The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

Ruan Yuhu gave the medicine to Ju Ruo and asked her to take it back to Shen Tianjiao, while he stayed to chat with Duan Qingning.

She did not forget the important matter of finding out the origin of the dangerous person, Lady Yu.

"Today I suddenly thought of someone. This person is Chao Yun's master, named Yu Niangzi."

"She is also from Nanchu, but I don't know if you have heard of her origins."

"Madam Yu?" Duan Qingning frowned when he heard this name that didn't sound like a human name.

Since she is Chao Yun's master, it must be this Lady Yu who turned Chao Yun into what he is today, neither human nor ghost.

Although it was very likely that it was this Lady Yu who saved Chao Yun and allowed her to survive, it was also she who destroyed the child with her own hands.

Therefore, Duan Qingning did not feel the slightest gratitude towards this Lady Yu, but instead felt resentment towards her like an enemy.

"When I was in Nanchu, I had never heard of Lady Yu. She is from Nanchu, so is there any other information about her?"

At this moment, Duan Qingning was thinking about how to find this Jade Lady. He wanted to know what happened back then. He also wanted to ask her how she could have the heart to turn the child she raised into a puppet that could be controlled by others?

Ruan Yuhu shook his head and said, "That's all I know. It was Chaoyun who told the Queen."

"Chao Yun said that her master was very mysterious. Apart from teaching them how to raise Gu, make poison, and other things, she didn't get close to them."

"So apart from knowing that she is from Southern Chu and her name is Lady Jade, I don't know anything else."

"But she does have a lover in Yunli. She comes to Yunli to see her lover once a year."

"Speaking of which, her lover has some connection with the Queen. He's a distant relative of the Marquis of Zhenbei, named Shen Pingzhi."

This is all Ruan Yuhu knows about Lady Yu so far.

In order to find out the news about Lady Yu from Duan Qingning, she even told Shen Pingzhi.

"Shen Pingzhi?" This name made Duan Qingning feel very familiar, but he couldn't remember who this person was for a moment.

"How do you know this person?" Ruan Yuhu suddenly became excited. It was very likely that Madam Yu's identity would be revealed.

"Hmm, the name sounds familiar, but I can't remember where I've heard it before."

Duan Qingning shook her head. She was old now and didn't remember much.

"That's okay. Just think about it slowly and you'll remember it eventually." Although Ruan Yuhu was a little disappointed, there was nothing he could do.

But it’s better to have an impression than not know this person at all. If you think about it slowly, you may remember him someday.

Since she couldn't come to a conclusion after discussing it with Duan Qingning, Ruan Yuhu suggested going to see Chaoyun. After seeing Chaoyun, she planned to go back.

What Ruan Yuhu didn't expect was that just as she stood up, Duan Qingning, who was sitting there, suddenly stood up and shouted, "I remember now. If I'm not mistaken, that Jade Lady should be Princess Aya of Nanchu, Duan Yunna."

Ruan Yuhu, who had eaten a big melon, stopped and her heart was beating fast.

Ruan Yuhu retracted his raised foot and sat back in the chair.

"This Jade Lady is actually a princess? How could she have fallen to such a state?"

Duan Qingning sighed and said that this matter was also a secret of Nanchu.

"This Duan Yunna is the daughter of the late emperor of Nanchu and a commoner woman."

"When she returned to the Nanchu Palace, she was already in her teens, so her position in the Nanchu Palace was very awkward."

"Not only did she have to look at other people's faces and get bullied, but even the palace maids dared to mock her in front of her without restraint."

"After she reached the age of marriage, the late emperor arranged a marriage for her, marrying her to the chief of a tribe."

"But she didn't want to, so she fled the palace alone. Of course, she was eventually caught and brought back."

"In order to prevent her from escaping again, many people were sent to guard her, depriving her of the right to move freely."

"But in the end, she still escaped. The price she paid was that everyone in her palace, as well as those who guarded her, all died from a strange poison that no one could cure."

