Chapter 938: Horrifying Information
Xie Daoyun sighed in relief. Then, her attention returned to the music score as she muttered endless praises.
Zu An nodded while listening. A talented girl really was a talented girl after all. Where did she come up with all these descriptive words anyway? If it were him, he would have just shouted ‘amazing’, ‘awesome’, and the like.
…
The group returned to the lakefront gazebo. Xie Xiu said curiously, “Big sis, you’re usually so gentle and refined. Why do you like a song like this, so full of killing intent, today?”
Zu An said with a smile, “Even though Daoyun is sweet-tempered and gentle, it’s still mostly because she had no choice but to act that way. As the daughter of a city lord, she was raised carefully in etiquette. That’s why she obviously seems a bit more reserved. But even though I haven’t spent much time with Daoyun, I can sense a strong passion and longing toward life. I felt she would enjoy a story like this, one of heroes and warriors. That’s why I thought of this song. Sure enough, Daoyun liked it as expected.”
Xie Daoyun’s beautiful figure trembled. She looked at him in disbelief. Even she herself hadn’t realized that completely. Only now that Zu An had reminded her did she think, So that was it! She suddenly felt as if she had met an intimate friend who really understood her. But how did he understand her that well? They clearly hadn’t met that many times before!
Don’t tell me we’re really destined to be soulmates? Big brother Zu really understands me! When she recalled the stories she had read before, her heart began to beat even faster.
Xie Xiu was about to mock Zu An, thinking, How could my big sister be like that? But when he saw her expression, he instantly realized what had happened. He looked at Zu An in shock. Does this guy know mind-reading or something?
Meanwhile, Zu An was actually sighing in relief inside. He had just taken a shot in the dark by comparing her to the Xie Daoyun in his previous world’s history. He hadn’t actually expected to be right! He became a bit flustered. Eventually, he snapped out of his daze and said, “There’s actually another story associated with this song.”
The Xie clan siblings immediately looked toward him. Xie Xiu urged him, “Brother Zu, don’t keep us in suspense like that!”
Zu An said, “During ancient times, there was a group of hermits known as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove… Among them, one of them was named Ji Kang, who believed in following nature. He usually spent his time playing the zither and reciting poetry in a bamboo grove… Unfortunately, the wife he had taken in his earlier years was a princess of the royal family. Later on, the throne was seized by powerful officials. For fear of his prestige, they continuously tried to enlist him into the court to serve as an official, hoping they could use him to restrain the previous dynasty’s imperial clan’s chances of rebellion and bring the world under the control of the new regime.
“Ji Kang obviously refused. The new high officials hated him, and yet they couldn't find a way to immediately deal with him due to his prestige. One day, the older brother of one of Ji Kang’s friends acted on his lust. He got his sister-in-law drunk and raped her. In order to prevent the matter from being exposed, the older brother seized the initiative to accuse his younger brother of being unfilial. Because the older brother was a cohort official, he used his connections to throw his younger brother into prison.
“Ji Kang was furious over this matter, and he immediately cried out for his friend to receive justice. Since the matter now involved court officials, the high officials thought Ji Kang had ulterior motives, so they used the case to condemn both him and that younger brother to execution.
“When they heard about the matter, three thousand students gathered to petition for justice. However, that only made those high officials feel as if Ji Kang had way too much influence, so their intent to kill him was only strengthened further.
“Before he was going to pass on, he asked for a guqin zither, then calmly played this song, Guangling San. Those present couldn't help but acknowledge his elegance. From that day forth, Guangling San became a song that was passed down through history.”
…
After hearing the story, Xie Xiu exclaimed angrily, “What an elegant and heroic man! What a pity it is that he died under the hands of those high officials. That despicable bastard who raped his little brother’s wife is even more hateful. If I ever meet someone like that, I’ll definitely cut off their goddamn head!”
Xie Daoyun was even more moved. “I believe that Ji Kang’s mood was likely very similar to that of the warrior in the poem. It’s just like the warrior when he infiltrated the enemy’s manor to assassinate that political enemy.”
“Daoyun really is a zither master after all. You were able to surmise his mood just from the song alone.” Zu An clicked his tongue in wonder. There were many people who knew Ji Kang’s story in his previous world, but there weren’t many who knew why he had insisted on playing ‘Guangling San’ at that moment. However, Xie Daoyun had been able to sense that just from the zither song! It really was admirable.
