Chapter 342: The Retired Emperor and Great Grandfather
“No, we haven’t.” Qiao Xiaomai spoke, shaking his head together with Qiao Changshun and Qiao Dami.
News was not easily accessible here, and at the time, the war had caused great upheaval. People lost their homes and lived in constant fear for their lives. They hardly had the leisure to pay attention to such incidents.
Seeing this, Ma Dongshu continued, “That powerful figure who stormed into the imperial palace and looted the national treasury was none other than Prince Pingnan, Gu Yu.”
“Gu Yu was already married with children, but upon meeting this woman, he abandoned his wife and married her. Later, he sparked a revolt and started fighting his way from his hometown to the capital city.”
“During all this, this woman contributed greatly. Legend has it that she invented a divine weapon that could blast people into pieces. With this weapon, Prince Pingnan was invincible and managed to fight his way from his hometown all the way to the capital city.”
“And then?” Qiao Xiaomai calmly asked.
As for the specifics of this part of the story, Tong Sanlang was not privy to them.
By the time Tong Tiehu and Tong Liu were sent away and reached Anping Village under the care of the mistress’s great-grandmother, everything had ended.
They were unclear on how their great-grandfather and the mistress’s great-grandmother fought on the battlefield.
Ma Dongshu paused, took a drink, and picked up a piece of cold pork ears with his chopsticks. He continued after swallowing, “In the midst of this, Prince Pingnan and the present retired emperor struck up an immediate rapport and became best friends.”
QiaoXiaomai: “…”
Oh my God!
There’s this part of the story too?!
She struggled to maintain a composed expression, not blinking or twitching an eyelash, only displaying moderate surprise while her clear peony-eyes looked at Ma Dongshu.
Ma Dongshu, with his eyebrows furrowed, stroked his beard, “But for some reason, later on, these two…fell out.”
“However, the one who drove Prince Pingnan out of the capital city was not the retired Emperor, but another powerful person.”
Qiao Xiaomai remained silent.
She knew about this.
The person who drove the Tong family’s great-grandfather out of the capital city wasn’t the Yang family.
However, the person the Tong family’s great-grandfather held a grudge against was indeed the Yang family. He not only held a grudge, he even incited Tong Tiehu and Tong Liu to rebel.
“The one who drove Prince Pingnan, Gu Yu, out of the capital city was the Eastern Lord, Fu Xuan. Not only did Fu Xuan force Gu Yu out of the capital city, but he also trapped Gu Yu’s thirty thousand troops with his one hundred thousand soldiers near Qingyi Manor, not far from the capital city.”
“Qingyi Manor, a good name. ‘Qing’ symbolizes emotions, which Gu Yu held in high regard. He gathered the elite from his thirty thousand soldiers to form a small assault team. With this team, he broke through Fu Xuan’s encirclement and safely evacuated the woman.”
“Prince Pingnan, Gu Yu, died in battle at Qingyi Manor after sending his beloved woman out of the encirclement.”
“With his death, the national treasury treasures he had stolen disappeared without a trace.”
“Fu Xuan turned over every inch of the ground in Qingyi Manor, even digging three feet into the ground, but still didn’t find a single treasure.”
“Thus, there were rumors in the jianghu that the woman took the treasure away.”
Ma Dongshu paused here and drained the wine in his bowl.
He wiped his mouth and poured himself another bowl.
“Brother Ma, that’s impossible, isn’t it? The national treasury… So many treasures… How could a woman carry them all out of an encirclement of a hundred thousand men?” Qiao Changshun spoke again.
This story was undoubtedly a fairy tale to him.
However, he listened very attentively, fully engrossed.
“That remains a mystery.” Ma Dongshu muttered, taking up his bowl with one hand and chopsticks in the other. He started munching heartily, eating and drinking in turn, his demeanor quite flamboyant. “During the years of war, there should have been many stories and legends.”
“But the retired Emperor didn’t allow it, so many things were unknown to the common people.”