Duan Qingning actually didn't know much about Duan Yunna's past. At that time, she was at home learning from her elders how to raise Gu.

She did not witness the incident herself, and she heard about it from others later.

Moreover, Duan Qingning had only met Duan Yunna once when she had just returned to the Nanchu Palace, and the two had no further contact after that.

"When she first returned to the Nanchu Imperial Palace, there were rumors outside that her mother was a witch from a remote tribe."

"Not only is he good at raising Gu and making poisons, he also knows how to cast illusions. Back then, he used illusions to bewitch the late emperor and made him unable to extricate himself."

"She poisoned those people and her escape again indirectly confirmed the rumors."

"Later, because of these rumors, the matter became more and more serious. Some court officials began to demand that her princess title be revoked and that she be captured and sent to the priest temple in the White Jade Pagoda to be burned at the stake."

"Because she is the descendant of a witch, she must be sacrificed to the patron goddess of Nanchu to appease the gods' punishment."

"But what's strange is that she seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. There's no trace of her anywhere in the entire Nanchu."

"Later, someone said they saw her at the border of Yunli. She was with a man wearing white clothes and a silver-white wolf mask."

At this moment, Ruan Yuhu was completely certain that the Jade Lady was the Duan Yunna that Duan Qingning was talking about.

Because Shen Pingzhi always wore a silver wolf mask whenever he went out, and it was because of this feature that Han Ming recognized him.

But how these two people got involved is unknown.

Now both parties are dead, and this past event has disappeared into the long river of history along with their deaths.

But those are not important anymore. The most important thing now is to know what conspiracy Duan Yunna and Shen Pingzhi have in Miaojiang.

"Does the tribe where Duan Yunna's mother lived still exist?"

Ruan Yuhu is not from Miaojiang, but because of the war that year, she has some knowledge of both Nanchu and Miaojiang.

If Duan Yunna's mother is really a witch, then her status in the tribe should be the highest and unmatched.

Everyone in the tribe must obey her orders.

In this way, there will be no problem for Duan Yunna and Shen Pingzhi to use Miaojiang to confront and destroy Yun Li.

As the daughter of a witch, Duan Yunna inherited her mother's mantle from birth and became the next witch.

After her mother died, she was designated as the next miko.

With such an identity, no matter what she wants to do, the people in her tribe will definitely help her.

"Her mother's tribe is a very remote tribe in Miaojiang. The witchcraft practiced there is different from that in other places. I don't know the specifics of it."

"However, whether those illusions that people talk about that can deceive people are true or not remains to be verified."

Duan Qingning is only curious about one thing now, that is, how did her daughter Chaoyun end up in Duan Yunna's hands?

Back then, she entrusted her daughter to her most trusted maid, asking her to take the child and find a place to hide first, and then go find them after she got away.

What Duan Qingning could be sure of was that her maid would never betray her. Not only did she have a favor for her family, but she was also a daughter of the family.

Back then, all the servants in Prince Lin’s mansion had to take a certain medicine when they were selected to be personal servants of their respective masters.

This is to prevent them from betraying their masters and colluding with outsiders to do something wrong.

Once you take that kind of medicine, you have to take the antidote once every year, otherwise you will die suddenly.

The antidote can save their lives, but it is also a new poison. Moreover, this kind of medicine is only available in Prince Lin's Mansion, and only their descendants can make it.

So unless something unexpected happened and her maid died, she would definitely be loyal to her duty and protect her young master.

What Ruan Yuhu was worried about at this moment had nothing to do with Duan Qingning. What she was afraid of now was that Duan Yunna would take the people from her tribe to Nanchu.

Let them infiltrate the court of Nanchu and use them for her own purposes. Even if Duan Yunna didn't have this idea, Shen Pingzhi did.

If that is the case, Yun Li is in danger this time.

