The pendant stolen in the prologue is Zhenguan Jue (镇冠珏): paired mandate jade, one half of a twinned relic that Hexi's relay later contextualizes.
[spoiler]fwalicia's FAQ collates four identity theories for the Young Master: Wang Qing's battlefield child (consistent with Jiang Yan raising an infant from Zhongdu Bridge); a Li Zuo lookalike misread by the Void King in the prologue; hidden royal blood; or a commoner with no grand lineage. The man in black who tests rather than kills the protagonist shares Uncle Jiang's scar, sword handling, and non-lethal disarm — strongly suggesting Jiang Yan seized the jade to draw danger away.
The dreamscape elder who whistles with a leaf may be Jiang Yan as imagined, or a future-oriented vision; developer interviews place the main arc between 962 and 980 CE. The Genuine Jade sits in the same symbolic family as dream puppets and immortality parasites — objects that promise escape but deepen the trap (匹夫无罪,怀璧其罪).[/spoiler]
*Based on analysis by [fwalicia](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYiieNxEKskaAzhrmA0p7iQ).*