Sixteen years ago.
If Ye Zhen remembered correctly, it had been sixteen years since Caiyi left the True Profound Continent.
There was absolutely no way Ye Zhen could have remembered that time incorrectly.
In an instant, Ye Zhen's heart shook violently. He understood that he might have found a definite lead on Caiyi.
At that moment, Ye Zhen felt the urge to cry.
After searching so bitterly for so long, he had finally found a solid clue.
Though his heart churned wildly, Ye Zhen's face showed not the slightest abnormality. Only the hand holding his wine cup trembled faintly without stop.
But by now, everyone was already flushed and merry with drink. No one would notice such a thing.
"Why would a royal woman brought back from beyond the domain have anything to do with the Lu Family?" Ye Zhen asked Huang Ge.
Qing Zhao, who had been drinking with them, looked at Ye Zhen with wine-reddened eyes. "I've heard this bit of gossip too, but not long after it began spreading, the Clan Head strictly forbade anyone from discussing it. He even had two clansmen who had loudly discussed the matter publicly beaten to death with rods.
"As for why it had anything to do with the Lu Family? That was simple.
"After the palace coup nearly forty years ago ended with the current Phoenix Spirit Queen taking the throne—
"Conservative factions such as the Lu Family and Huang Family were all deliberately suppressed by Her Majesty the Queen.
"But there were only so many people in our Phoenix Spirit Race, and the only ones available for use were the Eight-Surnamed Aristocrats.
"Even Her Majesty the Queen could not keep the Lus, Huangs, and the rest suppressed forever.
"So after that incident, as time passed—ten years, twenty years—the storm