Chapter 93 Do you want to hear about Liu Feng?

Seeing her daughter's surprise, Shen Qingwu couldn't help but laugh. Her laughter was exceptionally bright, as if time had left no trace on her.

"Of course, it's to maintain power for longer. Power in this world has never been separated from strong strength." Shen Qingwu slowly explained these things to Shen Huixue.

"For example, the Bai royal family has been able to establish its kingdom for a thousand years not because every emperor is wise, but because they produce a fifth-level expert every hundred years."

The Shen family didn't have such a powerful and outstanding bloodline. By my father's time, he had only barely reached the third realm, and only one dying uncle in the clan was at the fourth realm. Many talented descendants died under the curse before they even grew up. At that time, the Shen family was already on the decline.

"So they plan to manipulate a powerful demon to make up for their lack of strength?" Achan couldn't help but ask.

"Yes. At first, they thought of hunting powerful demons to drive them, but they lost many skilled members of their tribe before finally capturing one. In the end, the contract failed."

Achan was not surprised. The contract between humans and demons is based on the strength of both parties. Once the strength is unbalanced, it may backfire at any time.

Shen Qingwu continued, "Later, my father, I don't know who gave him guidance, began to try to turn ordinary people into half-demons using the inner cores of demons. Although many people died, one person successfully survived."

Achan was surprised. She remembered that humans had been trying this for a long time, but without exception, they had all failed. Unless given away voluntarily, a demon core cannot be used by a human.

The Shen family actually succeeded, which is quite impressive from a certain perspective.

"This success gave my father hope. He obtained the inner core of a fourth-realm dragon and plans to create a powerful half-demon with the bloodline of the Shen clan and the bloodline of a dragon in the shortest possible time."

Shen Huixue asked in confusion, "I am also a half-demon, why didn't he make a move on me?"

“Because it’s too slow.” Shen Qingwu suddenly smiled, as if remembering something, and said to her daughter, “Even a half-demon needs many years to grow up. Your father told me that he has a niece who was still rolling in the mud on the mountain when she was over a hundred years old, she was still a child. Besides, you didn’t inherit your father’s talent, so you have no value to them.”

As the mother and daughter were talking, Ah Chan's expression subtly changed. What exactly did Uncle Liu say while she was away?

She just accidentally rolled into the mud pit while fighting; she didn't get muddy at all!

And she wasn't even a hundred years old at that time.

After fuming for a while, Achan turned her attention back to Shen Qingwu.

She heard Shen Huixue ask, "So he's set his sights on you?"

“Yes, my father needs a mature woman from the main branch of the family who is loyal enough to him and intelligent enough to make a sacrifice and become… the Dragon Mother.”

The title made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable, and Shen Huixue frowned.

She had no memory of her so-called grandfather; all she knew was that he died shortly after she was born.

According to rumors, her grandfather was a righteous man who took it upon himself to exorcise demons and often helped the poor. Unexpectedly, the real him was a ruthless man who even harmed his own daughter!

Shen Qingwu was lost in her memories. She said softly, "When I got the information out of my elder brother, there was no time to make any more arrangements. I could only take a gamble and leave you in the care of Mother Wu before swallowing the mirage pearl."

From then on, her memories were fragmented.

Occasionally, there would be moments of clarity, but soon I would fall back into confusion. This cycle repeated itself for many years.

"Aren't you afraid the plan will fail?" Shen Huixue couldn't help but feel a little scared.

Shen Qingwu shook her head: "I understand my father and elder brother. My importance to them is far less than the status and power they value, but they do have some feelings for me. The more miserable I am, the more it will stir up that trace of guilt in their hearts, so they can protect you and themselves."

Unable to escape the Shen family's sphere of influence and powerless to fight back, she could only choose this most pathetic way to save her and her daughter's lives.

Shen Huixue suddenly felt very sad. She had resented her mother many times for giving birth to her and making her life so difficult.

Only now do I realize how much effort her mother put into securing her living conditions back then.

After Shen Qingwu and Hui Xue calmed down a bit, she asked her, "Is there still a person named Shen Qingying in the clan now?"

Shen Huixue shook her head: "No, Mother Wu said that she disappeared after her grandfather died, and no one in the clan has looked for her."

"It seems that Father's plan is still going ahead, but I wonder if it has succeeded?"

"It should have succeeded." Achan's voice suddenly rang out.

"How did you know?" Shen Qingwu looked at her in surprise.

Achan said, "When I came here, I was attacked by a dragon. It was a half-demon, and its human form looked very strange. Now that I think about it, if it was born from the dragon mother you mentioned and another dragon, then it's normal for it to look like that. But I guess the Shen family must have done something to it. Its strength is not low."

At the time, there were limited clues, and Achan hadn't thought about it in that direction. But after hearing Shen Qingwu's words, she suddenly understood.

The one who absorbed the incense offerings before the Dragon King was undoubtedly her cousin.

The Shen family's plan should be progressing smoothly. They created a powerful half-demon in the shortest amount of time, and with the help of incense offerings, its cultivation can be further improved.

