785 Three Little Saintesses
“What do you mean by not here anymore?” Yu Wan looked at the scenery outside the window. “Aren’t the people living here from the Ghost Clan?”
“Yes, but…” Qiu Bing hesitated, his expression indescribable.
Although Qing Yan and Yue Gou were born and raised here, they did not know much about the clan’s past. Therefore, when Grandma said that “the real Ghost Clan is no longer here”, the two of them were even more surprised than Yu Wan.
Asura was sitting on a chair drinking goat milk. Beside him was a man who was also holding a small milk bottle. This was Asura’s new underling—the real Ghost King.
!!
The two of them drank and ignored Grandma’s words.
Qiu Bing looked at the Ghost King, who had become a fool, with a complicated expression. He sighed and said, “This matter has to start with the Sikong Clan hundreds of years ago. The Sikong Clan is the strongest surname of the Ghost Clan. All the Ghost Kings in the past came from the Sikong Clan. Our Qiu Clan has assisted the Sikong Clan for generations. However, there are many descendants of the Sikong Clan, and there will also be fierce battles between them. The winner is the king, and the loser is the bandit. Since ancient times, the royal power has been like this.”
“So… everyone here is a loser?” Yu Wan asked.
Qiu Bing smiled bitterly. “You can say that. The palace you see was originally a prison.”
“Huh?” Everyone was shocked.
Qiu Bing continued, “Back then, Madam Sikong gave birth to two sons. The two sons fought for the throne. The youngest son was defeated, and the eldest son ascended the throne. Madam Sikong couldn’t bear to see the youngest son suffer, so she ordered someone to build this palace. It looks like a palace, but it’s actually a cage. The eldest son has orders that the youngest son can’t leave the palace. If that’s all, it’s not too miserable. However, the eldest son wants to move the capital. He took all his clansmen away and used this place as a place of exile.”
Yu Wan paused. “In other words, everyone who stays here is a sinner?”
Qiu Bing nodded. “That’s right.”
Qing Yan and Yue Gou’s eyes instantly widened. So after so long, they were the descendants of sinners?
“But Grandma just said that the Qiu Clan has assisted the Sikong Clan for generations. Could it be that there are also sinners in the Qiu Clan who have been exiled?”
“No.” Qiu Bing shook his head. “The Qiu Clan was ordered to supervise that youngest son to ensure that his descendants are exiled forever.”
Eternal… exile!
What a ruthless heart!
Yu Wan frowned strangely. “Since that eldest son hates his brother so much, why didn’t he just kill him?”
Qiu Bing sighed. “Because Madam Sikong forced him to agree to not harm his youngest brother and his descendants’ lives before she died. This is a secret passed down for generations in our Qiu Clan, and only every family head knows about it. Even though Qiu Wuya has become the King’s priest, he doesn’t know about this.”
Yue Gou pursed his lips for once. “So Grandma is not loyal to the King. You’re guarding him. Then why are you still working for him?”
Qiu Bing said helplessly, “If I want to guard him, I have to live first.”
The Ghost King had a temperament that was unpredictable. If he disobeyed his decree, he would be executed immediately, okay?
Qiu Bing continued, “In order to protect his descendants back then, the youngest son didn’t tell them about the truth of being imprisoned. After a few generations, no one knows that this is a place of exile anymore. Although the Qiu Clan guards the King, they no longer imprisoned him in the palace. However, the King is very obedient and doesn’t easily walk around outside.”
Yu Wan hit the nail on the head. “That’s because you’re afraid of getting lost, right?”
Qiu Bing looked at Ah Wan and then at the Ghost King, who often got lost even in the palace. “…”
Why was she telling the truth for no reason?
Yu Wan cleared her throat and said, “Grandma has said so much about the Sikong Clan. What does this have to do with our search for the medicine? Could it be that… the descendants of the Saintess and the sorcerer are both in New Capital?”
“That’s right,” Qiu Bing said. “I only found out that the descendants of these two bloodlines are in the New Capital after reading the Myriad Book Pavilion’s handwritten letter. I think the late King also knows something about the New Capital.”
“Huh?” Yu Wan looked at him in confusion. “Didn’t they say that the youngest son hid the truth about moving the Capital back then, so the descendants didn’t know that this place was no longer the real Ghost Clan?”
Qiu Bing said, “That’s true, but the late King’s actions make me feel that he knows the truth. He’s thinking of ways to go to the New Capital and return to the territory that really belongs to the Sikong Clan.”
Therefore, the truth about the Ghost Clan’s imminent danger was not only that they were lost, but also that they wanted to move the Capital… Yu Wan touched her chin and said, “What did the late King do?”
