Three years after unearthing the mysterious double coffins of the real and fake Empresses¹, another major event occurred in City A.
It was three years ago when it was the government announced that the Empresses’ coffin actually belonged to a small country that existed during the Jin Dynasty² and The Northern and Southern Dynasties³. But Hai Lan knew that it was all a lie.
From the tomb inscriptions⁴ decoded by the archeological team, it can be understood that the two Phoenix corpses came from a country called Xi Liang⁵ located on the Yuncang Continent.
As it was never recorded in history, acknowledging this discovery may question a lot of things, including the space-time theory. Hence out of many considerations, the government chose to bury this secret forever.
But as another discovery emerged three years later, can the truth still remained buried?
The same archeological team found another lead of ancient tombs in another town. This time, it is in the deep deserts of Dunhuang⁶. Judging from the excavated burial pits, funeral objects and sacrifices, this country has reached unprecedented prosperity. Evidences claimed that this came from another country on the Yuncang continent. It’s name is Dongling⁷.
The most frightening discovery was that just like in Tutankhamun’s tomb, they also found the scattered flowers on the threshold of the 19th tomb of Dongling. However, unlike the dried flowers in the pharaoh’s tomb, the ones in Dongling hadn’t withered for a thousand years, they remained fresh as if the funeral has just been held. As if a woman has devoted herself and took care of her sleeping lover inside the coffin.
The interpretation of the tomb inscriptions this time revealed that this is actually the solitary tomb of the Emperor who is the highest figure resting in Dongling . It elaborated his many great achievements, but died in his prime, the cause of his death unclear.
But where does Dongling came from? How did the Dongling Emperor die? Did he succumb from a disease or were there political conspiracies behind? Why can none of the dozens of concubines in the other tombs, including his empress, be buried with the emperor in his solitary tomb? And who put these flowers who have witnessed the change of time and space for thousands of years?
It seems that mysteries can only be solved by entering the 19th tomb. However, the inscriptions in the opening made it difficult for the archeological team to pursue any further as it was also written— anyone who disturbs the emperor’s sleep shall be cursed.
The archeological team only decided to finally enter the tomb because the sponsor family funding the movement was coming over and they have asked for it to proceed.
This archeological team is also affiliated to the Municipal Museum Institute of City A headed by a history professor, Dr. Ai Wei⁸. A few years ago, his team has dug up an ancient tomb of the nobles of the Tang Dynasty. But there was an outlier in their discoveries. The craftsmanship and design of a blue and white porcelain didn’t seem to belong in this very dynasty. They concluded that it must have belonged in a different mausoleum nearby.
However, Dr. Ai Wei’s application to inspect the Dunhuang tombs wasn’t met with favorable support by the municipal government of City A. Instead, they only approved a small amount of funds, hence the need for sponsorship. The person behind this clandestine funding is Lin Yuncong, a powerful person who is keen on ancient history, and his daughter Lin Siwei is also a student of Dr. Ai Wei. So no matter the difficulties, Dr. Wei lead the excavation and proceeded in the attempt to answer the mysteries of Dongling.
Hai Lan knew this because she is also a student of Dr. Ai Wei and a member of the same archeological team.
And for some unknown reasons, she felt an inexplicable sense of fear and sadness when she saw the flowers. Where was the fear coming from. She clearly was not someone easily afraid. Sadness? Maybe it was only because while she was holding the Luoyang shovel⁹ in one hand as she hurriedly supported the heavy tool bag on her shoulders, she saw Qin Ge walk in with Lin Si Wei in his arms.
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Notes:
[1] If you have not read Zai Sheng Yuan aka My Gentle Tyrant, which I doubt, this is an element in the story by the same author Mo Wu Bi Ge, where the Emperor of Xi Liang buried two people in the Empresses coffin. In the present, there was a mix-up and the archeologist could not determine who the real empress was.
[2] The term used here is 兩晉 (Liang Jin) or the Two Jins— another term for the Jin Dynasty which existed 266-420 AD
[3] 南北朝 (Nanbeichao) which is the succeeding dynasty after the Jin which existed in 420-589
[4] 祭文 (jiwen) the elegaic tomb inscriptions used to honor and define the tomb especially of gods and the royal blood
[5] For the record this is Western Liang, but I am so used in calling it Xi Liang that we will retain it in pinyin.
[6] 敦煌市 Dunhwang is on the edge of Gobi desert
[7] First of all when I first read this 东陵 (Dongling) I thought it was the name of the Mausoleum because it literally meant, eastern mausoleum. And they are excavating tombs. You see. Most emperors’ tombs were named with some descriptors + ling which means mausoleum. (i.e. The Shunzhi Emperor lies in 清東陵 (qingdonglin) which is the Eastern Qing Tombs; the Taizong Emperor lies in the 昭陵 (zhaoling) which means The Light of The Sun Tombs. So I thought it was really referring to this and not the name of the country because why would they name a country like a mausoleum. But I remember we are talking about Mo Wu Bi Ge here and she is infamous with names hehe. And as I go on reading the events in the past, Dongling was also used interchangeably as the kingdom’s name. So, there. Brain with limited understanding of Chinese text just explodes. Bye-lingual. Anyway, I have not finished reading everything so there might be payoffs later, but correct me if I am wrong okay?
[8] Ai Wei was called 艾威博士 (Ai Wei Boshi) which means PhD which differs from (医生) yisheng which is the term for medical doctor. It was obvious in this case because it is archeology but just wanted to point out because in China a boshi carries much more reverence and is pretty much considered a sage
[9] 洛阳铲 (Luoyang Chan) One of the most important tools in Chinese archeology. The basic idea on its usage is that you can shove it in the ground, pull it up and look to see if you have found something. It’s like a spade and excavator at the same time.
Kaye's Ugly Translations 