My name is An Guan, and I am the historian of Qi Lingguo.

The founding ancestor of our family is the founding general of Qi Lingguo, although he is deeply trusted by the founding monarch Gao Yangjun, but the ancestor still understands this point, so he automatically resigned and retired to live in retirement. Therefore, Gao Yangjun appreciated the ancestors of my family even more, so he awarded the post of historian.

Therefore, the official position has been passed down from generation to generation, and in the generation of the ancestors, he was the only historian, but later it gradually differentiated into the current form.

There are two kinds of historian positions: compiling historians who are qualified to stand above the court, and record historians who need to enter the palace to follow the emperor.

Only the son-in-law of the family can take over the important position and become a compiler, and as the eldest son of the concubine, he has no choice but to become the second type.

Thirty years after entering the palace, I am not qualified to stand on the top of the main hall in bright clothes like my younger brother, and be praised and complimented by all the ministers, after all, everyone wants to be mentioned in the annals of history and leave a good name for themselves.

And I, on the other hand, live like a dog in the harem.

To put it nicely, it is also the name of a historian, and it needs to be accompanied by the empress at all times, from a certain point of view, being supervised at all times, what the empress does should be restrained, but it is precisely like this, I am even more unpopular, and the historian has been a sick existence since a long, long time ago, since it appeared, because it should not have existed.

I can see the secrets behind the palace walls clearly and record them all, and I am surviving among the ladies of the harem, there are too many rights and wrongs, and doing these things is even more offensive.

I am a man from a famous family, how could I be willing to get involved in the entanglement of right and wrong with women? But I have no other choice, because this is the mission I was born to carry.

Naturally, I will not hand in everything I have seen and heard truthfully in the booklet that I have to submit every month. Compile those appalling truths into a small thing that is not easy for a person and a country, and then re-polish it, this is what I need to do.

As for those facts, I can only carry it into the coffin.

Chronicles of the past generations did not live long. But the rule is that only two people can hold the position of historian at the same time, and if one person dies, the other can only abdicate and let the next generation succeed to the official position.

"Do you have any good medicine?"

The man in front of me who leaned over to write on the bookcase was my younger brother, whose name was Ah Ning, the compiler of history.

I don't want to go into this chronicle hall, and I don't want to see him, but I have to do a monthly debriefing.

"Everything I want to say is in these booklets, I wrote it in detail, you can read it for yourself, I'll go first. Without raising his head, he piled the book he was holding in his arms onto the table and turned to leave.

"Brother," I heard him put down his pen.

With my eyes closed, I could guess what he wanted to say to me, but I didn't want to hear a word of those false words, so I could only lower my head and pretend that I didn't hear it, and hurry up and leave here as soon as possible.

"You can't leave until the debriefing is over," he said, using the same trick every time.

"Okay," he had already said, I could only stop and turn around, take out a volume from the booklet piled up on the case, and begin to read, "In the eighteenth year of the Renhong calendar, on the ninth day of the third month, the empress had a poor appetite and did not eat a single corn, so she stayed in the palace of Queen Su, and returned to the palace two hours later, and summoned Concubine Zhen and Zhuang Meiren to accompany her until dawn." In the eighteenth year of Renhong calendar, on the tenth day of the first month of March, the empress swam in the lotus pond in the back garden with all the beauties after the dynasty, the king was in great interest, and took off his clothes and was not wrapped in the pool, and the queen of Su also went into the water with the emperor naked, the two swam in the water, and the concubines were happy with each other, and at night, the empress summoned Qiu Meiren to sleep. In the eighteenth year of the Renhong calendar, on the eleventh day of March..."

"How are you doing?"

“... The minions can't die for a while, so adults don't have to worry. ”

"Brother..."

"My lord has tormented the slave, I really can't stand this title of minion, if the adult still wants to hear me, I will continue to read it,"

"No need, I'll see for myself. “

"The slave is not here in the eyes of the adults, and he will take his leave first. “

"Hmm. ”

Yes, it's that ridiculous. I am the same brother as him, and I am the elder brother, but I still have to bow down to my own brother.

Our mother, Mrs. Zhengfang, died in the delivery room after giving birth to twin brothers me and Aning. Later, my father married a few more concubines, but no one was able to give birth to a boy for him, so A-Ning and I had already been appointed as the next historians a long time ago.

Later, one day, the uncle who was a historian in the palace suddenly fell seriously ill, and the empress sent an order to select a new historian to take over as soon as possible.

We were just fifteen years old.

Because it is a great honor to succeed the historian, we don't need to follow the family name, only a milk name, my name is A'an, and my younger brother's name is A-Ning.

After we succeeded to the throne, our names would be followed by official titles, the word "official", and a ...... called, "eunuch".

As the eldest son of Mrs. Zhengfang, I naturally became an "An Guan", and my only younger brother was named "Ning Eun".

