Chapter 2566 - 2540: Discovery

Bai Dalang received the appointment for Tongbai County. Because it was the busy spring season, the appointment was urgent, and the court wanted him to set off immediately, requiring him to arrive within ten days.

Tangzhou was not very far from the capital, and Tongbai County was a bit farther away, but it could be reached within five days. Therefore, he still had four or five days to prepare.

However, he didn’t plan to leave at the last minute, so after receiving the appointment, he spent a day bidding farewell to his classmates and friends. The next day, he stayed home with his family, and after making arrangements, he set off on the third day.

Cheng Linghui would go to the appointment with the children, but not at the same time. He would go first and send a letter after settling in Tongbai County, at which point they would send the family over.

After dinner at night, this group sat together in the open pavilion in the back garden to talk. Bai Dalang, holding a cup of tea, sighed, "I didn’t expect to leave the capital at this moment. It’s been quite a few years, and I’m somewhat reluctant to leave."

In his life, although not very long yet, the places he has stayed the longest, aside from Mianzhou City and Qili Village, are the capital.

Thinking about it, he’s quite unwilling to part.

Bai Dalang looked at Bai Erlang, "Your appointment hasn’t arrived yet?"

Bai Erlang shook his head, "No, but I already know. His Majesty has arranged for me to enter the Hanlin Academy."

The Emperor temporarily withheld the announcement, but someone willing to curry favor secretly informed him.

Bai Dalang reached out to pat his shoulder, encouraging him, "Do a good job."

Having connections in the court makes things easier. This time, Bai Dalang felt it. Without Zhou Man intervening to block Minister Li’s recommendation, he guessed he would have to wait longer.

He couldn’t help but glance at Bai Erlang, so, brother, you need to put in some effort.

Bai Erlang did not grasp the meaning of the glance. Seeing his brother looking at him, he immediately nodded, "Don’t worry, brother, I won’t cause trouble."

Bai Dalang withdrew his gaze. Forget it, he’d still go find Bai Shan and Zhou Man.

Bai Shan was a bit envious of Bai Dalang. As he sent him out of the city the next day, he said, "Cousin, if you have time, write more letters back. Let’s exchange ideas on managing a place."

Bai Dalang: "Do you have this management experience?"

"That’s why I need to learn," responded Bai Shan. "Otherwise, why would I have you write often?"

Bai Dalang nodded helplessly, "Alright, I understand. I’ll write to you."

After Bai Dalang left, Bai Erlang’s appointment arrived. This time, the Ministry of Personnel assigned him a reporting date, giving him no chance to be lazy.

He packed his belongings and met Bai Shan every morning at the entrance of the imperial city to go to the Hanlin Academy together.

He was a new academic editor, mainly doing errands like sourcing materials for others, and most of the time he read books and wrote unrelated articles.

Once familiar with the environment and once officers understood their abilities, they’d assign them specific types of book compilations and responsibilities.

Bai Shan was now involved in compiling a book about local customs, mainly tasked with gathering customs information in the Jiannan Circuit area.

Therefore, the books he read lately were all related to that.

Of course, this was just a part of his work; his most important duty was to sort memorials for the Emperor, draft edicts, respond to queries posed by the Emperor, and accompany the Emperor in reading.

Bai Erlang didn’t have these tasks, so he had more leisurely time at the Hanlin Academy than Bai Shan did.

Initially, his supervisor was hesitant to assign tasks, and he happily enjoyed the free time, exploring various miscellaneous books in the Academy.

The Hanlin Academy’s collection was more diverse than Chongwen Pavilion’s, with not only valuable books but also a lot of manuscripts and draft pieces.

One day, while wandering about, he entered a room filled with rolls of silk, stacks of draft papers, and bindings not attractive enough for printing. Clearly not items meant for official publication.

He curiously examined them, and to his surprise, the room contained all kinds of materials.

Bai Erlang even found secret histories written by people from the previous dynasty.

The previous dynasty was not very long ago; his father was born during that dynasty and studied during its time, albeit not for long.

The only impression his father had of the previous dynasty was chaos!

Therefore, it was likely the secret histories written by people of the previous dynasty were true.

Bai Erlang picked up a scroll and looked around, finding no suitable place to read, so he simply sat under the window where sunlight shone through, legs crossed, and read.

Bai Shan, having left the palace, wanted to find him. When he asked around, nobody had seen him.

A colleague joked, "Perhaps he left the city?"

Early departure? Everyone had done it. In the Hanlin Academy, tasks were often measured in quantity; completing assignments within the allotted timeframe was enough, and supervisors generally didn’t emphasize attendance.

Bai Shan thought: At this time, everyone is either in the court or at school. Who would be outside? What would he do?

Bai Shan felt he must be somewhere in the Hanlin Academy, so he began searching room by room.

Upon opening the door, Bai Shan almost believed Bai Erlang had left early, but upon entering, he sensed something was off. Peeking around, he saw Bai Erlang sitting by the window.

He looked up at the bookshelves and then stepped out to check, realizing he hadn’t stumbled upon this corner before. He went back inside to ask, "What kind of books are here?"

Bai Erlang, without lifting his head, said, "They’re all miscellaneous books. Come quickly and see. Here’s a piece written by a previous dynasty insider, detailing how Emperor of Sadness loved beauty, ordered a nationwide selection of beautiful women, and many insiders fought for responsibility of this task, even causing a murder case."

Bai Shan wasn’t interested in that. He reached for a roll of silk, unrolled it, and discovered it was a piece denouncing the Emperor of Sadness, with a piece of white silk inside detailing the author’s origin and background. Shortly after writing this denunciation, the Emperor had the author executed.

Bai Shan closed the silk, curiously wandered around the room, and found several volumes of Daily Records from the previous dynasty on a bookshelf.

These were stacked on the shelf, sorted only by time.

He skimmed through, looked at the secretary’s names and recording times, and raised an eyebrow: surprisingly, they weren’t recorded by secretaries.

Bai Shan put down the silk and could not help but seek answers from a Hanlin Academy predecessor.

"Oh, you’re asking about that room? They contain miscellaneous material," he said. "One person’s statement cannot be wholly trusted, but also cannot be dismissed. They’re mostly personal notes, with many containing strong emotions. Officials believe that compiling history requires emotions be set aside, striving for fair assessment; thus materials in that room serve as reference, not official history."

Records made by secretaries about emperors and ministers rarely blend personal emotions, nor do they require literary elegance. Keeping things straightforward matters most.

They seldom assess a person’s merits or flaws—it’s purely narrative, leaving judgment to future generations, potentially centuries later.

But these unofficial histories differ, harboring strong judgments of merit and fault, hoping for universal agreement. Otherwise, they’d join ill-intentioned alliances, so despite being readable, they’re not to be recklessly used in official histories.