Chapter 150: Secret History of the Ning Dynasty

The twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Another day of doing nothing.

He lay in bed until 7-9 am, when he suddenly remembered that Old Man had once said the Imperial Study of Southern Zhao contained the history of the Great Wu recorded secretly by historians.

At the time, Ding Suian had doubted it, fearing he would never have the chance to visit the Imperial Study in the palace in his lifetime.

But now things were different.

With Prince of Nanshun acting as regent, could he sneak in to take a look through Nickname?

Finally, he had found something to do!

Ding Suian immediately rolled out of bed.

“AZhi, what’s wrong with you!”

As he went out, he happened to run into Zhisheng, who looked exhausted, as if he had just returned from outside.

Ding Suian looked him over carefully, then looked up at the sun, and asked uncertainly, “You didn’t return all night last night?”

“Amitabha~”

Zhisheng sighed suddenly, “The demoness. She is too powerful!”

“No way! Did you… you know?”

“No! This poor monk held onto his foundation! I did not let the demoness succeed!”

“Impressive!”

Ding Suian looked at him with admiration.

Carriages and horses clogged half the street in front of the former Prince Ren’s Estate, now the Crown Prince’s Estate.

Compared to the desolation of last month, the scene perfectly illustrated the saying, “The poor in the busy city are ignored, while the rich in the deep mountains are sought after.”

Ding Suian managed to squeeze to the front of the estate gate, only to see guards blocking the way, forbidding anyone from entering.

Tsk tsk, things had changed, everything had changed!

Thinking back, Nickname had once wrapped herself around him like a snake under the yew tree, begging for “help.”

Now, he couldn’t even see her once.

Just as he was planning to turn back, he saw A Qi directing servants to move things onto a carriage; she was one of the few people around Yi Yiyi that Ding Suian knew.

“A Qi! A Qi~”

Ding Suian waved at her from within the crowd.

A Qi turned her head at the sound, and after seeing who it was, said something to the guards.

Afterward, Ding Suian was led by the guards to A Qi’s side; just this small bit of special treatment made countless people around glare at him with jealousy.

“A Qi, I want to see Zhao Ning, please report it for me.”

“Does Head Ding not know yet? The Crown Prince and the Princess have already moved into the Eastern Palace of the Imperial City.”

“Can one enter the Eastern Palace?”

“I’m afraid that might be a bit difficult.”

A Qi knew that the Princess had once fled for hundreds of miles with this Dutou from the State of Wu, so she was very patient.

Ding Suian thought for a moment, “Then wait for me a moment, I’ll write a note, and you can help me pass it to the Princess.”

“Uh, alright.”

On a winter afternoon, lazy sunlight spilled into the boudoir.

Inside the new residence of the Eastern Palace, Yi Yiyi sat at her desk, holding a Confucian Sect classic and reading slowly.

On the desk, there was a stack of invitations and letters over a foot high.

The invitations were all exquisite, and the letters were equally extraordinary. Just the stationery alone included Chengxin paper that cost an ounce of gold per bundle, Peach Blossom Huanhua paper sold by the sheet, rare palace stationery, and even the worst used was gold-flecked paper.

The sun, gradually moving westward, was blocked by the high stacks of invitations and letters, casting a shadow over the book. Yi Yiyi raised her clear eyes to take a look and said indifferently, “They are in the way here; take them away and burn them.”

“Your Highness, won’t you take a look?” the maid asked in a low voice, stepping forward. Yi Yiyi turned a page and replied, “No.”

“Your Highness, inside there is an invitation from the Young Master of the family of Xie, the Chancellor, and a personal letter from Sun Yun, the grandson of Grand Scholar Sun of the Zhaowen Pavilion. Young Master Sun has been a famous prodigy in our Great Zhao since he was a child, known as the number one talent of the Southern Kingdom, and there is also…”

The maid stopped halfway, seeing the Princess Zhao Ning’s gaze looking over was exceptionally cold, and she quickly shut her mouth.

“Take them and burn them.”

This time, the maid didn’t dare say another word of nonsense, picked up the invitations and letters, and walked out.

“Nothing but sycophants!”

If not for the fear of affecting her father’s major task of winning over people’s hearts, this thought suppressed in her heart would have been shouted out long ago.

The people who sent invitations and letters through various channels were all descendants of prestigious families who were of a similar age and unmarried.

How could Yi Yiyi not see through their intentions? Her father had suddenly attained the position of Crown Prince, and his succession to the throne in the future was almost set in stone.

As her father’s only daughter, her status naturally rose with the tide. In just half a month, it was a world of difference.

The more they acted like this, the more Yi Yiyi looked down on them.

“Your Highness~”

At this moment, A Qi, her personal maid who had been with her since childhood and was the only survivor when they were assassinated upon returning to the country, walked over.

“Hmm~”

Yi Yiyi responded indifferently, not taking her eyes off the book.

