Professor Wu and the others listened very attentively, without anyone interrupting. They quietly waited for Tianmiao to continue her explanation.
"King Che’s political and military capabilities were both extremely strong. Under his governance, the Kingdom prospered immensely. During this time, he wanted to hold a wedding ceremony with his lover. However, he faced strong opposition from the State Preceptor." Tianmiao’s lips curled into a mocking smile as she looked at the ever-silent Zhou Qiang, "This State Preceptor is the old State Preceptor we mentioned before."
"Ah? Why oppose it! King Che and his lover must be deeply in love, right? What right do they have to break them apart?" Cheng Luo angrily expressed her indignation.
"Because the old State Preceptor must have had water in his brain at that time." Tianmiao smiled at Zhou Qiang, "Right? Zhou Qiang."
"Yes, water got in..." Zhou Qiang lowered his head, making it hard for people to see his expression. In a low voice, he said, "In truth, if two people love each other, what does it have to do with anyone else? Moreover, it is because of King Che’s lover that King Che became so exceptional. It’s laughable that the old State Preceptor couldn’t see the truth."
"Foolish, indeed." Tianmiao chuckled softly.
"Are these all true? Or are they local legends passed down?" Cheng Luo asked excitedly.
"Miss Tianmiao, may I ask, are you a descendant of the Irel Ancient Country? Or perhaps, a descendant of the Irel royal family?" Professor Wu suddenly spoke, asking somewhat excitedly, "Initially, King Che was indeed not as recorded in later generations. At first, he had a violent and domineering temper. But then he changed. However, many documents did not record this. Only one document mentioned it, and that too only in a few sentences."
Que Qiu looked at Tianmiao in shock. A descendant of the Irel royal family? Is that possible?
"Impossible!" Zhou Qiang suddenly interjected, his tone stiff and certain.
"How do you know it’s not possible?" Cheng Luo retorted somewhat displeased.
"Anyway, it’s absolutely impossible." Zhou Qiang shook his head.
Professor Wu gave Zhou Qiang an annoyed look. He had always felt that this student’s behavior had been quite odd recently, and now Zhou Qiang was being outright impolite.
After his rebuttal, Zhou Qiang did not speak anymore, turning his head to look at the entire site instead. No one noticed the endless sadness, pain, and guilt in his eyes.
"Wait!" Cheng Luo suddenly snapped back to her senses, "Sister Tianmiao, earlier when you said that the most handsome man of Irel at the time, the new State Preceptor wanted to falsely pass off heavenly instructions, wanting to marry this most handsome man. Then, King Che, is he that most handsome man you mentioned before?!" Toward the end, Cheng Luo’s tone was full of excitement. The two stories overlapped!
Tianmiao smiled but neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, she softly said, "Find out the truth yourselves." Then she turned around and went to observe the surrounding broken walls.
It was clear that Tianmiao didn’t want to say more. Everyone knew that even if they followed her to ask, there would be no further answers, so they reluctantly started their learning.
Professor Wu continued to explain as he walked with them.
As everyone followed the professor’s steps, listening as they walked, an assistant pointed to a broken wall in the distance and shouted, "Look over there! It seems like some kind of wall painting?"
Everyone looked in that direction, and sure enough, there were mottled multicolored patterns on that broken wall. If it were a wall painting, it would be a significant archaeological find.
Everyone excitedly rushed forward. The assistant took out a special soft brush, and the four of them swept away the yellow sand on the wall back and forth. Their voices grew increasingly excited, "It’s really a wall painting!"