Star Martial God Technique

“Elder Patriarch, don’t be too hard with yourself. The emperor wanted Zhou Huan so he sent a lot of experts after him. This would have happened regardless of our preparations. Right now, we need to search for Zhou Huan with as many men as we can spare.”

Ye XingHe said.

Ye Jun nodded.

“I sent a lot of informants everywhere hoping to pick up any crumbs of information regarding Zhou Huan. I have also discovered a particularly concerning matter, the people from the Northern Lord’s mansion and the Mayor’s mansion came to us and they have waited for about a day now. They said we should contact them as soon as Yu Ning returns.”

“People from the Northern Lord’s Mansion and the mayor’s mansion?”

Ye XingHe reckons that they are probably here for Xia Yu Ning. He could understand why the people from the mayor’s faction are here but he is perplexed as to why people from the Northern Lord’s mansion are here. Xia Lie and Xia Yu Ning’s relationship are still broken as far as he knew. He wondered why they are here.

“Yes, one of them is apparently a trusty general serving the Northern Lord.”

Ye Jun’s words stirred up a sense of ominous foreboding in Ye XingHe. Something must have happened.

“Let’s meet with them!”

Ye XingHe said.

Xia Yu Ning wondered why Ye XingHe agreed. She’s still angry with her father for disowning her. She’s still hurting from his harsh declarations.

Xia Yu Ning, for one, wouldn’t forgive her father so easily.

Princess Hong Ye patted Xia Yu Ning’s back without saying anything.

Fan Tian Gang presented himself before the Ye family.

“Milady!”

Fan Tian Gang kneeled in front of Xia Yu Ning with teary eyes.

“I am no Lady!”

Xia Yu Ning turned her face the other way.

“He disowned me so there’s that.”

Xia Yu Ning’s words caused Fan Tian Gang to tear up even more. He continued.

“Milady, you have misinterpreted my liege’s intention, search the earth and you will surely find no father who abhors his own daughter, his own flesh and blood.”

Xia Yu Ning’s expression twitch a little but she said nothing.

“This humble one is well aware of the suffering of milady since the disownment. However, the lord did it while tearing his own heart up. If I might be so impolite, let me explain from the beginning.”

Fan Tian Gang is still choking up.

“Milady, do you still remember how the Madam and our loyal brother Lin Kuan died?”

“Lin Kuan?”

Ye XingHe flinched. Isn’t that Lin Hong (Top bro)’s father? So there really was another story behind the official one.

Xia Yu Ning perked up her ears, she wanted Fan Tian Gang to go on.

“Through the deaths of many a loyal man, we returned in a triumphant state much to the envy of the emperor’s eunuchs. They made up tales of how my liege planned to revolt. In a blind fury, the emperor captured Lin Kuan and he executed him without waiting for my liege’s statement. Of course, my liege is infuriated. Lin Kuan is a very loyal and fierce warrior who bent over backward for the empire without so much as a complaint. He entered hell with my liege and my brothers. This is not the way, Lin Kuan should have died, a dog’s death caused by vipers of the court. My liege wouldn’t stand for it, he led an army to demand an explanation from the eunuchs. This was all a planned ruse, however, the divine emperor planned for this and he issued a house arrest warrant for the Northern Lord.”

Fan Tian Gang is incredibly angry just retelling this story.

“General Fan, what happened next?”

Princess Hong Ye urged him on, she heard about this but she’s not too clear on the details of this matter.

“That son of a bitch emperor knew better than to execute a subordinate who brought so much honor and glory to the empire. If he did kill him, it would have made other loyal servants question their own loyalty to his regime. He wanted to put him in house arrest first and then execute him after a few years. My liege was depressed and dejected for failing to get justice for his subordinate. The emperor didn’t know when to quit, he actually lusted after the madam’s looks and he ordered the madam to enter his harem. To prevent any danger from coming to my liege in incompliance, she entered the palace. She killed herself soon after because she couldn’t bear being humiliated like that.”

Fan Tian Gang started bawling.

This revelation hit Xia Yu Ning like bolts of lightning. Without a word, streams of tears flowed down her cheeks. It’s like someone slashed her heart to bits, this pain is unlike any other she has known. To think this was the reason why no one would ever tell her the truth no matter how hard she probed her father or his subordinates for the answer as to how her mother died.

Her mother died in such a humiliating death.

Xia Yu Ning felt rage and hatred, he loathed the person that tore her family apart like this.

“My liege was already on the verge of breaking from his feud with the emperor, he lost his heart to rebel. To add the madam’s death on top of that, he finally broke. Leading his men, he left the capital and he returned to the Northern Lord’s region. His army ready to rebel at any time, he knew he needed more time and men to completely dethrone the emperor. Hence, my liege gathered his strength in secret. The emperor feared that he might be pushing my liege into a corner, the emperor didn’t raise any issue against his desertion from the capital. The emperor stopped at sending spies disguised as the Imperial Army to oversee the National Border Guards.”

Fan Tian Gang continued.

“Alone and anguished, he never stopped loving milady in his heart, he never remarried because he didn’t want to fill the hole in his heart.”

Xia Yu Ning became utterly speechless with grief. Memories started floating into her mind.

When she was a kid and her mother is still alive, her father was a caring man who taught her how to ride horses and shoot arrows. He took the time to teach her how to write and recite poems. Back then, her father was a very warm and kind man.

After mother’s death, it’s like something changed in her father. He left Xia Yu Ning to tend to his other matters, she felt so lonely. Even on the rare occasions that she met her father, her father would be brooding over something and seldom took the time to talk to her.

It’s only now that Xia Yu Ning understood why her father acted like that.

“He’s worried about milady’s safety, if not he would have started this rebellion years earlier.”

Fan Tian Gang wiped away the tears on his face.

“My liege was busy preparing everything to revolt, he laid down the groundworks, I offered my help but each and every time he told me to stick to my job, protecting milady.”

“It just so happens that milady fell in love with Ye XingHe of the Azure Feather family. My liege told me in confidence that he wishes for milady to marry into a commoner’s house into obscurity. The disownment was a precautionary measure to ensure milady’s safety in case he fails in his revolt. He knew that by going down this path as a rebel, anyone he cared for would die a horrible death, the only person he couldn’t drag into this, was you, milady!”

“What a stupid man, did he really think I am going to stop just because he told me I am no longer his daughter? I don’t care, I am still his daughter!”

Xia Yu Ning cried. Her misunderstanding about her father cleared up. She wanted to see him and tell him how much she missed him.