Qiu Bing was not in a hurry to answer her. Instead, he asked, “You found this token at the bottom of the cliff. Did you find anything else?”
“A portrait!” Yu Wan opened her purse and took out the portrait she had kept close to her. A piece of yellowed paper was folded to the size of a palm. When it was spread out, it was difficult to hide the crease, but one could still see the face in the portrait. Yu Wan handed her little head over and blinked at Grandma. “Doesn’t she look a little like me?”
Qiu Bing carefully compared Yu Wan to the woman in the portrait and nodded. He was not surprised as he said, “There are indeed some similarities. Ah Wan, do you know why?”
Yu Wan shook her head like a rattle-drum. “But Yan Jiuchao said that this woman is very likely a descendant of the Saintess. I’m so similar to her, so I might also be a descendant of the Saintess. After all, I’m so beautiful, right?”
The saintess was beautiful, even more beautiful than fairies.
Coincidentally, at this moment, the three little black eggs returned. The three of them were sweating profusely from playing.
Yu Wan took out a handkerchief and wiped her sons’ sweat. “If I’m the descendant of the Saintess, then so are Dabao and the others?”
The three of them were stunned when they heard that.
Saint, Saint, Saint, Saint… Saintess? They were the Saintess?!
The three little saintesses lowered their heads shyly and covered their faces shyly.
Qiu Bing covered his eyes and couldn’t bear to look at them. “The bloodline of the Saintess is passed down to women but not to men.”
The three little saintesses’ shy expressions froze. They took down their small hands, glanced at Grandma expressionlessly, and left with cold expressions!
“This woman came to the clan back then and found the late King. She asked him about the whereabouts of a woman. If I’m not wrong, the woman she’s looking for is Consort Yun’s mother.” Qiu Bing didn’t guess about Consort Yun at first. So many things had happened, so he connected all the clues and came up with this guess.
Yu Wan said thoughtfully, “She is…”
Qiu Bing said, “She said that the woman she’s looking for is her own mother. In that case, she should be Consort Yun’s half-sister.”
Yu Wan blinked. “Grandma means that my great-grandmother had a daughter before she married into the Shen family. She’s the woman in the portrait.”
Qiu Bing nodded slightly. “That should be the case. I think it’s precisely because of her arrival that the late King knew of the existence of the New Capital. She’s from the New Capital and is a descendant of the Lan family. The Lan family’s ancestors once had a Saintess. It’s very likely that she’s the descendant of the Saintess.”
“Very likely?” Yu Wan was puzzled.
Qiu Bing explained, “Not all descendants can inherit the bloodline of the Saintess, but every few generations, a descendant with the bloodline of the Saintess will appear. I think there’s another reason why she’s so anxious to find Consort Yun’s mother. It’s the bloodline of the Saintess in Consort Yun’s mother.”
Yu Wan nodded in enlightenment, indicating for Grandma to continue.
Qiu Bing said, “At that time, the Princess was already five years old. She looked a little similar to this woman. The late King asked about Consort Yun’s mother and realized that she was the lost daughter of the Lan family.
The Lan family had a status in the New Capital, so the late King had his own plans. He did not tell the truth to that woman, but brought the Princess into the palace and carefully nurtured her. He arranged a marriage for his son and the Princess so that he could use the Lan family’s power to return to the New Capital one day. Unfortunately, the Princess escaped the marriage, and the late King’s plan fell through.”
Upon hearing this, Yu Wan began to feel sorry for her mother again.
...
Being abandoned and used by the royal family of Nanzhao was already bad enough. She originally thought that the Ghost Clan was sincere, but it turned out that they were just using her as a stepping stone.
Yu Wan thought of something and said, “Grandma said that she came to the clan when my Mom was five years old. That should have been thirty years ago, but Manor Master Ji’s friend had seen a goddess at the bottom of the cliff more than ten years ago. If I’m not wrong, it’s her. Could it be that she’s been at the bottom of the cliff all these years and never left?”
Qiu Bing’s gaze landed on the portrait again. “I’ve also heard from my clansmen that there’s a divine doctor at the bottom of the cliff. I didn’t expect it to be her. In that case, she’s indeed stayed at the bottom of the cliff for many years. She should still be asking about Consort Yun’s mother’s whereabouts.”
Yu Wan looked at the token and portrait on the table. “We searched the things in the courtyard. She left in a hurry, but this token and portrait seemed to have been specially left behind by her.
“I guessed that she had something on and had no choice but to return to the New Capital, but she hoped that my great-grandmother would be able to find her courtyard one day and return to the Lan family with the portrait and token.
But… what could have made her leave in a hurry?”
Qiu Bing pondered for a moment. “The Lan family has a new Saintess.”
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