When my father announced that we were going to be sent out the next day, I wasn't really happy, I was afraid that Aning would hate me.

That night, A-Ning and I sat in the ancestral hall for a long time, but he didn't speak, and I didn't dare to speak. I don't know what to say, I can only sit closer to him...

I slept on the offering table all night, and when I woke up, Aning slept sweetly in my arms. It's already dawn outside the window, but I can't bear to wake him up, and it won't be long before our lives will be very different, and this may be the only chance for us to get close.

I don't know whether to cry or laugh, because, at the age of fifteen, I actually guessed correctly, but the object was reversed.

Overnight, I had a huge red patch on my face, covering almost two-thirds of my left side of my face, from my eye socket to behind my ear...

Kneeling on top of the ancestral hall, A-Ning knelt on my right hand, and he looked at me in disbelief, his eyes full of fear, and there seemed to be a hint of other emotions.

My father sat by and sighed. In the end, it was my third uncle's idea that saved everyone.

My father swapped identities between me and A-Ning, one of the elder brothers was sent to the court in place of the eldest brother, and the other was sent to the palace disguised as a younger brother. This method did save everyone in the whole family, but I was the only one who was saved.

Overnight evil spots are a curse, and if such an ominous thing is born on the face of a country's historian, it is undoubtedly a threat to the kingdom, and if it happens, it will only end up with a crime of being beheaded. The "eunuchs" living in the harem need to cover their faces with gray veils in front of people every day, so as to ensure that in the harem full of female dependents, the only man will not look at those things that should not be seen.

Therefore, if it is being concealed, it should go unnoticed.

Everyone knows that the next two historians are exactly the same siblings, even if the head of the family takes a risk and wants to change people to confuse the past.

"From this day on, you are not alone, you are burdened with the honor of your family, and the lives of all your relatives," I heard my father sigh again, and I knew that his gaze fell straight above my head. I didn't dare to look at him, so I could only lower my head.

"A-Ning, from today onwards, you will be called, 'An Guan', take over the post of compiling history, and five years later, take over as the head of the family. “

"Yes. ”

The reply I heard from A-Ning was a little muffled, but I guess he must have been a little happy in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it in front of me, just like me yesterday.

"A'an, you, just call 'Ning Eun', go and take over your uncle's position. ”

"I—I see. “

"Remember who you are now, but if something goes wrong and is suspected or caught, there are more than 200 people in the family, and no one can stay out of it. It is the glory of the family to be able to succeed the historian, and it has been passed down since ancient times, so don't let what your ancestors have guarded for generations destroy in your hands. “

A-Ning didn't answer, I knew he was waiting for me to speak first.

Later, A-Ning, dressed in white, was greeted on a tall horse and stepped into the court, and I was picked up by a donkey cart through the back door. The place I want to go to before entering the palace is called the palace room, which is the place where all the 'eunuchs' purify themselves.

Before going out, my nurse secretly stuffed me with a pill for me to take before purifying, saying that my father gave it to me.

When the donkey cart left, I threw it out of the window, and the nurse was the only one who came to see me off.

Lying on the bench with my legs wide open, the humiliation of losing my dignity was unprecedented, and the pain made my head clearer. I thought to myself, how nice it would be if I just died like this...

The master who handled the knife started quickly, and it was over in less than half a column of incense.

I lay in the palace for three days, on the fourth day I could barely get up, on the sixth day I could move freely, and on the seventh day a few people who looked like harem ladies came to me, tied a black veil to my face, and led me into the red palace gate. The black veil hung down to the tip of my nose and blocked my eyes, so that I could not look straight ahead, and I could only see from the waist down.

Behind the palace walls, I met the previous "eunuch", my uncle.

He lived in a dilapidated courtyard, and when I saw him, he was half-leaning on the couch, horribly thin, with a black veil hanging from his face like mine, and he was trying to reach for a bowl of cold porridge on the small stool beside him, and he looked very pitiful.

I sat down on the edge of the collapse and brought the porridge to him, and he looked up at my face with great effort, then grinned at me and gulped the cold porridge into his stomach.

I've never seen this uncle before. He was already sent to the palace when A-Ning and I were born, and the family rarely mentioned him, I only knew that my father was a few years older than him, but my father was now in the prime of life, and this uncle looked like an old man in his twilight.

After drinking the porridge, I put the bowl on the rim, I stood up and put the bowl on the table, and when I turned around, he tilted his head and pressed his body down, secretly lifted the corner of the black veil, and looked at me from the bottom up. I could see it clearly when I looked down.

"Little cub, I have a good skin," he looked at me with his cloudy eyes, and there was a deeper meaning in the smile in his eyes, but unfortunately I couldn't taste it at that time.

"Does it hurt? little cub. He put the black veil down, sat down again, and suddenly asked me.