Xie Daoyun suddenly thought of something. Her expression changed. She lowered her voice and asked, “Big brother Zu, where did you hear this story from?”
Zu An was alarmed. He didn’t know why she would suddenly ask that question and said, “I read it in an ancient book. What’s wrong?”
Xie Daoyun didn’t reply, and instead first gestured with her hands to have the servants withdraw. Then she said, “I suddenly thought of something. When this Zhou Dynasty was first founded, those of high status did some dirty things. They were quite similar to the high officials in your story.”
Zu An was bewildered.
“Also, that Ji Kang you spoke of made me think of someone.” Xie Daoyun’s expression was grave.
“Who?” Zu An asked.
Xie Daoyun opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she dipped her finger into her tea, then wrote on the table.
Zu An’s eyes narrowed when he saw the word she had written, because what it said was ‘libationer’!
Xie Xiu’s mouth also widened. He wanted to say something, but he felt as if his brain just couldn't keep up.
Xie Daoyun wiped away the mark and said, “This is only something I heard when my teacher was randomly talking about the academy’s history. That person seemed to have had a deep relationship with the royal family of the previous dynasty. That’s why for the sake of not arousing suspicion, he almost never paid attention to the affairs of the world. He even maintained a neutral attitude toward the academy’s teachers and students.”
Xie Xiu felt his throat become dry. “This dynasty’s ancestral lineage was built through usurping the previous dynasty’s foundation? Why have I never heard about this before?”
Xie Daoyun rolled her eyes. “Your attention is focused on girls day in and day out; of course you wouldn’t know about this if you didn’t study properly. But actually, this is something you might not have known even if you studied history. After all, it’s not something too glamorous, and the court has always kept it a secret. They destroyed a large amount of books that were unfavorable to their image, and those who did know were told to forget about this piece of history.
“Furthermore, afterward, our emperor brought back a huge victory against the fiend races, so his prestige increased dramatically. Eventually, no one brought this up again.”
…
While the two siblings were discussing the matter, Zu An felt all of his fine hairs stand up. At that instant, he seemed to have understood many things. Many of the things he had been confused about before now led to new trails to pursue. But there was still some distance from the final truth.
“Big brother Zu, what’s wrong?” Even though Xie Daoyun was chatting with her little brother, she still glanced at Zu An from time to time. She couldn't help but ask that when she saw he was acting strange.
“It’s nothing. I was just a bit shocked.” Zu An snapped out of his daze.
Xie Daoyun said in consolation, “Don’t worry, as long as we’re careful when talking about these things, nothing bad should happen. It’s already been a long time since this happened, after all.”
Zu An nodded. “Thank you, Daoyun, for your reminder.”
…
Zu An got up to bid farewell soon after finishing the meal. Xie Daoyun noticed that he was a bit out of sorts, so she didn’t try to keep him. She only warned him to be careful on the way home.
When he left the academy, Zu An hurried toward the imperial palace. He had some important things to verify. It was already getting dark, so the palace gates were already closed. However, now that he had his Armed Escort Division Commander identity, he had much more freedom in entering and exiting the palace.
He changed into his Golden Token Eleven uniform when he entered the palace, then headed straight for the Embroidery House. When he arrived, he just happened to run into Xiao Jianren reading under dim light. Zu An thought, Is this guy trying to ruin his eyes?
“Sir Eleven!” Xiao Jianren quickly got up to greet Zu An when he saw him. At the same time, he was confused as to why he would show up at such a time.
“Where is the archive room?” Zu An asked.
Xiao Jianren said with a smile, “What does sir wish to investigate? You can just ask me.”Even though he didn’t dare to claim that he had read through everything in the archives, he could easily answer most questions.
Zu An shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ll take a look myself.”
Xiao Jianren shivered. As an Embroidered Envoy, he keenly sensed that the other party didn’t want him to know about whatever he was investigating. He obviously wouldn’t invite trouble onto himself and led the way. “Sir just needs to continue down this way. With your respected self’s golden token identity, you can view most of the archives. There are only some top secret cases that need the chief commander’s personal clearance.”
Zu An thought that the things that he wanted to know were probably not at that level. He nodded toward Xiao Jianren, then walked toward the archive room.