Chapter 38

Among the things he found in the tunnel, that plain golden cup could be said to be the least eye-catching of all, and it was also the one with the lowest artistic value. The only reason why Qin Cheng still remembered it was because, at that time, his team members had estimated that the golden cup should’ve been the beloved object of the tomb’s owner, since the wedge mouth on the cup showed that there was another cup paired with it.

Originally, it was a good discovery, and after seeing that the Qing character was the only clear character on the golden cup, Qin Cheng thought that this must be the name of the tomb owner’s lover. At that time, Qin Cheng didn’t care much about it, but now… it was another story.

When you’re in a different position, your mindset will be different and your opinions will drastically change. At that time, he thought that the tomb’s owner had a specific woman inside his heart, estimating that the tomb’s owner must’ve been an Emperor who suffered from a long-lasting unrequited love. That was the Emperor Qin Cheng didn’t know anything about. But now, that same Emperor was imprinted on his heart, and when he thought of the character Qing or when he heard Su Jingmo calling her his ‘wife’, Qin Cheng’s heart felt extremely unpleasant.

“But….” Qin Cheng looked at Su Jingmo with a complicated expression as he asked: “Didn’t you say that you didn’t get married?”

“When did Zhen say that he didn’t get married?” Su Jingmo turned his head with a smile on his face as he replied to Qin Cheng: “Zhen simply said that he didn’t have an Empress.”

“So you married her, but you didn’t make her your Empress?”

“Having a main wife doesn’t necessarily mean that Zhen should establish her as Zhen’s Empress.”

Su Jingmo’s replies were said so lightly that Qin Cheng’s thoughts changed a million times in a minute.

He wanted to force himself to calm down, but his mind kept repeating the tenderness Su Jingmo showed when he mentioned Lin Qing a while ago…

That was something Qin Cheng has never seen Su Jingmo do before, it was a sentiment shown exclusively towards her….

Su Jingmo looked at Qin Cheng quietly, and thought: ‘ He treats me like a precious jewel, a ghost who had to stay in the world of the living for thousands of years. Then, there’s that “reward” he had “requested” when he thought he was going to die.… ’

Su Jingmo covered the bottom of his eyes, and then he said with a playful smile: “However, what does it matter to you if Zhen is married or establish an Empress?”

With these words, Qin Cheng’s pupils were suddenly dilated as he looked at the man in front of him with astonishment. Su Jingmo’s eyes were smiling, his peach blossom eyes made him look gentle, but in fact, it was hard to get close to him, since his eyes were, in reality, extremely cold.

This gaze made Qin Cheng’s fiery heart gradually cool down.

“Yes…. it doesn’t matter.”

‘ Yes, what does it matter to me? In Su Jingmo’s eyes, I’m exactly the same as those grave robbers, with the difference that I have the official permission granted by the State. I’m nothing more than an “Official Grave Robber”…. If it wasn’t because Su Jingmo wanted to know the reason behind the disappearance of the Xu Dynasty, why it disappeared from history, and what happened to Great Xu after he died, as an archeologist, I’m still of some use. Otherwise, Su Jingmo would’ve killed me long ago. ’

It can’t be denied that not only Su Jingmo didn’t kill him, he even treated him quite well, and protected him several times. These actions made Qin Cheng unconsciously feel as if he was different to Su Jingmo. But, what exactly was the difference? If he hadn’t picked up the Jade pendant in the beginning, he wouldn’t be standing here at the moment. In fact, now that he thought about it, anyone would’ve been the same for Su Jingmo. As long as that person could discover what had happened to the Xu Dynasty, that Jade pendant could be given to anyone….

Qin Cheng was unable to recognize this crucial point before, and instead, indulged himself under countless delusions, completely refusing to see the reality in front of him.

After all, he’s interested in Su Jingmo, interested in the Emperor who died 1600 years ago ; i nterested in the loneliness behind that smiling face that makes his heart ache; in the way he talks, confused about the things of the modern world; in his pair of smiling peach blossom eyes, and in the voice that would call his name, Qin Cheng , in a way that was oh so pleasant to hear….

‘ Fortunately, should I be glad that I’m still not too deeply into him? ’ When he thought about this, Qin Cheng took a deep breath. ‘ What am I thinking? Liking Su Jingmo? Who has been dead for such a long time? There’s not a single possibility between us, it’s absolutely impossible. ’ Qin Cheng has accepted this fact earlier, putting away those emerging thoughts as soon as they arrived. After all, if the other side doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, Qin Cheng doesn’t want to pester him….

