Chapter 7, Chapter 87: What if the two world forums merged (...)
Huo Yongyan stared blankly at the replies, a jumble of guesses surging in his mind.
She encountered a group of lunatics? A group of paranoid individuals?
Could it be that this is actually a forum for mental patients?
"Ding-dong!"
A message from a friend popped up at the top of Huo Yongyan's phone. He tapped it to read:
[I'm terrified! Holy crap, the other day you recommended that show, *The Rise and Fall of the Yan Dynasty*, and I just finished watching it and went to browse the forums, and look what I found!!]
My best friend watched a historical drama for the first time because Huo Yongyan highly recommended it and also recommended this forum to her, telling her that there are many history enthusiasts there.
A friend sent over some screenshots, which Huo Yongyan opened one by one.
These pictures are all replies from the same building. Huo Yongyan's eyes widened in disbelief because the central topic in the pictures... wasn't it just a still from the TV series "The Legend of Yan Dynasty"?!
I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was going blind. How could a show like this pass censorship?!
[Scroll up and watch it again. You mean this director even made it so that the Ning Dynasty didn't exist?]
[This is truly an eye-opener, like using a small knife to pull out a big fish.]
[Where did this Yan Dynasty come from? I have a perfect score in history, don't lie to me.]
[Ning haters never imagined in their entire lives that there was such a way to insult Ning Chao [laughing with a bruised and swollen face]]
[It's so shocking that I don't even know where to begin!]
[Emperor Zhongzong worked himself to the bone his whole life, never expecting he would be forgotten in history [thumbs up]. He behaved himself after appearing in the crew's dream in the middle of the night.]
Even Prime Minister Xiao never imagined he would die such a tragic death.
Where did this still come from? Is this from Baidu Baike (Baidu Encyclopedia)? I couldn't find it.
[The person upstairs was passionately speaking up, only to find themselves being used as a pawn. The original poster is probably actually a fan of the Qing Dynasty.]
Huo Yongyan put down his phone almost in a daze.
The phone beeped again with a message notification. Her best friend called immediately, panicking on the other end: "Yongyan, what's going on?! You're good at history, what are they talking about?"
For a moment, Huo Yongyan wanted to gouge out his own eyes, and he didn't want to recall the contents of those two buildings.
She may be good at history, but that doesn't mean she can understand this long list of things that never existed in history.
She wanted to ask these people what they were saying: how did Ning Chao live so long?
"Uh..." Huo Yongyan cleared his throat. "It's nothing, don't panic. Did you post this?"
"Yes, I just asked who played Emperor Taizu of Yan, and then posted the nine-square grid of photos from the production team, and I got scolded."
Huo Yongyan said in a deep voice, "It's alright, I'll call my brother to help."
Friend: "Your brother...? Opening the box is wrong..."
Huo Yongyan wiped the sweat from his forehead: "What? He's the best at arguing, the number one troll in my family. I asked him to help me argue."
After saying that, Huo Yongyan forwarded the link to his friend's post to his brother.
She waited for a while, but what she got in return was a puzzled look from her brother.
[Silly brother: ?]
[Keep talking: What are you asking? Come help me swear!]
[Foolish Brother: Are you stupid or am I stupid? Isn't the Hongjiujiu forum under maintenance recently?]
[Silly brother: Are you kidding me?]
[Foolish brother: You think I'm easy to fool? [Screenshot - failed to open]]
Huo Yongyan: "..."
She sat absentmindedly on the soft chair, the white light from her phone screen shining on her face, making her look deathly pale.
The phone was still ringing, and Huo Yongsi was still saying something, but Huo Yongyan was no longer in the mood to look at it.
She took a deep breath and reopened the Red Chick Forum.
It went very smoothly, and I got in without any problems.
Another familiar post appeared among the floating posts on the homepage.
Huo Yongyan glanced at it and knew it was the post she had made. Now it was suffixed with "hot". She didn't click on it, not knowing whether it was out of fear or horror.
Why can I still log in to the Hongjiujiu forum, which has been shut down for maintenance?
Why are these people speaking strange, incomprehensible languages here?
everything……
Her gaze shifted to the calendar.
It's all because of the Ghost Festival two days ago!
She's been haunted!
Huo Yongyan couldn't resist her curiosity. Her finger hovered in the air for a long time before finally pressing down.
She opened her own post.