A Qi looked left and right, then produced a small note from her waist, whispering, “Your Highness, this is for you.”

“…”

Yi Yiyi frowned and looked over, her beautiful face covered in a layer of frost, “A Qi, even you have accepted money from others?”

“Huh?”

A Qi looked confused.

“Take it away and burn it.”

“Uh…”

A Qi glanced at the Princess’s expression, hesitated, but summoned the courage to explain in a low voice, “The Dutou, perhaps he has some serious business.”

“Take who away to burn?”

“The Dutou! Head Ding.”

“Oh.”

Yi Yiyi held the scroll with one hand, looking indifferent, but her other hand, now freed, was already reaching out toward A Qi.

“…”

“…”

A Qi seemed a bit slow, staring at the hand the Princess extended, confused.

“Bring it here!”

“Oh, oh, oh~”

But the content of the note was unremarkable. It just said that he wanted to go to the Imperial Study to find some books and asked her to think of a way.

Yi Yiyi felt a small sense of disappointment arise in her heart for no reason, but after thinking for a moment, she still said, “A Qi, take a set of eunuch clothes and send them over. Tomorrow, let him sneak in with the court officials for the morning audience.”

After all, this was the Imperial City. Even with Prince of Nanshun now acting as regent, she had no legitimate reason to summon an external official into the palace.

Moreover, because Prince Rui had deliberately spread rumors before his death, there were quite a few ambiguous rumors in the court and public about her and the Dutou from the State of Wu. If she were to summon him openly, wouldn’t that just confirm the matter?

It was better to let him sneak in, which would save a lot of trouble.

The next day.

At 3-5 am, the morning court session hadn’t even ended, but he forced himself to overcome his sleepiness and got up.

Before 5-7 am, he rushed to the outside of the Imperial City.

After the palace gates opened, A Qi, who was also yawning incessantly, was already waiting to receive him.

Ding Suian put on a set of eunuch clothes and, under A Qi’s guidance, entered the Imperial Study without any incident.

“Dutou, find whatever books you want to read yourself, just don’t make a mess. This servant will go outside the door to keep watch for you.”

A Qi lit a candle for him and gave him special instructions.

Carrying the candle, Ding Suian didn’t have much trouble finding a copy of the “History of the Ning Dynasty” on the bookshelf.

The Ning Dynasty was the predecessor to the Great Wu. Theoretically, when a nation comes to an end, the succeeding Dynasty should write the history of the previous one.

But the Great Wu had been established for nearly fifty years, and there had never been an official history of the previous Dynasty.

Yet here there was one?

Could it be that Southern Zhao had secretly compiled a history for the Ning Dynasty?

As a vassal state of the Great Wu, Southern Zhao was clearly overstepping its bounds.

Ding Suian pulled out the “History of the Ning Dynasty.”

“…Over two hundred years of warfare, ten thousand Yao caused chaos. There were tigers and wolves acting fiercely, fond of eating hearts and livers, breaking into doors at night, and the next day, a family of several people would be left with only their skins; there were fox spirits changing their forms, luring people into miasmic mountains and forests, sucking marrow and drinking essence, with white bones piling up in caves; there were red snakes causing poison. There were rat Yao causing plagues. Wherever the demonic evil passed, cities turned into ghost domains, and fields grew thorns.”

“The human world was like purgatory. In the prosperous lands of Jiangzuo, for a thousand miles, there were no roosters crowing, white bones were exposed in the wilderness, and the survivors hid in underground caves, barely hanging on to life; our race was nearly extinct.”

This was not a war of dynastic change, but clearly a war of racial survival sweeping across the world!

The opening of the “History of the Ning Dynasty” not only shocked Ding Suian, but also left him completely bewildered.

Where did the “ten thousand Yao” come from?

There must be a reason, right?

But this “History of the Ning Dynasty” had no record of it at all. Ding Suian had to temporarily put down the “History of the Ning Dynasty,” wanting to find the answer in the history books of the Dynasty before the Ning Dynasty.

It was a coincidence that right next to the “History of the Ning Dynasty” was the “History of the Xia Dynasty.”

The Great Xia, there were countless storybooks and tales about this Dynasty, and even a three-year-old child knew of its prosperous age when ten thousand nations came to pay tribute.

Of course, the Great Xia that Ding Suian knew was the Great Xia from the history books of the State of Wu.

He wanted to see if the “History of the Xia Dynasty” in Southern Zhao was any different.

After spending more than an hour, Ding Suian flipped through it quickly, reading ten lines at a glance, and discovered that this “History of the Xia Dynasty” hidden in the Southern Zhao Imperial Study was indeed very different.

The Great Xia with ten thousand nations coming to pay tribute in the history books of the State of Wu had become “ten thousand Yao coming to pay tribute” in the history books of Southern Zhao.

Before the founding of the Great Xia, the war between humans and Yao had lasted for thousands of years.

