Liberi Reader

'The Earth's blessings have granted this stone to its people; the Heaven's blessings shall bring an end to Sui'... but in this thousand-year river of history, is it fate ordained by heaven and earth, or nothing more than a coincidence?

Lord Zuo and Miss Ch'en...

It was they who brought the token to the Sky Mirror Pavilion today...

Was it a coincidence, or...

This mayhem... what happened?

Mr. Liang.

Miss Ning... why are you still here?

Did you forget that I am an official of the Ministry of Rites? Neither of us should leave, until all the civilians have been evacuated.

You are quite right...

Is the evacuation of the civilians complete?

Essentially. Baizao will soon separate.

Tis unsettling... is it not?

...

Perhaps you wanted to ask how I knew you were here, when you did not tell me about your demotion.

...

...It rained through the night yesterday. I only fear that you may be cold...

...

It has been a long time since I last visited the Sky Mirror Pavilion.

I suppose you used to frequent here?

As did all the students of the Academy.

I had a headache whenever I looked up at the books stacked all the way up to the ceiling.

But now... I find here a place of rare peace, away from the troubles beyond.

I... I heard about Mr. Ning.

You have my deepest sympathies....

...

My grandfather did what he felt was right.

He would not have kept the secret for so long out of selfish interests. He did it to protect the younger generations too.

I cannot reproach him, whether with reason or sentiment.

Of course, he must also pay the price for his deeds.

I see you have laid it down... I am glad to see it.

Perhaps you misunderstand. I do not mean that I could lay it down easily.

I cannot deny that my career benefited greatly from my grandfather's influence... those on the outside would undoubtedly say that the House of Ning has fallen on hard times.

I would not say this to anyone but you, Mr. Liang.

You should not say that. I do not feel that any of your honors are undeserved.

I trust you—

What if you are the only one?

...

My grandfather said that once one has passed the walls of the palace, one must not trust in others easily, and certainly not expect to be trusted easily.

I listened... but it seems that I forgot about it when I met you in Shangshu.

I simply believed that I found a kindred spirit.

You... you flatter me.

You've always been like this.

I admire your honesty and your sense of responsibility, but I hate how you make decisions by yourself and keep other people at a distance.

But then I realized... you would not be Liang Xun, if everything you did was to my liking.

I could no more reproach you than I could reproach my grandfather.

...

I once thought that all I needed to do was to be fair, honest, diligent, and persevering.

But the years have taught me how powerless I am.

Your grandfather was right, but even more frightening is the thought that I could not even trust myself to keep my aspirations and ideals.

I would not claim that everything I did was honest and upright... but you should not have been involved in the ones that were not.

Is it my turn to comfort you with the words 'clear conscience'?

You and I have done all we could, following the path of justice that we believed in.

Perhaps we are ultimately powerless to change anything. Perhaps this entire city will be no more when the sun rises tomorrow...

Then... here and now, at least... my conscience is clear.

...

The scriptgeists seem to be appearing less frequently.

Could it be that you were right, and these geists are the breathing of the bestial Sui...?

I told you so. You just won't believe me.

Whatever the reason, this is our opportunity to head for the top—

Hm... so this is the Sky Mirror Pavilion's restricted area.

What are you planning?

These geists turn back into words when they're defeated.

Say, if they were transformed from the secret tomes of the Sky Mirror Pavilion, would defeating them reveal the secrets of Yan that are usually kept hidden?

You dare—?

No sudden moves!

Let me see what secrets the words form!

'Sang' 'Tu' 'Cui' 'Shou'... what is this? It makes no sense.

The top three floors of the Sky Mirror Pavilion are off-limits. We only enter because we have an important mission.

Refrain from doing anything unnecessary.

Hah. You still won't admit that you're already in on this.

Your deceptive words mean nothing. I know what I'm doing...

There's a lot that you don't know.

This building began as a public library, one of the first buildings to be completed after Baizao became a nomadic city. But there was no such thing as a restricted area at the time.

Then, one hundred and twenty years ago, the death of the proxy affected tons of history books, causing their text to become unreadable.

The Sui Regulator wanted to dig deep, but the number of books was enormous, so the Sky Mirror Pavilion set aside space up top for the Sui Regulator's research.

Decades passed. When the discussion of the turmoil had almost settled, the place became a warehouse for dusty old books.

Some restricted zone. Why would it be sealed off from public view, if it held any actual knowledge?

You do know a lot...

Just a little bit more than you.

The things you speak of should not be secrets to the Sui Regulator. But I have not heard them before.

My studies have been inadequate.

You—this is what I hate about you. Always stiff, always by the book.

Was that white-haired Perro we met in Mangshan Town a friend of yours?

You mean... Yun Qingping?

Yeah, that's the name, I think.

He couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag, and it looked like a stiff wind could blow him over, but he was a quick thinker. Talking to him was kind of interesting.

Why don't you learn a thing or two from him?

I know Yun's smart! I don't need you to lecture me!

Hahaha! Now you start to drop the official tone and sound like a human being.

...Why did you join the Shanhaizhong, Mo Yi?

What answer do you want to hear?

You want me to tell you that I had a difficult childhood, drifted into the Shanhaizhong, and I'm looking for a chance to repent and mend my ways?

Doesn't that sound a little cliche?

I wasn't—

Say whatever you want.

Of course, the Shanhaizhong who murder and pillage are villains. They deserve to die.

But I hate hypocrites even more, those people who look like they'll die if they stopped flaunting their high and mighty morals for a single moment.

They think they're better than everyone else the moment they come out of their mama's tummy. Frauds!

What I really want to know is... why are you so sure that this thing from the Garden of Grotesqueries will stop a war between Yan and Sui?

