"Ah? What did you say?" Zi Guochang's pupils constricted, and he asked in shock, "What exactly happened?"
Zi Lingling said somewhat embarrassed, "Well, that's a long story. To save time, let's talk as we walk!"
Ye Lingyuan, at the opportune moment, released eight Golden Mane Horses and a carriage.
As the three of them got into the carriage and settled down, the eight Golden Mane Horses immediately galloped forward.
Taking this opportunity, Zi Lingling recounted everything that had happened after Ye Lingyuan's departure, in meticulous detail.
Upon hearing it, the chill emanating from Ye Lingyuan almost condensed into frost. He said coldly, "The four great families were all involved?"
Zi Lingling nodded. She knew Ye Lingyuan was referring to the events that transpired during her tribulation.
A murderous glint appeared in Ye Lingyuan's eyes. "In that case, they have no reason to exist!"
Zi Guochang also said angrily, "Dongfang City is indeed a cesspool of corruption. Not a single one of the four great families is decent."
He used "indeed" twice, indicating the extent of his fury.
"Indeed? Father means..." a cold glint flashed in Zi Lingling's eyes.
Zi Guochang, still seething with anger, said, "Hmph! Although the other three families didn't openly attack me back then, they secretly condoned and supported the Imperial Zi Family. If I'm not mistaken, it must have been the Imperial Zi Family who promised them that they would jointly explore the mystery of the Tianqi Zi Family's Sumeru Space!"
"Father means, all four great families are coveting our Tianqi Zi Family's Patriarch Token?"
The coldness in Zi Lingling's eyes gradually turned into killing intent.
She had asked Shen Wenqing about the events of twelve years ago, but Shen Wenqing claimed to know nothing, even swearing loyalty.
Although she had suspected him then, she couldn't find any trace of Shen Wenqing's deception.
Therefore, until she faced the siege by the Shen family during her tribulation in the desert, she had always believed that Shen Wenqing was merely momentarily misguided. Su Dan Novel Network
But she never imagined that this scheme had been laid out more than ten years ago!
If not for her lightning tribulation suddenly appearing and disrupting the plans of the four great families, she would probably have been under their manipulation all along.
Terrifying! How terrifying!
Zi Lingling had always believed that no scheme or trick could escape her notice. Now, it seemed she had been overconfident.
Recalling it now, she felt a chill of fear and broke out in a cold sweat.
Zi Guochang sighed and said, "Yes! The Tianqi Zi Family's Sumeru Space holds the inheritance of the Ancestral God. Who wouldn't be tempted?"
Zi Lingling glanced at Ye Lingyuan, and said in shock, "This is actually true?"
Zi Guochang nodded. "This has been our family's secret for generations. Other than the patriarch recognized by the Patriarch Token, no one else could possibly know.
Therefore, I still can't understand how the matter of the Tianqi Zi Family's Sumeru Space was leaked!"
As he said this, Zi Guochang was filled with remorse.
"Could it be that we have a traitor in the Tianqi Zi Family? But if what Father says is true, then apart from the patriarch recognized by the Patriarch Token, no one else could possibly know. How would a traitor know? Could it be that the traitor is a former patriarch?"
Zi Guochang shook his head, astonished, "How is that possible?"
Zi Lingling, remembering how Shen Wenqing had deceived her, frowned, "Nothing is impossible!"
"It truly is impossible! Because..."
Ye Lingyuan raised an eyebrow, his words left unspoken.
Zi Lingling looked at his expression and had a sudden realization. She asked, "Ye Lingyuan, what exactly do you know?"
Zi Guochang also looked at Ye Lingyuan expectantly, a trace of anxiety in his eyes.
After all, this question had plagued him for twelve years, even making him doubt Yue Wu Mei at one point.
Ye Lingyuan nodded and said, "Do you know where the Imperial Zi Family came from?"
Zi Lingling and Zi Guochang shook their heads simultaneously.
Ye Lingyuan frowned and dropped a bombshell, "If we trace it back, the Imperial Zi Family and the Tianqi Zi Family should be of the same origin!"
"Impossible!"
Zi Guochang was the first to deny it. "If that were true, how could there be no record of it in our family history?"
But Zi Lingling fell into deep thought.
In her previous life, in that world, there were two sayings: "You can't write 'king' with two strokes" and "We were one family five hundred years ago!"
Either saying seemed to fit perfectly when applied to the Tianqi Zi Family and the Imperial Zi Family.
Ye Lingyuan chuckled, "No matter the time, history is written by the victors. Your Zi Family's history is no exception."
Zi Guochang's body trembled, and he became dejected. However, he still stubbornly asked, "What evidence do you have?"
Ye Lingyuan smiled and said, "This King has no evidence, only a rumor buried for countless years. Do you want to hear it?"
Zi Guochang was silent for a moment, then finally nodded weakly.
Zi Lingling would naturally not refuse an opportunity to understand the truth, so she had already adopted an attitude of keen attention.
Ye Lingyuan did not rush to speak. Instead, he leisurely took out some tea leaves and placed them in a teapot.
Then, he commanded the eight Golden Mane Horses to slow down, and while brewing tea, he slowly began to narrate a story.
Legend has it that after the world-ending war ten thousand years ago, the Tianyuan Continent was ravaged and scarred.
And the nine subordinate families who guarded the Feng Family, after Feng Liqi's fall, all became ruins.
Some said that the nine subordinate families fought alongside their lord to the last soldier, and not a single one survived.
Others said that Feng Liqi fell because there was a traitor among the nine subordinate families.
Still others said that Feng Liqi did not die, but was reincarnated.
But regardless, the Feng Family, which had guarded the Tianyuan Continent for countless years, was completely annihilated in the river of history.
From then on, the Tianyuan Continent entered its most decadent era, becoming the world of ordinary people.
For ten thousand years upon ten thousand years, no cultivator appeared on the Tianyuan Continent, let alone any notable geniuses.
Even so, human nature's flaws led them to kill each other.
Thus, one after another, kingdoms founded by ordinary people rose and fell in the annals of history. Over time, people even forgot what cultivation was.
And so, ninety thousand years passed, and a kingdom called Zixu Kingdom emerged.
In a large mountain within Zixu Kingdom, lived a family.
This family's surname was Zi. Apart from the husband and wife, they had a pair of twin brothers.
These twin brothers were named Zi Yishan and Zi Tianhai.
When Zi Yishan and Zi Tianhai reached the age of twelve, they began to help their parents with chores and followed their father into the mountains to gather herbs.
On this day, Zi Yishan and Zi Tianhai, as usual, trotted up the mountain behind their father.