"Xiao Fang ah~ It"s not that I don"t want to tell you... But... it contains the secret of our kingdom. I can"t divulge it easily!" Uncle Qiu admitted. He finally decided to add, "Besides... it would be a danger to everyone who knows about this matter!"
Uncle Qiu was more worried about Xiao Fang"s wellbeing if she knew about this secret matter.
Xiao Fang gulped when she heard that, however, they didn"t have any other choice. Even though she was scared, they needed to find out about it so they understood what happened to Yao Ling. She gritted her teeth, trying to calm herself down. She knew that Yao Ling needed her.
"G.o.dfather... you can trust me!" Xiao Fang said heartily. She was trying to look as innocent as possible, so her G.o.dfather wouldn"t feel suspicious that she had another hidden motive.
Uncle Qiu flicked her forehead softly, "You ah~! You are always so mischievous like this! It"s not like I don"t trust you..." He really felt helpless when he faced Xiao Fang... He had always been strict at his own son, but he had a different att.i.tude towards Xiao Fang --- he spoiled her rotten.
"G.o.dfather..." Xiao Fang could only laugh at that because it was the truth. She had always been mischievous since she was only a little girl.
"Come with me!" Uncle Qiu ordered in a small voice. He knew that it wasn"t safe to talk there, after all, their place was near the forbidden place itself. Not only that, the guards were scattering everywhere.
While walking to Uncle Qiu"s courtyard, Xiao Fang asked curiously, "I"m curious about the things inside because it seems like the guards haven"t captured the culprit yet."
Uncle Qiu knew that it was impossible to hide this from Xiao Fang at this point. He could guess that if he didn"t tell her anything, she would try to find it out by herself. However, her position at the moment was different from before. The Han Emperor had laid his eyes on Xiao Fang"s family and he was afraid that this matter could become the catalyst of their doom.
He knew that the Han Emperor would use this reason to eradicate Xiao Fang"s family. Thus, it was better to give her a little hint so she could let this thing go.
When they arrived at Uncle Qiu"s courtyard, Uncle Qiu told his subordinate to prepare tea and snacks for them --- their talk would take quite some times.
"If I tell you something, you are not allowed to become more curious and try to find it out by yourself, okay?" Uncle Qiu gave her a warning first.
Xiao Fang nodded, "Yes, G.o.dfather."
"Promise me!" Uncle Qiu said seriously, after all, this wasn"t a joking matter.
Xiao Fang nodded hesitantly, but in the end, she really made a promise. Otherwise, she knew with her G.o.dfather"s stubborn nature, he wouldn"t tell her a thing without it. "I promise, G.o.dfather..." However, in her heart, she knew that the ones who would investigate this matter further weren"t her --- but Yao Ying and Lin Jian, so it didn"t count as a lie, right?
Xiao Fang pouted and asked, "G.o.dfather... I already made a promise, so you should at least tell me something, right?"
Uncle Qiu really got a headache because of Xiao Fang, however, he still indulged her and told her something about the forbidden place. "Have you ever heard about the term, Bai Yue?"
"Hmmm...?" Xiao Fang blinked a few times in confusion because she had never heard about it. Thus, she shook her head and answered honestly, "No. Why?"
"Let me explain it to you then, "The Bai Yue, Hundred Yue were various indigenous non-Chinese peoples who inhabited our kingdom."
Xiao Fang looked up in surprise. "Do they have something to do with Bao Bei?"
Uncle Qiu nodded, "Yes. In truth, not everyone in the s.h.i.+ps was killed that day."
Xiao Fang gasped in surprise and then, she cautiously asked, "Was that matter has something to do with you, G.o.dfather?"
Uncle Qiu laughed. "Indeed. The Han Emperor found out about it too, that might be the reason why I am on the list. In a way, I indeed had betrayed the Emperor"s trust beforehand." After laughing bitterly, he sighed. "However, I never regret my decision for doing that. After all, they are human too and their lives are as precious as ours."
Xiao Fang nodded in understanding. What Uncle Qiu said made her admire him more and more. This was also the reason Uncle Qiu got along well with her father --- they had the same visions and kind hearts.
"Are the Bai Yue people living inside the forbidden place?" Xiao Fang asked curiously.
Uncle Qiu shook his head. "No... I already sent a lot of them away. The s.h.i.+p was quite big and it could contain a lot of people. The Yue tribe gradually a.s.similated themselves to our people back then."
"Then, what"s the connection between this forbidden place with the Bai Yue ah~?" Xiao Fang asked in confusion.
"There is only one of those Bai Yue people who lives in that place," Uncle Qiu finally explained.
Xiao Fang"s eyes widened in surprise. She never thought that she would be able to guess it right. "But why should the Han Emperor make that person lives in secrecy here? He even guards this person tightly like this?"
Uncle Qiu sighed and told her slowly about the things that had happened in the past. It wouldn"t be easy to save those many people all by himself. The Bai Yue people also needed to have something that they could bargain for... After all, the Han Emperor wouldn"t need a bunch of useless people.
One of them had a special power and it was said that she could foresee the future --- a clairvoyant. She went along with the journey because she already had a feeling that there would be brewing troubles in this land. Her gut feeling proved her right.
"G.o.dfather... is it some kind of magic?" Xiao Fang asked in confusion. She really didn"t know what to believe... she had just heard about the glowing symbols and in her mind, it was already weird enough. Now... there was a clairvoyant. If this wasn"t magic... then what it was called?
"Not really... We also have people that could predict the future --- however, this person could predict more accurately and with more details... It"s just that she has never revealed this part to the Emperor, she only tells him something that he wants to hear and won"t hurt a lot of people," Uncle Qiu explained. She did it several times which finally made the Han Emperor believed in their skills.
The woman only told this part to Uncle Qiu and the latter knew that the Han Emperor was quite greedy... thus, he never revealed this part to him either.
Xiao Fang was in awe when she heard that. A clairvoyant?! Then, what was the connection between the woman and Yao Ling? No wonder she was being guarded heavily. Being able to predict the future, she could be said as their national treasure. She wasn"t a part of their kingdom and that was why the Han Emperor couldn"t fully trust her...
In a way, she had become an eternal prisoner of their kingdom.
Xiao Fang started to dread what would happen to Yao Ling if she had a connection with this person. Xiao Fang asked curiously, "G.o.dfather, how old the woman inside is? What"s her name?"