Chapter 968: Perplexed and Smitten (28)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Wang Jinsheng took a look and immediately said, “This is a romantic poem that was probably written by a man. Well, this used to be a palace after all. The person who had the gall to do this was probably the prince or someone of higher authority back in the day.”
“What does the poem mean?”
“The writer expressed his adoration and affection toward this woman in all the poems, and the overall meaning is that he misses this woman greatly and that he feels like he can’t live without her. He’s also willing to go anywhere she’d like to go.”
Noticing the smile on her face, Wang Jinsheng grinned and said, “Seems like those ancient people do know how to be romantic and are rather sentimental. He actually hid all his love letters in the door. How unique.”
An Xiaoning sneakily stored the stack of papers into a plastic bag and placed the plastic bag into her own bag. Wang Jinsheng could not help but say, “By rights, we must bring all of these back to be displayed in the national museum.”
“You may do that with the rest, but not these,” she said assertively, sounding as if there was no room for compromises to be made.
Thinking that he was the one who had asked her for help in the first place, Wang Jinsheng decided not to insist further.
“You may take it with you since you want it, Ms. An,” he consented.
“Thank you, Captain Wang.”
“Ms. An, you may continue taking a look inside with Mr. Jin. The three of us shall wait for you guys at the entrance.”
“How about you drive the car back first, Captain Wang? Return when it’s about to get dark and do bring some food along. We’ll take a look around the place. We shall wait for you at the entrance later,” said An Xiaoning, handing him the car keys.
“Sounds good.”
The three of them quickly left the place.
“You’ve been keeping quiet throughout. What’s wrong?”
“Xiaoning.”
“Yes?”
“We should have asked those spirits in the cave about how I died before they left back then. Now that I think about it, I really regret not doing so. I also want to find out how you died in our previous lifetime.”
After a moment of silence, An Xiaoning said, “I think it should be easy to find out about those. I’ve been dreaming about our previous lifetime rather frequently of late. We’ll find out one day. Have you had any dreams recently, though?”
Shaking his head, he answered, “I’ve never dreamed about it again.”
“Regardless of how we died in our previous lives, it’s already set in stone. I don’t want history to repeat itself in this lifetime.”
….
By evening, Wang Jinsheng had arrived with the rest of the archeological team and brought some fast food and bottled mineral water for An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyan. They then began eating and drinking unhurriedly.
As the sky turned dark gradually, the ancient residence began to feel a little spooky.
When Jin Qingyan suggested that they go in together, Wen Lele interjected in disapproval, “Jin Qingyan, don’t burden Ms. An. We’re already worried enough about her going in alone. If you tag along, we really can’t imagine…”
“Let him come with me,” said An Xiaoning, who did not stop him.
Wen Lele widened her eyes in shock and said, “Ms. An, why are you so…”
“I won’t let anything happen to him.”
Wen Lele had no choice but to keep quiet.
They had already gone inside twice in the day, and this would be An Xiaoning’s third time entering the same place, but at a different timing.
“It’s really strange that I don’t feel afraid at all this time,” An Xiaoning said softly after entering.
“Me neither.”
The further they delved inside, the lesser they were spooked. It felt just like a casual stroll for them.
“Did you see anything yet?”
“No, nothing at all.”
However, it did not seem like there was completely nothing bizarre about the place. After all, it was a matter of fact that those archeologists had died right there.
Both of them were wearing night vision goggles, which allowed them to see everything clearly in the darkness of the night.
After passing by several walls, they began walking toward a bridge.
They made their way up the stone stairs slowly. Just as they reached the middle, An Xiaoning subconsciously let out a screech.
Her hands began to quiver while Jin Qingyan held onto one tightly. He had a rough idea upon seeing her reaction.
The initial silence was broken by a faint weeping that gradually grew louder. Soon, there was a mix of shrilling voices coming from males, females, and the elderly. The immense melancholy in their voices were rather hair-raising.
All of a sudden, a voice screeched loudly, “Your Highness!!!”
Tears began to well up in Jin Qingyan’s eyes and he asked, “Why… why haven’t you guys gone to reincarnate yet?”
“Our spirits and souls have been trapped here and we can’t leave at all. Your Highness, you have no idea what happened after you went missing. The entire palace was sealed and surrounded by large armies of soldiers. None of us made it out alive…”
An Xiaoning could not contain her emotions and began to tear up as well. She then said to him, “There are a lot of them who are kneeling on the ground in front of us. Hurry and let them get up.”
“You guys, get on your feet, quick.”
His command was rather effective and the spirits immediately stood up.
“Who was the one who trapped you guys here, and who was the one who sealed the palace? His Highness and I have already reincarnated and we barely remember much about our previous lives. Please tell us what happened,” said An Xiaoning.
A female spirit said, “It’s a long story.” She then instructed her fellow spirits, “Wait at the door, you guys. Don’t let those people come in.”
“Don’t hurt them, they’re all good people. If they try to enter, just scare them a little. They wouldn’t dare to enter,” said An Xiaoning.
The spirits nodded and soon vanished out of sight.
The woman walked toward them and stopped at a distance of about two meters away from An Xiaoning. She said, “Miss Jin, I wonder if you still remember me, your servant.”
An Xiaoning looked at her carefully and said, “I can’t remember.”
“That’s not surprising. I was already married when you came to the palace back then, Miss Jin. My name is Ling Yu, and I was sold to the palace to become His Highness’ servant when he was still a child. I was also one of his head maids. His Highness was brave and battle-wise. He was rarely home too. I got married when I was 18 years old, but my husband died a few years after we got married. My parents-in-law then chased me out of the house and I returned to the palace to work again. At that time, you and His Highness had already split and you never returned to the palace again. You may not know who I am, but I know who you are, Miss Jin. When I returned to the palace, His Highness was moody and depressed for a long period of time. All he would do each day was drown his sorrows in liquor and make paintings of you. The entire study was filled with your portraits…”
She continued, “His Highness then went missing, and a few days later, we received an imperial edict that claimed that His Highness had colluded with the other nations in an attempt to seize power and control. The soldiers first surrounded the entire mansion and yard. Half a month later, His Highness had still yet to return, and thus, they decided to kill everyone inside the prince’s residence. No life was spared at all. We were then mass buried in a huge ditch, and there were amulets pasted on all of our corpses to trap our spirits in here forever.”