In the end, Qin Cheng and Su Jingmo were in a contractual relationship: Qin Cheng needed protection against the rest of the fierce ghosts, and since Su Jingmo wasn’t able to leave the tomb, and they had the same purpose, in which the both of them wanted to know the truth behind the disappearance of the Xu Dynasty, they complemented and balanced each other. Because of this, he shouldn’t add ‘feelings’ to this matter, or he would end up destroying the balance.

This is certainly the best for Qin Cheng, isn’t it?

Qin Cheng didn’t speak anymore, and Su Jingmo has been silent for a while as well.

Beside them, Qu Zhiwen sighed lightly in his heart. ‘ Those closely involved in a situation cannot see as clearly as the outsiders ¹ ’. Qin Cheng was in a turmoil, and he couldn’t see Su Jingmo’s motives, but Qu Zhiwen was able to guess some of them.

Qu Zhiwen could still see the ghostly qi surrounding Qin Cheng, after all, he was a human that had spent such a long time inside a tomb, so it was reasonable to say that he would get contaminated with negative qi one way or the other. Moreover, the Emperor’s ghostly qi, which has stayed on the world of the living for 1600 years, was even stronger, and Qin Cheng was in direct contact with it.

There’s a difference of 1600 years between the two of them. If they’re not fated to be with each other, then it’s better to let it go.

On the other hand, Qu Zhiwen suddenly remembered Jiang Ping and a headache began to form inside his head. Naturally, Jiang Ping wouldn’t lose against the grave robbers in physical strength, but since they can attract ghosts, Deputy Bureau Jiang might encounter some trouble.

“Alright, since this matter has been solved; Your Highness, you’ve been dead for such a long time, and the cycle of reincarnation is beyond my control.” Qu Zhiwen paused for a moment, glanced at Qin Cheng, and then continued: “And you, there are many discrepancies inside this tomb. Tonight, those few grave robbers almost took your life, and there will be other grave robbers who will come here in the future, since the ‘thing’ they want is inside this great tomb. You must remember that you’re not a Taoist, and coming here will only lead you to your own death, so it’s better for you to not get involved too much.”

After Qu Zhiwen said this, with a wave of his hand, a piece of paper turned into a white dove. Then Qu Zhuwen bid his farewell and left towards the direction Jiang Ping had left earlier.

When he left, leaving Qin Cheng and Su Jingmo alone, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. Su Jingmo glanced at Qin Cheng and then turned towards the tunnel, suddenly disappearing in front of Qin Cheng’s eyes, who couldn’t help but freeze in place, stunned.

“Didn’t you say that you wanted to show Zhen something last time?”

Those words came from the depths of the tunnel, and Su Jingmo’s attitude as if nothing had happened made Qin Cheng’s heart twist, but he simply gritted his teeth, reminding himself to focus on his research only. “Yes.”

What Qin Cheng wanted to show Su Jingmo was the reprint of the ancient book he mentioned last time, which recorded the historical events of the Wei, Jin, North and South Dynasties, as well as the Sui and Tang Dynasties. He also secretly brought some arrows from the warehouse ‘arsenal’ they dug up some time ago. These arrows had inscriptions on them, but because such a long time had passed, Qin Cheng couldn’t distinguish what was written on them, so he thought that maybe Su Jingmo would know.

After looking through the books, Su Jingmo was able to understand the text even though the words had changed over time. However, since he knew that it was getting late and that Qin Cheng would have to leave the tomb in about another half an hour, because the so-called ‘police’ would come to inspect the surrounding area of the tomb, Su Jingmo put the book aside, intending to wait for Qin Cheng to leave before reading them in more detail.

“What are the inscriptions on this arrow? After so many years, the characters aren’t very clear.”

Su Jingmo took the arrow from Qin Cheng and carefully identified the words on it. Su Jingmo knew that Qin Cheng wanted to know about the history of his period of time, so while identifying the words, he said: “Great Xu’s army’s arrows were marked with the camp they were made at. The hilt of the swords were engraved with the Emperor’s name, and the arrows were engraved with the surname of the leading Generals. During Zhen’s reign, only three Generals in Great Xu were qualified to have their surnames engraved on the arrows. General Wu Changfeng, General Gongsun Zhi, and Great General Qiao Minju.” While fondling the arrow, Su Jingmo smiled. “In any case, the characters on this arrow aren’t ‘Wu’, ‘Gongsun’ or ‘Qiao’.”

