Chapter 17

Xu Ying is writing very quickly.

She has already written about the female protagonist graduating, starting a game company, launching a large-scale team battle game, thwarting Fu Yunshen's business, and the male protagonist successfully staying on at the university as a history professor.

Following her original plan, she had the male lead teach the students in class, telling them about the distorted relationship between Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er in historical records.

Li Mu spoke eloquently in class.

"More than a decade ago, archaeologists discovered Shangguan Wan'er's tomb. Unfortunately, much of the tomb was destroyed, and even the coffin and remains were missing. Archaeologists speculate that this destruction was likely carried out by the authorities to eliminate her political influence..."

"The passageway of the tomb is inscribed with a large number of epitaphs, and it is these inscriptions that allowed archaeologists to confirm that the tomb owner was Shangguan Wan'er."

......

Xu Ying did not hold back in her writing; she devoted an entire chapter to telling the story of the two.

As expected, after this chapter ended, the comment section was filled with lamentations.

If you want my life, just say so! No need for all this beating around the bush!

I was planning to go to sleep after watching this, but now my eyes are all red and swollen from crying. How am I supposed to sleep?!

-May you live a thousand years, may the pepper blossoms sing your praises, this is simply the highest expression of friendship.

-The story of these two is so convoluted. I even watched it with music playing. I recommend that you find some sad and melancholic background music. I guarantee it will be a very bittersweet experience!

-Is the taste sour and refreshing, or are the tears sour and refreshing, upstairs?

Please don't expose me, sob sob sob.

- Ugh, author, you have no heart! How could you be so cruel to a girl?!

I was shocked after watching it. The male lead's storytelling was so realistic and vivid, and it even included other background characters and historical struggles. If you didn't know better, you might think it was a part of our country's history.

-Oh my god!

-Wow, she put so much effort into this! The historical figure that the protagonist mentioned casually in the novel was described in such detail. I'm so touched!

- It's no exaggeration to say that I feel the two of them could each star in their own movie.

-Feel the same.

- Two girls with completely different backgrounds and social statuses, one a high-ranking princess and the other a government slave born into a criminal family, find solace in each other and become the Twin Heroes of the Tang Dynasty. My goodness, what a complete and shocking storyline!

I'm begging you to write a separate book for me, I'm really begging you.

- Damn emperor!

- Actually, it can be understood from another perspective. The emperor must have been wary of his aunt's power, and Wan'er was indeed capable, which is why he was so eager to execute her. Putting aside everything else, at least the emperor's logic makes sense.

That's why it hurts even more.

- So true.

-I'm a huge fan of yours!

- I absolutely love this chapter! I felt so much sincerity from the author. Good things come to those who wait, and I knew the author wouldn't abandon us!

-Let's see who dares to say that the leader is making things up again. You try making things up and see if you can come up with something so reasonable and well-founded!

-May the pepper blossoms sing praises for a thousand years to come.

-My goodness, this has shocked my whole family. I couldn't find this epitaph online. Could it be an original work by the author?

-Is it possible to find such beautiful verses in a novel, rather than in a literary magazine?

- The author wrote something casually, and it made me cry all night. I'm still feeling sorry for the ending of these two people. I'm not kidding, my eyes are swollen from crying.

*

TK Video is currently the most popular short video platform in Yuguo.

Recently, the story of the friendship between Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Taiping, which has been hidden for thousands of years, has suddenly become popular on the TK short video platform.

The incident started when a popular blogger on the platform, named Da Mei You, suddenly posted an emo video late at night.

In the video, she was without makeup, lying on the bed with red eyes, clearly having just cried. The video was also filmed from a very casual angle, obviously taken by holding the phone directly up to her face.

All of this suggests that she recorded the video on a whim, driven by emotion, which only fuels the curiosity of netizens.

Many night owls immediately clicked on the video.

In the video, Da Meiyou said emotionally, "Family, I impulsively read a novel before bed, intending it to be a fast-paced, exciting read, but who knew... sigh!"

“Okay, the plot between the male and female protagonists in the novel is indeed quite enjoyable, but,” she emphasized, then changed the subject, “I was actually moved to tears by one of the smaller stories in it.”

"Background information: The protagonist of this novel is a history professor. He tells his students a historical story in class, which is the story I'm about to tell."

"The story takes place during the Tang Dynasty. There are two main characters: Princess Taiping, who is loved by all, and Shangguan Wan'er, who comes from a noble family but was demoted to a slave because her grandfather was convicted of a crime."

"Two people with such different circumstances met in the deep palace."

"The princess was intelligent and perceptive, and eager for power. Wan'er was exceptionally talented and capable, and they admired each other and quickly developed a deep friendship."

"These two later gained even more favor by virtue of their keen political sense and their meritorious service to the emperor. One became a princess who protected the country, and the other was praised as the prime minister of the Red Plum Blossom. For a time, they were extremely popular."

Unfortunately, the struggle for imperial power was far too brutal.

Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Taiping belonged to different factions, but this was only on the surface. In reality, Shangguan Wan'er had already reached a cooperation agreement with Princess Taiping.

However, Princess Taiping's nephew...

At this point, Da Meiyou paused for a moment, unable to recall the name of Princess Taiping's nephew, but it didn't matter.

