This story seemed rather familiar

Graduate Chen, if you encounter anything strange, don't keep it to yourself. People could die...

Even when he received his official appointment the following day, Chen Qing kept turning over the words the deputy minister of the Court of Judicial Review had spoken yesterday. Had the man been warning him, or giving him a hint?

If it was a warning, did that really mean everyone was putting on an act? Deliberately forgetting Cui Yan's wife?

But what would be the point?

If it was a hint... had he really encountered a ghost?

"Chen Qing, you're back? Come on, tell us where you've been appointed!"

The voice brought Chen Qing back to his senses. Seeing those familiar faces, he relaxed a little. He was staying at a Confucius Temple in the capital's southern outskirts, donated by a local philanthropist as lodging for poor scholars preparing for the examinations in the capital. The moment Chen Qing returned, a crowd of fellow students who had once memorized texts alongside him gathered around.

"Qi County, Youzhou. What decent posting could a second-tier graduate near the bottom of the rankings get?" Chen Qing replied with a smile.

"That's still pretty good..." a plump young man said. "For people from families like ours, passing the metropolitan examinations and becoming officials already means our ancestors' graves are giving off green smoke. Who are we to be picky? You and Cui Yan passed on your very first try. Unlike us..."

"Exactly..." another tall, thin man added. "Our families have a little money, enough to support another attempt or two. Plenty of the students here at the temple already left for home yesterday, planning to teach at their local county schools..."

Chen Qing felt rather moved by this. Studying was no easy matter for farmers' sons. Brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, tuition gifts for teachers, and living expenses while studying in the county and prefectural capitals-how many actual farming families could afford it all?

Take him, for instance. His father had died young. If the family tofu business hadn't done reasonably well, they could never have afforded his studies. Even so, they had reached the point of selling ancestral property. More than half his elder brother and sister-in-law's income went toward supporting him, while his younger sister's dowry still hadn't been provided for at all.

Had he failed this time, his family would have struggled to scrape together another few hundred taels for him to take the examinations in the capital!

"Oh, right, Chen Qing, why didn't Cui Yan come back with you? We were hoping to bask in the third-place graduate's glory!"

Chen Qing paused and looked at the fat young man who had spoken. His name was Zhou Haitao, and he was also from Liuzhou. He had arrived in the capital to prepare a year before Chen Qing and Cui Yan, and they had studied together back at the prefectural academy.

Seeing that Zhou Haitao genuinely seemed unaware of Cui Yan's death, something occurred to him. Right, ancient times weren't like the modern world, where news of a major incident could spread nationwide within hours. The Confucius Temple was out of the way, and the scholars who stayed here naturally weren't as well-informed as successful graduates like them. It was perfectly normal that they didn't know Cui Yan had suddenly died...

At that thought, Chen Qing looked at Zhou Haitao. "Haitao, Cui Yan was so handsome. Why wasn't he engaged?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Zhou Haitao curled his lip. "He was so talented and so good-looking. With assets like those, of course he'd come to the capital to find himself a good father-in-law. I wouldn't have married either!"

Chen Qing stared hard at him. Zhou's expression was utterly natural. He didn't look as though he was acting at all!

"Fatty, do you remember the Narcissus Poetry Gathering three years ago?"

"I told you not to call me Fatty! Becoming an official doesn't give you permission either!" Zhou Haitao glared at Chen Qing, then frowned and rubbed his fleshy chin. "What Narcissus Poetry Gathering?"

Those words chilled Chen Qing's heart, extinguishing the last of his wishful hopes.

Three years earlier, he had just passed the provincial examinations and gone to Liuzhou to study. That year, Liuzhou saw a spring snowfall the likes of which hadn't occurred in a decade, while narcissus flowers blanketed Qin Garden north of the city. Such a splendid sight was rare, so the prefect and the teachers had organized a grand poetry gathering.

There, Cui Yan, only sixteen at the time, had stunned everyone with a lyric on spring snow. His literary fame spread far and wide, and daughters from several families took a fancy to him. He had been the center of attention!

That was also when Master Huang's daughter had fallen for Cui Yan and asked her father to personally inquire about a marriage.

