SBCEJM -Chapter 165 The Third Princess Tries to Bite Gold! Three Heavenly Books Shocking the Ancient and Modern Ages!

“Th-this… it’s really this simple?”

The Crown Prince stared at the chests filled with gold ingots, reaching out to touch them again to confirm he wasn’t hallucinating.

Xiao Mingyue was even more direct—she grabbed a gold ingot and was about to bite it.

“Third Sister!” Xiao Mingxuan hurriedly stopped her. “What kind of behavior is this?!”

“Who cares about etiquette!”

Xiao Mingyue’s face was flushed with excitement.

“It’s real gold! Brother, our Great Xia is rich now!”

【Hahaha, look at these two acting like country bumpkins!】

Feng Zexuan almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

【As members of the royal family, they’re even less worldly than me! Still, it makes sense—no matter how full the treasury is, nothing is as shocking as seeing this much cash in front of you.】

“Let’s go.”

“Wait, wait, wait!”

Xiao Mingyue reluctantly put down the gold ingot and hurried after them.

“Prince of the North, aren’t you excited? This is hundreds of thousands of taels of gold! Enough to buy half the capital!”

“I’ve seen bigger things.”

Feng Zexuan replied lightly, calm and indifferent.

【Show-off!】 the system immediately commented.

【Hey system, you’re asking for trouble! I call this composure!】

【Host, your heart rate is almost 180. That’s composure?】

【……】

The three arrived at the final door.

This time there were no multiple-choice traps—only a riddle engraved on the gate:

“I have cities but no houses; I have mountains but no trees; I have rivers but no fish. What am I?”

“A riddle?”

Xiao Mingyue got excited—this was her specialty.

The Crown Prince leaned in to analyze: “Cities but no buildings, mountains but no trees, rivers but no fish… what kind of strange thing is this?”

“Could it be a legendary ghost domain?” he guessed.

“No.”

Xiao Mingyue shook her head.

“Even a ghost city would have structures. This has form, but no substance…”

Feng Zexuan already knew the answer, but didn’t rush to say it.

【Host, you’re just watching them struggle?】

【Why hurry? They’re royalty exploring a treasure vault at midnight—let them participate a bit.】

【And honestly, watching them overthink it is pretty fun.】

【You’re such a schemer!】

Xiao Mingyue muttered to herself:

“Cities… mountains… rivers…”

“Form without substance… appearance without reality…”

Suddenly her eyes lit up.

“Wait! Cities, mountains, and rivers are all features of land—but without real buildings or living beings…”

“I got it!”

She slapped her forehead.

“This is a map! A map shows cities and mountains but doesn’t contain real structures or life!”

She immediately wrote the word “Map” on the wall.

The moment she finished writing, the stone door emitted a heavy clicking sound and slowly slid open.

The next instant, all three were stunned by the sight before them.

A massive treasury appeared—ten times more exaggerated than everything they had seen before!

Gold was piled into mountains. Jewels overflowed from chests and scattered across the floor.

Shelves along the walls were filled with rare antiques and paintings—each item priceless.

“This… this…” Xiao Mingyue pointed at the sea of treasure, speechless.

Even though Xiao Mingxuan tried to maintain royal dignity, the shock in his eyes was impossible to hide.

He had seen the imperial treasury, had seen countless rare treasures—but nothing like this.

【We’re rich! The Emperor will probably jump in joy when he sees this!】

【Host, stop wasting time—there’s still the last hall!】

The three left the treasury hall and arrived at the final “Hall of Statecraft Secrets.”

The plaque read in silver seal script, glowing under the night pearls.

At the center of the door was a large black jade slab engraved with words:

“This hall contains the lifelong governance insights of this emperor—worth far more than ten thousand taels of gold.”

Question: “What is the foundation of a prosperous age?”

Below were five options, each inlaid with different gemstones:

A: A wise and powerful ruler (ruby)

B: People living and working in peace (blue gem)

C: A full and wealthy treasury (yellow gem)

D: An invincible army (green gem)

E: System/institution (black gem)

Xiao Mingxuan frowned and began analyzing seriously.

“A wise ruler is important, but if the people suffer, it means nothing. Peaceful citizens are essential, but without a strong army, how can peace be maintained? Wealth is the foundation, but where does wealth come from?”

Xiao Mingyue rested her chin in thought.

“I think it should be people living in peace. As Mencius said: ‘The people are the most important, the state comes next, the ruler is least important.’”

【Interesting question. The previous ones were easy; this one actually tests intelligence.】

Feng Zexuan thought to himself.

【Host, what do you think?】

“I choose E.”

Feng Zexuan answered directly.

“System.”

“System?” the Crown Prince turned in surprise.

“Prince of the North, why?”

“Simple.”

Feng Zexuan pointed at the options.

“The ruler dies, the people change, the army weakens, money runs out. Only a good system can endure and be passed down.”

【Whether the ruler is wise, the people prospering, the treasury full, or the army strong—all are results. The system is the root cause.】

Xiao Mingyue fell into thought.

“Right… a good system means even if there’s a foolish ruler, officials can correct things. A bad system means even a wise ruler can be undermined by corruption underneath.”

The Crown Prince nodded repeatedly.

“Indeed! Prince of the North truly has extraordinary insight.”

All three agreed. Feng Zexuan pressed the black gem.

RUMBLE—

The entire underground palace shook more violently than before.

The black gate slowly opened, and an ancient scholarly aura rushed out.

Golden light flickered, revealing lines of text:

“Truly a kindred spirit! Those who understand this principle are rare throughout history!”

“I, though fond of beauty and wealth, was not a foolish ruler. I knew that systems are the foundation of a nation, and the ruler is merely its executor.”

“Regrettably, I realized this too late. The nation was already collapsing, beyond saving.”

“I leave my lifetime of governance insights here, hoping future generations will learn from it!”

【System, this Xiyan Emperor doesn’t seem like a complete fool after all!】

【Host, who among emperors is truly foolish? They’re just intelligent people who used their intelligence in the wrong way.】

The three entered the chamber.

There were no gold or jewels—only a simple bookshelf with three thick volumes.

Feng Zexuan glanced at the titles and almost laughed out loud:

“New Ideas on State Governance”

“Strategies for Strengthening the Nation”

“Records of Legal System Construction”

【Oh ho! These titles scream “isekai transmigrator!”】

Xiao Mingxuan opened New Ideas on State Governance.

The more he read, the more shocked he became.

“The concepts here—‘separation of powers,’ ‘democratic oversight’… I’ve never heard of them!”

Xiao Mingyue hugged Strategies for Strengthening the Nation tightly.

“‘Market economy,’ ‘monetary policy’… these ideas are far too advanced!”

Both of them were completely immersed, wanting to memorize everything on the spot.

Feng Zexuan watched them like treasure-hungry children and felt secretly amused.

【If they knew I have an entire library of modern knowledge in my space, they’d probably kneel on the spot.】

“Prince of the North.”

Xiao Mingyue suddenly looked up, eyes shining with excitement.

“Let’s study these governance ideas together in the future…”

“Cough! Cough!”

Feng Zexuan quickly interrupted.

“No, no, absolutely not! I… I have a condition where reading makes me dizzy!”