Chapter 293: Su Hanshans Secret! (2/2)

Ignoring the other party's gleeful and punch-inducing look, Wang Chong asked, ”Is that not it?”

”Hehe, you don't know, right? If I were to tell you the truth, you might just die of fright! In truth, the current Duke of Liu should have been Su Hanshan!” Wei Hao gleefully threw out a huge bomb.

”How could that be?” Wang Chong widened his eyes in shock.

He knew that there was a huge grudge between Su Hanshan and the Duke of Liu Residence, but Wei Hao's revelation was still a huge twist. This was shocking, especially considering that the news was provided by a member of the Duke of Liu Residence.

Wang Chong's first instinct was to think that Wei Hao was bluffing.

Wang Chong straightened his body and asked, ”Wei Hao, what is going on? Tell me what did you and the second young master of Duke of Liu Residence spoke about. Stop keeping me in suspense.”

He felt that he was coming into contact with the deepest secret behind Su Hanshan. If he could decipher this mystery, perhaps he might be able to open up Su Hanshan's path to becoming the greatest general in the empire.

The latter would be able to unleash the full extent of his potential, reaching heights he could have never dreamed of in his previous life.

”It's a long story. Initially, that fellow was extremely hesitant, and he was unwilling to reveal anything. Fortunately, thinking that Su Hanshan would tell you the truth anyway, he eventually told me everything.”

Seeing Wang Chong put on a grim expression, Wei Hao knew that he shouldn't kid around any further. Thus, he began recounting everything he heard in the tavern.

The grudges between Duke of Liu Residence and Su Hanshan could be traced back to three generations ago, when Great Tang was still under the rule of Emperor Gaozong.

Even though the Duke of Liu Residence and Su Hanshan's clan were mortal enemies now, the two were actually the best of friends back then.

Su Hanshan wasn't a foreigner, either. He was a bona fide citizen of the capital.

Emperor Gaozong was a rare emperor who possessed average capabilities.

His martial arts couldn't be said to be poor, but he was nowhere near the top, either. He could hardly compare with the current Sage Emperor.

Given someone of Emperor Gaozong's qualifications, it was natural that he would face grave danger before his ascension.

There was once when Gaozong met with danger, and in the midst of escaping, he fainted. It was Su Hanshan's ancestor, Su Feng, who found him at a timely moment and brought him out of danger.

Su Feng didn't tell anyone about this matter, except for his best friend, who was the ancestor of the Duke of Liu's lineage.

Gaozong was a rare sentimental type among the generations of emperor, so he decided to express his gratitude to his savior by conferring him with the position of a duke.

However, as Gaozong was unconscious then, he unintentionally mistook Su Feng's friend to be the one who saved him.

On top of that, Su Feng's friend was blinded momentarily by greed. Despite knowing that Emperor Gaozong had made a mistake, he still accepted the conferment.

On the other hand, Su Hanshan's ancestor, Su Feng, was kept in the dark throughout the entire matter.

When Su Feng finally found out about it, everything was already over. Fearful that Su Feng would expose the matter, Su Feng's friend actually ordered Su Feng to be incarcerated.

On the other hand, Su Feng had always regarded the other party as his closest buddy, so he viewed this matter as a huge humiliation.

Even though Su Feng's friend couldn't get past his conscience and eventually let Su Feng go, Su Feng still eventually died of anger and indignance.

This was also where the grudge between Su Hanshan's lineage and the Duke of Liu Residence first originated from. “The son avenges the father”: given the humiliation that Su Feng was put through and the overwhelming indignation he felt even at death's bed, how could his son possibly allow the Duke of Liu to get away scot-free?

Su Feng's son filed a case, and the matter eventually got to the royal court, but as the emperor's decree couldn't be retracted, they could only go along with the mistake.

Su Feng's son was given some rewards in compensation, but how could he possibly let this matter slip just like that?

Thus, a dead knot was formed!

Coming to this point, there was no longer any ground for reconciliation between the two clans.

After failing in his deed, Su Feng's son fled from the capital, and he passed down his will to his son, Su Hanshan.

And thus, this feud was passed on down to the third generation.

While the Su Clan was passing down their grudge generation to generation, dreaming of the day that they could finally exact vengeance, the Duke of Liu's lineage wasn't waiting idly for death, either. They also passed this matter down so that the later generations could prepare themselves for vengeance from the Su Clan.

Even though the Duke of Liu knew that he was at fault for this matter, he couldn't possibly allow the other party to put the heads of his entire clan into a guillotine.

Thus, the Duke of Liu Residence also retaliated.

Somehow, they managed to uncover the Su Clan's hiding place, and dispatched an army over, capturing Su Hanshan's little sister in the process.

Due to some coincidence, Su Hanshan wasn't around at that moment, so he managed to escape the capture.

Even though the Duke of Liu Residence had captured Su Hanshan's little sister, they didn't do anything to her. They fed and dressed her well, and even assigned maids to take care of her every need.

Other than the lack of freedom, her life was much better than how it was in the mountains. And the members of the Duke of Liu Residence also didn't dare to take advantage of her, either.

Actually, the intentions of the current Duke of Liu were simple.

Since the grudge between the two clans was a knot destined to never be unraveled, he would take Su Hanshan's little sister as a hostage. This way, Su Hanshan would have to consider twice before doing anything as extreme as his father.

While the Su Clan and Duke of Liu Residence could be considered enemies, their relationship was far more complicated than that. After all, the current standing of the Duke of Liu Residence came from Su Feng.

All of this was written clearly in the letter left behind by the Duke of Liu Residence's ancestor, so the members of the Duke of Liu Residence didn't intend to do anything to the young lady.

They still treated her with respect and politeness!

… And this was what Wei Hao had heard from the second young master of the Duke of Liu Residence, Li Nian.