Tu Yuqing nodded, sighing, "You guessed right!"
Tu Yuya said, "After Third Ancestor Grandma's death, the Old Lady was enraged and raised an army, leading the warriors of the Snow Forest Division to battle with the Central Plains, adding to the demise of that dynasty."
Lu Zheng said in shock, "The Great Yong Dynasty?"
Tu Yuqing nodded, "Precisely."
Wow, Lu Zheng couldn't help but click his tongue. The downfall of the Great Yong Dynasty was six or seven hundred years ago, it seed that the Old Lady of the Tushan Fox Race was quite a formidable figure as well.
...
At this mont, Elder Liu, who had no more patients, and Du Yueyao, whose fiery curiosity was burning bright, also ca to the back hall. As everyone realized their identities, Tu Yuya and Tu Yuqing shared the cause and effect of the matter in shock.
Over eight hundred years ago, the Old Lady was already the wife of the Tushan Clan Leader, whose cultivation surpassed even that of the Clan Leader, rivaling several of the Fox Race Ancestors. Her most beloved was her third daughter, who was not yet twenty years old.
And this Third Miss, by coincidence, t and fell in love at first sight with the Crown Prince of the Great Yong Dynasty, who had co to the borderlands for hunting.
The Northern Domain and the Central Plains had been adversaries for thousands of years. In a world with Immortals, there was no practice of royal marriage alliances; hence the Old Lady naturally opposed her daughter marrying into the Central Plains. However, unable to withstand her daughter's tears, she declared that if the Crown Prince of the Great Yong Dynasty wished to marry her daughter, he must enter the Tushan family.
How could the Great Yong Dynasty agree to such a condition? Moreover, the people of the Great Yong Dynasty did not want the Crown Prince's legitimate wife to be a Fox Girl from the Northern Domain. At most, they were willing to offer her the position of a Princess Consort Ping, without inheritance rights, not even making it onto the family registry.
The conditions from both sides were irreconcilable, leaving the matter at an impasse.
In the end, driven by love, the Third Miss sacrificed herself for the Crown Prince's grand plan to ease relations between the Central Plains and the Northern Domain upon his succession. She ran away from ho and eloped with him back to the Central Plains, becoming the Princess Consort Ping to the Crown Prince of the Great Yong Dynasty.
This provoked imnse anger in the Old Lady, who, under the pressure of the Northern Domain's various powers, was forced to publicly expel her from the Tushan Fox Race.
...
"And then? And then?" Du Yueyao couldn't help but urge them to continue.
"And then..."
Tu Yuya's face turned grim, "Not long after, the Crown Prince was embroiled in a power struggle with the Second Prince and the Fifth Prince, and due to marrying Third Ancestor Grandma, he fell behind in terms of public opinion."
Tu Yuqing pursed her lips, "What was once thought to be a strength due to marrying Third Ancestor Grandma ended up being a burden for the Crown Prince, who ultimately issued a letter of divorce, expelling Third Ancestor Grandma from the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace."
"What!?"
Not only Du Yueyao, but even Liu Qingyan couldn't bear to listen, "Didn't he realize that this would make the throne even more unattainable?"
"At that point, he had no way out, perhaps choosing the lesser of two evils," Tu Yuqing stated harshly.
"Didn't Third Ancestor Grandma return to Tushan?" Du Yueyao asked.
Tu Yuya shook her head, "Third Ancestor Grandma couldn't face returning to Tushan. It's said that she was pregnant at the ti, left Zhongjing alone, and then disappeared without a trace."
"However..." Tu Yuqing added, "Not long after leaving Zhongjing, Third Ancestor Grandma was gravely injured, and the Fox-Tail Fragrance Pouch linked to her life at Tushan dimd. The Old Lady sent people to the Central Plains to search several tis but never found her, until ten years later when the sachet broke, signaling Third Ancestor Grandma's death."
Liu Qingyan asked, "Why was she so severely injured?"
Tu Yuya sneered, "It was either the Second Prince's doing, the Fifth Prince's doing, or both of them together."
