Chapter 96 - 95: Cui Jinghan Goes Down in History, Hua Shao Makes a Move
Chapter 96: Chapter 95: Cui Jinghan Goes Down in History, Hua Shao Makes a Move
There was a moment of silence in the living room.
Over the five thousand years of Jiuzhou’s history, countless historical figures had come and gone. Those who managed to leave their names in the annals of history were undoubtedly the cream of the crop of their eras. But even counting only those who had left a mark, the number was still incalculable.
Even for historians, their fields of research were divided into Jing History, Xuan History, Modern History, and so on. Ask a Jing historian about an obscure figure from the Xuan Dynasty, and they probably wouldn’t recognize the name—let alone a regular person.
However, if a historical figure’s name and deeds were household knowledge even to ordinary people, it meant their achievements in their field had reached the absolute pinnacle. Such figures were immortalized in the compulsory education history textbooks. Cui Jinghan was exactly this kind of person.
Today, Nanling had lost its former prosperity, but its tourism industry was booming. This was entirely because of the "Sorrow of Nine States," the greatest semi-cursive calligraphy work in the world, which drew admiring tourists from all over.
When Old Sir Xu was young, he had gone to Nanling on a business trip and had made a special visit to the Nanling Museum.
Old Sir Xu took a deep breath. "The calligraphy style Master Yan studies is indeed the Cui Style. Cui Jinghan is a historical figure and the founder of the Cui Style. Not just anyone can compare to him."
Shi Changying lost interest. "Then I don’t have time."
Her calligraphy had been praised by Cui Jinghan himself, who had said that given time, she might even surpass him. Unfortunately, the heavens hadn’t wanted that day to come, striking her dead with a bolt of lightning instead. Otherwise, had she returned from conquering the Southern Region and devoted herself to practicing her calligraphy, there would surely be a style today known as the "Yaoguang Script."
At this thought, Shi Changying’s mood plummeted. She left the house without even eating dinner.
Old Sir Xu had rarely been defied in his entire life, yet Shi Changying challenged his authority time and time again. He took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "If even Master Yan can’t smooth out her temper, I’ll have to hand her over to Yun Fan..."
***
Upon arriving at school, Shi Changying turned her anger into motivation and began her day of studying.
"Wow, our Yingying is so amazing!" Lu Mi clapped her hands. "You’ve already started doing middle school math problems!"
Song Qingmu was speechless. The emotional support was maxed out, but her words still sounded like an insult.
Shi Changying took out from her backpack a few autographed photos Lu Qingyuan had given her and distributed them to Lu Mi, Song Qingmu, and a few other classmates.
"Senior... Senior Sister, you-you-you... you actually managed to get Lu Qingyuan’s autographed photos?" Song Qingmu stammered. "How could you bear to give one to me!"
"I can guarantee that this photo is a limited edition! You can’t find it on the market right now!" Lu Mi’s eyes welled with tears of gratitude. "Yingying, you really do love me."
Shaoyuan heard the commotion. He briefly lifted his eyes, then shifted his position and went back to resting them.
Song Qingmu immediately said, "I’m going to take this home, frame it, and hang it up. I hope Sister Yuanyuan can bless my good looks and take them to the next level!"
Lu Mi looked at him with disdain. "Stop having impossible dreams."
"At least I dare to dream!"
"You’re just delusional."
The two of them began to bicker. Shi Changying continued doing her math problems, treating their argument as background noise. Sure enough, attending school was no different from attending morning court. Just like the officials of her former dynasty, her classmates would always end up arguing over the strangest things.
"I’m not arguing with you anymore. A good person doesn’t fight with a villain. Oh, by the way, Old Zhou has a lecture this afternoon. Are you guys going to attend?" Song Qingmu asked. "Old Zhou’s history lectures are really interesting. Before we were divided into arts and sciences, I loved taking his history class. It wasn’t boring at all."
"Yingying, are you going?" Lu Mi invited her. "Studying all the time is exhausting. Listening to some history stories is a good way to clear your head."
Shi Changying nodded in agreement.
"Also, Senior Sister, you don’t know this, but during our freshman year, the Young Master was also amazing at the humanities," Song Qingmu said beamingly. "Old Zhou is still heartbroken over why the Young Master chose not to study history. It left him completely devastated."
Lu Mi rested her chin on her hands. "That’s true. The Young Master is a well-rounded fighter. He doesn’t have a single weak subject."
Shi Changying looked toward Shaoyuan. A well-rounded fighter? In the future, that title should belong to her.
Shaoyuan said lightly, "There’s nothing worth studying."
As someone who had actually been written into the history books, he didn’t trust them. Having been reborn in a later era with his memories intact, Emperor Chengtian—the founder of the Jing Dynasty—naturally wanted to know how Jiuzhou had evolved over the two thousand years since his death. Consequently, he discovered that Xuan History was riddled with dubious points.
Jing History was, of course, compiled by subsequent dynasties. As long as history was written by people, there would inevitably be biases; omissions and alterations were unavoidable. As the person directly involved, he spotted some discrepancies with true history, though they were largely inconsequential.
But Xuan History was different. Especially during the eight-year reign of Empress Taichu, it was nearly impossible to find a completely factual event. Shaoyuan had read through the entirety of Xuan History, and almost every page had questionable details that he had circled.
"What do you mean by that, Young Master?" Song Qingmu humbly asked for guidance.
Shaoyuan finally opened his eyes. "Because it’s very likely that some history will be rewritten in the near future. If you study it now, it’ll all be for nothing."
Song Qingmu’s jaw dropped. "Then... then the history students are going to suffer!"
Shaoyuan turned his head and noticed Shi Changying staring at him unblinkingly. He smiled, his presence composed and steady as a mountain. "Why are you looking at me like that? You look like you want to eat me."
Shi Changying said, "I won’t eat you. You definitely don’t taste as good as spicy turkey noodles."
Shaoyuan’s smile was casual. "But you haven’t tried, have you?"
Song Qingmu covered his ears to show that he hadn’t heard a thing. However, both parties in the conversation were so nonchalant that he figured he was probably overthinking it.
After finishing a page of math problems, Shi Changying took out her phone.
[Only I am the first]: Great God of Delicious Cake, follow my Qianyu account, and I will praise your cake-making skills.
[God of Delicious Cake]: Do I need your praise? My cakes are already the best!
[Only I am the first]: I want to gain followers.
[God of Delicious Cake]: ...So tacky!
But when Shi Changying refreshed her follower list and saw the newly added cake avatar, she felt very satisfied. She now had over sixty followers. Once she finished researching how to gain followers, she was going to make her Qianyu account big and powerful.
The school bell rang. Shi Changying stretched lazily and devoted her full attention to the lesson.
When classes ended at noon, Shi Changying was about to sprint to the cafeteria when her phone suddenly buzzed again. It was a system notification from Qianyu. Shi Changying tapped to open it.
[Come take a look! You have a new follower. Go say hi to them!]
Shi Changying discovered that her follower count had indeed increased by one again. She opened the list to check. The newest follower’s avatar was a lotus flower with the four words "Calm and Peaceful" written on it. The nickname was "HS."
There was a "Say Hi" button next to the avatar, which Shi Changying pressed. The system automatically sent a message.
[Only I am the first]: Come chat with me!