Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Space Supermarket-Chapter 440 - 405: The Mysterious Box

In the following days, Su Jingchen focused entirely on preparing for the Spring Examination, while Yu Xiaolian would go out often to gather information about the Southern Border.

One day, just as Yu Xiaolian was about to leave, she was startled by an unexpected imperial summons; the Emperor wanted to see her.

In a rush, Yu Xiaolian only had time to give a brief word to the Chief Eunuch before following him into the palace.

On the way, Yu Xiaolian discreetly slipped a ten-tael silver ingot to the eunuch who delivered the summons and learned the reason the Emperor wanted to see her.

An envoy from the Northern Border and Hu Kingdom had arrived. The envoy came to present tribute to the new emperor, Jun Tingye, but among the tributes there was a mysterious box. The envoy from the Northern Border claimed this box contained a rare treasure, but since their Hu Kingdom had no clever people capable of opening it, they were compelled to give this rare treasure to the Emperor of Great Liang Country.

After receiving the mysterious box, Jun Tingye ordered his ministers to find a way to open it but after trying one by one, they all said it was too difficult and no one could probably open it in a short time.

At this moment, Fu Yi suddenly thought of Yu Xiaolian—the reason Yu Xiaolian was hurriedly summoned to the palace.

Yu Xiaolian followed the eunuch smoothly all the way to a side hall, where the eunuch told her to wait and then disappeared.

The spacious side hall was empty, not even a palace maid came to serve Yu Xiaolian tea. Initially, Yu Xiaolian sat bravely in a chair without looking around indiscriminately, but as time went on and no one came to call her, she grew anxious and a bit impatient, starting to pace back and forth in the hall.

About a quarter of an hour later, another eunuch finally came to summon Yu Xiaolian.

The young eunuch was very polite to Yu Xiaolian, saying, "Yu Xueguan, the Emperor requests your presence in the Imperial Study Room!"

Yu Xiaolian nodded and hurriedly followed the young eunuch, quickly arriving at the Imperial Study Room. To be honest, the palace didn’t give Yu Xiaolian a great visual impact; as she walked through, apart from a few houses that looked exceptionally luxurious, several gave her an impression of being dilapidated and shabby.

For instance, the so-called Imperial Study Room before her, despite having vermilion lacquered doors, many spots lacked paint as if they hadn’t been repainted for years. Also, upon seeing the beams, though carved with auspicious clouds and dragons, they were severely worn due to age.

Yu Xiaolian now understood why the court raised taxes year after year; the treasury was poor, and the Emperor was poor!

When Yu Xiaolian entered the study room, she saw many people standing on both sides of the room, all dressed in official robes, both young and old.

Yu Xiaolian didn’t dare look indiscriminately and immediately knelt towards the figure in bright yellow in the center.

"Long live the Emperor!" Though unsure if this was the correct etiquette, Yu Xiaolian bowed profoundly, fearing to make any mistakes.

"Rise!"

Jun Tingye, curious about Yu Xiaolian—the youngest female academic in Great Liang—spoke in a gentle tone.

"You, lift your head!"

Yu Xiaolian thought to herself, finally, she could legitimately face an ancient Emperor; her heart raced with excitement. When her gaze met Jun Tingye’s, Yu Xiaolian inwardly exclaimed, this Jun Tingye was quite hard to describe, certainly not befitting the name of a novel’s male protagonist.

Jun Tingye and Jun Yian had no resemblance at all; probably, they each resembled their mothers.

Jun Yian was elegantly handsome, while Jun Tingye...

No further comment, no further comment; Jun Tingye was a monarch, and as a ruler, his appearance was not for her to critique.

Just that Jun Tingye and Jun Yian’s age disparity was too vast; Jun Tingye seemed about forty, nearing fifty, while Jun Yian was quite young, appearing under thirty.

It was understandable; after all, the old Emperor had many offspring; a twenty-year gap between the eldest and youngest wasn’t unusual.

"Are you Yu Xiaolian, the arithmetic prodigy?" Jun Tingye remarked, scrutinizing Yu Xiaolian with fox-like eyes full of inquiry.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I am Yu Xiaolian. Arithmetic prodigy is an exaggeration; it’s merely a slight sensitivity to numbers!" Yu Xiaolian said humbly while keeping her head lowered.

She wasn’t foolish; staring at the Emperor anywhere in any dynasty was disrespectful. She hadn’t lived enough to dare provoke the Emperor, nor did she wish to.

"Come forward!" Satisfied with Yu Xiaolian’s humility and manners, Jun Tingye’s voice remained gentle, especially knowing she was a young girl.

Yu Xiaolian’s tense mood eased considerably due to Jun Tingye’s deliberately softened voice. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Yu Xiaolian complied, stepping forward.

Pointing to a colorful cube box on the desk, Jun Tingye said to Yu Xiaolian, "This box requires all six faces to match in color to be opened. Elder Fu said this involves mathematical knowledge, hence called you to try and see if you can open it. Feel free to experiment and see if you can solve it?"

Yu Xiaolian’s attention was immediately drawn to the colorful object - was this not a Rubik’s Cube?

It was just a basic three-layer Rubik’s Cube, only it didn’t seem made of plastic. Yu Xiaolian carefully picked it up, weighing it, then placed it before her eyes to closely examine its material.

Heavens, the green piece seemed like jade, the red like a ruby?

This truly was a rare treasure, Yu Xiaolian marveled.

She tried to twist it, finding its structure subtly different from a Rubik’s Cube, yet essentially similar; the principle was simple.

"How is it? Can you open this?" Elder Fu couldn’t help stepping forward to inquire.

Yu Xiaolian dared not boast, only saying she would try.

"Go ahead, if you can open this, I shall appoint you a Seventh-rank academic, enjoying a rank salary!" Jun Tingye, truly exasperated by the mysterious colorful box, was eager to have it opened as no one knew better than him how crucial this box was.

Yu Xiaolian’s eyes widened—Seventh-rank official? Was it really this impromptu?

Feeling excited, Yu Xiaolian followed the method for solving a three-layer Rubik’s Cube, but then found a purple crystal that seemed different and did not align with the others.

No wonder Elder Fu and the others found it difficult; apparently, this was indeed different from a regular Rubik’s Cube; this box resembled a Luban Lock.

After repetitive experimentation, with the Seventh-rank official’s hat in mind, Yu Xiaolian resolutely pressed down on the unusual purple crystal, instantly causing the colorful box to shatter, scattering across the floor like a colorful rain of crystals in the grand hall.