Lu Zheng nodded, "If the Old Lady was enraged, the Crown Prince probably wouldn't even be able to keep his life."
Du Yueyao couldn't help but ask, "Weren't those two afraid of sparking a war between the Central Plains and the Northern Domain?"
Tu Yuya said calmly, "They were too overconfident..."
Tu Yuqing continued, "Upon learning of Third Ancestor Grandma's death, the Old Lady rallied the Nine-tailed Division of the Snow Forest for a long strike, destroying ten cities in the Central Plains, executing a thousand civil and military officials, killing a hundred thousand soldiers, and creating countless refugees."
Liu Qingyan, "..."
Du Yueyao, "..."
Of the Three Northern Countries, Snow Forest was one, and the Nine-tailed Division belonged to Tushan, serving the Tushan Fox Race and under the protection of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox.
Tu Yuqing explained, "At that ti, the Great Yong had been established for several centuries. The founding civil and military talents had long been forgotten. It had passed its peak, in decline, and hollow and weak within. The Nine-tailed Division exposed its façade. The Northern Domain's various divisions imdiately followed, waging war on the Central Plains. Although eventually repelled, they appeared defeated but were actually victorious, severely weakening the Central Plains' vitality. It only managed to hold for over a hundred years before chaos broke out, leading to its downfall."
Du Yueyao asked, "What happened to the Crown Prince and the other two princes?"
Tu Yuqing replied, "The Crown Prince was deposed, died in depression without the Imperial Family's incense offerings, the Fifth Prince died in the struggle for the throne, and the Second Prince finally ascended."
"And they let him beco Emperor?" Liu Qingyan felt empathetic and sowhat angry.
"There aren't that many things that go as you wish in this world," Tu Yuqing sighed, "After all, he was a Prince of the Central Plains Dynasty. Even the Old Lady couldn't storm into Zhongjing!"
"That was too lenient on him!" Du Yueyao said hatefully.
Tu Yuqing nodded to Du Yueyao, "But this ant that Third Ancestor Grandma's bloodline had scattered into the Central Plains, whereabouts unknown."
"I had so acquaintance with Xue Li, when the Old Lady celebrated her longevity, he once worshiped at her mountain as a junior of the Profound Ink Mo Jiao, eting her once. After returning for the New Year, he told about this," Tu Yuya said.
"The events of that year were no secret, and he guessed that Miss Liu was indeed a descendant of Third Ancestor Grandma," Tu Yuqing explained, "But he was discovered by Young Master Lu, so he dared not continue, hence it was inconvenient to report directly to the Old Lady, so he inford us sisters."
Tu Yuya continued, "So after discussing the matter, we sisters ca to the Central Plains together to find you."
"You found us quite quickly!" Lu Zheng said.
Tu Yuya raised an eyebrow with a smile, "We were lucky. Following the coastal rivers, we accidentally saw a painter migrating from Lingbei Dao to Sanjiang Dao, who had created a painting called 'Lady Qingyi's Life-saving Painting'."
"The painter had good skills, so we headed straight to Lingbei Dao, searched three provinces and fourteen counties, and finally found Miss Liu," Tu Yuqing looked at Liu Qingyan, smiling softly, "It's surprising how much Miss Liu resembles the Old Lady."
"I see," Liu Qingyan blushed and smiled, "I didn't expect anyone would rember ."
Du Yueyao felt proud, "Of course they'd rember. When I returned to Yizhou, I heard from my father that many people in Yu State and Yanzhou had set up long-life morial tablets for you. If you didn't cultivate the Incense and Candle Divine Dao, otherwise, you might not be below Sister Shen."
...
After the narration, the story was finally clear.
"Now that you've found , what then?" Liu Qingyan asked in the end, with a wary look, "Do you want us to go back to the Northern Domain with you?"
Tu Yuya and Tu Yuqing exchanged a smile, shook their heads, and said, "We hadn't thought of that, but next year's New Year, we would like to invite Miss Liu to visit Tushan, to bring so joy to the Old Lady, as the events of those years have always been a regret to her."
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