

Indeed,

As Li Shan spoke, everyone showed a sudden realization.

Yes, the problem is to remove the Moonlight Scepter.

As long as the Moonlight Scepter is not damaged, isn't that enough?

The golden chains, though precious, are nothing compared to the Moonlight Scepter.

Moreover, cutting them does not cause any loss.

"Sigh, using such precious gold to make chains is actually a trap. If it were ordinary iron chains, cutting them would be no big deal."

"But with gold, and given its value, and being a gift from a foreign country, we truly did not dare to think in this direction."

"Here lies the wisdom."

"Your Highness, truly wise, truly wise."

At this moment, He Yan's voice rang out.

He was quite excited and could not help but praise Gu Jinnian.

First, it was heartfelt, and second, the Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire had clearly said that if the problem was solved, the item would be given to the Grand Summer Dynasty for free.

Eighty million taels of silver.

Honestly, He Yan did not think it was worth eighty million taels. The cost was at most thirty million taels, including the red bloodstone and the spiritless stone.

Without these, it would not be worth eighty million taels.

The most valuable part was the symbolism, craftsmanship, and technology.

But he did not care about this. If it were something else, it would be fine, but this symbolized the Furo Dynasty and had no practical use.

To offset eighty million taels of silver with this?

He would not do it.

Free?

He was willing.

So, for some reason, He Yan found Gu Jinnian much more likable.

With He Yan and Li Shan's explanations, everyone also had a sudden realization.

Even the scholars of the Furo Dynasty found it quite reasonable.

"Chancellor Li's words are very true."

Gu Jinnian smiled in response.

Emperor Yongsheng was extremely pleased, finding Gu Jinnian more and more likable.

"Is it like this?"

The Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire looked at the Tenth Princess of Fuso, unable to resist asking curiously.

The Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire did not know the solution, but the Tenth Princess of Fuso did.

They were a perfect team, one proposing the problem, and if the Grand Summer Dynasty could not solve it, the Fuso Princess would answer.

So, the Third Prince of the Holy Roman Empire placed all his hopes on her.

Looking at the scepter with the cut chains, the Tenth Princess of Fuso did not lie and said to Gu Jinnian,

"Truly the wisest person in the Grand Summer Dynasty."

"Your Highness is not wrong."

"Our Fuso Empress also studied the Moonlight Scepter. She believed that the Moonlight God created this object to make people break the chains in their hearts. Only by doing so can one obtain the scepter and not be bound by worldly constraints."

"This object may seem whole, but in reality, the core is the scepter. Although gold is precious, compared to the scepter, it is worthless. Yet people are always misled by the twelve golden chains."

"These chains not only bind the scepter but also the preconceived notions, misunderstandings, and obsessions in people's hearts."

The Tenth Princess of F