Chapter 194: The True History

In the 21st century, in a city of Jiangnan, there is a top‑tier villa district called "Yunqi Valley."

Wang Xiu comfortably sinks into a massive floor‑to‑ceiling window, into a six‑figure custom‑made sofa, gently swaying the highball glass in their hand. The glass holds not a fine red wine but ice‑cold cola with ice cubes.

Beyond the window is a meticulously tended private garden, with distant lake‑and‑mountain scenery; the setting is tranquil and elegant.

They now have almost no concept of money.

When the millennial wealth the Wang Family amassed in the game was converted through various complex modern financial channels into a long string of almost uncountable zeros in their bank account, they went through initial euphoria and bewilderment, and finally settled into calm.

This sum is a figure that they and their future generations could spend for thousands of years without exhausting.

The first thing they did was purchase this villa and bring over their parents, who were still in a small county town back home, worried about their work and marriage.

When the elderly couple first arrived, they were stunned by the mansion, tiptoeing as they walked and even daring not to sit fully on the sofa. Wang Xiu spent several months helping them gradually get used to this "plain yet lavish" wealthy lifestyle.

"Xiao Xiu, still looking at those tattered books? Hurry up, dinner's ready!" their mother's resonant shout came from the dining room.

"I'm coming!" Wang Xiu replied with a smile, set down the glass, and rose toward the dining room.

With parents present, there's food to eat. That feeling gives them more peace than owning the world's wealth.

After the meal, they walked with their parents around the courtyard for a while, then Wang Xiu returned to their study.

The study is larger than the rented room they once lived in. Three walls are lined with towering bookshelves, filled with all kinds of books—from the classics of history and philosophy to modern science, from Chinese masterpieces to world literature—nothing is omitted.

This is almost the hobby they spend the most money on.

They sat at the computer and deftly put on the seemingly rustic gaming headset.

They wanted to see what happened after Zhao Kuangyin's enthronement and Wang Hao's return to the family.

However, when they entered the game and saw the massive rumbling steam engine, even they, as the original instigator, were profoundly shocked.

They only provided a concept, a direction.

They did not expect Wang Zhen and the Wang Family's descendants to actually use the era's crude technology, at the cost of countless lives, to forcefully bring this epoch‑making device into existence.

"Really… a bunch of lunatics," Wang Xiu muttered, but the expression on their face betrayed them.

After exiting the game, their emotions surged, unable to settle for a long time.

They suddenly thought of a question.

If Zhao Kuangyin founded the Song dynasty, what would happen to the historically famous "Yǒuyún Sixteen Prefectures" issue?

They remembered clearly that the Yǒuyún Sixteen Prefectures were ceded by Later Jin's Shi Jingtang to the Khitan in exchange for military aid, but at that time they supplied grain and weapons to the three regional commands, crushing the Khitan and driving them back home.

The Zhongyuan dynasty retained its natural northern barrier, so for the next several hundred years it would not face the direct threat of northern nomadic iron cavalry.

Would the Northern Great Song's "defend the interior, be lax outward" policy still arise?

Moreover, the Later Zhou was far stronger than history records; Guo Rong even dealt a crushing blow to the Khitan main force at the Battle of Gaoping.

Although the Khitan iron cavalry was peerless, they now can barely muster troops fit for battle, so for the coming decades the threat from the Khitan should disappear.

Wang Xiu immediately opened the computer and typed "Yǒuyún Sixteen Prefectures" into the search bar.

Search results popped up.

【The Yǒuyún Sixteen Prefectures, also called the "Yan‑Yun Sixteen Prefectures," lie on the northern frontier. During the Later Tang, Shi Jingtang ceded the Yǒuyún Sixteen Prefectures to obtain Khitan troops; three regional commanderies formed an alliance, delivering a heavy blow to the Khitan.】

【In the second year of Xian‑de, Emperor Guo Rong of the Later Zhou crushed the Northern Han‑Khitan coalition at Gaoping. This battle completely resolved the border‑defense trouble that had plagued the Zhongyuan dynasties since the end of the Tang, laying a solid foundation for the Northern Great Song's century‑long peace.】

Wang Xiu stared at the passage, their mind a blank.

