Chapter 66 The Ancient Culture Research Institute Speaks Out

Pan Yangxia and his roommates were currently waiting in line.

Taking advantage of the rare school holiday, he had eagerly urged his roommates to book the fastest spacecraft tickets to get here. Ever since he had introduced them to Jiang Qin's songs, their entire dormitory had converted into loyal fans of Jiang Qin.

Therefore, they were all extremely excited about coming to the Azure Star this time. After all, they were finally going to meet their idol in person! Just the thought of getting up close and personal with Jiang Qin made their hearts race with nervous anticipation.

"Yangxia, do you think we'll actually be able to get in?"

Looking at the overwhelmingly long queue ahead, Pan Yangxia felt a tinge of worry, though he still believed they couldn't possibly be that unlucky. "We should be within the five-thousand limit. Barring any accidents, we ought to be able to get in."

"That's a relief, that's a relief. If we can't get in today, we'll have to leave the Azure Star tomorrow, and goodness knows when we'll ever be able to come back."

Just as they were standing there full of hope and anticipation, someone actually walked over to advise them to stop waiting in line. The stranger claimed that the female inside the bar was only of C-rank, completely incapable of soothing such a large crowd of people. Furthermore, this female supposedly had a poor reputation and character, having deceived many people on the Star Network and spreading unverified historical claims. She allegedly fabricated false information simply to create gimmicks and draw traffic for self-promotion. In short, the stranger advised them that they would be much better off heading to the Rose Bar next door, which had fewer people and three C-rank females, or the Nalan Bar, which was also a great choice and likewise featured two C-rank females. Meanwhile, the Moonlight Bar only had a single C-rank female, and her reputation and character were less than stellar.

This irritated Pan Yangxia to the point of laughter. "Ha! Bro, I know you want to get into the bar, but you shouldn't play such dirty tricks. I bet you're just trying to trick us all into leaving so you can steal our spots, aren't you?"

"Exactly! We won't fall for this for a second, so you can give up on that idea right now!"

"We suggest you leave immediately, or don't blame us for being rude."

Akitani Shoji: "..."

Did he look like someone who needed to resort to petty tricks just to secure a spot? To ensure entry into the bar, he had hired someone else to wait in line for him ages ago. It would probably be his turn to go in very soon.

Seeing the righteous indignation on the faces of these males—as if they might actually beat him up if he uttered another word—Akitani Shoji quickly turned and left. Once away, he hopped onto his livestream channel to complain that the people waiting in line had been severely deceived, while fiercely defending the female in question.

On the other side of the queue, reserved for females, a girl dressed in a tight combat suit and wearing dark sunglasses cast a sidelong, icy glance at Akitani Shoji. She instructed the male beside her, "Go drag that troublemaking male outside and beat him up. Make sure you turn off the livestream."

The man nodded respectfully and swiftly departed from the line.

Seeing that annoying male being dragged away, the girl finally expressed satisfaction and continued waiting in line. Yet, she muttered under her breath inwardly, wondering what kind of ridiculous queue could possibly require her to wait in person. It was only out of consideration for Jiang Qin that she bothered; otherwise, for a tiny bar like this, she wouldn't even need to buy a ticket herself—she would only have to speak a word, and people would rush to acquire it and present it to her.

Well, what else could she do? She just had to humor her, that was all.

***

Today, Jiang Qin performed a live version of "Wedding Procession". The stage's holographic projection directly displayed the official music video. Combined with the dim, atmospheric lighting inside the bar, the immersive ambiance reached its absolute peak.

"I didn't dare to project the music video before, but I never expected the details to be this exquisite. Look at that bridal sedan chair—that is definitely heavy craftsmanship."

"It's crafted entirely out of wood, too."

"And look at the bride's attire. Just look at those patterns—that must be the long-lost art of embroidery, right?"

Wen Jiaqi couldn't stop trembling with excitement, her camera capturing footage non-stop before she beamed it directly to her grandfather, who was an avid researcher of ancient cultures.

The most breathtaking of all was Jiang Qin's outfit for the day: a black and red patterned cheongsam. Although it lacked overly complex designs and her accessories were limited to a white jade bracelet on her wrist and a string of pearls around her neck, it exuded an indescribable, captivating charm.

"That groom spent ages searching with joyful thoughts,
Yet only hummed a sigh of parting sorrow~"

Wen Jiaqi didn't understand the musical cadence Jiang Qin used while singing these lines, but she simply felt it was uniquely striking.

Across the Star Network, stunning photographs of Jiang Qin were spreading like wildfire. The patrons inside the bar couldn't even wait until the performance ended; they were far too impatient to share the moment with the world. Withered trees, red lanterns, crows, the grand crimson sedan chair, the cheongsam, the wedding hall, paper effigies... There was simply an overwhelming abundance of visual impact.

Before the works of the professional fan photographers could even be uploaded, internet users had already been completely captivated.

At the same time, a new post released by the Ancient Culture Research Institute directly propelled Jiang Qin to the top of the trending searches.

[All the teachers have seen the topics everyone has been tagging the Institute in recently. The reason we are only responding now is because we needed time to verify these claims. Thanks to the enthusiastic contributions of many citizens, our Research Institute has finally authenticated that the ancient customs described by Ms. Jiang are entirely factual. The fifteenth day of the seventh month is indeed the Zhongyuan Festival, a genuine day of ancestral worship, commonly known among the common folk as the Ghost Festival. As for what ghosts actually are, it is precisely as Ms. Jiang described: people in ancient times believed that after death, human beings transformed into another form of existence and remained in the mortal realm...]

...

[Our Institute will continue to conduct in-depth research in this field moving forward, and we invite everyone to follow our subsequent updates.]

This post officially validated every single word Jiang Qin had uttered. It explained what a soul was and what an obsession meant, alongside the true definitions of an eight-bearer sedan chair, a formal marriage by proper matchmaker, and an auspicious wedding day. It also revealed just how abject and low the social status of women truly was in ancient times.

All in all, virtually anything Jiang Qin mentioned could be traced back to fleeting records preserved within various cultural relics.

The reason so many people were willing to share the cultural artifacts preserved by their own families came down to Jiang Qin herself. Because these items were in their possession, they knew very well that this female was not lying. She genuinely possessed an immense wealth of knowledge. Those who collected such items were primarily individuals with a passion for ancient culture who had labored to gather and preserve them. Thus, another motive for sharing these materials was the hope of helping the Research Institute acquire more information, ultimately achieving a sharing of resources and data.

Just like the latest announcement released by the Ancient Culture Research Institute, they had integrated all the information they obtained and published it directly. This progress was infinitely faster than clutching onto isolated fragments of text and attempting to research them entirely on their own!

Naturally, everyone's attention finally shifted fully onto Jiang Qin.

Could it be that everything this low-ranking female from a barren planet had said was actually true? But where on earth did she acquire so much knowledge regarding ancient history? Could it be... that she possessed a complete collection of textual artifacts in book form?

Jiang Qin's fans weren't overthinking things; they only knew that today was a fantastic day. First, they were battered into a daze by a deluge of gorgeous photographs, and then the girl they idolized was finally vindicated—complete with an official statement from the authorities.

Consequently, they all stood tall and proud once again.

[Where are those people who previously commented that if all of Qin-bao's claims were true, they would orally ingest mutant beast feces? Please hurry up and start a livestream; we're still waiting to watch those family members who promised to orally ingest stinky fruits and swallow optical computers whole.]