Generally speaking, the Human Race occupied the fertile land of the Central Plains, while the Yao Race was driven to the bitter, cold, and miasmic borderlands.

After the Great Xia was established, the Emperor Taizong had great talent and bold strategy, implementing a policy unprecedented in history: not to exterminate the Yao Race with weapons, but to advocate for “civilization and submission, all races paying tribute together.”

There were three strategies.

First, establish a Ministry of Civilization, dedicated to accepting the Yao Race that submitted from all directions.

Second, open a special “Yao Examination” in the imperial examinations, allowing outstanding members of the Yao Race to compete with scholars in the same field.

Third, incorporate the Yao Race into the military.

For a time, all corners of the world surrendered their hearts, and all Yao took pride in serving the Heavenly Dynasty.

As a result, the Great Xia gathered all the talents of various races, the Empire controlled ten thousand miles of territory, and the world belonged to the King’s Way; it could be described as flowers embroidered on brocade, or a raging fire fueling oil.

But, people are not good for a thousand days, and flowers do not bloom for a thousand days. The same was true for the country; three hundred years after the founding of the Great Xia, it gradually showed signs of fatigue.

The Yao Race, which had originally been dormant and docile, took advantage of the chaos to launch a rebellion.

The eleven provinces of the Central Plains immediately fell into two hundred years of darkness, with the Yao tribes warring among themselves, and various Yao kingdoms with long or short lifespans springing up like mushrooms on the land of the Central Plains.

Later, it was called the Seven Tribes and Thirteen Kingdoms.

The seven tribes were Tiger, Wolf, Rat, Snake, Bei, Fox, and Weasel; in short, it was just a bunch of monsters fighting for territory.

What made Ding Suian extremely uncomfortable was that in the two hundred years of warfare, there was almost no record of the Human Race. Because at that time, the Human Race had completely become the rations and breeding tools for the crossbreeding attempts of various demonic evils.

No matter which tribe was in power among the seven, they all specifically established a “Ministry of Slaughtering Livestock” and a “Ministry of Breeding Livestock.”

The Ministry of Slaughtering Livestock was responsible for capturing and slaughtering the population.

The Ministry of Breeding Livestock was responsible for the breeding of the Human Race.

After all, if you only eat and don’t breed, sooner or later there will be a day when you run out.

It was no different from humans raising pigs.

Ding Suian felt his stomach churning. It wasn’t because of physiological reasons like disgust, but rather psychological frustration and anger over the tragic past of his own race.

After understanding the background of the ten thousand Yao causing chaos in the Central Plains, when he reopened the “History of the Ning Dynasty,” he felt a different kind of sensation.

“In the first year of the Reform, Emperor Ning, whose given name was Zhongliu, gathered the Human Race in the wilderness, swore an alliance with blood, and vowed to clear away the demonic atmosphere. At first, human strength was meager, and it was difficult to resist the strange and demonic evils, resulting in repeated defeats, but the Emperor’s will was unyielding. Later, he received strange arts from Heaven, drawing on starlight to temper divine weapons. Furthermore, people with strange abilities came to join, possessing special talents to glimpse Demonic Qi and identify traces. After twelve years of bloody battles, with hundreds of large and small engagements, every step was thorny, every inch was stained with blood, and finally, the demonic disaster was quelled.”

“In the thirteenth year of the Reform, the Emperor announced to the world and issued an edict to all: Heaven and Earth give birth and nourish, and all things have spirits. Anyone who borrows the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, absorbs the essence of the sun and moon, tempers their own body, and realizes the Heavenly Dao to seek transcendence, regardless of what race their ancestors were, can be human; this is the Righteous Path. Conversely, if one relies on strength to bully the weak, uses the devouring of other races’ flesh and blood as a shortcut for cultivation, and harms lives to nourish oneself, regardless of their appearance, they are defined as Yao; this is the path of demons and evil, and the world shall strike them together!”

Emperor Ning was redefining what it meant to be human and Yao.

According to this theory, even if one were of the Human Race, if one used the devouring of others’ flesh and blood as a shortcut to cultivation, they would be defined as a Yao to be “struck by the world together.”

And beasts, as long as they cultivated into human form by relying on Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and did not harm others, would be defined as “human.”

To put it bluntly, this was casting aside racial theory and using a binary class theory of oppressor and oppressed to distinguish between human and Yao.

Judging only by the Southern Zhao “History of the Ning Dynasty,” this Emperor Ning, who was belittled and deemed worthless in the Great Wu, had indeed tried hard to resolve the ten-thousand-year-long feud between the Spirit Monkey race and other races, wanting to build a relatively fair world; how did he suddenly lose his country and die?

Ding Suian couldn’t wait to turn to the next page.

But he was shocked to discover that the content behind it had been torn out!

Damn it! He had only heard of people tearing out key parts of erotic novels to keep as a collection, but he had never heard of anyone tearing out key parts of history books!