Margaret's Secret

Chapter 20 From Shanghai to Paris (12)
"It makes no difference in my eyes."

"I am not a substitute for your lover, I am myself."

Lin Hai's heart suddenly felt sour. He knew that he had fallen in love with Margaret irresistibly, but he couldn't say it at all. How could he fall in love with a woman from 400 years ago?Yet the unthinkable happened, even though he might have paid the price of death.

Margaret stopped talking, and turned her head to still look out of the window.Lin Hai was sitting on a chair at the door, with a blanket over his body, staring at her blankly, the two of them were extremely embarrassed.

After a while, Lin Hai was already haunted by drowsiness, he closed his eyes unconsciously, and fell asleep.

Outside the window, it was raining continuously at night.

Today is my fifth day in Paris.

When I woke up in the morning, I felt a flutter in my heart, as if a certain voice kept calling me, I raised my head to look at the ceiling, wondering if there is a female ghost walking on the roof of this ancient building in the middle of the night?
Since arriving in Paris, my progress has been surprisingly slow, I have not received any useful information from Professor Orléans, and I have gone around the city of Paris a few times, but I have found nothing at all except to meet a tramp.It was Yu Li who told me some things, which gave me a new understanding of "The Mystery of Louis IX".

Looking at the Voltaire University in the early morning by the window, I played back everything that happened in my mind, including the E-mail sent to me by Lin Hai, who is far away in China, and the words he said to me on the mobile phone, although It's all so incredible, it seems like a thousand threads, I don't know where to start, but when I think about it carefully, it seems that there are still some clues to be found——

Now, I want to find out two things, the first is the parchment scroll of Louis IX, and the second is the sixteenth-century oil painting "Marguerite".

First, why does "The Mystery of Louis IX" arouse so many people's interest?What big secret does it hide?

Second, how did the people in the painting get into Lin Hai's real life?This is completely beyond my knowledge.

And what is the relationship between the two?

From the perspective of historical time, Louis IX was the French king in the 300th century, while Marguerite was the French princess in the [-]th century. The age difference between the two is more than [-] years.Although they both came from the French royal family, Louis IX was the king of the Capet dynasty, and Margaret was the princess of the Valois dynasty. They belonged to different families and dynasties, and there was no direct relationship between the two.

If there must be some connection between the parchment scroll and the oil painting of "Marguerite", it is that the small attic where the parchment scroll was found also had a portrait of Margaret.

And these two things undoubtedly came from ancient France, so how could the old house of Lin Hai's family be related to ancient French things?

Yes, the key lies in Lin Hai's grandfather - Lin Danqing.

Thinking of this, I immediately rushed out of the room, and quickly ran down the ancient corridors and stairs, leaving a long series of faint echoes behind me.

After a quick breakfast in the dining room, I ran to the research room to find Yu Li, but unexpectedly I bumped into Professor Orleans.Yu Li was also there. He said that the professor had just returned from Lyon early this morning and had found important reference materials about the parchment.

Professor Orleans looked a lot haggard, his gray hair was getting thinner, his eyes were red, and he obviously hadn't slept all night.It turned out that the professor had been in Lyon for more than two days. According to a name in the parchment, he searched for information about the spelling code of ancient characters from a research institute in Lyon, and he found a clue that could decipher the parchment.

The professor seemed very excited. He grabbed my shoulders tightly and almost kissed me twice. I quickly moved my face away and took a few steps back.Yu Li was very calm, as if something was hidden in his eyes.He patted me on the shoulder and said, "This professor has gained a lot. We have deciphered most of the contents of the parchment."

I was also excited: "Can you tell me?"

Yu Li and the professor whispered a few words, the professor seemed distressed, he probably didn't want to tell me, but Yu Li seemed to be trying to argue, after all, I brought this parchment, without me, there would be no them research results.

Finally, the professor agreed to tell me the contents of the parchment.

