abnabooks Chapter 2243 The Secrets of That Year
Chapter 2243 The Secrets of That Year
Chapter 2243 The Secrets of That Year
"Everyone says that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is recovering, which is of great benefit to the human world, but the places I've been to are even more chaotic than before! People of Shanjin should really go out and see the world when they have nothing to do, and they'll realize how fortunate they are to have such a peaceful life!"
"Believe me, the Goldborn know. They suffered a thousand years of turmoil in the past."
Sun Hongye sighed, "In such a chaotic world, I have actually survived and am still healthy. It is truly thanks to the protection of the Dragon God."
While he was speaking, He Lingchuan had already taken out a glass pot, poured in tea leaves and spring water, and also cut up the strawberries, dates, pineapples and peaches on the table, as well as some other things, and threw them into the pot to cook together.
Fruit tea has become very popular in Jucheng in the past two months.
The trends in Cangyan's capital city change at least every six months. For example, the plum blossom salty cheese, which was a hit in January and required long queues everywhere, was almost ignored by April. People's fickleness in choosing new things was comparable to that in Lingxu City.
As the tea was just beginning to boil, He Lingchuan poured him a cup: "Try it, this is made with immortal tea from Lingshan."
Sun Hongye quickly thanked her and raised her glass for a light sip.
This flavor is so unique!
It tastes exceptionally good.
“You deserve some credit for my ability to reclaim Blade's Edge Harbor.” He Lingchuan took out an old contract from his pocket and spread it out on the table. “Can you tell me where you got this?”
This was the agreement that Qing Kingdom forced Bai Lie to sign decades ago, leasing Blade's Edge Harbor for forty years at a price of three thousand taels of silver per year, and failing to return it until He Lingchuan took over as the head of the Bai Lie clan.
To be honest, He Lingchuan was able to easily reclaim Blade's Edge Harbor largely thanks to this old contract.
Once you have power, you can't argue with reason anymore.
"Reason" requires evidence.
This old contract was found by Sun Hongye. Before leaving the Kingdom of Yuan, he secretly asked He Yue to pass it on to He Lingchuan.
He also asked Zhu Xiuer to pass on the "Yaohua Collection of Annotations" as a codebook, which allowed He Lingchuan to decipher the burial place of his biological mother.
He Lingchuan was very curious about two things: first, where Sun Hongye got this old contract; and second, since he knew that this old contract was useful to He Lingchuan, it meant that he had also figured out He Lingchuan's true background.
How did he do it?
Sun Hongye stroked the old contract:
"Years ago, you fell into the Handan River and disappeared. After receiving the bad news, I had no choice but to serve under your father."
He Lingchuan nodded.
Back then, he was swept away by the Handan River, fulfilling the prophecy of "fleeing upon encountering water." As his strategist, Sun Hongye naturally had to find another way to make a living after her master's death, and it was only natural for her to turn to He Chunhua.
"To be honest, Lord He has been good to me, and he has gradually given me a lot of tasks to do."
He Lingchuan took a sip of fruit tea: "He Chunhua is never shy about accepting talented people."
He addressed He Chunhua by his given name, which Sun Hongye noticed.
He Chunhua is now the Prince of Shen, whose territory is much larger than that of the former Yuan Kingdom. His territory is thriving and prosperous, and he can be described as diligent and capable.
However, He Lingchuan's attitude towards him was very indifferent, which led Sun Hongye to infer that there was some discord between the two emperors.
It is rare in the world for both father and son to become kings and emperors by conquering their own empires.
"Soon after, Lord He transferred his loyal servant Uncle Hao to do other things, and some of the tasks that Uncle Hao had were handed over to me. Then I was sent back to Blackwater City to continue to handle the property and other matters left there by the He family."
When He Chunhua was promoted and transferred, his whole family hurriedly moved to the mainland. The business he had built up in Blackwater City over the past ten years could not be dealt with all at once, and he could not easily give it up, so he asked Uncle Hao to handle it slowly.
Putting aside other things, as a gateway to the border city, Blackwater City receives a lot of special products from both inside and outside the pass. The He family has been doing this business for many years and is very familiar with it, so it is very profitable, and someone has to manage it continuously.
After Uncle Hao, Sun Hongye took over.
“Everything else is fine, but there’s one strange task Uncle Hao gave me: to go to the White Pagoda Temple and pay an old man for the tomb-guarding fee, which will be extended for another fifteen years. If the old man passes away during these fifteen years, his son will have to take over and continue to look after the tomb,” Sun Hongye said. “When I went to the White Pagoda Temple to pay the fee, the old man had just gone to visit relatives in the countryside, so only his son was guarding the tomb. The tomb was kept very clean, with vegetarian offerings, weeds removed, and repairs made on time, but the name on the tombstone was unfamiliar.”
Lu Xiaoyun.
"Why did Lord He keep offering sacrifices to that tomb for decades? I became curious and spent some money, and the son of the tomb keeper told me everything. He also told me that some people in the area had been gossiping about the relationship between the deceased and Lord He, because they were both young twenty years ago, and some people had seen Lu Xiaoyun with a big belly. But as time went by, no one mentioned it anymore."
“I know I shouldn’t get involved in this, but when I was dealing with the He family’s business in the city, I also took over a shop on Youhua Old Street, which happened to be the grain shop that Lu Xiaoyun and her uncle used to run! This time I just couldn’t stand it.”
This damn curiosity.
He Lingchuan laughed and said, "Heh, the whole street of Youhua Old Street has been around for ages, yet the grain shops haven't collapsed yet?"
"They said it had been renovated several times, so there shouldn't be much left. I didn't have high hopes when I went in; I was just looking around. Sure enough, I didn't see anything useful after wandering around for a while. Just as I was about to leave, I suddenly noticed dense writing on the window paper in the lower left corner of the attic!" Sun Hongye paused. "Although it was yellowed, this piece of paper was tough; it wouldn't tear or break when wet, which was obviously better than the others. I looked closely at the contents, and lo and behold, it was a land deed for Blade's Edge Harbor!"
Many shops on Youhua Old Street have goods stored downstairs, with a semi-loft built upstairs to place a bed so that people can live and keep watch at night.
In most attics, the bed is covered with a cloth curtain, while those who are more particular use a thin wooden door covered with paper.
“Lu Xiaoyun must have hidden the land deed back then. I guess it was discovered by one of the landlords when they renovated, and they didn’t take it seriously, just using it to cover the windows.” Sun Hongye pursed her lips. “The contents of the land deed can also prove that Lu Xiaoyun is indeed from Bailie in the East, so I pried it off.”
"When I returned to Dunyu, Lord He looked at me with a strange gaze. It was probably because someone had reported my whereabouts in Blackwater City, arousing his suspicion. However, the more suspicious he became, the more I felt that Lu Xiaoyun was your birth mother."
At that time, Sun Hongye thought that He Chunhua had something to hide.
“I always felt that you were still alive, so I left a land deed for Young Master He and a copy of the ‘Collection of Yaohua’ for Madam Zhu Xiuer, thinking that they would come in handy if you ever reappeared. Then, then I quickly took my leave. Lord He didn’t make things difficult for me.”
(End of this chapter)