"After all, there is no difference in my eyes."
"I am not a substitute for your lover, I am myself."
Suddenly, Lin Hai's heart felt sour. He knew he had fallen in love with Marguerite uncontrollably, but he couldn't say it. How could he fall in love with a woman from four hundred years ago? However, this incredible thing happened anyway, even though he might pay the price of death.
Marguerite stopped talking and turned her head to look outside the window. Lin Hai sat on a chair by the door, covered in a blanket, staring blankly at her, both of them feeling extremely awkward.
Before long, Lin Hai began to feel sleepy and unconsciously closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
Outside the window, the night rain continued to fall.
Today is my fifth day in Paris.
I woke up in the morning feeling restless, as if there was a voice constantly calling out to me. I looked up at the ceiling and wondered if there were any female ghosts walking on the roof of this ancient building in the middle of the night.
Since coming to Paris, my progress has been unexpectedly slow. I haven't gained any useful information from Professor Orleans, and after wandering around the city, all I have gained is the acquaintance of a homeless man. It was Yu Li who told me some things that gave me a new understanding of the "Louis IX mystery."
Looking out the window at the University of Voltaire in the morning, I played back everything that had happened, including the e-mail Lin Hai sent me from home and what he said to me on the phone. Although they all seemed unbelievable and complicated, there still seemed to be some clues to follow.
The two things I need to figure out now are the sheepskin book of Louis IX and the 16th century oil painting "Marguerite."
First, why does the "Louis IX mystery" arouse so much interest? What big secret does it hide?
Second, how did the person in the painting appear in Lin Hai's real life? This is completely beyond my knowledge.
And what is the relationship between these two things?
Historically, Louis IX was a French king in the 13th century, while Marguerite was a French princess in the 16th century. The two are separated by more than three hundred years. Although they both come from the French royal family, Louis IX is the king of the Capetian dynasty, while Marguerite is a princess of the Valois dynasty, belonging to different families and dynasties, with no direct relationship between them.
If there is definitely a connection between the sheepskin book and the oil painting of Marguerite, it is the attic where the sheepskin book was found, which also had a portrait of Marguerite.
And both of these things undoubtedly come from ancient France, so how could Lin Hai's grandfather's old house be related to ancient France?
Yes, the key lies with Lin Danqing, Lin Hai's grandfather.
Thinking of this, I rushed out of the room and ran down the old corridor and stairs, leaving behind a long string of echoes.
After quickly finishing breakfast at the restaurant, I ran to the lab to find Yu Li, but unexpectedly ran into Professor Orleans. Yu Li was also there and he said that the professor had just returned from Lyon early this morning and found important reference materials related to the parchment book.
Professor Orleans looked much haggard, with his white hair becoming sparser and his eyes red, obviously having not slept all night. It turned out that the professor had been in Lyon for more than two days, searching for information on ancient language spell codes based on a name mentioned in the parchment book, and had indeed found a clue to decipher the parchment.
The professor seemed extremely excited. He grabbed my shoulders tightly and almost kissed me, but I quickly moved my face away and took a few steps back. Yu Li, on the other hand, remained calm, as if hiding something deep in his eyes. He patted my shoulder and said, "The professor made a huge breakthrough this time. We have deciphered most of the content of the parchment book."
I also became excited and asked, "Can you tell me?"
Yu Li and the professor whispered a few words to each other. The professor seemed hesitant, probably not wanting to tell me, but Yu Li seemed to be arguing logically. After all, I brought the parchment book, and without me, there would be no research results for them.
Finally, the professor promised to tell me the content of the parchment book.
Yu Li's face remained stern, with his cheeks like sculpture. He slowly said, "There is no doubt that this parchment book is about the 'Mystery of Louis IX', and it can be confirmed that it was written by Louis IX himself, because the professor has verified the handwriting and records in other medieval documents. The parchment book starts from the Seventh Crusade and the first-person narrative 'I' is Louis IX."
"So it's a memoir of war?" I suddenly remembered Julius Caesar's "Gallic Wars."
"It's not just a war record, but more precisely a travelogue. Louis IX was a famous king in history, who possessed the qualities of a king, hero, and man. He was a rare wise monarch in French history. However, his overly devout religious beliefs led him to worship the mendicant friars Francis and Dominic, and even imitate the behavior of ascetic monks. He had a true medieval knight spirit, and was simply the French version of Don Quixote. He left his throne twice to pursue the adventure of a knight-errant, and fought against demons or witches in the wilderness," Yu Li explained.
"It sounds like a story from 'The Lord of the Rings'?"
"At the beginning of this parchment book, Louis IX said that his destination was ancient Egypt. In fact, in history, the Seventh Crusade did indeed attack Egypt, not Palestine. Louis IX mobilized all the French army and financial resources, using 18,000 sailboats, carrying 95,000 cavalry and 130,000 infantry, and marched towards the mysterious East."
"So many people?"
