Chapter 475: Day 3 into the Alien War Story

Chapter 475: Day Three Inside an Alien War Novel

A slight smile spread across An Yi's face, then he stepped forward and followed the tour group.

"...The story of Emperor Taizu and Empress Bai is well known to everyone, I'm sure."

The tour guide continued: "They met when they had nothing, stuck together through the chaos of war, and finally joined forces to build the dynasty's most glorious age. Emperor Taizu reigned for forty-eight years and implemented a series of groundbreaking reforms: establishing the imperial examination system to select scholars from humble backgrounds, setting up schools for women so they could study and serve in the army, lightening the tax load on farmers, and pushing the borders to their widest reach..."

"And Empress Bai—oh, at the time still known as Lord Bai Ruzhi—was Emperor Taizu's right-hand man, heading up major national initiatives like legal reform, education reform, and building out the healthcare system. History books say he was 'kind-hearted, proper in his ways, sharp in strategy, and kind to the common folk,' winning the respect of everyone in the government and the public. In the second year of his reign, Emperor Taizu ignored all the objections and, as the sovereign, married Bai as his empress, making history by having a man serve as empress..."

An Yi listened, his eyes far away, and gave a faint smile.

Back then, he'd held Ruzhi's hand and announced to the court: "I intend to make Ruzhi my Empress."

The whole court exploded in chaos.

An old minister burst into tears and banged his head on the floor: "Your Majesty! Empresses have always been women! A man as empress goes against tradition and basic decency!"

They'd known the two were close, but they never thought he'd actually make him empress!

How could he do this?!

No matter how they protested, Ruzhi happily sat himself on the empress's throne.

After the wedding, when Ruzhi went back to handling state affairs, those officials' faces went green with shock.

He was the empress now—and still a top minister?!

"...And that's why the love story of Emperor Taizu and Empress Bai is celebrated as a legend for the ages."

The tour guide's voice snapped An Yi back to the present: "They leaned on each other through life, grew old together in love, and ruled side by side for nearly fifty years, bringing in an age of honest government, a booming economy, and a thriving culture. When Empress Bai passed, Emperor Taizu followed soon after. As he'd wished, he was buried here beside Empress Bai, keeping their promise to 'be together in life and in death'..."

A chorus of sighs went through the crowd.

An Yi kept following the group until they reached the main building of the mausoleum.

A tall stone tablet stood at the entrance, carved with the life stories of the emperor and empress.

A few young people were chatting near the tablet, not loudly, but An Yi could still hear every word.

"If you ask me..." a trendy young man said with total confidence: "Someone as powerful as Emperor Taizu couldn't have had just one empress. I've done my research—Mao Hua, Cha Jiang, Du Yu, those big-name ministers back then—they were definitely all his lovers! They just never got the official title. They were basically his concubines!"

His buddies snickered.

"Really?" another asked.

"Of course!" The trendy young man got even more worked up: "Think about it—what ancient emperor didn't have a whole harem? No matter how much Emperor Taizu loved Empress Bai, there's no way he stayed loyal to just him!"

An Yi: "..."

Nope. They had nothing like that going on.

Mao Hua was a total workaholic. He slept like three hours a day and spent every other waking second on government work—no time for that kind of stuff.

Cha Jiang was crazy about his wife, and he was scared to death of Bai Ruzhi, though nobody knew why.

As for Du Yu, he had plenty of wives and concubines. After he surrendered to An Yi, he won a bunch of battles and then coasted on his past glory for the rest of his life.

An Yi grumbled to himself.

Just then, a college student in glasses happened to walk by and overhear them. He frowned and walked over.

"What kind of fake history is that? That's total nonsense!"

"What are you guys even saying?" he said, sounding shocked. "Spreading rumors right in front of Emperor Taizu and Empress Bai's graves—don't you think that's too much?"

The trendy young man was caught off guard, then said grumpily, "We're just talking about history. What's the big deal?"

"If you're going to talk about history, base it on facts, not wild guesses!" The college student pushed up his glasses: "Official records, unofficial stories, tomb inscriptions, personal notes from back then—not one single source says Emperor Taizu had anyone other than Empress Bai. In fact, every source shows they were deeply in love and promised themselves to each other for life. You're just making stuff up, and it's disrespectful to the dead!"

"Hey, why are you so worked up about this..." the trendy young man started to argue, but his friend pulled him back.

"Forget it, forget it—it's really not cool to say stuff like this in front of a grave..."

The group grumbled and walked off, shooting the college student a dirty look as they left.

The college student snorted at their backs: "Don't come crying when Emperor Taizu and Empress Bai come to haunt you tonight!"

With that, he turned and left as well.

An Yi watched the whole thing and smiled gently.

He stepped forward, crouched down in front of Ruzhi's tomb, reached out, and gently touched the ground, his movements soft and careful.

"Ruzhi, did you see that?" he whispered, so quietly only he could hear. "Even after all this time, people still remember you and stand up for you."

The wind blew through the pines and cypresses in the cemetery, making a soft rustling sound.

An Yi slowly stood up, took one last look at the grand mausoleum, then turned and left.

A janitor pushing a cleaning cart walked past where An Yi had been crouching. The spot was empty now, just a few fallen leaves spinning in the wind.

----------

An Yi went to a lot more places.

He went to a city where an observatory used to stand. It had collapsed long ago, leaving only a street behind. The ruins were fenced off, with old, faded "I was here" graffiti scratched into them.

He went to a concert hall where a gorgeous piece of music was playing. It was said to be the last masterpiece of a musical genius from long ago. Apparently, that musician started out as an idol and even went on a dating show, where he met the love of his life. People said his musical style kept changing, wild and all over the place, like he'd been to different worlds and could only have written such strange, mysterious music.

He went to a university where people had gotten even more advanced—they'd evolved two new genders, and now even male Alphas could get pregnant.

An Yi clapped. Impressive stuff.

He went to many places and saw many old friends, though these days they were quiet and invisible.

When An Yi went back to that mountain, he was holding a bouquet of flowers.

The flowers were a special color, like a gradient of the glow from an autumn evening sky.

Autumn glow, autumn glow.

The mountain wind blew, and the Qiuxia flowers swayed softly.

An Yi leaned against a big tree, tilting his head up to watch the dappled sunlight slip through the leaves.

The mountain forest was quiet, with only the wind rustling the leaves and birds calling in the distance.