Shen Pingzhi had a change of heart before his death, and the words he shouted at Shen Tingzhi should now be confirmed to be true.

"Then do you know if Duan Yunna has any power in Nanchu that she can use?"

Ruan Yuhu also knew that his question was a bit abrupt.

Duan Qingning and Duan Yunna are not familiar with each other. Duan Qingning has been in Yunli for more than ten years. She doesn't even know the current situation of Nanchu. How could she know what Duan Yunna is doing in Nanchu?

"I don't know about that." Duan Qingning shook his head as expected. "But the priest who found her from the folk should be related to her."

"Although that priest is from Southern Chu, his ancestors also came from an unknown tribe."

"I heard that many years ago, a great plague broke out in Nanchu. The king sought help from the most famous witch doctors, but they were unable to control it."

"Just when Nanchu was about to be destroyed by the plague, the ancestor of this priest suddenly arrived, saying that he had come to save Nanchu on the will of the gods."

"I don't know what method he used, but the plague was finally stopped."

"The king at that time was grateful for his righteousness, so he kept him and made him a priest in the temple."

"And it's been passed down from generation to generation. The priests of the temple can only come from his family."

"It was the man who was the priest at the time who brought Duan Yunna back to the palace from the common people."

"So if there is no relationship between them, it is definitely impossible."

A priest of a temple is of noble status, but he is willing to lower himself and personally find a princess who was left among the people.

This matter itself is not normal. If there was no connection between them, how could the priest be so enthusiastic and spare no effort to find Duan Yunna?

Anyone who can be a priest in a temple must be a smart person. If it is not beneficial to him, why would he do such a difficult and thankless job?

What Duan Qingning said is very important. We must immediately send someone to Nanchu to investigate the situation of the priest.

As soon as Yunli’s civil unrest was quelled, Shen Tianjiao would immediately begin preparing for a multinational war.

If Nan Chu does something weird at this time, it would be really bad.

Ruan Yuhu had no intention of sitting down any longer at this time, and she was ready to get up and say goodbye immediately.

"Although I don't know what you want to know, there may be someone who can help you."

Duan Qingning's words made Ruan Yuhu give up the idea of ​​leaving immediately.

As a native of Nanchu, Duan Qingning naturally knows more about Nanchu than herself, so it is always right to listen to her opinions.

"Who is this man? Where is he?"

Ruan Yuhu no longer had the intention of being polite and roundabout with Duan Qingning.

The most important thing is that there seems to be some unknown cooperation between Shen Pingzhi and Li Chaohui.

If it was because of Li Chaohui's rebellion, then they wouldn't have to wait until the war came, their big trouble would come.

"He is the owner of Wanchunlou, the largest restaurant in Nanchu Shangjing. Everyone calls him Boss Wan. No one knows his real name or appearance."

"On the surface, he's the owner of a restaurant, but in reality, he's the master of an intelligence network connecting Southern Chu, Northern Qiang, Huihe, the Western Regions, and even the Western Rong."

"In other words, there's nothing he doesn't know about what's happening in these countries."

"But if you want to get information from him, the price you have to pay is ten times, or even dozens of times, the reward of others."

What Duan Qingning didn't tell Ruan Yuhu was that this was not the first or second time she had done business with Boss Wan.

The first time, she wanted to escape Duan Zhengwen's control over her, so she sent someone to find Boss Wan and bought Duan Zhengwen's shameful secrets.

The second time was after she came to Yunli. In order to find the whereabouts of her daughter, she sent people back to Nanchu and asked Boss Wan for help again.

The man agreed, and a year later sent someone to reply to her saying that the child had been found and asked her to send someone to bring the child back.

So Duan Qingning sent the guards she brought from Nanchu back to Nanchu to take care of the child, but this wait lasted for another ten years.

In addition to revenge, another motivation that kept Duan Qingning alive under such difficult conditions was to wait for the guards to bring her daughter back.

She never expected that she would meet her daughter in this way.