Chapter 279: Qingqiu

Many fell silent.

It was unimaginable that the lively, innocent little girl, whose face always wore laughter like tinkling silver bells, could be linked to Su Daji—the peerless beauty whose presence made ancient gods and demons flee, a sovereign goddess of unmatched majesty.

Perhaps all these changes came from this hatred, this vengeance, driving her to where she is now.

How much pain and suffering had she endured to grow into this?

It was too painful.

Bearing the agony of her clan's annihilation, burdened with the hatred of an entire people, yet that vengeance remained endlessly distant.

"Yuzaoqian altered history… could the one meant to receive this message be the Yellow Emperor?"

Someone spoke with difficulty, as if a bone were stuck in their throat.

If that were true…

Then she likely had not yet succeeded in her revenge, and still endured the agony of her clan's destruction, unable to let go of the sight of her people dying before her eyes.

"At least she had Zhou Wang, a man who loved her deeply, so she wasn't…"

A girl wept softly.

Was this a blessing amid misfortune? After endless years of suffering, she had finally regained warmth, received the same tender care she once knew from her clan.

But…

The girl's words trailed off, and tears fell unbidden.

She recalled how, in Chinese history, the Shang Dynasty fell, and Zhou Wang was imprisoned by "that side."

Again…

The warmth Su Daji had gained was taken from her once more, lost again.

Her fate was cruel.

Suddenly recalling, Su Daji's life was filled with tragedy: the fall of Qingqiu, the death of her clan, the loss of her husband, the constant disruption of her desire for peace, her beauty constantly watched and coveted, finding not a single moment of beauty.

Even when she found beauty, it was fleeting.

"Miss Kamikawa, could you touch another pillar?" A girl summoned courage, biting her lip tightly.

This was the first time since entering the palace that anyone dared speak to Kamikawa Mitsu.

Wang Zun and Kamikawa Mitsu were descendants of ancient, transcendent clans; Wang Zun especially was feared for his terrifying might, and naturally, his sister beside him inspired awe, leaving no one bold enough to speak to her, fearing they might say the wrong thing.

They feared not a ten-thousand-to-one chance, but the one-in-a-million risk—if they offended Kamikawa Mitsu and angered Wang Zun, what then?

But now, someone had mustered courage—she wanted to know about Su Daji.

As if seeking solace for her own soul, seeing Su Daji's tragedy stirred her sympathy; she desperately hoped Su Daji had known at least some joy, some comfort, some happiness to carry her through these endless years of pain.

As she spoke, many in the room—men and women alike—showed the same look in their eyes.

Seeing this,

Kamikawa Mitsu could not help but look toward Wang Zun, her eyes shimmering with the same light as the girl's.

Clearly, she too wished to touch the other pillars, to see Yuzaoqian's other life stories.

Yet she did not reach out—she first asked Wang Zun.

She had come to this corner palace in Heian-kyo to accompany Wang Zun; her goal was to strengthen him, and she feared her own private desires might interfere with his chance at fortune.

She feared touching another pillar might trigger dire consequences, causing Wang Zun to lose his opportunity.

If so, she would rather not touch it, not learn Yuzaoqian's life story.

"The twelve memory pillars are protected—no one wishes their memories probed."

Wang Zun replied:

"Seeing the memory of this one pillar is possible only because this corner palace was shattered, damaging the protective seals on this pillar. A few other pillars had their protections broken too, but those were later resealed."

Huh??

Everyone in the room, and those watching on television, looked puzzled.

They had all witnessed the palace's fall from Heian-kyo—Su Daji had never struck the palace. How, then, were the seals re-applied?

Self-protection? Unlikely.

If it were, Wang Zun had no reason to mention the seals being broken and resealed—it would be pointless, even redundant, unless…

"It may not have been Su Daji who resealed them," Professor Zhongtian murmured, stroking his chin.

Pupils shrank sharply.

Director Takahashi and the others exchanged glances, then cried out together.

"Jiang Taigong!!!"

As the name escaped, they hastily clapped hands over their mouths.

If the seals were re-applied, and not by Yuzaoqian, then someone else must have done it—and the only one who had touched the palace after its fall was Jiang Taigong.

It could almost be confirmed: Jiang Taigong had done this.

He had resealed the protective barriers on those broken pillars.

Director Takahashi and the others kept their hands over their mouths, exchanging glances.

"You don't think the same as me, do you? You're thinking it too, right?" Director Takahashi whispered.

"Yes."

"Actually, I thought the same."

"Me too."

Years of shared experience allowed the others to grasp the hidden meaning behind Director Takahashi's hint—they all nodded in agreement.

They suspected Jiang Taigong was trying to conceal something.

His purpose: to prevent the world from learning one particular chapter of Su Daji's life.

After all, legends said he could divine fate and heavenly patterns; as one of the ancient figures of Chinese mythological history, the strategist who aided Zhou Wuwang in overthrowing the Shang Dynasty, even without entering the palace, a single finger pointed toward it should have been enough to know its condition.

Once the palace falls, people will surely come, and when someone touches the Memory Pillar, their life memories will be released.

To prevent this, he re-imposed protective seals upon the Memory Pillar.

They are not transcendent beings—just ordinary people, incapable of detecting that the protective seals had been reapplied, unless Upakawa Mitsu had spoken of it.

As for why Upakawa Mitsu dared to speak, unafraid of provoking Jiang Taigong's anger—besides Upakawa Mitsu's origin from the Ashiya Clan, which is suspected to have ties to the East—the main reason is likely that he did not reveal any secrets, merely mentioned it in passing.

Jiang Taigong may be unreasonable, but not to this extent.

But what exactly is Jiang Taigong trying to conceal?

Is it a secret from the Shang-Zhou era, or something else?

Everyone sighed.

Thinking too much now is useless—the Memory Pillar has been resealed, and they cannot seek clues.

Moreover, if Jiang Taigong himself acted, it would be nearly impossible to compel Upakawa Mitsu to help break the protective seals and view the memories.

"Then forget it."

Upakawa Sachi was not overly disappointed; viewing the memories paled in weight compared to Upakawa Mitsu securing his opportunity—she chose the latter.

Upakawa Mitsu rubbed Upakawa Sachi's hair and pointed his finger at the starry ceiling above.

"If I didn't misperceive it, this starry sky should be the ancient sky of Qingqiu—Su Daji cut it down and made it the ceiling of this palace."

Everyone, including Upakawa Sachi, shuddered and turned their gaze to Upakawa Mitsu.

"Really? Nisan, you're not lying to me?"

Upakawa Mitsu smiled and nodded.

Everyone involuntarily looked up at the starry ceiling above.

This was the ancient sky of Qingqiu—the sky that once shone over the Qingqiu clan of nine-tailed foxes, who loved peace.

Her clan had perished, her husband imprisoned—yet she was not left with nothing; at least she had this remnant of Qingqiu's sky to accompany her through each spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

……

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