Liberi Reader

...I see.

Do not tell anyone else. Be extremely careful.

I need you to do something for me.

The Judicial Review Office has begun to investigate everyone who was near the Sky Mirror Pavilion around the time that the writing knife was stolen.

...

Outside of our siblings, you could count the number of people who know about the existence of the knife with one hand.

Yes, it's just as I feared.

I won't stand aside and do nothing if someone tries to harm you, Jie.

I doubt someone trying to harm me would use such means.

It feels more like a warning.

...

His Imperial Majesty is an energetic ruler. He wanted every 'person' in the land to bow to him. He would recognize our family as not being of his kind.

But I do not believe he would stoop so low as to use the knife in underhanded ways.

It's not fair. If there's anyone who should be above suspicion, it would be you.

You know how hard the words 'fair and just' are to write... it's as our oldest brother says. There is little point in arguing when it's a thousand mouths against one.

I doubt he would just let this slide, if he was here.

Hehe...

I wouldn't like to see him when he's angry.

What is your plan? You won't tell Wang about it?

It's times like these that he is most useful.

...

That was what I was about to ask you... please, keep this a secret from Wang.

...

People have feared and avoided him for many years. His position has grown even more precarious under the new emperor. This is not the time to drag him into this.

Besides, I fear he will do something irrational if he finds out.

Alright, I'll listen to you.

But I hope you can be honest with me, Jie.

Are you absolutely sure that you and Wang are not plotting something?

Come on, don't interrogate me like this, sister.

...

I guess no one can lie to you successfully.

I knew it.

You understand that it's a dangerous power you wield.

I know the risks. But I'm not the only one who has to shoulder them.

Shuo, Wang, Ling and you... you've done so much for us the younger ones. I have to do my part.

Besides, I don't want these names that I put so much thought into to fade away in history.

I'm here. I'm alright.

Don't worry...

You know, I had a dream, a dream about our future.

It's a different future from the fields of white that Shu spoke of.

I saw all of you truly live as yourselves.

The vision was so real, it didn't seem like a dream. I even have a feeling...

A feeling that it's more than just a dream...

It's good to see you, Miss Nian.

Hey, Round-head. You're the one supervising the work?

What about the 'foreman'? Where's he slacking off?

You misunderstand. My master has been very busy with city design ever since he received news of Baizao's modification. He has gone an entire month without sleep at his busiest.

That slowpoke picks himself up once in a while, eh?

He calls Yan's first-ever nomadic city a project of monumental significance. Every detail of the city must be carefully considered.

Therefore, he must complete it before you have a chance to do something to his design.

What the—!

How dare he talk behind my back like this, when I always share the good stuff with him?!

Where is he? I'll bite his head off for this—

Sleeping.

He has slept for ten days now, but he is supposed to deliver the draft of the gates to the Ministry of Works today.

He told me that I am to stop the ministry's people from getting in, no matter what.

Ha! Now that's the Yi I know.

...

Is there something else?

You said Yi's sleeping...

I remember that he picked up a meteorite a few decades ago... it's still in his garden, isn't it? Where?

Miss Nian... I have my master's instructions. I am not to allow anyone into the Garden of Grotesqueries, whether it is you or anyone from the Ministry of Works.

Why are you so loyal to him? Say, wasn't it I who gave him the materials to build your body? You should obey MY orders!

Now shut up and get out of the way!

Please, Miss Nian... you make my position most difficult—

Mr. Liang, Miss Nian. The Assistant Minister requests your urgent presence at the Forbidden City.

Urgent? How much?

The Baizao project has encountered a snag...

A shipment of materials, Oriron and Originium and the like, which Baizao urgently needs, has been delayed.

It has brought construction to a grinding halt.

What the...

What are the geezers at the Ministry of Works doing?

What is going on... I demand an explanation!

The construction of Baizao is the most important thing in the land! How could this be allowed to happen?!

The Chidao around the capital is well-maintained. How could it collapse when no Catastrophe has occurred? And how could there be bandits so close to the capital?

I have to say that these incidents are highly suspicious, sir.

The sudden collapse, and the supplies that disappeared without reason, then showed up just as suddenly where they should not...

If there is indeed someone behind all this, then their objective must be to sow confusion.

Rumors have been spreading in the city. Many workers believe that Baizao picked a time of ill fortune to begin construction.

Someone is sowing confusion? Who?

Sir, the Minister of Rites requests a meeting.

What is Rites doing here at a time like this? Did they come to laugh at us?

Reporting, sir: the Minister of Rites said that although the Ministry of Works has been quite busy of late, this trouble involves more than just the Ministry of Works...

There you are, Chun.

Do you know why I have summoned you?

I suppose... it's because of the writing knife.

Yes.

How do you propose to solve this dilemma?

Perhaps, if you could... put in a few good words for her, and return it to its owner...

