Chapter 594

"The reason I asked my Lord about the start and end time of the East Island's tribute to the Great Ming was to corroborate what that Sword Saint told me."

Lu Lu Wushuang stretched out her left and right index fingers, gesturing a distance representing the time of the East Island's tribute to the Great Ming.

"The beginning of the tribute was in the third year of Emperor Jianwen."

"That is, not long after the Old Man of the River gave the Emperor Jianwen Emperor the Jizhao cultivation method, the East Island began to pay tribute to the Great Ming. This means that the Emperor at that time was still under the control of Shinto. The so-called tribute was actually the connection between the two forces under the control of the Old Man of the River."

"But changes occurred in the middle."

"The Old Man of the River suddenly no longer appeared in the world, and the Emperor, with the help of True Man Zhang Sanfeng's means, began to try to break free from Shinto's control. And in the Great Ming, the Emperor Jianwen Emperor was replaced by Chengzu. Although the successive emperors of the Great Ming also suppressed Heavenly Humans, they no longer practiced the Jizhao cultivation method of devouring Heavenly Humans."

"The tribute during this period became an attempt by the Emperor to use the Great Ming to overturn Shinto's rule."

"However—"

Lu Lu Wushuang shook her right index finger representing the end of the tribute.

"The tribute suddenly ended, and it was precisely from this time that the East Island pirates' aggression against the Central Plains became increasingly frequent."

"This means—after True Man Zhang Sanfeng crossed the sea to the east, the efforts of several generations of Emperors failed. Shinto discovered their calculations and cut off their attempts to unite with the Great Ming."

"And replaced the Emperor."

"The Emperor currently on the throne is a running dog of Shinto, and it was he who interrupted the tribute to the Great Ming and set about promoting the pirates' aggression against the Central Plains."

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

Lu Lu Wushuang put down her hand.

"When that Sword Saint said this, I roughly guessed his identity."

"He is a person of the previous Emperor."

"The reason he knows Taiji Fist stems from 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 secret, he was trying to set things right with other priests loyal to the previous Emperor."

Lu Lu Wushuang sighed.

"Then, it was the matter of Nanao's family."

"About a dozen years ago, he was sent to Nanao's family, becoming the priest who monitored and controlled this descendant of the Emperor. He naturally would not let go of this opportunity, so in secret, he told Nanao's father everything."

"And the day Nanao's father learned everything, Nanao was born."

"That Sword Saint told me that when he first knew the truth, Nanao's father did not want to resist Shinto. Before this, he was a mediocre middle-aged man, and apart from some talent in business, he had no other outstanding qualities."

"Before Nanao was born, he felt that it was not bad to be controlled by Shinto... anyway, as long as no daughter was born, Shinto would not interfere with his life, and instead would ensure that their family would not die suddenly due to some things, which could even be called a blessing in troubled times."

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

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

"He still did not want to resist Shinto... but he wanted to use that Sword Saint to protect Nanao. He wanted to send Nanao out of Kyoto without her having to know this cruel truth."

Lu Lu Wushuang sighed again.

"What happened in the middle, time was urgent, and I didn't ask much, but judging from the results, he succeeded."

"With the help of that Sword Saint loyal to the previous Emperor, he successfully covered up Nanao's disappearance and sent Nanao, who was unaware, out of Kyoto."

"Shinto had already prepared to receive Nanao and send her to the Ise Grand Shrine to become a shrine maiden. But she happened to die of illness at this time. Although no evidence was found for the time being, Shinto still completely erased the traces of her existence and took away all of Nanao's family."

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

"Thus that family was silenced by Shinto, and Shinto also set an ambush at Nanao's home, and finally waited for us."