"It hurts. ”

"Want to die?"

"I want to die. ”

I swear I'm telling the truth.

"I want to die, hehe, I want to die, but it's not time for you to die," he laughed again, raised his hand and touched my face, his hands were very rough, the back of his hand was full of scars, and his right hand was missing a finger, his voice sounded a little hoarse, "Uncle, I've already boiled it out, you, when will I get through to the end~"

Uncle is a poor man, he knows that so am I, but he is finally free, but I can't, I want to take his place, continue to survive for the family mission, live like a dog like him, until the next dog is sent by the family.

“... When the master of the palace is in the palace, you must bow down, do not look at them directly, do not disobey them, do not offend them, after the empress goes to bed, you will sleep at the door of the dormitory, the empress wakes up and you can't still fall asleep, if the empress has an order in the middle of the night, even if you don't have to do it, you must be on the side, and you must not show the meaning of fatigue. Remember that you have to follow the empress at all times, except for the place where the court is not allowed to enter, you must follow at all times, and remember when you follow, do not attract the attention of the empress or other palace masters, if they make a note in their hearts, you will inevitably suffer. Everything in the palace must be recorded, but don't take a small book and write in front of other people, this is a big taboo, write it all down with your brain, and wait until the empress goes to bed, find a corner where no one is there and write ......"

My uncle explained to me one by one, what not to do, what to do, and what to avoid, all of which he explained in great detail.

"I keep all this in my head, and the clearer I remember, the less you can suffer. In the afternoon at the end of each month, go to the Chronicle Hall outside the palace to find your brother, and give him all the booklets for this month, cough cough, little cub, uncle reminds you," Speaking of this, the uncle suddenly said in a strange tone, "Listen to what your uncle told you, half the truth is said, half of the lie is said, and you can only believe half of what others say." People like us have long been lost dogs, don't treat them as family, and don't think that after you enter the palace, they still treat you as family, hehe. “

At that time, although I couldn't fully understand the meaning of my uncle's words, I still subconsciously believed him.

Overnight, he went from a son-in-law who was praised by everyone to a cursed family disgrace. The identity was changed... Cleanse... Entering the palace as a slave...

I don't know how I should describe myself at that time, the fears, loneliness, and shame that hung over my heart at that time are still there, and they are deeply seared on me, and I will probably never get rid of them.

It was only when I met my father on my first debriefing in the Chronicle that I understood the meaning of my uncle's words.

...

"Little cub, go, move the big stone slab that entered the door of Gong's house, and dig out the contents for me. Uncle said.

I obediently did so, because he was the only person I could rely on now.

The Gongfang in this small courtyard stinks terribly, it seems that no one has come to clean it for a long time, and the manure pit is already full to overflow, and the smell from a distance makes people want to avoid it.

At the entrance there was a large stone slab with feet on it, which was covered with dirt and crawling with maggots... It took me a lot of effort to move it, and I found a broken tile and began to plan, and in the process, maggots or other insects kept coming out of the ground, crawling onto my hands, and after vomiting several times, I finally dug up a hard thing at a depth of one foot and two feet, and it took half an hour to finally take it out, which was a large tile jar.

When I carried it into the house, my uncle asked me,

"Is it dirty?"

I nodded.

"Dirty fart, these things, even if you lose your life, you have to keep them for me!"

He staggered to his feet, and I helped him over and sat him on a stool. Uncle opened the sealed jar and carefully took out one of its contents, which were small rolls of parchment about a finger in size.

"These are all left over from the 'eunuchs' over the years, and everyone has a copy, which remembers some secrets that cannot be recorded in the history books, and this one is mine," the uncle carefully put the volume he took out back into the jar. He took out a knife from his bosom, made a deep cut in his left arm, rummaged through the flesh with the tip of the knife, picked out a thin roll of sheepskin, pulled it out, wiped the blood stains off his clothes, and put it in, "This, plus mine, already has ninety-nine volumes, and when your booklet comes out, put it in, and you will be able to make a new piece of pith." “

"What is that?"

"Give me your hand," my uncle took my hand and made a cross-shaped bloody wound in my palm, and then, straightening his own arm, raised the knife in his hand and stabbed it into the joint of his elbow without hesitation, and when he pulled it out again, it was not blood but some black turbid fluid that flowed out of the wound, and my uncle dripped those black turbid fluids into the bloody mouth of my palm, and they seemed to be spiritually drilled in.

There wasn't much black turbidity, and in a few breaths, it all burrowed into my body, and then it flowed out of it with some bright red blood. Uncle used the tip of the knife to pick some of the skin on his elbow and put it over the deep wound, and soon the hideous wound was restored to normal, except for the tiny scars on the freshly cut skin.

After repairing the wound on my palm, he pointed to my forearm and said,

"This is the marrow. ”