The Yǒuyún Sixteen Prefectures really weren't lost?

They had been manipulating everything their ancestors did, and it actually came true!!

They hurriedly opened other links to view entries on "Khitan" and "Liao State."

【Khitan, an ancient northern nomadic people of China. During the Five Dynasties, they founded the Liao dynasty, reaching great prosperity. In the third year of Xian‑de of the Later Zhou, internal turmoil struck Liao; the Southern Court's Great King Yelü Tali rebelled, and Liao ruler Yelü Jing was killed.】

【Emperor Guo Rong of the Later Zhou seized the chance to launch a northern expedition; the Liao army suffered a crushing defeat and retreated north of the desert. Thereafter Liao never recovered, plagued by internal strife, eventually fragmenting into several tribes and no longer posing a major threat to the Zhongyuan.】

Liao… just vanished like that?

Wang Xiu feels their worldview being gradually overturned.

With trembling hands, they entered another familiar term into the search bar.

"Japan."

The search results left them completely stunned.

What appeared on the screen was no longer the island nation they knew—no anime, no cherry blossoms, no kimono.

In its place were passages of text that felt utterly unfamiliar to them.

【Dongying Prefecture, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, had already become part of Chinese territory, situated on the archipelago east of the mainland. It was originally the land of the ancient Wa state,】

During the Five Dynasties, the Jiangnan Wang clan led a fleet eastward, administered it for three generations, abolished its former name, changed its script, and altered customs. By the early Northern Great Song, the local natives were fully sinicized, speaking Mandarin, using Chinese characters, and considering themselves subjects of the Wang Family.

Local customs and myths such as "ninja," "samurai," and "Yamata no Orochi" are later internet novelist inventions, lacking historical basis.

【Currently, Dongying's official language is Standard Mandarin.】

Wang Xiu stared fixedly at the words "official language is Standard Mandarin," feeling a chill surge from the soles of their feet up to the crown of their head.

Japanese… gone?

Ninja, Yamata no Orochi… the things they had grown up seeing now reduced to "novelist talk"?

How could this be possible?!

They immediately opened a video site and searched "Japan travel."

The video no longer showed men and women in kimono speaking Japanese, but a group dressed in modified Han‑fu, speaking fluent Standard Mandarin as "compatriots."

They enthusiastically introduced tourists to local "scenic historic sites"—Zhenbei City, Wang Family Shrine, Zheng Da Memorial Hall…

The video's scrolling comments floated lines of text.

"Wow, Dongying's scenery is wonderful, truly a sacred land of our Great Song since antiquity!"

"I want to visit the Wang Family Shrine; I heard it commemorates Governor Wang Meng, who first opened up Dongying."

"Don't forget to go to the Zheng Da Memorial Hall upstairs, honoring the pioneering pioneers who first devoted themselves to the Wang Family Science Academy—so magnificent!"

Wang Xiu abruptly turned off the video, leaned back in the chair, and breathed in large, ragged gulps.

Wang Xiu discovered a fact that was even more terrifying than history being altered.

Everyone around Wang Xiu, the whole world, believes that this present history is the original history!

Whether it is Wang Xiu's parents or those strangers online, in their perception the Khitan were defeated and Japan is the one that speaks Chinese.

It seemed as if an invisible giant hand, while Wang Xiu altered the history within the game, also silently rewrote the memories of everyone in the real world.

Except for Wang Xiu.

Wang Xiu is the only person aware in this reshaped world.

Wang Xiu looked at the plain, unremarkable antique game console on the table, and for the first time felt deep awe and astonishment.

What on earth… is this thing?