Yu Li's face was still stern, his cheeks were like sculptures, he said slowly: "There is no doubt that this roll of parchment is about the 'Mystery of Louis IX', and it can be confirmed that it was written by Louis IX himself, because The professor has checked the handwriting and records on other medieval documents. The parchment book starts from the Seventh Crusade, and No.1 at the beginning says 'I' is Louis IX."

"Is it an autobiographical war record?"

I suddenly thought of Julius Caesar's "Gallic War".

"It's not just a war record, but a travel record to be precise. Louis IX in history is a famous king. He combines the qualities of a king, a hero and a man. He is a rare wise king in French history. However, he is too Devoutly believed in religion, which made him worship the monk Francis and Dominique, and even imitated the behavior of the ascetic. He has the real medieval chivalry, which is simply the French version of Don Quixote. The adventurous spirit of a knight, and leave his throne to go out into the wilds and fight demons or witches."

"How does that sound like a story from The Lord of the Rings?"

"At the beginning of this parchment, Louis IX said that the destination of his conquest was ancient Egypt. In fact, the Seventh Crusade in history did attack Egypt, not Palestine. Louis IX launched With all the army and financial resources of France, 13 sailing ships, fully loaded with [-] cavalry and [-] infantry, set out for the mysterious east."

"There are so many people?"

Yu Li nodded, his gaze became calmer and more composed: "So it is said to be 'the power of the country', which is also consistent with the historical records. Louis IX wrote in the parchment that he followed the flying French flag, Dressed in armor, he jumped onto the beach of Egypt first. His army progressed very smoothly, and soon captured the impregnable city of Damietta, but the French army soon encountered a plague, which caused them heavy losses. But Louis IX still advanced from the coast to the interior, trying to cross the Nile River by force, but the Nile River was controlled by the Egyptians, all supplies were blocked, and the whole army fell into disease and hunger."

"They're surrounded?"

"Yes, many historians later believed that if Louis IX was willing to abandon his soldiers, he could escape by himself, but he chose to stay and was captured by the Egyptian army. But Louis IX was not affected. He was treated very well by the Egyptians, and he was released by the Egyptians after he promised to return the city of Damietta and pay a ransom of 80 gold coins."

"And then he came back to France, isn't that what the history books say?"

Yu Li shook his head: "No, in this section of the parchment, there is a record that is different from other historical books. Louis IX said in the parchment that after he was released in Egypt, he was escorted by a group of Egyptian soldiers. Palestine, but was attacked by desert tribes on the road, and all the escorting soldiers were killed. He survived by chance and became a prisoner of desert tribes. He was taken to the depths of the Sahara Desert and saw the magnificent Great Pyramid .”

"Louis IX was taken to the pyramid?"

"Well, according to the parchment, Louis IX was imprisoned in the pyramid by the desert tribe, and there was a secret passage to enter the innermost layer of the pyramid. Soon, for some unknown reason, the desert tribe abandoned the pyramid and left, And left Louis IX alone in it. In order to survive, he wandered around in the pyramid, and found a special thing in a secret place."

"What?" Yu Li said so logically that I couldn't help but let me gasp.

"Unfortunately, the parchment book didn't say it clearly, it only said that it was a special thing. According to Louis IX, the source of this thing is extremely mysterious, and it may be far beyond people's imagination. It implies something A huge force, enough to change the history and destiny of mankind."

"Is it really that mysterious? But I think this is too general, and it makes people feel a little unintelligible."

"It's true. The professor and I have studied this passage repeatedly, and we really can't see any other meaning. We even thought about it as a code and a riddle, but it is still difficult to see the clue. Let's say that Louis IX is playing tricks, maybe He doesn't want to write this secret on the parchment yet, because it might not be a secret once it is revealed."

I sighed helplessly, watching the professor continue to study the parchment, I could only continue to ask: "Then what happened to Louis IX?"

