Yun Kuo said helplessly, "Suisui, what is the name of His Majesty, your adoptive father?"
Xiaosuisui replied without thinking, "I donât know!"
...Yun Kuo felt like dying!
What daughter in the world doesnât know her own fatherâs name?
"If you donât know your adoptive father His Majestyâs name, surely you know how many years heâs been on the throne?"
Xiaosuisui nodded. "I know! My adoptive father, His Majesty, said heâs been on the throne for over ten years and is twenty-five this year."
"On the throne for over ten years, and only twenty-five this year!"
The scholarâs wife couldnât help but frown. "Thatâs not right! When we were captured and put on the ship, it was the twenty-first year of Emperor Yuanzhenâs reign. The Emperor back then was already well into his thirties, but now youâre telling me your Emperor has only been on the throne for ten years, and heâs only twenty-five!"
As the scholarâs wife said this, everyone realized something was wrong and turned to look at Xiaosuisui.
Xiaosuisui blinked. "Why are you all looking at me? Iâm just a child; I donât know about these things!"
She sensed the residentsâ panic, and her telepathy told her their hearts were trembling.
"Benefactors, do you have any silver or money on you?" the scholarâs wife suddenly asked, just as everyoneâs emotions were about to spiral out of control.
Xiaosuisui asked, very puzzled, "What do you need silver or money for?"
"The coins should have the Emperorâs reign name on them. Take out your money and letâs see what reign name is engraved. Then weâll roughly know the current era and what has happened all these years," the scholarâs wife quickly explained. Xiaosuisui took out two copper coins from her purse.
Ever since she last split money with Brother Erhu, her second maternal aunt had repeatedly warned her about not flaunting her wealth. She was very obedient now and understood the principle of not flaunting wealth. To appear poor, she only took out two worn copper coins.
The scholarâs wife took a copper coin, glanced at it, and announced, "Yuan Sheng!"
"Young benefactor, you just said that the current Emperor is twenty-five years old? Is that correct?"
Xiaosuisui nodded. "Yes! My adoptive father, His Majesty, is only twenty-five this year. Heâs very young and handsome!"
When Xiaosuisui said this, the scholarâs wife and everyone else couldnât help but laugh.
"Youâre just a child; how would you know whatâs handsome and whatâs ugly?" The scholarâs wife patted Xiaosuisuiâs head, returned the two copper coins to her, and asked again, "Do you know which son of the late Emperor the current Emperor is?"
Xiaosuisui thought for a moment and said, "My adoptive father, His Majesty, has no brothers. He has an older sister."
"Ah! His Majesty has no brothers, only an older sister? Then, what is the surname of the current Empress Dowager?" The scholarâs wife had already roughly guessed the answer she was looking for, but to be certain, she pressed further about the Empress Dowagerâs surname.
"Xiao!" Xiaosuisuiâs answer confirmed for the scholarâs wife just how many years of normal life they had lost.
"It has been fifteen years since we left."
"How could it be so long?" Many people started to shed tears, their hearts aching with sorrow.
"Yes! Itâs been too long. The year we were captured, Emperor Yuanzhen had only two children: a princess and a crown prince. The crown prince was exactly fifteen years old then." So, what Xiaosuisui had just said perfectly corroborated the time of their capture.
"So, so many years have passed! But why is it that when we look at each other, our faces seem hardly changed from before?" Uncle Niu immediately voiced his confusion.
"Thatâs because when you were first brought here, the Great Wizard of Nanjiang taught you to cultivate an Evil Technique. Later, he infused you with Witch Power, which assimilated into your bodies and bones and erased your Divine Consciousness. Thatâs why your appearances have changed so little!" Yun Kuo directly answered Uncle Niuâs question.
Hearing this, Uncle Niu frowned, then, as if suddenly remembering something, he asked, "Now that you mention it, benefactor, I recall something. When we were first captured, that Mr. Wu told us that as long as we diligently cultivated the Cultivation Technique he taught us, we could achieve immortality and possess heaven-defying abilities in the future. Now that the Cultivation Technique has been dispelled from our bodies by our benefactor, I wonder what will become of us..."
As soon as Uncle Niu asked this question, everyone pricked up their ears and listened with bated breath, but Yun Kuo found himself in a difficult position.
"Well..." He coughed. "As far as I know, there was once a person, much like you all, who also had Witch Power infused into her by the Great Wizard. She managed to dispel all the Witch Power within herself and then started to cultivate anew."
"Really? Does that mean we can also start cultivating again? And we can achieve immortality in the future too!"
"Ah, this..." Yun Kuo was unable to answer.
His gaze turned to Xiaosuisui. "Suisui! Do you know the answer to this question?"
Xiaosuisui blinked.
Enter the Dream Realm in front of so many people?
Her eldest maternal uncle and grandmother had always told her that revealing the Dream Realm in front of outsiders was very unsafe. So, she shook her head and said, "I canât answer this question for you right now. I need to think about it. Iâll tell you when I have an answer."
When Xiaosuisui said this, the crowd couldnât help but feel disappointed.
However, some, like Old Lady Niu, felt a sense of relief. She said, "Donât trouble yourself. We are already extremely fortunate to have regained our senses and not become the hatchet men for that Great Wizard of Nanjiang. As for what happens next, letâs leave it all to fate."
Hearing Old Lady Niuâs words, some of the disheartened people chimed in, "Thatâs right, thatâs right! Itâs all up to fate!"
But others lamented, "To have had hope, only to see it suddenly shattered... thatâs too cruel."