Ha.

...

Go on.

If the numbers are the problem, it's as simple a matter as going over her head to alter them... this should not be necessary.

How interesting. Her previous Candleholder retired after being accused of growing too close to her proxy... she has a knack for winning people over, doesn't she?

She... I mean, all the proxies have their own eccentricities. But they have never plotted against Yan—

Indeed, we can tolerate the eccentricities of others, as long as they do not seek to harm Yan.

But she...

You must understand what you are dealing with, and what her powers mean to Yan.

Try.

Try, if you think you can go over the head of the proxy. Change the numbers to what you want them to be.

Your Imperial Majesty... the Ministries of Rites and Works have completed the investigation into the lost supplies for the Baizao project.

The investigators unanimously agree that it was most likely an intentional act... and that there was someone behind it.

The supplies have arrived at Baizao. The Ministry of Works will do its best to make up for lost progress...

What are you hiding?

You suspect that there is someone behind it. You must have a suspect.

...

A well-timed declaration of war. Two, in fact.

One, telling me that she is the sole mouth of Yan, while the other demonstrating that he can easily disrupt Yan's greatest project, that the continuation of the project depends on his approval.

Will there come a day when they could make Yan's armies turn on themselves if they wanted?

This is a most serious matter, Your Majesty. If the proxies are indeed stirring trouble, the Sui Regulator should act immediately and punish them severely.

...

There is no need to be hasty.

I know the craft of calligraphy must be honed over a long period, but I have not seen the efforts bear fruit...

Still, I understand now why the Grand Preceptor wanted me to spend so much time on it.

One must be in control of oneself.

He is clever, unlike his pedantic sister. He knew to let the supplies arrive at Baizao eventually, make a show of good faith.

He wished to protest on behalf of his sister. I'll humor his brotherly love. They can record the figures as they like.

As for this writing knife...

I had considered doing something with it, but...

Never mind. Return it.

Jie...

The Sui Regulator has recovered your item.

...

Thank you.

I'm so sorry, Jie...

Why apologize? You found the thing that I lost.

That which was lost has been restored. All is well.

I was negligent in my duty.

There's something I've always wanted to ask you, Jie.

You said you didn't want to use the writing knife to alter history, not even to change clerical errors. Why have you kept the knife around?

Did you forget that you already asked this question when you were three months on the job? You complained when I didn't allow you to use the writing knife to correct errors.

I-Is that so? I don't really remember...

Have you forgotten about your original aspiration, now that the erroneous descriptions of Yaan Elves have been addressed?

No, I just...

It's true that one should not pursue what lies in the past. But just as you and I have demonstrated, it does not mean that we should ignore the errors of the past, never mind trying to whitewash them.

I have kept the knife so that people will remember that wrongs can always be righted.

...I understand.

Nothing could be changed... tearing the pages out, writing over the words, they all do nothing because the page is instantly restored to its original state... how could this be?

How could this be?

This is her power.

She was not so difficult a hundred years ago, when it was proposed that she should leave the Imperial Historical Cabinet and refrain from writing the histories directly.

She did not complain, and indeed transferred to the Sky Mirror Pavilion of her own accord to work on reviews. She also reduced the number of courses she taught at the Academy, mostly working in an advisory capacity, similar to how Jun operates.

But her photographic memory, enthusiasm for history, and her immortality, were too much of a temptation to historians.

It became their habit to seek the approval of the one who is never wrong, and she is happy to take on the work, reviewing documents and histories...

Today, nothing that passes through her hands can be altered without her approval.

...

As for the writing knife that occupies so much of your mind... it was once an ordinary tool, when Jie first picked it up.

After spending centuries by Jie's side, it became capable of altering text without having to carve out bamboo.

Two centuries later, the writing knife accidentally erased a page from the veritable records of a True Lung.

Few, if any, ever perused those pages, and all who knew the subject were gone. And so, when a careless historian's hand slipped, no one could recall what the page held anymore.

One reason was that no copies were made of the veritable records. But it is also true that Jie's powers are growing.

If the Sui Regulator, or Jie herself, chooses to erase a word, a sentence, or perhaps a memory from under heaven with it... it is well within the realm of possibility.

The knife represents only a fragment of Jie's powers. How fast are her own powers growing?

The deeper Yan's history grows, the harder it will become to rein her in, for she is one with history.

In another century or ten, as she continues to immerse herself in history, she will become more powerful, more terrible, even than the bestial Sui Itself.

If that's all, I will return to the Sky Mirror Pavilion.

Very well. Be careful.

Wang...?

Are you alright?

I'm fine.

Wang, did you...?

...

It happened a century ago. I still remember the conflict that occurred because of the writing knife.

What is it that you want me to see, this time?

I don't need you to tell me.

So you did not interfere in my power struggle against the True Lung.