After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety
Chapter 157: Thousand-Year-Old Spruce

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Thousand-Year-Old Spruce

However, the two of them didn’t stay long at Cuwei Palace.

After a brief tour, Jiang Lingxi realized she had been mistaken.

The box they found earlier was only discovered because it was hidden, remaining unnoticed until a thousand years later.

Since her time, several emperors were enthroned at Yinhe Palace, and accordingly, several empresses lived in Cuwei Palace. The traces of previous residents’ lives had long been completely erased.

Now, all that remained was this familiar and sturdy structure.

After leaving Cuwei Palace, the two of them got back on their balance scooters. Jiang Lingxi composed herself and was about to suggest heading to the nearby Anping Palace. Then she remembered she was supposedly visiting for the first time and shouldn’t act so familiar, so she quickly changed her words: "Consultant Shen, where should we go next?"

Shen Yunqing, knowing the direction Jiang Lingxi had been looking, replied, "The Anping Palace, where Princess Jin’an lived during the Yuan Zhao era, is closest from here. Why don’t we visit there first?"

Pushing open the vermillion doors, Jiang Lingxi was startled by the sight of the interior.

It didn’t look like a place anyone had ever lived in.

Shen Yunqing’s voice timely came from behind her, "After the Yuan Zhao era, Anping Palace was converted into the Royal Book Collection Pavilion, and no one has lived here since."

Jiang Lingxi reached out and gently touched the remarkably well-preserved books on the shelf, "I read in historical records that Princess Jin’an loved reading most. If she saw how many books are preserved in the palace she used to live in, she might be very happy."

Shen Yunqing, aware of her special affection for her younger sister Princess Jin’an, couldn’t help but remind her, "On the desk in the east room is a set of the Four Treasures of the Study. Experts believe it likely belonged to Princess Jin’an."

"Really?" Jiang Lingxi said, already moving towards the east room, where she immediately saw the long study desk under a large glass cover.

And the entire set of the Four Treasures of the Study beneath the glass cover was something she knew well.

It was what she had Qing Yuan personally deliver for Jin’an’s fifteenth birthday.

Since then, Jin’an had it placed on the desk for daily use.

But seeing it now, so securely protected, she knew it was impossible to take it back as a keepsake.

"Can I take a picture?"

"Yes."

Jiang Lingxi took out her phone and snapped several photos from different angles, then put it away and took a deep breath, "Alright, let’s go out."

Whether by tacit understanding or coincidence, both of them chose Zhaoming Hall as their last stop at Yinhe Palace.

Zhaoming Hall, located centrally in the front part of Yinhe Palace, was divided into the front hall and the rear hall.

The front hall was where civil and military officials attended court, while the rear hall was where emperors lived and rested and held small court assemblies with trusted aides.

This palace was also the place Jiang Lingxi was most familiar with.

However, like the other palaces they visited, after going through many emperors and dynasties, little remained familiar in Zhaoming Hall. Only the historical traces marked the architecture.

She paused as she walked through the grand Great Court Hall and reached the small garden between the front and rear halls.

Earlier, she noticed a cluster of towering tree tips within Zhaoming Hall, thinking they were trees planted by some later emperor, which was why they grew so tall.

But now, seeing the tree’s location and the shape of the leaves fallen on the ground, they resembled the one she thought had perished.

Afraid of being mistaken, Jiang Lingxi immediately walked towards the tree, squatted down to pick up a small twig, then reached out to touch the trunk, "This tree..."

Could it be that a later emperor, after finding the tree dead, found a similar one to plant in the same spot?

Shen Yunqing came up behind her, looking up at the treetops swaying in the breeze, "There’s a legend that this spruce was planted by Emperor Yuan Zhao himself."

Jiang Lingxi immediately turned to him, "Are you sure?"

Could it be that the tree miraculously revived after she left, which would be a good thing.

Shen Yunqing met Jiang Lingxi’s gaze, "Legend has it that the year after Emperor Yuan Zhao’s departure, during early spring as the snow melted, palace attendants were shocked to find the spruce, declared dead by the Garden Bureau, had sprouted anew. Rumors say that it was a part of Emperor Yuan Zhao’s soul inhabiting the tree, bringing it back to life to continue guarding the Imperial City. Though the courtyard has changed several times, this spruce has been carefully preserved, leading to its towering presence today."

Jiang Lingxi almost burst into laughter.

Her spirit inhabiting the tree? People of later generations sure could come up with tales.

"Perhaps the Garden Bureau at that time didn’t detect the spruce’s potential vitality. When it nearly got cut down, they feared blame and concocted this story."

Shen Yunqing nodded subtly, "Perhaps."

Circling half around the tree, Jiang Lingxi saw a plaque in front of it, inscribed with the tree’s history. She leaned in to read, "This tree is practically an antique now?"

"Yes."

Jiang Lingxi felt quite content.

A tree she personally planted, flourishing a thousand years later and being carefully preserved, with her fortunate enough to see it.

What a rare chance!

After viewing the tree, she eagerly continued forward until she no longer heard those now familiar footsteps behind her, then she turned back.

As expected, Shen Yunqing had stopped, kneeling on one knee, reaching for a flyer with Yinhe Palace’s iconic sceneries that had somehow drifted over.

As he stood up and looked over, Jiang Lingxi almost thought he might call out "Your Majesty."

A long time ago, there had been someone clad in a purple official robe who knelt to pick up a document she had angrily thrown to the ground and advised her, "Your Majesty, please do not be angry."

Perhaps being back in Zhaoming Hall, where she had spent nearly thirty years, was making her feel disoriented.

Jiang Lingxi shook her head, trying to dispel the sense of confusion and familiarity.

When Shen Yunqing handed her the flyer, she took it and scanned both sides, noticing some routes marked in black ink.

Shen Yunqing softly explained, "It probably got dropped by a tourist visiting yesterday. Before staff could clean up, the wind blew it here."

Jiang Lingxi was silent for a moment, feeling like his explanation matched that familiar voice from her memory.

Seems shaking her head just now hadn’t worked very well.

She raised her eyes to the person in front of her and, with rare spontaneity, spoke faster than she could think, "Consultant Shen, are you interested in taking on another part-time job?"

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