Buried History

Longchuan had originally belonged to Xiji. After the entirety of Xiji was conquered by Panlong City, the region was naturally incorporated into Panlong City's domain as well. Due to its unique geographic position and lingering historical issues, Longchuan had become a major hurdle for He Lingchuan upon taking over as commander of Yuheng City. He wanted to see the true historical trajectory of Longchuan. Being able to look back through a retrospective lens spanning more than a century was his greatest advantage. When he first opened the records, his mood was quite relaxed. But the more he read, the graver his expression became. The accounts within defied his expectations entirely: in real history, during Panlong City's tenure, the bandit scourge in Longchuan had been suppressed for a time, but never eradicated—and had grown even fiercer in later years! Five years after conquering the Kingdom of Xiji, Panlong City was forced to abandon the southern trade route. This meant trade between Panlong City and Baisha Bay had ceased, and the connection to the outside world Zhong Shengguang so dearly craved had virtually gone up in smoke. As for the reason, the county gazetteer contained only a single line: "The Panlong Army was unyielding, sparking a popular revolt instead." He Lingchuan could hardly believe it. He had thought that with the Panlong Army's formidable might, wiping out the water bandits of Longchuan would only be a matter of time. But history told him it had not been that simple at all! Because so much time had passed, and Longchuan was a bandit-infested territory where outsiders rarely ventured, the county gazetteer preserved only a few brief notes. Between those lines, how much bloodshed and bitter struggle lay hidden? The reasons recorded here were certainly incomplete, perhaps even biased and one-sided. Yet He Lingchuan read them four or five times, word by word, back and forth, before turning to the local clan histories. History is always written by the victors; where victors pay no heed, official records are scarce. Fortunately, prominent local clans often compiled chronicles of their own families, inadvertently capturing the truth. Of the two clan histories He Lingchuan examined, the Zhangs had once been local gentry, while the Lis had been a wealthy household in Tu County. The current whereabouts of both families were unknown, for their genealogies had been preserved in a private library in Tu County, stamped on the back with the seal of the Lu Pavilion. Evidently, Wu Shaoyi had called upon local luminaries to obtain these private collections. In such troubled times, that someone in Tu County had still preserved these volumes was He Lingchuan's good fortune. Both books were battered and worn, forcing him to turn the pages with care. Wu Shaoyi had already circled the passages concerning Longchuan in brush and ink within the Li clan history. The phrasing here was remarkably bold. It claimed that Panlong City's suppression of the Longchuan water bandits had been ruthlessly severe and sweeping. Once, during a foray deep into the heart of Longchuan to hunt down bandits, they had met with fierce resistance and killed over six hundred people. And those six hundred-odd people were not all bandits! That was the nature of warfare: at times, distinguishing bandit from commoner was near impossible. The locals possessed a fierce, unyielding disposition, and the Panlong Army's actions immediately sparked public outrage. Several major water bandit factions in Longchuan even joined forces in retaliation, slipping into the southern reaches of Yuheng City to slaughter two villages. The primary residents of those two villages were Xiluo people who had migrated along with the Panlong Army. Thereafter, suppressions never ceased, and rebellions never ended. The ancestor of the Li clan had nearly lost his life in the strife, prompting him to abandon his former livelihood and relocate to Tu County. Reading between the lines, He Lingchuan noticed that although the Li clan genealogy was embellished lavishly, this ancestor of theirs had likely started out in the trade of lawlessness and robbery. The Zhang clan history, on the other hand, was rather sparse, recording only that the southern trade route had gradually withered away, dealing a heavy blow to their paper-grass business. After finishing Wu Shaoyi's annotations, He Lingchuan intended to close the book and ponder. Unexpectedly, casually flipping two pages ahead, a sentence caught his eye: "In the spring of the following year, the Yuheng City Defender was assassinated." That sentence gave him a genuine jolt. In the true history of Yuheng City, He Lingchuan had never existed. The commander in charge of city defense was someone else—namely, after Xiao Maoliang was transferred back to Panlong City, another person had taken up the post. Yet the Zhang clan history was far too brief. Did "City Defender" refer to Wen Daolun, who oversaw civic affairs, or to the new commander overseeing city defense? There was no telling. He Lingchuan hurriedly flipped through the other books from start to finish, hoping to find the time and location of the assassination. Alas, he found nothing. In any case, an important official of Yuheng City had been assassinated, which was likely another lingering consequence of the failed campaign against the bandits in Longchuan. Tossing the book aside, He Lingchuan rubbed his temples, then picked up Wu Shaoyi's letter. The envelope was intact, inscribed with "To Eldest Young Master, for your eyes only." Yet He Lingchuan suspected He Chunhua had already inspected it before handing it over. In any case, as a military officer, Wu Shaoyi's calligraphy was hardly refined, making it easy enough to forge. Unfolding the letter, he expected Wu Shaoyi to complain about how difficult it had been to obtain these materials. To his surprise, the letter held substantive information. After He Chunhua routed the main rebel force in the south, he had immediately dispatched Wu Shaoyi and others into Longchuan to continue hunting down the remnants, intending to eradicate the evil root and branch. This task had not proved difficult. Hearing that their main force had collapsed, the rebel remnants in Longchuan fled like stray dogs, surrendering at the mere sight of Governor-General He's subjugating army. Right there in Longchuan, Wu Shaoyi had found an old water lizard over two hundred and thirty years old. This old monster was a native of Longchuan. Though lacking strong magical power, it had lived long and seen much, weathering every storm, and had even served as the local Water Spirit for two or three decades. When Wu Shaoyi questioned it, the old fellow turned out to be far from senile, recalling events from over a century ago as if counting family treasures. Thus, Wu Shaoyi personally took up the brush and recorded a full ten-plus pages of deposition, which he ultimately mailed to He Lingchuan. These dozen sheets of paper detailed the history of Longchuan, mostly trivial matters. He Lingchuan skimmed through them rapidly, soon extracting the pertinent information: The Zhang clan history had noted earlier that the Yuheng City Defender was assassinated. And the old water lizard remembered clearly that this "City Defender" was named Zhao Yin'an, commander of Yuheng City. Hmm. He Lingchuan stroked his chin. In other words, in real history, the commander who succeeded Xiao Maoliang at Yuheng City was Zhao Yin'an. Reading further: "Shortly after Zhao Yin'an took office, water bandits launched a night raid on Yuheng City, inflicting severe losses upon it." So the water bandits' night raid had truly happened in history, and it had even succeeded? Yet in the Panlong World, because of He Lingchuan's involvement and command, the event had ended in the exact opposite manner. According to the old water lizard's testimony, Zhao Yin'an had indeed been assassinated, aligning with the Zhang clan history. Naturally, the lizard had not been present at the scene and did not know the details. Hah. He Lingchuan was not afraid of enemies trying that trick on him. He had died so often in the Panlong World that it had become a habit; one more death made little difference to him. Yet the very next sentence caused his expression to darken instantly: "The following year, Yuheng City Defender Wen Daolun also perished." A chill crept into He Lingchuan's heart. He immediately recalled entering the Panlong World not long ago, when Wen Daolun had mentioned divining an omen of grave peril. So, just like his beloved son Wen Xing, Wen Daolun had ultimately failed to escape his fatal tribulation, unable to defy fate? Was there anything more despairing than such unseen predetermination?