The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 365 Meng Gu
Princess Yuzhu recalled her past. One of the effects of the art of persuasion on her subconscious was that it gave her the desire to confide. Many things that she didn't want to say, couldn't say, or dared not say in her normal life, she now just wanted to get them off her chest.

"I remember that my father was also very afraid of my great-aunt back then. He would grant her every request and would avoid seeing her as much as possible. Although he loved me very much, he cruelly left me in this Broken Dream Palace. When he saw me occasionally, he would always ask about my great-aunt's situation."

At that time, I was like a hostage who had been abandoned, merely an object that my father, the emperor, had my great-aunt hand over with peace of mind.

Gradually, I also got used to obeying my great-aunt. Otherwise, I was afraid that one day I would end up like my fellow disciples, suddenly going into a state of demonic possession and dying with blood flowing from all seven orifices.

I know that even if I suddenly die, my father won't say anything, much less blame my great-aunt.

Wu Chengyu understood that the existence of this old monster must have made the Western Xia royal family uneasy all these years, and even the emperor had to compromise in order to save his life.

Princess Yuzhu knew from the beginning that there was a big problem between her father and the old monster, and she would definitely side with her father at first.

However, she had been a hostage by the old monster's side for far too long. Like Stockholm syndrome, she gradually developed a dependence due to fear and helplessness, and slowly became completely accustomed to obeying the old monster. In the end, she drifted further and further away from her father, the emperor, and even fell out of favor completely.

"In fact, the existence of my great-aunt has long put the Xia Kingdom royal family in a difficult position. She always asks my father to help her find some strange things, which are said to be rare and precious treasures. These things are not easy to find and have consumed a lot of manpower, financial resources and materials."

Although my Xia Kingdom is also a dynasty, in terms of power and strength, it is inferior to the Jin Kingdom; in terms of wealth and resources, it is inferior to the Song Kingdom. I know that my great-aunt's demands have placed a great burden on my Xia Kingdom, but I dare not interfere or offer any advice. I can only silently carry out her every order.

This princess is so pitiful. It turns out that the fierce Zhang Fei who fights everywhere and no one dares to mess with him has actually been unable to control his own destiny since he was very young. Now that I think about it, when Wu Chengyu went with her to see the old monster, he seemed to be very close to the old monster and had a deep master-disciple relationship.

At the time, Princess Yuzhu's dependence on and closeness to her elders when facing the old monster seemed flawless, but now it's clear it was all fake. This pretense had long been ingrained in her bones, and she herself didn't even realize she was acting.

The final result is what it is now: once the old monster is no longer feared by the royal family, she immediately loses her usefulness, and the royal family only feels disgust towards her.

However, what trump card does the royal family have that allows them to suddenly become so tough, no longer afraid of the old monster, and even dare to send troops to besiege the Palace of Broken Dreams?
Furthermore, the reason this old monster asked the royal family to search for rare and precious materials is likely because her lifespan is running out, and she wants to extend it with those rare and precious materials.

Rare and precious materials are things that can only be encountered by chance and are not easy to find, even for the royal family. According to Wu Chengyu's memories, this metal-based martial arts world is not like those fantasy and immortal worlds, where there are so many good things.

From Tianlong downwards, there are very few things that can be called rare and precious treasures.

The Bodhi Serpent was only first known to people when Yang Guo lost his arm and accidentally entered Dugu Qiubai's valley. After that, Yang Guo did not reveal it. Only a time traveler like Wu Chengyu would have the idea of ​​getting his hands on the Bodhi Serpent.

It is conceivable how much burden the old monster has brought to the entire royal family or even the entire Western Xia over the years. For this reason alone, the royal family must be dissatisfied with this old monster. She is like a huge parasite attached to the Xia Kingdom, demanding endlessly.

"Princess, since His Majesty the Emperor is so afraid of Venerable Canmeng, why did he suddenly dare to confront her directly?"

Princess Yuzhu's bewildered eyes showed a hint of doubt as she shook her head slightly and said...

"I don't know. I only know that three years ago, my great-aunt seemed to suddenly remember something. She asked me to summon my father and have him search for something in the secret vault of the First-Class Hall."

The information in the Yipintang secret vault was abundant, and it would have taken some time to process. Although the great-aunt was anxious, she gave her some time. However, six months later, the emperor suddenly informed the great-aunt that there was nothing in Yipintang that she wanted.

Originally, such a matter would definitely be reported by the Emperor himself, and if there were really no results, the Emperor would surely come in fear and trepidation.

Unexpectedly, he only sent a eunuch to report, and he never showed his face. From then on, he never came to the Remnant Dream Palace to pay his respects again. Although they did not break off relations, the Remnant Dream Palace continued to provide all its daily necessities on time.

However, the rare and precious materials that Remnant Dream Palace had previously requested would never be provided again. The entire Remnant Dream Palace was like a forgotten corner of the imperial palace, and no one except my junior brother Wu was willing to go there.

My great-aunt seemed somewhat helpless. I could see that she was angry, but she suppressed it in the end, as if nothing had happened.

Later, as the struggle for succession among my three brothers intensified, my great-aunt ordered me to establish the Yangwu Association to help my third brother.

Especially this time, Yipintang has been in decline for a long time, so apart from those documents, they are not that important.

My father wants to entrust Yipintang to one of the princes, probably to test his abilities. My great-aunt has ordered me to go all out to obtain Yipintang and find what she wants.

As Wu Chengyu listened to Princess Yuzhu's words, he pondered them in his heart.

