"What exactly is going on?" Zhang Lingyun asked, puzzled.
"Did you know that the Sheng Family Ancestor was not from the Eastern Sheng Kingdom, and didn't even have the surname Sheng? He was just a Wanderer who happened to travel here."
Zhang Yu explained:
Ten thousand years ago, the Tiannan Prefecture, where the Eastern Sheng Kingdom was located, was plagued by war and teeming with Demons, making it a truly perilous and dangerous place.
At that time, Eastern Sheng Kingdom was merely a small, precarious country.
"And then what happened? Could it be related to the Sheng Family's Love Brain again?"
Zhang Lingyun guessed.
"Absolutely the same."
That Wanderer 'Cultivation extraordinary; he is at least a top-tier existence among the Land Immortal Realm, and perhaps even... higher.
But he just...
Zhang Yu's tone turned strange, "But when he met the Empress of the Eastern Sheng Kingdom, his Love Brain kicked in, and he actually abandoned his surname and married into the Eastern Sheng Kingdom."
"Then what?
"Won't his child take his mother's surname too?" Zhang Lingyun pressed.
"That's right."
Zhang Yu nodded:
"Not only that, he also single-handedly unified Tiannan Prefecture for the Eastern Sheng Kingdom with his sword."
Furthermore, inspired by the Empress's love for her people, he sacrificed his Supreme Fortune and all his Divine Weapon to seal the Nine Great Demon Caves, forcing the Twelve Immortals to swear an oath to remain hidden and never emerge from the world without a royal decree.
"No wonder..."
Zhang Lingyun murmured:
"No wonder the Sheng Family descendants are all born with bad luck, and their cultivation aptitude is generally extremely poor... So this is the root of the problem."
By doing this, he essentially severed most of the blessings and potential for spiritual cultivation for his descendants.
"I'm afraid it's not just that."
Zhang Yu's interface:
"He may have already foreseen that this act would seriously harm future generations when he resorted to this outrageous method."
Therefore, before his Fortune ran out and his time was up, he created that 'Immortal Alchemical Legion' as a final protection for his descendants.
But he was also afraid...
Zhang Yu shook his head, his expression strange.
"He also feared that among his descendants there might be unworthy individuals who, relying on the Alchemy Legion, would act recklessly and ultimately bring ruin to the kingdom and people left behind by his beloved."
Therefore, the inherited Memory Crystal may even have left a hidden mechanism within the Sheng Family bloodline itself.
After listening, Zhang Lingyun remained silent for a long time.
This Old Ancestor of the Sheng Family was deeply devoted to his family and achieved unparalleled accomplishments, but his actions were also truly... too detrimental to his descendants.
"So that's how it is,"
Zhang Lingyun sorted out her thoughts, her confusion only deepening:
"The ancestors of the Sheng family owed the Dong Sheng Kingdom and the hundreds of millions of people on this land a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid."
He almost single-handedly ended the chaos, ushered in peace, and sacrificed his own life and the blessings of his descendants to forever suppress the demon's Demon Grotto, force the Immortal to retreat, and bring about ten thousand years of tranquility.
Logically speaking, the entire Eastern Sheng Kingdom should be grateful to the Sheng Family and revere them as gods.
Why is the Imperial Family now so disgraced that everyone hates them?
A cold glint flashed in Zhang Yu's eyes as he slowly analyzed:
"Eternal peace is enough to make even the most painful historical lessons be forgotten in the dust."
They have forgotten, or rather, cannot even imagine, the precarious and insignificant lives their Ancestors led.
"And some people, on the other hand, are precisely those you don't want them to remember."
Zhang Yu's tone turned cold:
"It is an indisputable fact that the Imperial Family consumes nearly 70% of the national treasury's annual revenue."
To the uninformed common people and officials, this was undoubtedly irrefutable evidence of extravagance and tyranny.
They won't know, or rather, someone is deliberately keeping it from them.
The vast majority of this enormous expenditure was used to maintain the Grand Formation left by our Ancestors that sealed the 'Nine Great Demon Caves', and to maintain that Alchemy Legion.
These two factors are the true cornerstones of the eternal peace and prosperity of the Eastern Sheng Kingdom.
"As for the absurd things the Sheng family members have done in recent years, and the public resentment they have caused..."