"He luckily found a secret passage to escape from the pyramid, and came out with that mysterious thing. He wandered in the desert for two days, met a caravan of kind camels, and sent him to Palestine. Several years After Louis IX returned to France, he claimed to have obtained something that could control countless lives, but no one knew what it was. It is said that some nobles had seen this thing, but these people died soon , That kind of thing seems to have become a plague, whoever gets it will die, but only Louis IX is alive."

"But why did he embark on the Eastern Expedition again?"

"Yes, 16 years later, Louis IX carried out the eighth and last Crusade in history. In fact, this Crusade was meaningless. The last time he had learned from the past, he also knew that He was certain to be defeated, but he was still desperate, and he was sent to his door to be a prisoner. As a result, his army was trapped in the desert of North Africa. As for Louis IX himself, unfortunately, he died of illness before he could be captured by Muslims In the army tent."

"This is really ridiculous."

Yu Li finally sneered: "Yes, even though Louis IX is a pious king, his actions are still illogical. The only explanation is that he has been fascinated by that secret, and he simply cannot resist a hidden secret." Temptation in the desert, preferring to kill itself like a moth to a flame, created one of the most absurd crusades in the history of the world."

"Louis IX died in North Africa, and his death also means—no one knows what the secret is?"

"That's right, that's where the 'Louis IX Mystery' comes in."

But I shook my head and said, "But you've been talking for a long time, and I still don't know what the secret is."

"Maybe there is a bigger secret waiting for us."

"Where does this parchment end?"

"It's about Louis IX preparing to go east again. He said that he would return to North Africa to find the source of the secret in the desert. This is the end of the parchment."

I'm a little disappointed to hear this, I still can't connect all this with Margaret in the [-]th century. Could it be that there is no relationship between them?

I lowered my head and thought for a long time, then suddenly pulled Yu Li out of the research room, and said softly, "Can you accompany me to the university library?"

"Why go there?"

"I want to look up information about Queen Margaret in the sixteenth century, so I can only ask you to translate for me."

Yu Li hesitated for a while before agreeing: "Well, anyway, Professor Orleans can't figure it out now, so I'll accompany you to the library."

It was almost noon at this time, we went to the restaurant to have a quick lunch, and then rushed to the library of the University of Voltaire.

The library is still a building more than 100 years ago. Walking in it really has a spooky feeling. Yu Li seems to be familiar with it. He quickly found the catalog of historical books and found the French history in the second half of the [-]th century. part of history.

We walked into a special reading room surrounded by bookshelves displaying books about that period of history, most of which were old books from a long time ago, and some were even printed in the early twentieth century.

I couldn't understand the titles of those books in French, so I had to help me find them on the bookshelves. He even brought a pair of wooden ladders and climbed to the top of the bookshelves to browse.

Suddenly, he seemed to have discovered something special, and carefully handed it to me at the bottom of the ladder.

The cover of this old book is full of dust, I blew it gently, Yu Li slowly climbed down the ladder and said: "I guess this book has not been touched for many years, the title is very strange, called "Marguerite and Larmor."

Of course I couldn't understand the content of the book, so I asked Yu Li to read it. He casually flipped through a few pages and said, "Unfortunately, it's a novel, not a rigorous historical work."

Then he looked at the copyright page at the back. The publication date was 1925, which seemed to be an antique.

I took it from him and flipped through it, and suddenly felt a hard card on the last page. It turned out that there was a library card inserted behind the back cover.I took out this yellowed card, and there seemed to be only one line of the borrower's name on it, and the signature looked very neat - "Lin Tantsing".

After reading it lightly, I feel that there are three clear syllables. It should be a Chinese name, right?
Lin Tantsing
In an instant, that name came to my mind——Lin Danqing.

right! "Lin Tantsing" is Lin Danqing's Western name.

Lin Danqing - The Chinese pinyin used now is "Lin Danqing", but decades ago people used the old pinyin, just like the pinyin used by Hong Kong people today.

"What's wrong with you?" Yu Li asked me puzzled.

I took a deep breath, pointed to the name "Lin Tantsing" on the library card and said, "Maybe, he is the person I'm looking for."

