Chapter 323 - A Buried Truth (1/2)

Xiong Zhi glanced down. It seems like Linfeng could handle it alone.

”...”

There was an overwhelming silence that lasted for a long time.

The two older men were shocked to the core.

Since the very beginning, the Xiong Patriarch had passed down a decree to set the Zhou family free once the dynasty changed. Once the reigning imperial family changed. The Xiong family and the Zhou family gave much importance to their ancestor's will, and such a decree would be considered the highest order of importance. Any succeeding generations must adhere to it.

And yet...

”T-there's no... There's no such decree passed down...” Old Xiong managed to say after a while.

A few eras have passed. The dynasties have changed many times. Why was there no decree about this?

Old Xiong was both startled and confused.

”There's no decree...” he repeated again and again absently.

His old body trembled. He began pacing back and forth again, still in shock. After a while, he exhaled a heavy breath.

”We don't know if that journal was true. How can we make sure that you didn't make this up?” Old Xiong said with a tremble in his voice.

Butler Zhou was in a silent daze, frozen. He was still processing the truth he had read.

Linfeng watched them quietly and calmly replied.

”The Xiong Patriarch buried this journal in his friend's grave, the Young Master Zhou who was banished. He bought a piece of land privately, without the Zhou's and the Xiong's families' knowledge. In that island, he buried his friend and named the place after him.”

Zhou Min's eyes suddenly turned wide. He fished out his phone with a trembling hand. He had memorized all of the ancestors' names since he was young. The one who caused the Zhou family's downfall was engraved in his mind.

He typed to search, [Zhou Huang Te].

There was no record of a place named Zhou Huang Te in the results. However, after he scrolled down to the bottom, there was a tiny and obscure Huang Te island that popped up. With a trembling hand, he tapped on the link and read its history.

There was not much information showed. It was one of the early islands who was bought by a wealthy person ages ago. It was recorded in the early dynasties as Huang Te. Its name was never changed.

They… had never realized such a connection.

Zhou Min's heart palpitated. It was possible that this island was the island that the Xiong Patriarch bought for his friend.

His mind seemed to lag as he processed this information. After a while, series of questions popped up.

”How did you managed to track this down?”

Lifeng's lashes lowered, casting shadows on his cheeks. He answered his father in a quiet voice.

”Since young, I always wondered what happened to the first Zhou who had caused all of this. I know that many other in our family had once wondered about this, too. But it seemed to be a forbidden topic. Aside from his name, he was never mentioned in our history. I happen to be obsessed in studying the history of the two families, so I never gave up looking for clues.”

Zhou Min knew about that. The young Linfeng never brought down the family's history book of the two families from his bedside table. It was his storybook before he slept. He remembered how the little child read the history book of their family avidly with shining eyes.

”It was clear in the journal of the Third Xiong Patriarch that he looked up to his father. The Zhou's journals always mentioned how great the Second Xiong Patriarch was. ” Linfeng's voice echoed in the hall. All eyes were on him.

”There was one time that I read in someone's journal which said that the Second Patriarch, when he was still young, was a friend to the Young Master Zhou, the cause of ruin, and that's why the Second Xiong Patriarch was extremely kind to the Zhou family when he had become the patriarch of the Xiong family. ”

”That was when I realized that the Second Xiong Patriarch and the banished Young Master Zhou should be very close friends, like their fathers had been.