After becoming a half-demon, mating with other demons may result in offspring whose talents are more inclined towards those of the demon race, making them stronger, while still retaining some humanity and making them easier to control.

The Shen family's plans were truly far-sighted.

Shen Qingwu was slightly taken aback after hearing Achan's words, and after a long while, she said, "I see... She got what she wanted."

Shen Qingwu and Shen Qingying are about the same age and grew up together, but they never really got along.

Shen Qingying's father died in a demonic calamity. She loathed the demon race, yet she valued the honor of the Shen clan more than her own life.

But now that she has become the Dragon Mother and the Shen Clan's support, will she be happy?

Shen Huixue had no idea that her simple inquiry about her mother's poisoning would uncover so many of the Shen family's secrets, which were chilling to hear.

After speaking for so long, Shen Qingwu felt a throbbing pain in her temples and couldn't help but raise her hand to press her forehead.

"Mother, what's wrong?"

Shen Qingwu shook her head: "It's nothing, Huixue, Mother is a little hungry. Why don't you go to the kitchen and find Wu Mama and ask her to make me a bowl of noodles?"

Shen Huixue nodded hesitantly: "Okay."

As she got up, Chen Hui followed her, saying, "I'll go with you."

After the two left the inner room, Shen Huixue hesitated for a moment before closing the door.

After everyone left, the inner room remained quiet for a long time before Shen Qingwu sighed softly: "Liu Feng told me that he has a niece named A Chan. What a coincidence, your name is also A Chan."

Achan smiled and said, "It is a coincidence, but my real name is Ji Chan, and Achan is just a nickname."

"Really?" Shen Qingwu met A Chan's clear and bright eyes, which showed no malice whatsoever, but she just felt that the girl in front of her didn't like her very much.

After staring at each other for a while, Shen Qingwu looked away first and said softly, "Do you want to hear about Liufeng?"

“If Miss Qingwu is willing to talk, I am naturally willing to listen.”

Shen Qingwu twitched the corner of her lips: "After Liufeng went down the mountain, he traveled around everywhere. That year, he happened to come to Xiling. At that time, the King of Xiling took a woman named Qingniang as his concubine. That woman was extremely beautiful. In terms of appearance alone, I have never seen anyone who could compare to Liufeng."

"Qingniang is a fox demon?"

“It seems that Mother Wu has told you about some of the past.” Shen Qingwu nodded. “Yes, Liu Feng later told me that it was a fox demon, and that it came from his clan.”

Achan nodded. The fox clan of Qingyu Mountain is the most prosperous, so it wouldn't be surprising to encounter one in Xiling.

"Then what?"

"The Shen family has always had some connections with the Xiling Prince's Mansion and can find out some information that others don't know. I heard my elder brother say that Qingniang was very domineering, but she was favored by the Xiling Prince. Qingniang couldn't stand the Xiling Princess, so she had people abuse her. It is said that she did many excessive things and eventually drove her to her death."

Achan suddenly realized that the Princess of Xiling was Bai Xiuming's mother.

"That's a princess, isn't anyone going to help her?"

Shen Qingwu shook her head: "At that time, everyone avoided Qingniang's sharp edge. Besides, the death of the princess was not without its benefits to others. The only one who wanted to save the princess was the young prince, but he was also powerless. As a result, he was despised by the King of Xiling and almost did not survive."

After mentioning a few things about the past of the Xiling Prince's Mansion, Shen Qingwu changed the subject: "Liufeng thinks that Qingniang's actions are clearly a provocation against the Great Xia royal family. Even if she can bewitch the Xiling Prince for a while, she will not escape death when she is discovered in the future. He met with Qingniang and wanted her to stop, but he ended up being wanted by the police."

Ah Chan had heard from Wu's mother that Sixth Uncle and Shen Qingwu developed feelings for each other around that time.

She didn't have the patience to listen to the whole story, so she went straight to the conclusion: "And how did he die?"

Recalling that time, Shen Qingwu's face showed a pained expression: "That day, we had already left Xiling City when my father and my uncle, who was at the fourth realm in the clan, caught up with us. Besides them, there were also people from the Xiling King. Liu Feng seriously injured my uncle, and no one else was a match for him. We had a chance to break out. But then, two fourth-realm demons suddenly appeared. They joined forces to kill Liu Feng, but let me go."

"Demon race?" Achan was surprised to find that there was a demon race involved in this story.

Grandmother never pursued the matter. Was it because she genuinely didn't care about Sixth Uncle, or did she already know the truth?

“Yes, they are very familiar with the people of Xiling King and our family.” Shen Qingwu laughed bitterly.

At that time, she knew that her father would come after her, not because of her, his daughter who had eloped with a demon, but because they clearly wanted Liufeng dead.

“I’ve always felt that Liu Feng must have known some secrets, which led to his death. And both the King of Xiling and our family were in cahoots with those two demon clans.”

The truth was far more complicated than A Chan had guessed; even Shen Qingwu didn't know everything.