Zhang Yu sneered:
"I'm afraid there's a high chance that someone is secretly guiding, fueling, or even setting a trap for them."
The purpose was to tarnish the Imperial Family's reputation, exacerbate the conflict between the Imperial Family and the people, and create the illusion that the Imperial Family was tyrannical and had incurred the wrath of both heaven and the people.
"The ultimate goal,"
Zhang Yu stated unequivocally, "It's nothing more than an Imperial Decree to Protect the King."
"I see."
A sharp light flashed in Zhang Lingyun's eyes, instantly penetrating all her joints:
"Once the Imperial Decree to Protect the King is issued, the twelve Immortal and their forces who were forced to swear an oath by the Sheng Family Ancestor will have a legitimate excuse to break free from the constraints of the Oath."
"Right!"
Zhang Yu nodded:
This was a conspiracy that had been planned for who knows how long.
The Zichen Incident three years ago was caused by the Grand Council inciting the people of the country to refuse to pay 70% of the taxes that support the Imperial Family, which left the Alchemy Legion without resources and turned it into a pile of scrap metal.
Then they orchestrated a scheme to have the Imperial Family besieged by the Rebel Army, hoping to induce the Imperial Family, driven by their survival instinct, to issue Imperial Decree to Protect the King to come to their aid.
"But those Immortal didn't know that the Old Ancestor of the Sheng Family was too ruthless to his descendants. He actually used Mind Hypnosis and bloodline restraint to ensure that they would never do anything to harm the people of the Eastern Sheng Kingdom."
Because they knew that once the imperial edict was issued, the release of the twelve Immortal who had been suppressed for ten thousand years would be a disaster for the Eastern Sheng Kingdom.
Zhang Lingyun understood, and quickly said, "In that case, Eastern Sheng Kingdom is too dangerous, let's not go."
"No, that's precisely why I must go."
Zhang Yu's voice was resolute.
"The former Sheng family royal family was bound hand and foot by that damned guardian mark, becoming a loyal dog kept in captivity."
He could only be driven step by step into a corner by the people of the Eastern Sheng Kingdom whom he was protecting, and finally died a miserable death.
He paused, took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale the pervasive sense of crisis into his lungs and transform it into motivation.
"But I'm different."
Zhang Yu scoffed:
The Mind Hypnosis that almost turned me into a walking corpse has been broken.
The shackles imposed on future generations by the Sheng Family Ancestor have been broken on me.
"What does that mean?"
He looked at Zhang Lingyun, his eyes sharp and piercing:
"This means I am no longer a 'tool' that must unconditionally and without limits protect the hundreds of millions of people of the Eastern Sheng Kingdom."
Inheriting the Imperial Throne is not merely about having a title.
Zhang Yu's tone was low but powerful:
"The inherited memories suggest that once he truly ascends the throne, as the Orthodox Emperor of the Eastern Sheng Kingdom, he will be combined with the purest bloodline of the Sheng Family."
Then we can reclaim the boundless Fortune and divine Divine Weapon that the Sheng Family Ancestor sacrificed to seal the Demon Grotto and force back the Immortal.
Zhang Lingyun was startled upon hearing this.
Reclaiming Ancestors Fortune?
How to retrieve the scattered Divine Weapon?
This is simply Defy Heaven and Change Fate!
If he can truly achieve this, Zhang Yu will not only receive unimaginable enhancement and improvement in his own aptitude and Fortune, but will also gain immeasurable resources.
"As for those idiotic Grand Council who were misled and incited, and those foolish 'citizens' who have forgotten the pain of past wounds..."
A cold smile curled at the corner of Zhang Yu's lips, a smile devoid of any warmth, only a mocking and controlling glint in his eyes after a deep understanding of human nature.
"Don't they think the Imperial Family is too wasteful, want democracy, want to return power to the people, and want to get rid of the oppression of the Imperial Family?"
Zhang Yu spoke slowly, each word seemingly carrying the chill of iron and ice:
"Okay, I'll give it to them."
The thought that these people had nearly slaughtered a million citizens of the Wei capital in their attempt to assassinate him filled Zhang Yu with uncontrollable rage.
I'll give you everything you want this time, and I just hope you won't regret it later.
Another point is that although I am not familiar with the Sheng Family, my father and relatives were indeed killed by those idiots from the Eastern Sheng Kingdom.
He wouldn't mind settling a personal score along the way.