Yu Li nodded, his gaze calm and composed. "So it is called the 'power of the nation,' which is consistent with historical records. Louis IX wrote in the parchment that he followed closely behind the flying French flag, dressed in full armor, and jumped onto the shore of Egypt with his soldiers. His army progressed very smoothly and soon captured the impregnable city of Damietta, but the French soon encountered a plague that caused them great losses. Nevertheless, Louis IX continued to advance inland from the coast, attempting to cross the Nile River, but the Nile was controlled by the Egyptians, and all their supplies were cut off, causing the entire army to fall into disease and hunger."
"They were surrounded?"
"Yes, later many historians believed that if Louis IX was willing to abandon his juvenile soldiers, he could have escaped by himself, but he chose to stay and was eventually captured by the Egyptian army. However, Louis IX did not suffer any mistreatment. He received good treatment from the Egyptians and was released by them after he promised to return Damietta and pay a ransom of 800,000 gold coins."
"Then he returned to France, just like what the history books say?"
"Actually, in this passage of the parchment, there is a different account from other historical records. Louis IX wrote in the parchment that after he was released from Egypt, he was escorted to Palestine by a group of Egyptian soldiers, but was attacked by a desert tribe on the way, and all the soldiers who were escorting him were killed. He luckily survived and became a captive of the desert tribe, who took him deep into the Sahara Desert, where he saw the magnificent Great Pyramid."
"Louis IX was taken to the pyramid?"
"Yes, according to the parchment, Louis IX was imprisoned in the pyramid by the desert tribe, and there was a secret passage that could lead to the innermost part of the pyramid. Soon, for some unknown reason, the desert tribe abandoned the pyramid and left him alone inside. In order to survive, Louis IX wandered around the pyramid and eventually found something special in a secret place."
"What did he find?" Yu Li spoke confidently, causing me to inhale sharply.
"Unfortunately, the parchment did not specify what it was. Louis IX referred to this item as extremely mysterious and possibly far beyond people's imagination. It contained some enormous power that could change the history and destiny of mankind."
"Is it really that mysterious? But I feel like it's too vague and incomprehensible."
"That's true. The professor and I have studied this passage repeatedly, and we cannot decipher any other meaning. We even thought it might be a code or a riddle, but it's still hard to find any clues. It could be that Louis IX was just being mysterious and didn't want to reveal the secret in the parchment, because once it was said out loud, it might not be a secret anymore."
I sighed helplessly, watching the professor continue to study the parchment. I could only continue to ask, "So what happened to Louis IX afterwards?"
"He was lucky to find the secret passage to escape from the pyramid with the mysterious item. He wandered in the desert for two days and met a kind camel caravan that took him to Palestine. Several years later, Louis IX returned to France and claimed to have obtained something that could control the life and death of countless people, but no one knew what it was. It was said that some nobles had seen this item, but they died soon after, as if the item was a plague that would kill whoever possessed it, except for Louis IX."
"But why did he set out on the Eastern Crusade again?"
"Yes, Louis IX launched the eighth and final Crusade in history sixteen years later. In fact, this Crusade was meaningless, as the previous one had already been a lesson. He knew he was bound to fail, but still went ahead, as if he was offering himself up to be captured. As a result, his army was trapped in the North African desert. Unfortunately, Louis IX died of illness in his tent before he could be taken captive by the Muslims," I translated.
"This is absurd," Yu Li finally laughed coldly. "Yes, even though Louis IX was a devout king, his actions were illogical. The only explanation is that he was already enchanted by that secret and couldn't resist the temptation hidden in the desert, preferring to self-destruct like a moth drawn to a flame. This resulted in the most absurd Crusade in world history."
"Louis IX died in North Africa, and his death also means that no one knows what that secret is," I said.
"Yes, that's the origin of the 'Mystery of Louis IX,'" Yu Li replied.
"But after all this talk, I still don't know what that secret is," I shook my head.
"Perhaps there's an even greater secret waiting for us."
"Where does the sheepskin scroll end?" I asked.
"It ends with Louis IX preparing for another expedition, saying that he wants to return to North Africa to find the root of that secret. That's the end of the scroll," Yu Li said.
At this point, I felt disappointed. I still couldn't connect all of this to Queen Marguerite of the sixteenth century. Was there really no connection between them?
I pondered for a long time, then suddenly pulled Yu Li out of the study and whispered, "Can you accompany me to the university library?"
"Why do you want to go there?" Yu Li asked.
"I want to look up information about Queen Marguerite of the sixteenth century, and I need you to translate for me," I said.
Yu Li hesitated for a while before agreeing. "Okay, since Professor Orleans is also at a loss now, I'll accompany you to the library."
It was almost noon by now. We quickly had a meal in the restaurant before heading to the Voltaire University library.
The library was still the same building from over a hundred years ago, and walking inside gave me a sense of eerie horror. Yu Li seemed to be familiar with the place, and he quickly found the catalog of historical books, including those about French history in the second half of the sixteenth century.
We walked into a special reading room, and the shelves around us displayed books about that period of history. Most of them were old books from a long time ago, some even printed in the early twentieth century.
I couldn't understand the French titles of the books, so I asked Yu Li to help me search for them on the shelves. He even brought over a wooden ladder and climbed to the top of the shelf to look.
Suddenly, he seemed to have found something special, and carefully handed it to me at the bottom of the ladder.