"After Liu Feng died, his body fell into the hands of the King of Xiling. I took his inner core. My father probably felt indebted to me, or perhaps he didn't need his inner core for the time being, so he never asked me for it until his death."

When she mentioned the inner core, Achan's expression shifted slightly, as if she had thought of something, but she did not say it to Shen Qingwu.

Is that all?

Shen Qingwu smiled: "For now, that's all."

Seeing that she didn't want to continue, Achan stood up and said, "I'm sorry to have bothered you today."

"Don't say that, I'm very happy to meet you."

When Shen Huixue and Chen Hui returned with the noodles, A Chan and Shen Qingwu were admiring the chrysanthemums in the courtyard. A Chan was also carrying a pot of chrysanthemums, whose orange petals were very similar to the color of the sunset, dazzling and radiant.

Today, Achan did not have dinner at the mansion and said goodbye to Chen Hui and left. After leaving the house, Chen Hui took the flowerpot from her hand and the two walked home together.

When I got to my front door, I saw someone standing outside.

The man was wearing a blue cloth shirt, and his figure was not familiar. When he turned around, Achan realized that it was Shen Zhuo.

"What are you doing here, Lord Shen?" Achan asked in surprise.

"I came to Xiling on business and just happened to be passing by to deliver something to you." Shen Zhuo glanced at Chen Hui, who was holding flowers beside A Chan, and finally understood what she needed the blood for.

Achan immediately thought of what Shen Zhuo was coming to deliver, and a smile immediately appeared on her face. She opened the door and invited him in.

Achan invited Shen Zhuo into the house and poured him a cup of honey water.

Shen Zhuo took a sip and his eyebrows twitched at the sweetness.

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Achan staring intently at him as he tapped. Helpless, Shen Zhuo had no choice but to take out the demon beast's blood first.

There are five jars in total, containing five kinds of blood.

"Everything was prepared according to your requirements; this should be sufficient for advanced learning."

"Thank you, Lord Shen." Achan opened the jar and smelled it; everything was very fresh, just right for Huiniang.

"Don't mention it, you deserve it." After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke with some difficulty, "Actually, there's another matter I wanted to discuss with you today."

"Please speak, Lord Shen, if I can help."

"I wonder if Miss Ji knows anything about the Shen family? Anything is fine."

"Why would Lord Shen think of asking me?" Achan didn't refuse directly, but asked in return.

Shen Zhuo immediately looked somewhat embarrassed.

"It was Bai Xiuming who suggested that I come to you."

"Lord Bai, you really overestimate me." Achan said modestly, then quickly asked, "What bad things did he say about me?"

Shen Zhuo quickly explained for Bai Xiuming: "How could he say bad things about you? He just said... Miss Ji is always well-informed. That's why I came to ask you for help."

What Bai Xiuming was actually saying was that, given A Chan's vengeful nature, the first thing she would do upon arriving in Xiling would probably be to inquire about the Shen family.

She happens to have an excellent source of information, and she certainly knows more than the Mingjing Division.

What Shen Zhuo was actually more curious about was what A Chan planned to do after finding out the information.

"Is that so?" Achan clearly didn't believe it, but she didn't pursue the matter further. She simply asked, "What has Lord Shen found out so far?"

Since she had come to ask for help, Shen Zhuo didn't hide anything from her and told her about finding out about Shen Zhiyuan, the cousin of the head of the Shen clan.

"After being interrogated, the officials of Yongzhou implicated Shen Zhiyuan. It was this man who had bribed officials in previous years to allow the people to worship the dragon god."

Achan nodded thoughtfully: "How many cousins ​​does the head of the Shen family have?"

"Just this one."

“That’s quite a coincidence,” Achan suddenly said.

"What a coincidence?"

“I happen to know something about this Shen Zhiyuan.”

Shen Qingying and Shen Qingwu are cousins, and the current head of the Shen clan is Shen Qingwu's older brother.

She happened to know that Shen Qingying also had an older brother, who was the cousin of the Shen clan patriarch.

"Please inform me, Miss Ji. I would be extremely grateful."

Achan couldn't help but sigh, "Lord Shen is so polite, he has really raised the moral standards of the Mingjing Division's Commander."

She then told Shen Zhuo the information she could reveal: "As far as I know, Shen Zhiyuan has a younger sister, and this younger sister is very likely the dragon that the people of Yongzhou worshipped earliest."

Shen Zhuo was already in shock: "But shouldn't his sister be a human being?"

"That's something Lord Shen will have to investigate himself. I guess, as his older brother, he should know where his sister is and how she became a demon. It all depends on Lord Shen's methods."

"Is this information reliable?" Shen Zhuo asked again, still not entirely convinced.

"Guaranteed authentic," Achan answered confidently, then added a reminder, "But you should be careful, his sister is probably very strong."

"I understand. Thank you very much, Miss Ji." This news truly shocked Shen Zhuo. He didn't linger any longer and left in a hurry.

"What is Lord Shen in such a hurry to do?" Chen Hui asked curiously.

"They've probably gone to cause trouble for the Shen family."