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Su Jignmo could vaguely recognize the characters, and when he thought about the Generals around Su Jingyan, Su Jingmo suddenly remembered a man. The third son of the Prime Minister, who was a great talent in the military. However, that man wasn’t used by Su Jingyan. After all, not only was the Prime Minister, whose surname was Ning, his close advisor, but he was also Su Jingmo’s relative from his mother’s side. The third son of the Ning family, which has been a family of scholars for generations, should’ve been a scholar like Su Jingmo, but in fact, he was a warrior, not a scholar. That should’ve been the reason why Su Jingyan didn’t try to use him….

Except for the Ning family’s third son, Su Jingmo couldn’t think of anyone else. ‘ Did the third son of the Ning family become a General after my death? ’

When he thought about it, Su Jingmo put down the arrow and shook his head, laughing. “This arrow should’ve been from Zhen’s fifth brother’s General.”

“Your fifth brother… did he become the Emperor after you died?” Qin Cheng hadn’t forgotten that Su Jingmo had mentioned before that his wife, Lin Qing, must’ve become his brother’s Empress.

Su Jingmo nodded his head, and while patting the stone table, he looked at the void of the tomb, his eyes unfocused. “When Zhen was still a Prince, Zhen killed the Crown Prince, and then the second Prince. The fourth Prince was a coward, so Zhen didn’t bother in getting rid of him and simply let him go to the mountains.” He said it in a way as if he was merciful, but in fact, the fourth Prince had grown extremely spoiled, so when a person who doesn’t know how to protect themselves or survive alone is suddenly sent to the mountains, their only destination is most likely inside the belly of the wild animals in the mountains. When Su Jingmo saw that Qin Cheng was frowning, he asked: “Do you think Zhen is cruel?”

Qin Cheng stared at Su Jignmo, shook his head, and said: “Being in that position must have been like a constant battlefield. It’s more important to save one’s life than anything else.”

Qin Cheng’s gaze didn’t show any trace of falseness, and after he stared at him for a while, it was Su Jingmo the one who turned his head away first.

“As for Zhen’s fifth brother….” As if immersed in memories, Su Jingmo frowned. “Su Jingyan, Zhen’s fifth brother, was a sickly and weak man ever since he was a child, even his martial arts weren’t better than our sixth brother. Aside from that, he always looked cold and never fought for anything. However, he was also a vicious and malicious man.”

After a brief pause, Su Jingmo continued: “His thirst for power was so big that he was willing to give up everything, and use whatever that’s advantageous to him. Before he could claim the throne, he was defeated by Zhen. At the beginning, Zhen would’ve never allowed him to become the Emperor.”

Since that man had become the Emperor after all, it could’ve been natural to kill him before that could happen, so Qin Cheng looked at Su Jingmo and asked: “Then why-…”

“There was someone who didn’t want him to die.”

“Who?” Even though Qin Cheng asked that, in fact, he had already guessed who was the person that might have had a relationship with both Su Jingmo and Su Jingyan; and the only thing that came to Qin Cheng’s mind, was when Su Jingmo mentioned them with the gentlest expression he has even seen….

Lin Qing….

“She married Zhen just for the sake of Su Jingyan.”

Before Su Jingmo could finish this sentence, Qin Cheng was already clenching his fists.

ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉﾞ

Footnotes

<ol><b>当局者迷，旁观者清</b> <b>dāng jú zhě mí , páng guān zhě qīng</b> ; It’s a Chinese idiom. The parties involved in a matter are often blinded by the situation, making them unable to see things as clearly as an onlooker would, because they think too much about what is at stake and don’t have a comprehensive understanding on what’s going on. From <b>《旧唐书·元行冲传》</b> ( <b>jiù táng shū·yuán xíng chōng chuán</b> ), “History of the Early Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Yuan Xingchong”, written by ( <b>刘昫</b> <b>liú xù</b> ) Liu Xu [887-946], a politician from the Later Jin of the Five Dynasties [936-946].</ol>