Chapter 199 - Ancestral Path (1/2)
The twins' ancestor was from Xia Empire, a small farmer who lived alone with his little daughter. At that time, Monk Du was being hunted down by the Xia army for some unknown reason. Ignoring of this fact, the farmer had kindly offered Monk Du room and board for a night after seeing him his haggard form wandering the village.
Unfortunately, this kind act brought the farmer his doom. After Monk Du left, the Xia army arrived in search of the Monk. They tortured the farmer to get information, but he knew nothing and so could give nothing. He pleaded for his life and in the end, the commander agreed to spare him but they gave him a severe beating as punishment for housing a criminal wanted by the royal family.
Monk Du did return a few days later to find the little girl crying by her dying father's side. The farmer had held on to that last thread of life because he worried about what would happen to his child if he died. The villagers had ostracized them out of fear and his daughter had tried best on her own but there was little a child could do.
Seeing Monk Du again, the farmer's hope reignited and with his dying breath, he asked him to ensure the future of his bloodline. Monk Du guilty beyond measure made the solemn promise as the farmer's body grew cold.
Monk Du buried the farmer and took the daughter and raised her himself. Teaching her many things and amongst them was the seyu drug that he said would ensure her recovery from any ailment.
That little girl eventually went on to become Dong country's Queen. But she had never forgotten the scar the Xia empire had given her and at the first instigation, a war began between the two countries. That enmity had run through the generations and with each bloody war, the blood feud and hatred between the nations deepened.
Another thing that ran through generations from that Queen was the knowledge Monk Du had imparted on her. Every generation, one child within the Dong royal family's bloodline was born with a healer's hands and the instinct to create the seyu drug.
It was not learned, there was no formula. It was simply an instinct, a gift and it could only be made by one person in every generation...Even if someone else from the same family had taken the exact same ingredients the gifted one had used and made it exactly the same way, it would be completely ineffective and useless.
When the last one with the gift died, it transferred on to someone else in the family, usually a child. This was the reason the Dong royal family members were never allowed to live outside the capital.
It was also the reason that at their country's fall, the family elders decided on a mass suicide to ensure their enemies could never discover their secret. If it were ever discovered, their family would forever be enslaved.
The two children spent three years with Monk Du and in that time he trained them vigorously as he had done for their ancestor, spending more time helping Chun Hua hone her skills. But he still taught Chun Hai a few tricks or two that helped him subdue and escape attacks.
This time he did not raise the children. After he was satisfied with their progress, he took them to Jiu country where their maternal uncle lived and left them in his care. And over the years, he would randomly show up wherever they were to check in on them.
Their uncle upon seeing the children alive broke down in tears. It was announced to the world that the entire royal clan of Dong country had perished and he had believed it to be so. He and his wife had no children of their own so they happily adopted them.
It was there that the two children met the older Prince Houyi, Zou kingdom's eldest prince, who had already been living with the couple for a year.
Prince Houyi's mother had died the year before and after having a falling out with his father, he had come to visit his maternal aunt here in Jiu country and had stayed since. His father allowed it and asked him to return whenever he was ready.
Prince Houyi lived with them for three more years before returning to Zou, but even then he still came back regularly, spending a few months out of every year. And he started to bring over his younger brother Prince Xiyan, the two always mentioned how they had an adorable younger sister, Princess Nalan who they would bring to Jiu to introduce to the twins once she was older. Although that never happened as they each branched off on their own paths before that could be fulfilled.
Prince Houyi and twins had become quite close during these years. While Chun Hai had followed Prince Houyi to Zou's capital and with his help had become a successful merchant and had been introduced to Zou's royal family, Chun Hua had not.
Chun Hai had little interest in politics or in revenge or any matters relating to country but he felt a loyalty to his friends and family. And would aid most with anything, within reason. And his sister was the only exception to this rule that he would indulge.
Chun Hua had gotten it into her head that she was going to follow their ancestor's footsteps, become a Queen and unlike their ancestor, she would successfully destroy their enemy, Long country. And her country of choice to rule was Zou kingdom, after all, there was a Prince right in front of her, one that she got along with as she grew up.
Knowing that she had no status to marry a prince, she decided to accrue a reputation for herself that made up for her lack of status. So she went about traveling the villages in Zou kingdom as a skilled healer, healing this and that and everything and garnering the favor of many official and noble families as she went along. Chun Hai had even heard from her that she had even found some noble families who were willing to adopt her as a show of their gratitude for saving their family members.
Chun Hai could never tell whether his sister actually liked Prince Houyi or whether she only saw him as a useful tool. But he could tell Prince Houyi did not have those feelings towards her. But he had always believed that Prince Houyi at least saw her as a sister.