civilwarnovels Chapter 231 The Secret of the Year
Chapter 231 The Secret of the Year
Chapter 231 A Millennium Secret
The Justinian family's private library was not very large.
However, an atmosphere of luxury permeates the entire place.
Needless to say, the decorative items such as carpets and tapestries are exquisite, and even the bookshelves that hold the books are made of expensive wood and carved with beautiful patterns.
The number of books inside is naturally less than that of Aaron's library.
However, the content of the books was quite different from Aaron's library.
That library recorded all sorts of strange powers, but here, there are only poems, plays, history, and biographies.
Annie found five books about the Scarlet Prince alone.
This was exactly what Anne wanted.
Her reason for coming here was to unravel the historical mysteries of the Scarlet Dynasty.
After Eugene seized the crown, he ordered the execution of all descendants of Justinian.
Only this branch of the bloodline, far away in Lieyang City, has been fortunate enough to continue to this day.
The reasons why Eugene and Gregory spared Sun City can no longer be verified.
But this also means that if Annie cannot find the answers to those mysteries in Sun City, she will never be able to solve them.
Therefore, for the past three days, Anne has been working tirelessly, and with the permission of Lord Wayne Justinian, she has been able to spend the night in the library.
If you get tired, just rest your head on your seat for a while.
Occasionally, when I wake up, I find a blanket covering my back.
Then, when she looked up, little Weiweien would be sitting opposite her. Weiweien would say, "I was worried you'd catch a cold, so I prepared a blanket for you."
Anne would look at him with gratitude and say, "You are so understanding, Lord Weinstein."
In short, although it was only three days, Annie had already read a large number of books.
And today is the last day.
She had promised Seth that, regardless of the outcome today, she must follow Seth back to the Holy City.
So far, Anne has gained something.
Before arriving here, Anne already knew about the Scarlet Prince Ferdinand Justinian and his relationship with his father and brother.
It was here that Anne found records about Ferdinand's wife.
Ferdinand's wife was named Gaia, and she was said to be a local of Sun City.
They were not betrothed at birth, but fell in love gradually while spending time together.
Anne read a poem called "The Rippling Water".
This book of poems tells the story of a couple falling in love.
The male protagonist in the poem is a lost prince, while the female protagonist is just a fishing village leader.
Given the timeline of the poem's composition, Anne has reason to believe that it tells the story of Ferdinand and Gaia.
According to the Psalms, after Ferdinand was exiled to Sun City, he did not give up on himself, but instead worked diligently to govern this barbaric land.
Ferdinand was a hands-on person, so he traveled to every village within the territory of Sun City.
It was in a village that Ferdinand met Gaia.
Ferdinand demanded that the village led by Gaia pay taxes to him regularly.
However, Gaia immediately refused.
She said the catch was a gift from the sea god and that she didn't need to pay taxes to anyone.
Even when Ferdinand threatened to attack the village, Gaia did not back down and declared that she would fight back with arms.
Ferdinand wasn't going to just talk the talk; a few days later, his troops were already inside the village.
However, when he arrived, he found the village deserted.
Only then did they learn that Gaia had anticipated Ferdinand's actions and had led all the villagers to escape to an island in the sea in advance.
Ferdinand only needed to hold the coastline; the villagers, without supplies, would eventually return to shore and surrender to him.
However, Ferdinand decided to meet this formidable woman.
He led several small boats and found the island where Gaia and the others had taken refuge.
Ferdinand tried to persuade Gaia to surrender, but Gaia refused to yield even at the cost of her life.
At this point, Ferdinand proposed that he make a bet with Gaia.
If Gaia wins, he will spare the village.
Furthermore, Gaia decides what to bet on.
Gaia immediately agreed and, without hesitation, revealed the terms of the bet and set sail.
Whoever gets the boat back to shore first is the winner.
The story ended with Ferdinand's crushing defeat.
When Ferdinand returned to shore, Gaia had been waiting for him for a long time.
Gaia raised her chin high and looked at Ferdinand with disdain.
But instead of getting angry, Ferdi South Africa laughed heartily and easily admitted his defeat.