You've been with the Sui Regulator for a while. Have you never wondered about their most closely-guarded secret...?

Why did that proxy die?

...

Looks like it's not that you're not curious, it's that curiosity has yielded no answers.

That's the problem, isn't it? Why would this have become a secret, if the Sui Regulator was really so just and upright?

What's the matter?

No, it's nothing...

Did you not hear any of that?

You're so weird. You've been staring into blank space for a while now.

Did those geists give you a concussion? Don't suppose there's anything I can do about that.

Thanks. I'm not quite—

I just feel like...

I've been here before...

You said you've dreamt about this place before. Were you dreaming just now?

Perhaps.

I thought I heard two people arguing... something about 'justice', but I'm not sure...

You must be hearing things. It's mostly ancient history books here. Maybe there's a clue as to what's going on here, but justice? That's one thing you won't find.

They seemed to be saying that justice doesn't exist, tangibly...

That's true enough.

Never mind that. Let's get searching. Maybe you'll find your father's books here.

His books, here?

Talk about forgetting one's roots.

...

But I suppose it's not your fault. You didn't grow up in Baizao, and these things didn't really have anything to do with you.

I thought you would be angrier at me.

I am angry, but I realize I shouldn't take it out on you.

I just... never mind.

Miscellaneous Morsels from Baizao Suiyang... yes, this one dates back several generations.

'The people rejoiced as the new emperor took the throne. They put up white banners like clouds and held rites in remembrance of the previous emperor's virtue. But their hearts were hopeful, confident that an era of greatness was upon us, and the nation's peace secure...'

This is from a century ago, when the last True Lung took the throne.

That's a long time ago. Does it have anything to do with what we're investigating?

The last True Lung's accomplishments were innumerable. The transformation of Baizao into a nomadic city, as well as the Sky Mirror Pavilion, were completed under his decree.

Not that either of us were around back then... although I suppose he would be your grandfather.

...

Look at this foreword... talk about sucking up to the powerful.

The county records from around Baizao and the demographic records of Baizao itself all paint a picture that is far less rosy.

In the end, only one person's accomplishments remain.

Same old story no matter where you are, I guess.

That is kind of strange to hear from a close blood relative of that emperor.

'When the city of Baizao was completed, the emperor ordered the tomes of all the archives to be gathered in a single place.'

'The scholars worked by candlelight, collecting fragments and tales, validating the facts and compiling them, so that the scattered records are whole again.'

That's strange. The Imperial Historical Cabinet's efforts to collect the scattered histories happened after the death of the proxy, more than a decade before Baizao was built.

But the ambiguous way that it's written... the older generations were always stringent about scholarship. Why would they make such a mistake?

Could it be that... even what little they left behind was altered and rewritten?

...

I never asked you... what happened to your family? The ones who were in Baizao?

The Ch'ens were a family of historians. They were well-regarded but not illustrious. They generally stayed out of conflict and politics, other than the occasional offense they inevitably caused in the course of their work as historians.

All I remember is that my father said it was as though the sky had fallen when the family learned about the marriage arrangement with the princess.

That cousin was the only unmarried man in the family. He, and everyone else, knew how dangerous it was, but they were in no position to refuse...

The rest was history. Princess Yanjing died in Lungmen, and my cousin passed away soon after.

His Imperial Majesty did not punish our family, but rumors of strife took on a life of their own. You can imagine what happened to us when everyone decided our house had mistreated the princess.

That's not what Mother wanted...

...I doubt it was Wei Yenwu's intention either.

I was very young then. All I saw was...

The elders were always sighing when they came back from the morning assembly. Many fell ill out of sheer worry. Brothers and sisters stopped communicating with one another...

Everything was shrouded in gloom, but I didn't know why.

Father moved from place to place, selling off the family's belongings, until we finally left Baizao altogether, yet he never once told me the reason.

As for what happened after... you know, there was a time, after becoming Magistrate of Water here in the Sky Mirror Pavilion, when I thought I couldn't let the family tradition of history die with me.

I didn't complain about the job. Most of the position's responsibilities had been replaced by machines anyway; my colleagues, while not the friendliest lot, had little interest in political backstabbing.

I had time on my hands, so I thought I would start with my family's history.

Was it because the Magistrate of Water's rank was too low? I felt like I had stumbled into a thick fog, getting more lost with every step I took.

I knew my family didn't do anything wrong, but all the records I could find denounced us for our arrogance, our abuses.

I tracked down the ones who were still alive, tried to ask them what they knew. But they couldn't get away fast enough when they learned I'm of the Ch'en family, and the 'Chao' generation.

The few who were willing to see me said a bunch of apologetic words in officialese, but refused to tell me anything about the truth of what happened...

I spent ten years on this until I even started to believe it myself, that the House of Ch'en deserved what it got for mistreating the princess!

But I know... I know it wasn't true!

What am I? What is the House of Ch'en? What were your dead parents?

What is history?

All I know is that history should be a record of the truth. That's what justice means to me.

As for the family history you wanted to know...

To tell the truth... my parents died when I was very young. I don't remember much about them.

And Wei Yenwu was... Wei Yenwu. It's hard for me to explain to people who my parents were. Sometimes I pass off the image of Wei Yenwu as my father's, just to make things simple.

I don't ever remember my mother smiling. And I don't remember many positive things about my father.

...

I just can't imagine how it feels... to have your life determined entirely by other people, by those baseless things like responsibility and honor.

It's not fair to you... and it's not fair to them.

Is life fair and just to anyone?

Someone once said to me that the justice we seek is not in the past... but that doesn't mean we should forget about it.