The cover of this old book was covered in dust, which I gently blew away. Yu Li slowly climbed down the ladder and said, "I guess no one has touched this book for many years. The title is strange, it's called 'Marguerite and La Mole.'"
Of course, I couldn't understand the content of the book, so I asked Yu Li to flip through it. He randomly turned a few pages and said, "Unfortunately, it's a novel, not a rigorous historical work."
Then he looked at the copyright page at the end of the book and found that it was published in 1925, indicating that it was also an antique.I took the book from him and flipped through it. Suddenly, I felt a hard card on the last page, and found a borrowing card inserted behind the back cover. I took out the yellowed card, which seemed to have only one line of borrower's name with a very neat signature - "lin tantsing".
I softly pronounced it and felt three distinct syllables. It must be a Chinese name, right? Lin Tantsing.
Yes! "Lin Tantsing" is the Western name for Lin Danqing.
Lin Danqing - the current Chinese Pinyin is "lin danqing", but decades ago, people used an old form of Pinyin, just like how people in Hong Kong use Pinyin today.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Yu Li, puzzled.
I took a deep breath and pointed to the name "lin tantsing" on the borrowing card, "Maybe, he's the person I'm looking for."
I looked at the borrowing card's date, and it was borrowed only once, on February 14th, 1935, and returned on February 20th, 1935.
Yu Li nodded, "Yes, that means between February 14th and 20th, 1935, this book was borrowed by a Chinese man named Lin Danqing."
"Lin Danqing must have been studying at the University of Voltaire back then!"
This crucial issue was finally resolved, and I exclaimed excitedly, "It's like finding a needle in a haystack. We can find Lin Danqing's student record at the University of Voltaire, right?"
"We can go to the school's archive room to check."
So we hurriedly ran out of the library and went to the archive room at the University of Voltaire.
We quickly found the student record cards for foreign students in the 1930s, sorted alphabetically by name. Yu Li found "lin tantsing" in the "l" column, and below it was a Chinese signature - Lin Danqing - in beautiful calligraphy.
As the saying goes, "A man's writing style reflects his character". Indeed, Lin Danqing was cut out to be an artist. The student record card also had a black and white photo attached to it, showing a handsome Chinese young man smiling.
The student record card recorded his time in school from September 1932 to August 1936, a total of four years, but there were no other records.
I sighed softly, "Just knowing this is not enough."
Yu Li pulled me out of the archive room and asked coldly, "Tell me, why do you want to find this person? Does he have anything to do with the parchment?"
On the campus of the University of Voltaire, students of all races walked back and forth on the field. I looked up hesitantly for a moment before saying, "Yes, I admit that Lin Danqing may have a great relationship with the parchment."
The rain in Shanghai was still lingering, tapping on the window like the tide on a riverbank in the early morning.
Lin Hai opened his eyes in a daze, feeling sore all over. He struggled to sit up, realizing that he was lying on a small bed, wrapped in a thin blanket and wearing very little.
The morning light shone through the rain-washed window glass, exposing his body like a river mussel without a shell. His heart suddenly accelerated, and he sprang up like a spring, recalling everything that had happened last night -
He remembered Marguerite curling up in bed, while he himself had spent the night on a chair. How did he end up like this in the morning?
"Where did Marguerite go again?" he quickly dressed and rushed out of the room shouting, "Marguerite!"
The light in the hallway on the second floor was filled with a subtle atmosphere, which made Lin Hai feel dizzy. Suddenly, the bathroom door opened, and Marguerite came out in her nightgown.
Lin Hai didn't care about anything else and immediately hugged Marguerite, saying passionately in her ear, "Where did you go?"
"I just went to wash my face."
"What happened last night? How did I end up in bed?"
Marguerite lowered her head, her cheeks slightly blushing, and softly said, "What do you think happened?"
This sentence hit Lin Hai's heart, making him both shocked and scared. He knew about the rumors surrounding Marguerite. Could it be that...
No, this can't be, she's a person from four hundred years ago, how could she do such a thing with a modern person?
"What's wrong with you? Don't you like me?"
Marguerite stared straight into his eyes, making him feel dizzy. Lin Hai stumbled back into the room, and the rain outside the window continued to beat against the glass, making a fine sound. He silently said to himself, "Let's just pretend nothing happened."
Suddenly, a gentle hand rested on his shoulder, but he roughly shrugged it off, loudly saying, "I'm not your Lamoer!"
But Lin Hai immediately grabbed her again and said softly, "I'm sorry, I was too impulsive."
Marguerite lowered her head and was silent for a long time before saying, "Let's leave quickly, don't stay in one place for too long, or Nochadanmas will smell us."
"Our smell?"
Lin Hai nodded. Perhaps surviving last night was already his lucky break. After a quick wash, he grabbed two umbrellas and left with Marguerite. His father had already prepared breakfast for them. Lin Hai ate as quickly as possible and then said to his father, "I'm sorry, dad, but I have to leave here."
For the first time, his father seemed to understand him and nodded helplessly, "Go ahead, if you have any difficulties, come to me at any time."
Lin Hai gently hugged his father, then grabbed the umbrellas and left with Marguerite.