He also kept his promise and left the village with his soldiers.
However, Ferdinand is not one to give up easily.
This defeat had a significant impact on Ferdinand.
He began to study boat handling skills and practiced at sea every day.
A month later, Ferdinand returned to the village to challenge Gaia.
The outcome of the challenge remained unchanged; Ferdinand suffered another crushing defeat.
But Ferdinand didn't give up and continued to practice diligently.
From then on, he would travel to the village every month to challenge Gaia.
This cycle repeated itself for two years before a turning point finally arrived.
Ferdinand still failed to win, but this time he arrived at the village three days early.
He then discovered that Ferdinand wasn't the only one honing his skills; Gaia was doing the same.
In order to avoid being defeated by Ferdinand, Gaia is also training hard.
Ferdinand had affairs to attend to throughout the entire territory, and as a prince, he needed to practice martial arts more than sailing ships.
Therefore, he couldn't possibly spend all his time piloting the boat.
But Gaia was different; as long as she wasn't defeated by Ferdinand, her village wouldn't have to pay taxes.
For Gaia, practicing sailing has become the most important thing to her.
Ferdinand thus realized that he would never be able to defeat Gaia if things continued this way.
Different history books offer different perspectives on the Scarlet Prince.
But regardless of the book, they all mention that this man would never be defeated by failure.
No matter how many times he fails, he will come back stronger and stronger.
This is why he was ultimately able to seize the throne.
But Ferdinand was not a reckless man; he was very good at using his brain.
Since we can't defeat Gaia with technology, we'll rely on equipment.
Ferdinand asked the engineer who designed his new castle to design a high-performance ship for him.
A year later, his new ship was finally completed.
This was also the world's first sailing ship with a mast.
Ferdinand arrived at the village at the usual time.
The poem describes Gaia's expression as that of a skinned ribbonfish, and Ferdinand's three consecutive years of challenges have brought her a heavy psychological burden.
Ferdinand told Gaia that this was his last challenge, and if he lost, he would never appear in the village again.
Gaia was very happy.
But Ferdinand went on to say that if he won, he would want Gaia to be his woman.
Gaia agreed.
Ultimately, Ferdinand narrowly defeated Gaia thanks to the ship's advanced design.
The poem ends with Ferdinand proposing to Gaia while standing on the splashing water.
Anne also collected fragments from other books about what happened next and pieced them together.
After Ferdinand and Gaia got married, they began to mass-produce new sailing ships.
Two years later, his Blazing Golden Gun was born, which was said to be the largest longship in the world at the time.
He immediately began his westward journey and seized the throne.
Ferdinand practiced sailing and designed a new ship in order to defeat Gaia.
Perhaps he didn't initially intend to seize the throne through these means, but when he looked back, he probably realized that he had already accumulated enough power.
Anne couldn't help but sigh, "Fate can be so unpredictable sometimes."
However, Anne also noticed that the couple only had one daughter during those two years.
Moreover, this little princess tragically passed away at the young age of eleven.
So, when was their only son, Lance Justinian, born?
There are still few records about Lance, and his birth and death dates are unknown.
To verify this information, we need to consult a large amount of data and infer from other sources.
Anne's ultimate goal was to find out why Lance had inherited not the royal family of the Eternal Kingdom, but only the remote city of Sunfire.
Therefore, things related to Lance are what she needs to focus on researching.
But two days passed and Annie made almost no progress.
Half of the third day had passed, and Annie wasn't sure if she had found any clues before nightfall.
Anne found two books: "Chronicle of the Scarlet Dynasty" and "The Marriages of Justinian".
She quickly skimmed through the two books, but as she read, Anne's reading speed unconsciously slowed down.
Because she felt like she had made a breakthrough!
She asked Weiweien for paper and pen and listed the clues she had collected.
As she re-examined these clues, she was shocked and her eyes widened.
Anne realized that she might have discovered a big secret!
The Justinian family planned to form a marriage alliance with the Coolidge family in order to obtain tax exemptions at the Coolidge Gorge.
The Coolidge family happened to have a young woman who had just come of age.
