act49side

I'm Chun.

'Chun'?

'For the ancient tree that shares your name, eight thousand years is a spring and eight thousand years is an autumn...' Was the one who named you remarkably ambitious, or remarkably cautious?

Wait, you are...?

...An Elf?

Yes.

Judging from your appearance... you're an Elf of Yaan?

The bestial Yaan and its Elves are well-versed in the ways of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. The element associated with spring is wood, and the character for 'Chun' combines both 'wood' and 'spring', representing vitality and longevity... I see.

My mother told me about it when I was young. I didn't expect anyone else to know.

Stuff like this is what history is about.

It's your first day. I won't put you to too much hard work. Just familiarize yourself with the space; you can look at any books and documents in this study.

The Candleholder carefully scans the room. She could not conceal her eagerness as she sees scrolls and books that fill the wall shelves.

Did you write all of these?

No, I simply collect the materials. The historians of the Imperial Historical Cabinet are the ones who actually write the books.

After all...

Is writing history a difficult task?

It's a heavy responsibility.

History books form people's perception of the past, but a few words are hardly enough to give them a complete view.

Choices must be made as to which parts to record for posterity, what sorts of lessons those who come after should learn...

It's easy to say, 'write with an impartial pen,' but it is a most profound and complex discipline.

What if there is a mistake in the history books?

Then it should be corrected.

History is inevitably warped by the position of the narrator, no matter how impartial the writer attempts to be.

I see a few more problems because I've lived longer than most and remember more than most.

Most... it's true that your kind, the proxies, are different from other long-lived. Before I joined, I heard that each of you had your own 'powers'.

Do you use your powers to correct the errors in the history books?

I heard you have a magical writing knife... do you use it to correct those errors?

It can, but this is not how it should be used.

...Huh?

Mistakes take root in people's hearts as they are passed down from one generation to another. The proper way to fight them is to form a new consensus through debate and clarification, not to simply erase it.

Erasing a wrong word from one's own writing is not a significant issue, for it only concerns oneself.

To do it to a published book would be to meddle with the memories of thousands.

As for history... setting aside the question of how much I can alter, it will not be a good thing, for myself and for Yan.

Frankly, it's already a chore to ensure that history is not altered. I hardly have the energy to alter it myself.

Hm...

Seems like there's something you would like to change with the knife yourself.

Huh?! I—

I...

Before my mother passed away, she said I may be the last of the Yaan Elves.

She... she wanted me to find a home.

I wandered for many years. I tried many ways to blend in, but I always failed. Yan does not want—

Yan does not want to accept you, because the Yaan Elves were depicted in the Great Hunt as... 'fickle and disloyal.'

But I know that's not true...

The bestial Yaan stood against Yan simply to survive. That cannot be denied.

The Elves, though, had only wanted to mediate the conflict, yet they became the enemy of both sides... ultimately, most were killed in battle, and their deeds lost to time.

So you wanted to alter this history?

I don't deny that I thought about it. But I'm your Candleholder now, and my work comes before all else.

I can't lend you the writing knife, nor can I allow you to use it to alter history.

I understand. I shouldn't have—

But if we can find proof that the Elves were in fact not disloyal, I will do all that I can to help you correct the erroneous records, in the proper manner.

Huh?

Things haven't been too busy lately. We could visit the area where you used to live. What do you think?

I... I've only just come. Besides, the things I said aren't necessarily true. I—

I can tell that your passion for words and history is genuine. Besides... who will believe you, if the historian does not?

Yes... yes!

This is the key to my office. You're my Candleholder now. Take good care of it.

How do you get in, if you give me the key?

Why should the master of the house need a key?

<p=1>Year 965</>

The court building has only just been completed! Why...?

Don't worry, it will not be torn down. Our Tumu Tianshis will transplant the Judicial Review Office to the nomadic plate, undamaged.

But wouldn't it have been so much cheaper to build it directly on the nomadic plate?

I hear the imperial court is putting everything behind this 'nomadic city'. I'm sure our cooperation will be very important.

Get to the point. What do you want?

My rosewood chair, ebony table, Kou-wu plates and Danyan lamps... none of them were inexpensive.

Here are the receipts from when I ordered my things. If there is any damage...

Fine, fine. You'll be reimbursed accordingly.

Yes, the prisoners have been transferred.

The previous instructions were from the Judicial Review Office, while the new ones are from the Ministry of Justice?

I understand, but am I supposed to conjure the prisoners out of thin air?

You don't care? The burdenbeast carriages are arriving in minutes?

Minister. Please excuse the poor hospitality. I did not know you were visiting.

I have never seen you in the Sky Mirror Pavilion. I take it you have important business?

There isn't much time, Miss Jie. I'll get straight to the point... there is an error in this year's archives that I would like to ask you to correct.

A mistake in the documents that I audited? Pray tell.

The documents submitted by the Ministry of Works state there were around a hundred deaths associated with the Chidao project at Danyan this year. Why did the number become three thousand?

The figure of three thousand deaths was not cited from a single document, but calculated based on documents from the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue, and local government departments.

The records are carefully sourced. I have kept a copy, should you wish to review them.

While it is not my place to question the work of the Ministry of Works, I have no idea why the three thousand deaths in Danyan's local records became just a hundred when it reached Baizao.

You must submit sufficient evidence, however, should you wish to question the documents audited by the Sky Mirror Pavilion.

Ahem... well, Danyan is not so well-staffed as Baizao, and there are only limited resources available for record-keeping.

Besides, the cold climate there causes disease and frostbite in winter. Perhaps not all of the three thousand died in the course of constructing the Chidao...

I see. You wish for me to alter the documents to make the Ministry of Works look better before the cabinet.

This is not about the cabinet. This is about Yan.

You know about all the projects being carried out across Yan. They push the nation's resources to the limit, but there is no doubt that these projects will benefit the nation and its people.

I'm not the only one who feels that such... depressing figures will weaken the people's morale.

I don't deny the benefits of these measures. Precisely because of that, the three thousand people who died to build the Chidao gave their lives for their country. It would be an insult to their memory to reduce it to a hundred.

Unless you can prove that there has been an error, any text that I have reviewed must not be altered. Anyone else who has a complaint can bring it to me directly.

The nation must be united in the monumental task of building the nomadic city. Everyone at the court is doing their best, and each faces their own challenges...

Yet the writings of the Imperial Historical Cabinet and the Sky Mirror Pavilion have been most... aggressive and deprecating. It is as though you wish for work on the nomadic city to stop immediately!

Is it the writer who has something to hide, or the reader?

How dare you...!

The imperial court has compensated the next of kin in full! Not a single coin has been withheld!

I have noted this in the documents that I approved. The care that the imperial court has shown towards those injured and killed, as well as their families, illustrates Yan's love towards its people.

Then why do you cling to a single number like this?!

I understand your concern for Yan, minister. But I worry that people will only see the glory of the accomplishments, and not the people whose sacrifices made it possible.

All I can do is to ensure that the history I see is recorded exactly as it is.

And you think you alone can decide the history of Yan?

History has never been decided by one person. It is the combined soundless voices of millions.

You are a learned man in a position to improve the lives of thousands upon thousands, minister. I simply leave behind some words for the people whose voices will never be heard.