58th floor: Sometimes I really feel like trolls appear and disappear like ghosts. The previous post about the Yan Dynasty was deleted after being criticized, but this one is still so... [unclear]
59th floor: Actually, the actor is handsome. If you look closely at the costumes, the design is very similar to the style of the mid-Ning Dynasty, so it must have been quite well-researched...
60th floor: So, aside from the most important part, everything else has been carefully considered?
61st floor: Can we even get rid of this thing? [Trying to stay put]
Floor 62: If you change the name to Emperor Zhongzong, then our Emperor Jinghua would be like this.
63rd floor: You know what, the adjectives are all right, it's just the names that are wrong.
Floor 64: I'm so touched. Although they erased King Jungjong's presence, they were still influenced by him...
Floor 65: Not moved at all. Those who dare to cause trouble and subtly smear Emperor Zhongzong should all be exiled to Baiyue.
Floor 66: Don't reward them! [waving hand and laughing]
Huo Yongyan: "..." Exile to Baiyue is considered a reward?
She took a breath and thought: Although she couldn't talk to ghosts, hadn't she already said that? Saying a few more words shouldn't have much of an impact, right?
LZ: Everyone, I want to ask, what was the daijin (大名) of Emperor Jungjong?
This single stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the thread instantly erupted with a frenzy of replies.
78th floor: Let's all disperse, this was just for laughs.
79th floor: Wow, a level 9 leaker?! Girl, have you ever been to school? Have you ever taken any medication?
80th Floor: Make good use of search
Floor 81: In fact, any surname he uses would cause an argument. Therefore, the official name is Zhong She, but the common people use Zhou She (both his given name and surname).
82nd floor: The person upstairs is such a nice guy, he even explained things to the original poster.
83rd floor: I have a guess, could this person be a cross-dresser? AI technology is quite powerful these days.
84th floor: The person above is really creepy...
Suddenly remembering something, Huo Yongyan put down her phone, turned around, and crawled under the bed. She painstakingly pulled out a dusty textbook from the thick stack of books.
History textbook, first semester of high school.
Huo Yongyan shook off the dust and turned to the page about the Yan Dynasty. It was filled with her notes, densely packed with small characters around the main title: Yan-Liang Period.
The following subheading is: Politics and Military Affairs of the Yan Dynasty.
She took a picture of the clip and uploaded it to the forum.
LZ: I didn't mean to insult anyone. But in my upbringing, I've never heard of Zhong She. This is from my textbooks; it describes the Yan Dynasty, which was a real dynasty. Emperor Gaozu of Yan, Qu Jia, usurped the throne from Chu Xu, the grandson of Chu Shan.
Her heart was pounding as she uttered those words.
Floor 109: ? When did Chu Shan's grandson ascend the throne? And who is Qu Jia?
110th floor: I actually have a vague impression of Qu Jia. I saw her in the collection of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) of the Ning Dynasty. I think she was either the granddaughter or grandson of Emperor Zhongzong.
111th floor: Actually, I was just thinking of saying this. This poster seems very sincere and doesn't seem like the kind of person who deliberately stirs up trouble. Is it possible that... she's mentally ill?
Post #112: I went back and read the post word for word, and then looked at the pictures. Has anyone seen this textbook cover before? It doesn't look like a textbook from our area.
113th floor: Could this be a textbook written by the group that was defeated by Emperor Zhongzong?
114th floor: OP's handwriting is quite nice; they don't seem like an uneducated person. Were they misled by this book or something? The notes look very detailed; even AI doesn't have this level of detail now.
115th floor: This picture should be real. The AI's characters are very weird [gesturing]. But the question is, in a country where Chinese is an official language, who would publish this book?
116th floor: ...Did no one notice the OP's IP address?
Huo Yongyan also glanced at his IP address. After his personal nickname, there was a small suffix that said Province A.
Is there a problem?
116th floor: Province A? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
117th floor: Oh my god, you found the blind spot. This IP...
118th floor: Didn't Province A change its name to Province C a long time ago? @Administrator, get to work!
119th floor: So the guy across from us is an old ghost?
Floor 120: The art style is gradually shifting towards supernatural themes.
lz: I am a living person.
121st floor: Does Old Ghost also study? He seems to have a tough life.
Floor 122: In a corner no one cares about, the poster is struggling.
Huo Yongyan found it increasingly strange, so she edited it again.
