I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 894: Chapter 188: Imprisonment

On her first day back in Ying City, Xu Shuhui knelt all night in the ancestral hall, making up for all the greetings not said and visits not made over the years in that single evening.

For over a decade, she had lived a blissful life, yet Yuanzhou was the place where she had grown up, with all that was familiar to her. How could she simply forget it?

This continent, brimming with poetry and romance, was the homeland that haunted her dreams countless times. To her, the punishment of the Heavenly Phoenix Sword Saint seemed no different from a reward.

Later on, news that the great floods of Longxi had submerged the cities of Xiling, Shengping, and Clear Water finally reached Yuanzhou. What others mentioned in passing hit Xu Shuhui with the impact of a bolt from the blue.

She wanted to leave Yuanzhou and return to Xiling but was stopped by Xu Feng. Within the borders of Yuanzhou, she was no longer the beloved lady of the house. Even after repeated pleas, the Sword Saint did not relent.

Before long, news of the great battle between the two factions of Tang Mi reached Yuanzhou, and the people there interpreted Xu Shuhui’s return with fresh speculation.

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Especially the Xu clan womenfolk who saw Xu Shuhui were exceedingly joyful to gossip:

“Hah, she hasn’t returned for over a decade, and with her return, she made such a commotion. Thought she had really achieved something. Turns out she was only fleeing back to Yuanzhou for refuge.”

“Isn’t that the truth? I always said that no clan in Xiling could possess such wealth. They must’ve seen the signs of war early and wanted to make a quick escape.”

“Sending girls out to marry is truly a mistake. Had I a daughter like that, I would’ve drowned her in the well long ago. What misfortune for the family of the Heavenly Phoenix Sword Saint.”

Everyone seemed to turn into a sage, predicting the grim future for the Tang Clan and waiting to see the joke unfold.

The battle of Tang Mi lasted as long as Xu Shuhui was isolated by Xu Feng, who, contrary to what others thought, actually had some admiration for the actions of Tang Sen.

These words, of course, he would never say to his daughter. Instead, he discussed them with his eldest son during a family banquet, “To think of defeat before victory, to have arranged for the safety of family and womenfolk in advance, this wild lad from Xiling is not entirely useless. If one day Tang Clan truly suffers defeat and clan destruction, we’ll set aside a piece of land by Ying City for them to recuperate and regenerate.”

The Xu residence was so large, news could not be hidden from anyone. The day after the Heavenly Phoenix Sword Saint spoke, there were no more rumors about Xu Shuhui’s incompetence within the house. Instead, there were those who praised her for finding a good husband.

Later, news of the volcanic eruption in South Ridge reached Yuanzhou, accompanied by joyous news of the Tang Clan’s victory. Xu Shuhui wept with overwhelming joy, wanting immediately to return to her family and see her two adorable sons, but she was discouraged from doing so.

Her brother Xu Changfeng said, “At this moment, the eight thousand miles of Longxi are covered in water. Various powerful clans are fighting each other fiercely for resources. In such chaotic circumstances, the Tang Clan can hardly take care of itself; your return would only add to their troubles. Stay here and wait. If Old Ying’s words are true, with that young man’s strength, he is more than capable of protecting your precious sons.”

For over a decade, Xu Shuhui had longed to return to Yuanzhou to see her family, but when she actually did come back, she realized that Xiling was her true home, and she yearned only to return there.

But in Yuanzhou, the matriarch of Xiling who was absolute in her authority was no more than a disfavored daughter, and her opinions never mattered.

Not until the Tang family in Xiling managed to secure all seven great cities of Lingjiang and became a newly prominent clan in Longzhou, did they rise powerfully within the Longxi Alliance. Their actions during the flood, saving tens of thousands of lives, suddenly made the Xu Clan in Yuanzhou take a serious interest in this family.

A sacred place like the Xu Clan, of course, would not be impressed by the strength of Lingjiang Seven Cities. Yet, the clan’s opening of their granaries to save the people during the disaster was much in the style of the ancient sages. Although they stemmed from the pioneers of Longzhou, their conduct was quite to the liking of the Xu Clan.

Because of this, some of the Xu Clan elders finally considered acknowledging the Tang Clan’s effort in saving so many people in Longzhou, willing to accept them as kin and offer them protection from the sacred grounds.

In a sacred place like the Xu Clan, to take a family as kin, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate their origins. And the intelligence system of the sacred land was overseen by the Dutian Heavenly King.

In a matter of months, the first generation roots of the Tang family in Xiling and their entire thousand-year rise to power were laid out on the Xu Clan’s table, and the elders who read through the archives no longer mentioned making the Tang Clan kin to the Xu Clan.

The Heavenly Phoenix Sword Saint, after reading the archives, flew into a rage, slamming the documents down in front of his daughter, shouting, “Is this the husband you chose? Look at this bloodstained, deceitful clan! My daughter, Xu Feng, must not be tainted by such filth!”

Xu Shuhui had been so well-protected by Tang Sen over the years that she had never witnessed the dark past of the Tang Clan. When she learned that the Wancheng Treasure Ship was none other than the Ghost Weeping Warship that roamed the Endless Sea, her shock was no less than that of Xu Feng.

Yet after all, she was still a daughter-in-law of the Tang Clan. Even though their actions were indefensible, she had to speak for her family. This was also the first time she talked back to her father.

“The Tang Clan is the Tang Clan, and Tang Sen is Tang Sen. Over the years, my husband has never killed the innocent in Xiling and has a sterling reputation. Luo Er, despite his young age, holds the welfare of the world in his heart and is hailed as the living Buddha by thousands of households. Without him spreading the word before the flood, the number of people who would have died in Xiling would have been over a million.”

Naturally, talking back resulted in another confinement, and this time Xu Feng was truly furious. He intended to make Xu Shuhui sever all ties with the Tang Clan and never to associate with them again.

During the long two years that followed, Xu Shuhui managed to send a letter back to Xiling every few months, discussing matters of Yuanzhou with her family, her letters filled with unspoken joy while avoiding any mention of her suffering. Numerous times she wanted to flee from Yuanzhou, but thinking of Little Nuannuan, she could only suppress her impulses over and over again.

Xu Shuhui, outwardly fragile, possessed a strong and resilient spirit within. Where others in her situation would have long since lost their sanity, she picked up the martial way that had been neglected for who knows how many years, and began planning to return to Xiling through her own strength to reunite with her family.

Her brother, Xu Changfeng, saw all of her efforts. The intelligence collected by the Dutian Heavenly King was even more detailed than one might think, and as a brother, it was not the crimes of the Tang Clan that concerned him, but rather the part about the young Miss of the Xu Clan in Xiling.

A runaway Miss of the Xu Clan should by both societal norms and personal morals be an outcast, despised by everyone. Yet Xu Shuhui’s reputation and status in Xiling were incredibly high.

This had nothing to do with her being a miss of the Xu Clan in Yuanzhou, but was all thanks to the protection of Tang Sen. In ensuring his sister faced no grievances, Tang Sen had done nearly everything a man could possibly do.

Contrastingly, they of the sacred Heaven Sect had always conjectured Tang Sen’s intentions with the most malevolent assumptions, which was indeed very wrong.