"I forgot his name, but he later became emperor, so let's just call him the emperor."

"This emperor originally cooperated with his aunt, Princess Taiping, to launch a coup, but he knew that his aunt also coveted the throne, so on the night of the coup, he deliberately killed Shangguan Wan'er."

"His goal was to get rid of Princess Taiping's right-hand men in advance. He succeeded. Princess Taiping was grief-stricken and furious. She disregarded the political risks and arranged for Wan'er's funeral and wrote her epitaph."

"Hearing this, you might think it's alright, that there's nothing particularly touching about it," Da Meiyou said. "Don't worry, listen to me, this is where the author's brilliance lies."

"The author is so good at writing! The same story, with just a slight change in the setting, feels completely different!"

"The author later wrote a passage about the male protagonist's feelings, saying that according to historical records, Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er were rivals for thousands of years. It wasn't until modern archaeologists discovered Shangguan Wan'er's tomb and saw the inscription on her epitaph that everyone realized that the relationship between the two was so close."

"Shangguan Wan'er's epitaph was written by Princess Taiping herself. Let me read the last few lines of the inscription to you. It's very well written," she said, tapping her phone a few times, clearly looking for a novel.

"Found it, listen."

“The Xiang River is cut off, the Wanwei Mountain collapses, the pearl sinks and breaks, the jade is shattered. I have just looked at the pine and cypress trees, and listened quietly to the tombs. For a thousand years, ten thousand years, the pepper flowers sing praises.”[1]

"Long live the emperor! May your fame last a thousand years! May your praises echo through the ages! A thousand years from now, who will remember your brilliance as I do? Waaaaah, author, are you trying to kill me?! Waaaaah!"

After a series of wailing and howling, and a few more tears, Da Meiyou continued:

"And do you know where Shangguan Wan'er's tomb was discovered? It was on Princess Taiping's fiefdom, next to Princess Taiping's husband and daughter!!!"

"What's even more heartbreaking is that Princess Taiping later failed in her power grab and was forced to commit suicide; the whereabouts of her remains remain unknown to this day..."

The story is over.

Da Meiyou stared blankly at the screen, her voice vacant: "I've been crying for half an hour now, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep all night. My heart aches so much."

I feel deeply resentful.

It's so frustrating.

History is always written by the victors. People don't believe that two women in high positions of power could have genuine affection for each other, so they erase it with a stroke of the pen and imagine undercurrents and sharp confrontations between them.

A friendship misunderstood for a thousand years...

Let alone Da Meiyou feeling bad, netizens who stumbled upon her video late at night felt a pang of heartache after hearing her story.

-I'd like to ask, what novel is this? I'd like to read it.

-May you live a thousand years, may the pepper blossoms sing your praises! What beautiful words, what touching friendship!

-My eyes stung instantly as soon as the poem was recited.

-These inscriptions are so well written. Princess Taiping probably never expected her nephew to be so cold-blooded. The two of them had just finished cooperating when he turned around and killed her dear daughter. Waaaaah.

-This emperor is despicable. He killed the people in advance because he was afraid that the two women would team up against him.

How can an emperor be an emperor if he isn't ruthless!

From what the uploader is saying, is Princess Tianping trying to seize the throne and become empress? That's ridiculous! In the three thousand years of history of the Yu Kingdom, how could a woman ever hold power? There should be some basic principles to follow when making up stories...

-Yeah, and there's that Shangguan Wan'er. What a fancy name! She actually became the prime minister. What's so prestigious about being a prime minister? She's second only to the emperor. Can anyone just become one? Let alone the daughter of a criminal!

-Shangguan Wan'er was buried in the cemetery of Princess Taiping's family. My God, if we don't admire that, what else is there to admire?!

......

The comments section was filled with mixed opinions, with all sorts of things being said.

However, the more intense their discussion became, the higher the video's popularity grew. By the next day, Da Meiyou's casually recorded video had already climbed to the top of TK Short Video's trending list.

The novel's title, which she didn't mention in the video to avoid suspicion, was revealed in the comments section by people who had read "Back to High School."

This popular science explanation attracted other book fans, who naturally followed suit.

Book fans are naturally the group that supports Eryuetian the most. When they saw someone making outrageous remarks in the comments section, belittling the author, Princess Taiping, and Shangguan Wan'er, they immediately rolled up their sleeves and went to fight.

Supporters, opponents, and neutral parties are all embroiled in a fierce battle, and the video's viewership is soaring.

The verbal battle was so intense that Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er's names both appeared on the trending search list on TK short video that very night.

Evenings are peak time for watching short videos, and when the two people's names appeared on the trending topics, the number of views for related videos naturally skyrocketed.

Now even more people can see it.

However, those who arrived late were somewhat unaware of the situation. They subconsciously assumed that Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er were two unknown female internet celebrities whose fans were currently arguing and trending on social media because of something.

What a bizarre guess.

Those who knew the situation burst into laughter, and only after laughing did they kindly explain what had happened to the passersby.

The passerby was completely bewildered after hearing this.

So they were just two paper dolls? No, do paper dolls even deserve to trend on social media?

A note from the author:

[1] From Baidu Encyclopedia