After the royal family hardened their stance against the old monster, he was certainly suppressed, and things eventually settled down. However, when she ordered Princess Yuzhu to participate in the struggle for the throne, just as she had helped the current emperor before, this was undoubtedly a major taboo, and the royal family certainly could not tolerate it.

The key lies in what's in Yipintang. The royal family must have found something in Yipintang, which gave them their trump card against the old monster.

But the old monster never gave up. When he heard that the emperor was going to use Yipintang as a test, he immediately ordered Princess Yuzhu to fight for it with all her might. At this point, the royal family could no longer tolerate it.

Initially, they simply recruited the top expert, Fireworker Monk, to join the Ronghua Guild. Fireworker Monk's martial arts skills far surpassed those of Princess Jade Pearl. As long as they won the arena battle, the old monster still wouldn't get the First-Class Hall, and the matter was dropped. Both sides pretended nothing had happened.

Unexpectedly, Wu Chengyu suddenly appeared as a variable. Through a series of coincidences and schemes, Huogong Toutuo died, and the arena match was marred by biased refereeing and targeted tactics, yet Yangwu Guild still won.

So the emperor simply broke off all pretense of civility, on the one hand dispatching a large army to besiege the Remnant Dream Palace, and on the other hand completely abandoning Princess Jade Pearl. The so-called First-Class Hall was never actually handed over, and the old monster ultimately gained nothing.

However, it is clear that Princess Yuzhu is completely unaware of the royal family's trump card in their fight against the old monster.

Knowing that further questioning would yield no answers, Wu Chengyu simply changed the subject.

"Where did Master Canmeng obtain so many divine skills and techniques? As a martial artist myself, I am quite curious."

When this topic came up, Princess Yuzhu, who had been subconsciously influenced by Wu Chengyu, suddenly became excited and almost broke free from Wu Chengyu's control. After all, she was a martial artist, and she immediately perked up when it came to divine skills and techniques.

"My great-aunt was originally a princess of the Xia Kingdom, just like me. She was the daughter of Xia Yizong, the second emperor of my Xia Kingdom. For some reason, she married the leader of a martial arts force. This was originally unbelievable. How could a princess of a country marry a nobody from the martial arts world?"

More than thirty years later, she suddenly returned to the Xia Kingdom, revealing her unparalleled martial arts skills and helping the Xia Kingdom avert a calamity. After that, she lived in seclusion in the palace, rarely venturing out.

She seemed to neither age nor die; many years passed and she was still alive. Later, she suddenly reappeared, helping my father ascend the throne and then taking control of the Xia Kingdom's royal family.

She knows a lot of martial arts. She never tells me what martial arts she practices, but the Supreme Pure Yang Skill that she taught me can be called a top-notch divine skill.

Then there are the Tianshan Six Yang Palms, the Carefree Plum Blossom Hand, the Lingbo Steps, and so on. Apart from Wu Shidi's Wuji Xuanyin Gong, which she created herself, as far as I know, there are many other martial arts that she did not teach us because our skills are still shallow and it is not the right time for us to learn those martial arts.

Furthermore, she once said that she wanted to restore a true divine skill, which had been divided into four parts, and she only knew three of them. That's why she wanted to create her own divine skill to complete it. Once she completed it, she would truly become a deity, no longer bound by this mortal world.

At this point, Wu Chengyu finally confirmed the true identity of this Remnant Dream Master. He had actually guessed it before, but now the truth was finally revealed.

Emperor Yizong of Western Xia, whose full name was Li Liangzuo, was the youngest son of Li Yuanhao, the founding emperor of Western Xia, and the second emperor of Western Xia.

According to the background of the novel "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", Li Qiushui married Li Yuanhao as a concubine and was the birth mother of Li Liangzuo.

With such a highly skilled mother, Li Liangzuo's eventual ascension to the throne was inevitable. It's likely that all his older brothers were assassinated by Li Qiushui, just like the current emperor's ascension process.

Li Liangzuo's daughter, Li Qiushui's granddaughter, the most legitimate princess of Western Xia, married a江湖草莽 (jianghu grass-dwelling rogue)?

So, isn't this Remnant Dream Master the Western Xia princess who married Xu Zhu? Wu Chengyu can't remember if her name appears in the original novel of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. In any case, according to the role, she was just a minor character with a few lines.

The only thing that truly makes her memorable is how Xu Zhu addresses her: Meng Gu.

Aside from the time when the Western Xia court sought a husband, attracting suitors like the Tibetan prince, Duan Yu, and Murong Fu, Meng Gu only married Xu Zhu and went to the Lingjiu Palace in Tianshan. She never appeared again.

Therefore, Wu Chengyu had a very shallow impression of her and could hardly remember her. Now it seems that the so-called "Remnant Dream Master" is exactly the same as the identity of Meng Gu. The word "remnant" indicates that she did not recognize this identity.

This explains why Master Canmeng was able to inherit the skills of both Wu Xingyun and Li Qiushui. All of Wu Xingyun's martial arts skills were engraved on the walls of the secret chamber of the Lingjiu Palace in Tianshan. Xuzhu cherished this wife so much that, as the mistress of the Lingjiu Palace, it would be easy for her to see Wu Xingyun's inheritance.

As Li Qiushui's granddaughter, Li Qiushui's legacy was already hers to inherit.

Among the characters appearing in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, she is indeed the only one who has such a unique advantage; no one else has this condition.

(End of this chapter)