Chen Qing had grumbled about it for ages. After all, in so many historical novels, it was the transmigrated protagonist who shone at poetry gatherings and won young maidens' hearts. Cui Yan had taken the script that should have belonged to Chen Qing!

Unfortunately, he had been a science-and-engineering guy in his previous life. After years spent coding since graduation, he had forgotten most of the Tang poetry and Song lyrics he had learned, so he couldn't plagiarize his way to literary fame. Although he had switched to the humanities after transmigrating, mastering the classics for the imperial examinations had already taken every ounce of his effort. How could he spare the energy to study poetry? He couldn't pull off that flex...

He simply hadn't expected Cui Yan, who had taken the protagonist's script, to meet such an end-much less for all traces of his past to be erased!

Looking at Fatty Zhou's entirely genuine expression, Chen Qing hesitated no longer. He hurried back to his room and began packing.

"Hey, Chen Qing, what are you doing?" Zhou Haitao and the others followed him over. Seeing him packing his luggage, they froze. "You're leaving already? We were going to throw you a celebration feast!"

"There's no need..." Chen Qing waved without looking back. "The local authorities are pressing us this time. The Ministry of Personnel only gave us twenty days, and I still have to return to Liuzhou to fetch my mother, brother, and sister-in-law. I really don't have time..."

That wasn't a lie. The Ministry of Personnel had indeed given him very little time, and he really did need to fetch his mother from Liuzhou. Still, it wasn't as though he couldn't spare time for a meal.

He simply wanted to leave this troubled place as quickly as possible, and even hurry his family out of Liuzhou, far away from anywhere Cui Yan had once left his mark!

He had already thought it through. Youzhou's climate was unpleasant, nowhere near as lovely as Liuzhou's mountains and waters. But a nice location meant nothing if life was hard. In Qi County, Youzhou, he would at least be the local magistrate. If conditions were bad, the people beneath him would suffer. As a county official living off the people's fat and marrow, how bad could his own life be?

Besides, his family's ancestral property had all been sold. There was nothing left to miss. Once he brought everyone to his posting, his mother could enjoy an easy retirement instead of making tofu at her age. His brother and sister-in-law could start a little business of their own, and he could find his younger sister a good marriage. He could even arrange his nephew's schooling. Wouldn't that be better than staying in this eerie place called Liuzhou?

With everything packed, Chen Qing bade farewell to Fatty Zhou and the others and hurried to set off.

Yet he hadn't gone far from the Confucius Temple before a carriage stopped him. The man who stepped out made his heart lurch. It was Wang Ye, the deputy minister of the Court of Judicial Review who had questioned him yesterday!

"Oh, what a coincidence, Graduate Chen... No, I should call you Magistrate Chen now."

Coincidence, my ass...

Chen Qing rolled his eyes, then cupped his hands in greeting. "Where are you headed, my lord?"

"To Liuzhou..." the man replied with a beaming smile. "To see whether Magistrate Chen's testimony was mistaken."

"This student... this subordinate already told you I misspoke while drunk. Why must you keep pursuing it, my lord?" Chen Qing grew anxious. What was this? He couldn't afford to offend them, but now he couldn't even hide?

"Whether you misspoke or not, won't we know once we get there?" Wang Ye smiled. "I'm from Liuzhou myself. This also gives me an excuse to visit my relatives back home."

"You're from Liuzhou, Lord Wang?" Chen Qing frowned.

"Indeed..." The man put away his smile and said solemnly, "Which makes me all the less willing to tolerate strange things wreaking havoc in my hometown."

Chen Qing's heart tightened. He forced a smile. "That's an odd thing to say, my lord. What do you mean by strange things?"

"You don't know, Lord Chen?" Wang Ye gazed at him. "I thought you did."

After several breaths of silence, Chen Qing summoned his courage and asked, "What are you referring to, my lord?"

Wang Ye looked at him and smiled again. "Get in. We can talk along the way..."

Chen Qing glanced inside the carriage, hesitating.

"Surely you aren't afraid of me?" Wang Ye laughed. "I'm a fourth-rank official, and His Majesty has assigned imperial guards to accompany me to Liuzhou. Think about it. Would a frail scholar like you be safer traveling alone, or with me?"

