Chapter 600: Underwear

"The reason I want to ask you about the start and end time of Dongying's tribute to the Great Shu is to corroborate what that sword saint told me."

Lu Wushuang gestured with her left and right index fingers, representing the time of Dongying's tribute to the Great Shu.

"The tribute began in the third year of Jianwen."

"That is, not long after Master Monk gave the Jizhao cultivation method to the Jianwen Emperor, Dongying began to pay tribute to the Great Shu. This means that the Emperor at that time was still under the control of Shinto. The so-called tribute was actually the connection between two forces under Master Monk's control."

"But changes appeared in the middle."

"Master Monk suddenly no longer appeared in the world, and the Emperor, with the help of Master Zhang Sanfeng's means, began to try to break away from Shinto's control. In the Great Shu, the Jianwen Emperor was replaced by Chengzu. Although the successive emperors of the Great Shu were also suppressing Heaven-Men, they no longer practiced the Jizhao cultivation method of devouring Heaven-Men."

"The tribute during this period became a probe by the Emperor trying to use the Great Shu to overturn Shinto's rule."

"It's just—"

Lu Wushuang shook her right index finger, which represented the end of the tribute.

"The tribute ended suddenly, and it was from this time that the invasion of the Central Plains by Dongying pirates became increasingly frequent."

"This means—after Master Zhang Sanfeng traveled east, the efforts of several generations of Emperors failed. Shinto discovered their plans, cut off their attempt to unite with the Great Shu."

"And replaced the Emperor."

"The Emperor currently on the throne is Shinto's lackey, and it is he who interrupted the tribute to the Great Shu and began to promote the invasion of the Central Plains by pirates."

"This is the reason why pirates have become increasingly rampant in recent years."

Lu Wushuang put down her hand.

"When the sword saint said this, I roughly guessed his identity."

"He is a man of the previous Emperor."

"The reason he knows Taiji Quan is because of this."

"After the current Emperor ascended the throne, he hid in Shinto. On the surface, he was just a member of the Shinto priests, while in the dark, he was trying to set things right with other priests who were loyal to the previous Emperor."

Lu Wushuang sighed.

"And then, it was the matter of Nanako's family."

"About a dozen years ago, he was sent to Nanako's home and became a priest who monitored and controlled this family of Emperor's descendants. He naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity, so in the dark, he told Nanako's father everything."

"And on the day Nanako's father learned the truth, Nanako was born."

"That sword saint told me that when he first knew the truth, Nanako's father didn't want to resist Shinto. Before this, he was a mediocre middle-aged man who, except for some talent in doing business, had no other outstanding qualities."

"Before Nanako was born, he felt that even if he was controlled by Shinto, it wouldn't be bad... Anyway, as long as he didn't have a daughter, Shinto wouldn't interfere with his life, and would instead guarantee that his family wouldn't die suddenly because of certain things, which could even be called a gift in troubled times."

"But Nanako's birth changed this middle-aged man's thinking."

"He hesitated for a few days, and beside Nanako, who was sleeping in her swaddling clothes, he made a decision."

"He still didn't want to resist Shinto... But he wanted to use that sword saint to protect Nanako. He wanted to send Nanako out of Kyoto without her knowing this cruel truth."

Lu Wushuang sighed again.

"I didn't ask much about what happened in the middle because time was urgent, but judging from the result, he succeeded."

"With the help of that sword saint who was loyal to the previous Emperor, he successfully covered up Nanako's disappearance and sent Nanako, who didn't know anything, out of Kyoto."

"Shinto had originally prepared to receive Nanako and send her to the Ise Grand Shrine to become a shrine maiden. But she happened to die of illness at this time. Although they didn't find evidence for a while, Shinto still completely erased the traces of her existence and took away all of Nanako's family."

"And a few days later, the visit of the family that was married to Nanako's family as a cover exposed the truth to Shinto."

"So that family was silenced by Shinto, and Shinto also set up an ambush at Nanako's home, and finally waited for us." ===== CHAPTER 601 =====