TFWYH – Chapter 656  Luban Lock?

However, the moment Tang Wan saw Huangfu Rong’an trying to pry apart one of the wooden pieces on the surface, she immediately turned her head away, no longer interested in watching.

Sure enough, after several attempts, that piece did not budge in the slightest.

Huangfu Rong’an was dumbfounded.

How could this be wrong?

That envoy’s daughter had explained it exactly this way back then!

Unwilling to give up, Huangfu Rong’an tried prying at several other spots.

But it was utterly useless. No matter how hard she tried, the Qiankun Eight Trigrams Box remained completely unmoved.

As time slowly passed, Huangfu Rong’an grew so anxious that sweat covered her forehead, all the confidence she had at the beginning long gone.

The officials watching her also shifted from initial attentiveness to disappointment.

Quite a few ministers were even secretly gloating.

None of us managed to open it, and yet a little girl like you thought you could?

What a joke!

Tang Wan yawned, growing impatient. “Are you done yet? If you can’t do it, then move aside.”

Huangfu Rong’an viciously glared at her. “How dare you speak to me like that?”

Tang Wan frowned. “Otherwise, are all of us supposed to keep waiting for you forever?”

The moment she said that, several noble ladies immediately voiced their agreement.

“Exactly! Commandery Princess Rong’an, it’s fine if we don’t rest, but His Majesty also needs rest!”

“It’s already very late. If you can’t do it, just admit it instead of wasting everyone’s time!”

“She was acting so confident earlier too. Hehehe…”

“Step aside, Commandery Princess Rong’an, and let the Third Prince’s Consort try!”

…

Public anger was difficult to oppose.

Especially when the Emperor himself conveniently yawned at that moment.

Huangfu Rong’an finally cracked under the pressure. Unwillingly, she put down the Qiankun Eight Trigrams Box. “This commandery princess… cannot open it.”

“Pfft…” Snickers instantly spread throughout the hall.

Huangfu Rong’an whipped around and glared fiercely at the crowd, causing them to hurriedly suppress their laughter again.

After all, she was still a commandery princess.

If possible, it was better not to offend her.

Though honestly, it was just too funny.

“Enough. Who’s next?” The Empress cast a dissatisfied glance at Huangfu Rong’an before shifting her attention to Tang Wan and the Third Prince’s Consort.

The Third Prince’s Consort immediately stepped back. “Mother Empress, there’s no way I can open that thing.”

The Empress nodded before looking at Tang Wan instead. “County Lady Wengnai, what about you?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, just watch,” Tang Wan said as she stepped forward and picked up the Qiankun Eight Trigrams Box.

The general principle behind dismantling a Luban lock was to locate the movable small wooden piece during disassembly, remove it, and then slide out the longer wooden pieces.

Simply put, every Luban lock had one final piece that was inserted last during assembly.

So, to open the lock, one first had to locate that crucial piece. Once it was removed, the remaining parts could gradually come apart one by one.

Tang Wan quickly identified the key small wooden block and pulled it free.

With a clack, all the outer wooden pieces instantly scattered apart and fell across the floor.

And inside…

…was an even smaller Qiankun Eight Trigrams Box.

The officials and noble ladies who had been waiting to laugh at her all froze on the spot.

Grand Tutor Yi was so shocked that he directly stood up, blurting out Tang Wan’s name. “Wan-niang, you… solved it already?”

“Not yet!” Tang Wan replied while continuing to fiddle with it. “That was only the first layer. Judging by the thickness, I think this thing probably has three layers.”

She had overestimated the object. Compared to the Luban locks she had played with in modern times, this thing was far inferior.

“Hiss—” The gathered officials collectively sucked in a cold breath and immediately focused all their attention on Tang Wan’s movements.

Very quickly, Tang Wan found the crucial small wooden piece in the second layer as well and carefully pulled it out.