Chapter 11: Strange Time and Space

  Standing in the Tianlao of the Grand Temple, Qing Xia finally found a thread of inexplicable familiarity. The mournful cries echoed around her from time to time. This was the prison, the maximum-security prison of the Southern Chu Grand Temple. Chuli had imprisoned her here. Three days later, she would be executed.

  If it weren't for her own arrival, Zhuang Qingxia might have died at the hands of Dan Fei that day. Now, the one who is going to kill her has become her husband.

  But how can we just wait for capture?

  Qing Xia sat quietly on the dirty straw, surrounded by the constant screams of the mad prisoners from all directions. She closed her eyes slightly and secretly calculated the path she had taken to get there, waiting silently for the arrival of nightfall.

  For half a month, she quietly stayed in the Orchid Pavilion without making any moves, but that didn't mean she was completely unaware of everything.

  Special Agent Code: At any time, in any place, under any circumstances, figuring out one's situation is the top priority. Qing Xia didn't ask around ignorantly; instead, she browsed through Nan Chu's classics and checked numerous historical books, finally getting the answer she wanted.

  But this world's history once again shattered her entire worldview, and all the things were a complete mess. Qing Xia thought her head was going to explode, but she couldn't make sense of it all - what exactly was going on?

  The heavens played a joke on the passage of time, and it was the irreversible history that made Qing Xia's heart tighten.

  From a cultural geography perspective, this is the feudal society of ancient China. There are also majestic Great Walls, Jiangnan's ten-mile-long buildings and pavilions, as well as the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Dongting Lake, and West Lake, all of which have the geographical mountains and rivers that Huaxia should have, none of which are missing. However, everything is so similar yet different, with conceptualized things existing there, making people feel like they are looking at flowers in the fog, a blurry scene.

  Here, after Qin Shi Huang unified the mountains and rivers, unlike the short-lived Great Qin of later generations that was destroyed in two lifetimes due to its tyranny and misrule, the Second Emperor of Qin here is a brilliant and extraordinary, majestic and wise king. He expanded the vast territory in the north, eliminating the ferocious Xiongnu before the birth of Emperor Wu of Han, driving them far away from the northern desert, constructing a vast territory comparable to that of the Yuan dynasty. Even the Russians, who were still a barbarian state at that time, sent envoys thousands of miles every year to pay homage and surrender.

  History took a turn at Qin II, and the glorious Qin Dynasty began to move forward with great momentum. They created a magnificent country, established a perfect legal system that had never been seen in Chinese history for thousands of years, although they still did not get rid of the bad habit of royal power overriding the law. Compared to what Qing Xia knew about history, the Qin Dynasty was already far ahead. In this way, almost impossible, the Qin Dynasty completed its 1,800-year rule over the Huaxia continent and became the absolute Huaxia royal family.

  However, as of today, the once great Qin Empire is no longer as glorious as it was in the days of our ancestors. Three hundred years ago, the imperial vassals rebelled, and the Qin dynasty collapsed into multiple kingdoms ruled by various lords. The unified empire finally declared its collapse. After three hundred years of continuous warfare, a pattern of four major powers emerged. They were divided into the Lingnan Chu clan, the coastal Qi clan, the western Song clan, and the Qin clan, which still occupied most of the central and northern lands, together ruling the world. In addition, the remaining Xiongnu in the north, combined with the southern Nanjiang barbarians, formed a seemingly calm but actually turbulent world.

  Qing Xia, having learned all of this, couldn't help but have a series of doubts about the real world. Is it that the history of the world she is in that is true? Or is it that the history here is orthodox? Or is it that in space, there are really countless timelines advancing in parallel, without influencing each other?

  And what is all this, after all, a messy account?

  This absurd thing, she was not the first time to encounter. In the past when performing tasks, there were also encounters with similar unbelievable things.

  As a national military intelligence 9th bureau agent, she had long known that the world was not as simple as it seemed on the surface, and Newton's three laws did not necessarily apply to all situations. She had once seen an old man in his nineties, for whom the military department's gunpowder bullets were as weak as a gentle breeze on water. There was also a child locked up in the military laboratory, who was the world's first case of true hermaphroditism. At the age of twelve, she (he) became pregnant and gave birth to a male infant after three months, and under the military department's strict surveillance, she (he) became pregnant again three months later.

  To put it mildly, for the sake of social stability, the country had to cover up these things that harmed public order. According to her knowledge, the Military Intelligence Agency has a very mysterious organization called 11th Bureau, which is specifically responsible for dealing with these mysterious sudden events. Unlike them, the national agents, the people in the 11th Bureau have more magical and wise skills, and according to a colleague who had cooperated with the 11th Bureau, most of those people have special functions.

  She knew an old man who could remember every single thing that had happened in his life over the past sixty years. Including what year, month and day it was, what he ate for breakfast, after eating, his son changed a few channels before handing him the remote control, what program was on TV, how many people appeared. It's like a super-capacity computer, but this old man with exceptional memory can't remember his own home phone number.

  There are many people in this world who live a muddled life, yet know nothing. If everything were laid out before him, his worldview might collapse with a crash.

  Many times, our lives are far more wonderful than science fiction.

  Qing Xia seriously digested all of this. However, it was of no use to her; what she valued were the books themselves.

  History has made a clever convergence here, Qing Xia knew that things were not as simple as they seemed on the surface, and her life finally had a glimmer of hope. Because all the manuscripts were written in Simplified Chinese characters!

  What does this mean again?

  There are too many secrets in this world that need to be uncovered one by one. Maybe, the door back home can be found.

  So, despite knowing Chu Li's attitude, Qing Xia still went along with it, and although she was sentenced to death, she was able to leave the heavily guarded palace. As long as this happened, she would have a greater chance of escaping from Zhuang Qing Xia's prison and shackles, and becoming the real Tang Xiao Shi.

  As for what underlying conspiracy the Crown Prince of Southern Chu had, it was no longer within her consideration.

  The night was dark and obscure, with no starlight or moonlight. The small skylight had lost its last ray of light.

  Qing Xia, who was sitting on the ground, suddenly opened her eyes, a faint smile playing on her lips. Alright, let's get started.

  She stood up, neatly pulling off the cumbersome cloak on her body, revealing a man's martial arts attire underneath. The clothes were a bit big, and when worn on her body, they didn't look quite fitting, but they were still better than women's palace attire. In the dark pocket of the cloak, there was also a pair of boots. Qing Xia pulled out a dagger tied to her calf, and the cold blade emitted a crisp sound in the air.

  Great! Qing Xia nodded in satisfaction, although not as solid as the defensive master, but absolutely sharp enough. For today's escape, Qing Xia made sufficient preparations.