Zixin sat back down, he had heard Xiu Ying say this countless times, and every time she did, he would lose the argument.
Xiu Ying held her chin, seemingly in deep thought. She smiled warmly, answering Zixin's question, "The 'Historical Tales' you speak of are rather vague in nature. Despite them being tales of the Land's history, they were rarely ever written and were commonly passed down as oral tales."
She continued, "I have read documents regarding the mysteries behind these tales that stated that their purposes varied but the main idea remained, it was propaganda used to fool the common folk."
She paused, her gaze low, then turned to look at Zixin, her smile never fading as she asked politely, "Is that enough to satisfy your cravings?"
Zixin went silent, not answering. He thought to himself while eating his meal, Propaganda huh? Well, these stories were made so that there would always be a 'heroic' figure. Dear sister probably left out a lot of details. I'll try to look at it when I can… well, I suppose history is the one thing I enjoy studying the most.
…
Inside Zixin's bedroom, he sat down, writing in his diary what had happened that day. While writing, he stopped as soon as he reached the moment he saw Jinhua.
He contemplated his relationship with her while looking down, Sigh, Jinhua… Apologies my dearest friend. I should really tell her this but she would just leave the moment she realizes what I'm about to say.
He shook his head, thinking, A broken promise leads to a broken bond.
He sat back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. He smiled bitterly, focusing back on finishing his diary.
After which, he laid himself down on the bed and slept peacefully.
…
Inside the Palace's library called Endless Library, Zixin was looking for a book. He searched with all his attention.
The Endless Library was ridiculously large. It is said that even ten large mountains would not even be able to compare to its size. Several maps were plastered across the wooden walls of the library to help everyone not get lost.
The library had countless wooden pillars holding it together. The floors were made of specially cultivated wood that resisted countless calamities. The bookshelves were everywhere. The Endless Library had over twenty-five floors, all filled with books containing theories, research, history, fiction, and so much more. The Endless Library is a Scholar's dreamland.
While looking, some scholars came to greet him but he simply ignored them.
One girl, her voice soothing to the soul, asked, appearing rather nonchalant, "What are you looking for?"
The moment Zixin turned to look at her, his expression immediately changed to one of shock. The girl or rather, the young lady was none other than Jinhua.
Zixin stood there, frozen in confusion. He never expected to see her roam around the Endless Library when the Academy has its own library.
Jinhua stood there, her gaze towards Zixin becoming more judgemental. She wondered, her thoughts were clear as day, Is there something on my face? Why does he look like he has just seen a ghost? Huh? Why am I insulting myself?
Zixin then slowly regained his composure, explaining, "I was looking at a secret room where all the hidden documents are hidden."
Jinhua, hearing Zixin's words, blinked twice before finally processing Zixin's stupidity.
She asked, her voice sounding somewhat worried, "Are you serious?"
Zixin simply replied, "Yes, I am."
Jinhua sighed, remembering Zixin's nature. She knew that even though Zixin seemed mysterious to most people, he was just straightforward to the people around him. Unless he has a motive, in which case, he would seem suspicious.
Jinhua replied, having thought of a possible answer, "It's probably not in an area visited often by many."
Zixin asked, curious about how she thought of her answer, "How are you so sure?"
"Female intuition," Jinhua replied without giving it much thought.
After hearing Jinhua's answer, a sudden chill ran down Zixin's spine, making him think, Females are scary… I don't want to get in a situation where I have to confront a female… It seems bad. Hmm? Wait, why is Jinhua here in the first place? The Academy should have sufficient documents regarding her studies.
Zixin soon snapped back to reality, finding that Jinhua was nowhere to be seen. He walked around looking for her, soon finding her near the entrance. He quickly tried to walk over to her, making as little noise as possible.
After about three minutes, he finally caught up with her. He tapped her shoulder and she instinctively reacted, swiftly moving forward, then turning backward.
"Eh?" Zixin unknowingly spoke in shock.
He soon calmed down, asking her, "Why were you at the library?"
Jinhua sighed, squeezing Zixin's cheeks before pointing to the books she held, "Studying obviously."
She then punched Zixin's stomach with little force before saying, "I have to go now."
Jinhua soon left Zixin alone in the empty hall.
A couple of minutes passed as Zixin began walking, while doing so, he thought about the secret room where the documents might be.
His thoughts soon come to a halt as he realizes that it is raining. He thought, his gaze becoming dull, It's raining again… The rain is nice. Calm and suiting. Well, it is currently the rainy season so these are very common.
As his thoughts churned, he suddenly remembered what he had done a few days ago. A sudden feeling of cold ran down his spine as he remembered being soaked by the rain. He sighed internally, Thankfully I didn't catch a cold.
Suddenly, he heard a soft voice. Once he turned to look, he was met with a young maid. She had long purple hair, porcelain white skin, and deep blue eyes. She wore a black and white maid uniform, a black skirt, and black shoes.
"Lord, what are you doing out here in the hall? Is studying perhaps not of importance?"
Zixin nonchalantly replied, not giving it much thought, "I was thinking of something. Walking within the halls and hearing the rain like this is calming."
The maid advises him, clearly not fearful of him, "If possible, asking Lady Xiu for anything of value may be helpful. Her office is not far from here."
Zixin thought before replying, Odd… I've never seen her before. Why is she suddenly saying this to me? Is she not scared that I'm terrible like the usual rumors say? Well, it's not a bad idea, but… Whatever, I'm pretty much desperate at this point.
Zixin replied, his tone polite, "Thank you. I shall now take my leave."
As he leaves the maid alone in the nearly empty hall she turns to look in his direction, muttering to herself, "It seems the plan is set."
…
Knock
Outside of Xiu Ying's office, Zixin knocked for a few minutes before finally deciding to open the door.
Once he entered, he was met with nothing but utter silence, not even the sound of rain managed to pierce through to enter the office.
Zixin was confused, wondering why Xiu Ying wasn't in her office, but soon remembered her habit. He thought, I suppose this is one of the times when she walks around the Palace.
He sighed, thankful that Xiu Ying wasn't there. He had always thought that there lay many secrets within her office, and now was a good opportunity to find out about them.
He then began looking around the room, finding nothing out of the ordinary. The silver walls were sturdy like an unyielding shield. The wooden floor was smooth like jade. The windows were simple yet elegant. The couches and tables were comfy and strong.
While Zixin was walking around, looking for possible entrances to a secret room, he noticed the documents atop Xiu Ying's table.
The documents talked about a young student named Elmer who was recently promoted to the Literature Bloodline, leaving behind the life of a Nameless.
Remembering the name Zixin thoughts began to move rapidly, Elmer… Oh, the guy who reported the 'Historical Tales.' The guy in some way or another, caused me to do all this. How funny. But why would dear sister have documents regarding Elmer at her desk?
Soon a realization hit him, Wait, is it because of me? I asked her about the 'Historical Tales' so she must have looked up the reason I asked it. Sigh, so she's monitoring me but they're not always monitoring me? This is confusing. Forget it. I need to look for the secret room.
With a determined expression, he started looking around the room, hoping to find something.
But unfortunately, even after an hour, he found absolutely nothing. He soon began to question if a secret room truly existed but before he could continue, he noticed a clock hanging from the wall.
He was confused, as he thought, I could have sworn that there wasn't a clock there before. Am I going insane?
He walked towards it and tried to play around with it, trying to see if it would open a room but to no avail.
He sighed, turning to look back, only to see that he was in a completely different room.