The Justinian family originally intended for Lance to marry her, but since Lance was underage at the time, the woman eventually married James Justinian's eldest son.
At that time, James was already the King of the Eternal Kingdom, and his son, Kyle Justinian, was the next king.
In other words, the Coolidge family was fortunate enough to produce a queen.
But that's not what Anne cares about.
According to the Chronicle of the Scarlet Dynasty, James married Ferdinand after Ferdinand had set sail to find Featherfall Island.
Since Lance is younger than Kyle, it means that Lance was also born after Ferdinand set sail!
So, does that mean Gaia only became pregnant after her husband left?
No wonder there are so few records about Gaia.
Was it an attempt to cover up a scandal?
Anne couldn't help but feel a little disappointed; she was quite envious of the love between Ferdinand and Gaia.
Is love really that fragile?
Anne shook her head. As a heraldry apprentice, she shouldn't let her emotions cloud her judgment.
She regained her composure, began to rethink the problem, and consulted other materials to verify her conjecture.
But the more Anne verified, the more she realized that things might not be as simple as they seemed on the surface.
First, the traits exhibited by Lance and his descendants are consistent with those of members of the Justinian family.
For example, blonde hair, fair skin, and a slender chin.
In other words, Lance does indeed have Justinian blood in his veins.
If that's the case, then who exactly is his father?
Moreover, if Gaia really did become pregnant after Ferdinand disappeared, wouldn't anyone have discovered it, allowed her to give birth to the child, and then inherited the castle?
With these questions in mind, Annie continued to look through the materials.
Soon, she found another clue.
After Ferdinand was confirmed missing, Gaia personally sailed a boat to search for her husband.
And a year later, he returned to Lieyang City.
There was no further description.
But these things alone were enough to make Anne fall into deep thought.
She picked up a pen and wrote down a possibility on the paper: Gaia had found Ferdinand.
If Gaia found Ferdinand and became pregnant at that time, then everything would make sense.
But if that's the case, why doesn't she fight for the throne for her son?
Or does she have a more important mission?
Moreover, since she found Ferdinand, why didn't Ferdinand come back with her?
Many doubts swirled in Annie's mind.
Then, she remembered the questions she had had before coming here.
Why was Lieyang City tolerated by the Holy Envoy Duchy, which had abolished the feudal system?
Why is it that only the Chatudini family of Lieyang City has survived to this day?
If we assume that all the questions arise from the same cause.
What everyone is concerned about is undoubtedly a secret of great importance.
But what exactly is that secret?
Anne had no way of knowing.
Perhaps her guess was wrong at all, that there was no secret at all, and that Gaia was carrying a bastard child.
Thousands of years have passed, and the truth has been lost to the river of history!
Anne suddenly stood up.
wrong!
History may be like a flood, but it cannot submerge all land.
Perhaps there is still a small islet standing out on the water!
Now that Gaia has returned from her voyage, did her voyage log contain any records that have been preserved to this day?
With this in mind, Anne immediately went to the library to look for relevant information.
As the sun set, Anne had found nothing.
Seth urged, "Miss Anne, you promised me, we should go."
Anne didn't want to leave, but—
She must keep her promise.
Anne nodded and prepared to say goodbye to Weiweien, whose face was full of reluctance.
Looking at the young city lord's face, Annie suddenly slapped her forehead hard.
"How stupid of me!" Anne cursed inwardly. "If it's a secret, how could it be openly displayed in the library?"
Anne said to Werwin, "Lord Werwin, I have a request."
"What request?" Weiwei asked.
"I want to look up information about Gaia, but it seems like the information in this library is incomplete."
"Gaia? You mean, the Scarlet Prince's wife, the woman who's the best at sailing?"
"That's right!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Weien pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and said excitedly:
"Oh, right, I saw records of Gaia's adventures in my father's study!"
"Can I take a look?"
"certainly!"
A moment later, Weiweien brought out a thin, old booklet.
Anne opened the booklet and couldn't help but sigh:
Oh my god—
A nautical chart was tucked inside the booklet.
The location of Luoyu Island is marked on the map.