我又看了看借书卡上的时间，这本书总共只被借过一次，是1935年2月14日借，1935年2月20日还的。

Yu Li nodded: "Well, that is to say, from February 1935th to 2th, 14, this book was borrowed by a Chinese named Lin Danqing."

"Lin Danqing must have studied at the University of Voltaire back then!"

This key question was finally solved, and I said excitedly: "It's really hard to find anywhere, and it doesn't take much effort to get it. Can we find out Lin Danqing's student status at the University of Voltaire?"

"You can go to the school archives to check."

So we hurried out of the library and came to the archives of the University of Voltaire.

We quickly found the student status cards of foreign students in the 30s, which were arranged in alphabetical order of names. Yu Li found the name "Lin Tantsing" in the "L" column, and there was a Chinese signature below it, which was a A group of beautiful italic characters - Lin Danqing.

The calligraphy is like a person, and it really is the material for learning to paint. There is also a black and white photo on the student card. A handsome Chinese youth is smiling in the photo.

The schooling time recorded in the student status card is from September 1932 to August 9, a total of four years, but there are no other records.

I sighed lightly: "Just knowing these things is not enough."

Yu Li pulled me out of the file room, and asked coldly, "Tell me, why did you ask this person? Does he have anything to do with the parchment?"

On the playground of the University of Voltaire, students of various skin colors walked back and forth. I looked up and hesitated for a while, and finally said: "Yes, I admit that this Lin Danqing may have a great relationship with the parchment."

The spring rain in Shanghai is still continuous, pattering against the window sill, like the tide on the river bank in the morning.

Lin Hai opened his eyes in a trance, only feeling a pain all over his body, he struggled to straighten up, and found himself lying on a small bed, wrapped in a thin quilt, with very little clothing on his body.

The morning light shone in through the rain-washed window panes, revealing his body like a shelled clam.His heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he jumped out of bed like a spring, thinking about everything that happened last night—

He remembered that Margaret curled up on the bed last night, and he himself spent the night in a chair. How could he wake up like this in the morning?

Where is Margaret?

He quickly got dressed, rushed out the door and yelled, "Marguerite!"

The light in the corridor on the second floor was full of ambiguous atmosphere, which made Lin Hai feel dizzy for a while.Suddenly, the bathroom door opened, and Margaret came out in her pajamas.

Lin Hai didn't care about anything anymore, and immediately hugged Margaret, and whispered in her ear, "Where have you been?"

"I'm just going to wash my face."

"What happened last night? How did I stay in bed?"

Margaret lowered her head, with a slight blush on her cheeks, she said quietly, "What did you say happened?"

These words stimulated Lin Hai's heart, and he was shocked and frightened for a moment. He knew the legends about Margaret, could it be...

No, this won't work, she is from 400 years ago, how can this kind of thing happen to modern people?

"What's wrong with you, don't you like me?"

Marguerite looked him straight in the eyes and it made him spin.Lin Hai stumbled back into the room, the rain outside the window kept hitting the glass, making a thin sound, he said to himself silently: "Just pretend that nothing happened."

Suddenly, a gentle hand put on his shoulder, but he threw it away roughly, and he said loudly, "I'm not your Lamor!"

But Lin Hai immediately grabbed her again and said softly, "I'm sorry, I was too impulsive."

Margaret lowered her head and said after a long silence, "Let's go quickly, don't stay in one place for too long, or Nostradamus will smell us."

"Our smell?"

Lin Hai nodded, maybe he was lucky to survive last night.After a hasty wash, he took Margaret and ran downstairs, where his father had already prepared breakfast for them.He finished his breakfast in the fastest time, and then said to his father, "I'm sorry, Dad, I have to get out of here."

The father seemed to understand him for the first time, and nodded helplessly: "Go, if you encounter any difficulties, come to me at any time."

Lin Hai gently hugged his father, then took two umbrellas and left here with Margaret.

(End of this chapter)