Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 498 497 The Achievements of the Chen Family

"Naturally, we've come to find treasure."

Liu Weisen looked calmly at Chen Dejin: "Mr. Chen, I know that you no longer have any desire for the treasure, but my Liu family is currently in trouble, which is why we have gone through so much trouble to find it. I hope you can remember our past relationship and save the Liu family from this predicament."

As he spoke, Liu Weisen cupped his hands in a respectful bow.

Chen Dejin quickly helped Liu Weisen up: "Mr. Liu, you mustn't do this."

Liu Weisen refused to straighten up and stubbornly said, "As long as Mr. Chen is willing to lend me a hand, I will do anything."

Chen Dejin sighed: "Master Liu has been kind to me in the first place. If the treasure can really help, Master Liu can just take it. But the treasure is ultimately ethereal and illusory, something that doesn't even exist. How can I dare to make such a boast?"

Liu Weisen looked up at him: "Now that things have come to this, the entire Yu'ai Prefecture is abuzz with excitement because of the restoration treasure. Mr. Chen, do you still believe that the treasure does not exist?"

Chen Dejin countered, "If it truly exists, how could it have dragged my Chen family down for over a decade?"

As if guessing what Liu Weisen wanted to ask, Chen Dejin took the initiative to explain: "The reason I sold the treasure map at a high price was not because I was greedy for this opportunity to make money, but because only by selling it for a higher price would people believe it was real - I had to make people believe it was real, only in this way could I make things bigger."

Chen Dejin sincerely told him, "To be honest, Master Liu, I did indeed orchestrate this situation, but my real purpose was to drag the foreigners into it. Only by drawing their attention to this can we deal with the situation in the north..."

"Get gold."

Zhou Xiuqing offered a reminder.

Chen Dejin paused, then fell silent.

After a long pause, he spoke again: "Mr. Liu, you only need to know that I have now joined the Student Self-Governing Association, and everything I do is for the sake of saving the country. As for the so-called treasure, it is utter nonsense. Even if I wanted to help, I would not know how to help."

Liu Weisen grew anxious and grabbed Chen Dejin's hand: "Mr. Chen, I don't understand what the Self-Consensual Society is, nor do I know about your grudges with the foreigners. When you came to Zhenqiu City with the treasure map to find me, I didn't believe it, but things are different now, and I have no choice but to believe you. I don't ask for anything else, I only ask that you tell me the results of the Chen family's treasure hunt over the generations, so that I can avoid detours. As for whether we succeed or not in the end, I will not blame you, sir."

Zhou Xiuqing couldn't help but ask, "So what exactly are you facing?"

Liu Weisen did not hide anything and poured out all his grievances.

Zhou Xiuqing listened patiently, her expression revealing her indignation. She slammed her fist on the table and gritted her teeth, cursing, "Foreigners again! Government officials again! If it weren't for the President's deliberate indulgence, how could the foreigners be so arrogant?"

She said to Liu Weisen, “What you ask for is irrelevant to us. You can let Dejin tell you what you want to know; it won’t affect us in the slightest. I have only one request—you must not tell anyone what you have seen and heard here today.”

Liu Weisen was overjoyed: "Of course! With Mr. Chen's help, I've already surpassed all other treasure hunters. How could I possibly reveal such important information to others? That would be tantamount to destroying my own defenses."

After hearing Liu Weisen's story, Zhou Xiuqing's attitude towards him softened considerably: "You're not the only one persecuted and oppressed by foreigners. There are countless others like you in Daxuan. For the sake of our shared hatred of the enemy, I'll give you one more piece of advice—Chen Dejin is the most qualified to say whether the treasure exists. If you gamble all your hopes on this, I'm afraid you'll end up with nothing." Liu Weisen bowed solemnly: "I already understand. Thank you for your trouble."

Chen Dejin went back to his room and retrieved two maps. One was a rubbing of the treasure map, and the other was a map of Yu'ai Prefecture that looked to be quite old.

The map of Yu'ai Prefecture was already densely marked with many routes. Chen Dejin pointed and said, "These are the places our Chen family ancestors have set foot in throughout the generations, but without exception, they all returned empty-handed."

"Although this map is no longer of use to me, I have kept it as a family heirloom. So, Mr. Liu, I am sorry that I cannot give it to you, but you are free to write down anything on it."

Liu Weisen had the same idea. He asked Zhou Xiuqing for paper and pen and quickly started writing and drawing.

After he finished his work, Chen Dejin unfolded the rubbing of the treasure map: "Besides that, there are some other clues I can tell you, but I can't guarantee whether they will be useful."

He pointed to the riddle poem in the upper left corner of the treasure map: "Our ancestors have studied this poem countless times."

"The first sentence refers to the day the bells were rung at the Queen's Shrine, which goes without saying."

"As for the second line—'Green peaks hold back tears as they await the traces of clouds.' Our ancestors generally had two guesses. One was that this line had no actual meaning and was simply a heartfelt expression of remembrance from the King of Nanyu to Empress Yun."

"The evidence for this conjecture lies in the fact that many surviving poems written by the ruler of Nanyu show that he was accustomed to comparing himself to mountains and Queen Yun to clouds in the sky in order to express his love."

"The second guess is much more mysterious. Our ancestors believed that the clues pointed to the clouds in the sky when the bell rang."

"This speculation is not unfounded, because our ancestors discovered that every year on the day the Huazhong bell tolls, the clouds west of Duoyun City become exceptionally thick, as if they are gathering rain. I have personally confirmed this, and this pattern does exist, but I cannot explain why. Our ancestors also did not understand what this change signifies."

Liu Weisen seemed to have been struck by a thunderbolt, muttering to himself, "Qingluan holds back tears, waiting for the clouds to fall... Holding back tears implies that the heavy rain is gathering but has not yet fallen, and the clouds represent the clouds that will undergo miraculous changes. Yes, yes, that makes a lot of sense!"

Liu Weisen looked somewhat dazed, so Chen Dejin quickly patted him and said, "Master Liu, wake up! Don't be so happy. Just solving the first two sentences won't do much good. Solving the last two sentences is the key."

Liu Weisen snapped out of his daze: "Right, what about the last two sentences?"

Chen Dejin shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I'm sorry to disappoint Master Liu. The Chen family has been unable to solve this problem for more than ten generations."

He pointed to the line “示君且向夕烟问” and said, “The only plausible explanation is the character ‘夕’ (xi). Our ancestors believed that this character indicated the direction, pointing to the west of the Empress’s Shrine. As for what ‘夕烟’ (xi yan) means and how to ‘ask’ it, we have no idea. And the last line, ‘天机入玉穹’ (tian ji rù yu qiong), is even more unpredictable.”

Liu Weisen was not disappointed. He was already pleasantly surprised to have obtained so many clues. After explaining everything, Liu Weisen did not linger and sincerely thanked them before leaving.

(End of this chapter)