Princess Taylor pouted and walked over to squat in front of Edward Cooper, tugging at Edward Cooper's sleeve as she said, “Monk Daoist, can you let Constable Harris help you with your task, is that okay?”

When Princess Taylor was young, she had actually seen Edward Cooper quite often, since back then Edward Cooper frequently spent time with Zhu Di. At that time, Princess Taylor was ignorant and always addressed Edward Cooper in this way. She hadn’t seen Edward Cooper for a long time, and now this master felt somewhat unfamiliar to her. By calling him this now, she was trying to get closer to Edward Cooper.

A breeze blew by, and Edward Cooper suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were grayish-white, staring at Princess Taylor like dead fish.

Princess Taylor suddenly felt a chill in her heart, unable to smile, and couldn’t help but let go of Edward Cooper's sleeve.

Edward Cooper gazed at Princess Taylor for a long time before slowly saying, “Women and men are the same... both have only one life. If you want to get involved, you’d better think it through.”

He closed his eyes again, but the implication in his words was chilling.

Everyone who heard Edward Cooper say this already felt that whatever Edward Cooper wanted them to do was not only dangerous, but could very well be life-threatening!

The tower fell silent. Princess Taylor was startled and speechless for a moment, glancing sideways at Emily Harris, hesitating in her heart. She wanted to do something for her elder brother, so she had disregarded the rules and pulled in the constable Emily Harris from Zhejiang as her helper. Of course, there were capable people in Shuntian Prefecture, but it was more convenient to have Emily Harris by her side. But after all, it was Emily Harris's life at stake. Although the princess was willful, she was not unreasonable—she couldn’t force Emily Harris to risk her life, so she inevitably hesitated.

After a long while, Edward Cooper said, “Those who decide to participate, step forward.”

Jacob Miller and Olivia Morgan both looked slightly hesitant. Emily Harris remained silent, but took a step forward. Seeing this, Princess Taylor was overjoyed. When Jacob Miller and Olivia Morgan saw this, they felt ashamed and immediately stepped forward as well.

Brian Carter glanced at the three who had stepped forward, frowned, but finally also stepped forward.

Inside the tower, a chilling atmosphere prevailed. From the very beginning, there seemed to be a sense of strange danger hanging over everyone.

But the strangest of all was Edward Cooper. He slowly extended his finger, pointing at the opposite wall of the tower, and said, “There is a painting there. The one on the left and the three on the right, bring it to me.”

Everyone was slightly stunned, thinking to themselves: there are four people including Brian Carter, so why did he say one on the left and three on the right to fetch the painting? Although they didn’t understand, they all turned to look at the wall.

On the wall, there was nothing—no painting at all.

Seeing that there was no painting on the wall, everyone’s first thought was: the master is old, could it be that he... has become senile, and that’s why he’s so muddled? Clearly there are four people, yet he insists on saying one on the left and three on the right, and he can’t even tell whether there’s a painting on the wall or not?

At this moment, a light breeze blew in, brushing across Edward Cooper's wooden face. The deep wrinkles were like stone carvings... carrying an indescribable chill.

There really was no painting on the wall, so what did Edward Cooper mean by asking the four of them to fetch it?

Brian Carter's gaze shifted, and he had already observed the expressions of Emily Harris, Jacob Miller, and Olivia Morgan.

Emily Harris was frowning, staring intently at the wall; Jacob Miller was watching Brian Carter; while Olivia Morgan kept looking at his own toes, deep in thought.

As Brian Carter pondered, he took a step closer to the wall, when suddenly he heard Olivia Morgan mutter, “A painting that is not a painting, to fetch is to return, like a painting yet not a painting, like fetching yet actually returning...”

Hearing this, Brian Carter was taken aback and couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.

The truth was, Brian Carter knew very well that Edward Cooper was never muddle-headed, nor was he senile. On the contrary, at this moment, Edward Cooper was probably the most clear-minded and intelligent person in all of Ming. When Brian Carter saw there was no painting on the wall, he immediately realized this was a test from Edward Cooper to select people!

Since Edward Cooper had alarmed the Governor’s Office, the Cabinet, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the princess, and even the emperor, it showed how much he valued the selection. And Edward Cooper's seemingly casual, eyes-closed instruction might well be a covert way to observe whether the chosen ones met his requirements.

There was indeed no painting on the wall, but perhaps there was a hidden compartment concealing a painting, and Edward Cooper's instruction was a test of the four’s understanding of mechanisms. Brian Carter further deduced that the task Edward Cooper wanted done must be related to construction or earthworks.

Brian Carter had been confident in his own judgment, but after hearing Olivia Morgan's words, he couldn’t help but feel confused. What Olivia Morgan said sounded like a riddle. As the steward of Yang Shiqi, he was certainly talented—could it be that, seeing there was no painting, he thought Edward Cooper was speaking in Zen riddles, and so was pondering its meaning?

Thinking of this, Brian Carter couldn’t help but consider that Edward Cooper had been an abbot for over twenty years, half his life a Daoist, half a monk, and was surely well-versed in the classics. Given that, it was entirely possible that Edward Cooper was using a Zen koan to test others.

As the Buddhist scriptures say, “All forms are illusory. If you see all forms as non-forms, you see the Tathagata.” Could it be that the absence of a painting on the wall, as the sutra says, contains the mystery of perceiving the true meaning?

In fact, not only was Brian Carter wavering, but everyone present—such as David Sullivan, Yang Shiqi, Princess Taylor, and the others—were all utterly baffled by Edward Cooper's instruction.

When David Sullivan saw Brian Carter take a step, he was secretly delighted, but when he saw Brian Carter suddenly stop, clearly uncertain, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. But being a gloomy person, except for necessary expressions, his face always remained sullen.