Chen Qing hesitated no longer. The man was right. If something strange really was involved, traveling alone would be the dangerous choice!

Once he boarded, Wang Ye drew the curtains. Apart from the officer driving, the guards around them tacitly moved farther away from the carriage.

Chen Qing clenched his sphincter and shifted a little farther from him...

"Lord Chen, you came to the capital with Cui Yan, so you must have been close. Surely you want to know how he died?"

Chen Qing lowered his head, his expression dark. He didn't want to know. Better a fellow Daoist died than this poor Daoist. True, he and Cui Yan had been close, but friends were something he could always find again once he lost one.

Yet it seemed there was no escaping this...

With a sigh, Chen Qing could only follow the man's lead. "Didn't you say he died suddenly?"

"He was young and had trained in martial arts. How could he die suddenly so easily?" Wang Ye said quietly. "His death was horrific. His belly had been cut open, and his heart, liver, and kidneys were gone!"

"How could that happen?" Chen Qing looked shocked. "Here at the Son of Heaven's feet, how could anyone treat a newly successful graduate so brutally?"

Wang Ye studied him for a long time, then changed the subject. "Lord Chen, have you read the previous dynasty's Record of Strange Tales?"

Chen Qing hastily cupped his hands. "You jest, my lord. Books from the previous dynasty are prohibited. I've studied the law myself. I would never knowingly break it!"

"Quite right, Lord Chen..." Wang Ye nodded. "Then I'll make an exception and tell you about it..."

"Could I choose not to listen?"

Ignoring Chen Qing's feeble resistance, Wang Ye continued, "Xuanzong of the previous dynasty once doted immensely on a certain Noble Consort Liu. She came from a scholarly family and was renowned for her talent. After entering the palace, she enjoyed great favor. Within just three years, Xuanzong made her a noble consort. Later, he even considered deposing the reigning empress to give her the position..."

"And then?" Chen Qing looked at him with an air of curiosity, but inwardly he was genuinely shocked. This plot... seemed awfully familiar!

"Then she died..." Wang Ye said quietly. "Poisoned. Evidently, she failed to guard against the harem's methods. But then something eerie happened."

"What eerie thing?" Chen Qing obligingly prompted him.

"After Noble Consort Liu died, a series of very strange things happened." Wang Ye smiled. "First, her father, Minister Liu of the Ministry of Rites, suddenly remembered that he'd never had such a daughter."

"Many people in the capital also remembered that the poetry gatherings where Noble Consort Liu had dazzled everyone were all false. Her lyrics and poems all belonged to other people!"

"Had no one known before?" Chen Qing asked, suppressing the pounding in his chest.

"In theory, they should have..." Wang Ye replied. "Those poems and lyrics were masterpieces that had earned certain talented men in the capital their reputations. Strangely, though, once Noble Consort Liu became famous, everyone seemed to forget their original authors. Only after she was poisoned did they remember. Wouldn't you call that uncanny?"

"Yes... quite uncanny..." Chen Qing swallowed and forced a smile.

"Isn't it?" Wang Ye watched him with a smile. "Yet you don't seem all that surprised, Lord Chen. Or have you seen it before? Or perhaps... you know what that thing was?"

"You jest, my lord. How would I know?" Chen Qing shook his head with a bitter smile. "Your account was simply so fantastic that I instinctively treated it as a story. The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, feats of strength, disorder, or spirits. I don't believe in such things!"

"Really?" Wang Ye stared at him for a long while before finally withdrawing his gaze and closing his eyes. "The Master did not speak... of strange phenomena, feats of strength, disorder, or spirits? Heh... even Sage Confucius told lies sometimes..."

Chen Qing kept his head lowered, pretending not to hear that disrespectful remark. Wang Ye asked no further questions, and the two fell silent.

In that silence, Chen Qing closed his eyes and recalled a memory from long, long ago, one he had almost forgotten.

Although he had lived two lives, the events of his previous life were already more than twenty years behind him. Recalling the details was difficult now, but he still remembered some of the broad strokes.

Xuanzong, Noble Consort Liu, the Thousand-Faced Fox!

The moment Wang Ye brought it up, he knew what was going on. What innocent ancient world? This was clearly the world of ghosts and gods he had designed with his own hands!

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