OP: I really want to know about Emperor Zhongzong's situation, everyone please stop going off-topic. PS, I'm definitely a real person.
Floor 124: I just found my high school textbook, take a look! [Photo of history book]
125th floor: The comment above is too blurry. Look at mine, I have a high school history textbook in PDF format. But seriously, I have another theory: is it possible we live in parallel universes?
126th floor: A world without Emperor Zhongzong? That's terrible...
127th floor: You know what, it really does look a bit like it.
Huo Yongyan opened the PDF. The sharpened black and white text was a bit jarring. She scanned the table of contents first; the first half was the same, until she reached the section on Ning Dynasty, where it deviated from the history she was familiar with.
This history book states:
Emperor Hong'an was diligent and hardworking in his early years, but became senile and incompetent in his later years.
In 1432, Emperor Hong'an died, and his five sons indulged in extravagance and debauchery, which eventually led to a large-scale uprising. Zhou She, the general guarding Yongzhou, also raised an army at the same time.
In 1436, Zhou She unified the country and proclaimed himself emperor in Jinling, continuing the Ning dynasty. He is known as Emperor Ning Zhongzong.
Huo Yongyan fell silent.
She stared at the pictures before her with almost yearning. Some were unearthed artifacts, others were portraits, but whatever they were, the small captions all told her one thing: this was a powerful era.
She scrolled down, and a bolded headline popped up: The Prosperity and Ethnic Integration of the Mid-Ning Dynasty
Those historical events that she had once resented now soothed her.
History books are never comprehensive enough, and Huo Yongyan finished reading it quickly. From the brief descriptions, she glimpsed everything she dreamed of.
LZ suddenly disappeared, and the people in the building, bored out of their minds, began to discuss the various possibilities of parallel universes.
Huo Yongyan wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes without her noticing, and sincerely thought: she also hoped this was real. Everyone has read about the hundred years before the Yan Dynasty; it was a dark and hopeless time, filled with countless bones and constant warfare.
Time-travel novels abound, depicting people traveling to that period of history in an attempt to change that century. Therefore, the weakness and incompetence of the Yan Dynasty cannot outweigh its achievements: at least it truly ended the chaos and brought peace to the world.
The current Ning Dynasty is doing a better job than the Yan Dynasty.
LZ: Thank you everyone, I've finished reading it. This is a very good piece of history.
194th floor: The Jinghua period was really fun. If you've read countless fanfics about King Jungjong's dream girl, you'll understand.
195th floor: Time-travel novels are the same; they've practically turned the Jinghua Dynasty into a hole. Although, given Emperor Zhongzong's personality, he probably would have treated people like cattle...
196th floor: That's terrifying. Only the King of Roll would dare to wear that way, right?
197th floor: Who told emperors and empresses to both die from overwork?
198th floor: Isn't the cause of the Empress's death still inconclusive? Maybe her son killed her.
199th floor: SOS, I'm starting to suspect it really is a parallel universe.
200th floor: Can you please keep a little reserve in front of your time-traveling friend? Don't reveal all the unofficial history of Emperor Zhongzong!
Post #201: No one can finish reading the New Ning Book and not fall in love with Emperor Zhongzong. I've sent you a copy of the New Ning Book. As for the Old Ning Book, that's garbage, don't bother reading it.
LZ: Thank you, girl upstairs. I already really like him because I'm a fan of Ren Heng.
203rd Floor: Youpin
...
227th Floor: Youpin
Floor 228: Ren Heng's fans crept over like cockroaches.
Huo Yongyan clicked save. The joy she gained here far outweighed the anger from being mocked. As for the century of turmoil... she felt it was best not to let her friend on the other end know.
"Huo Yongyan!!" A knock came at the door. "What link did you send me? I can't open it!!"
Huo Yongyan was taken aback. She had sent the Xin Ning book she had saved; the image was still clearly saved on her phone, but it turned into a string of gibberish after being sent.
She reopened the forum, which was inexplicably lagging. Only a group of cheerful Ren Heng fans were acknowledging each other's fandom affiliations.
Then, amidst the frenzied dancing friends, large blank spaces gradually appeared, and after a moment, they finally turned into nothingness.
The other time and space that Huo Yongyan briefly encountered seemed like just a dream.
However, the new Ningshu on her phone was still so clear and striking, reminding her that all of this was real.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Congratulations to Huo Yongyan! (Fortunately) she just accidentally stumbled into a forum in a parallel world.
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