The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 43 The Opportunity Has Been Lost
That voice belonged to her second uncle.

He did not take up an official post, but instead devoted himself to studying and farming in the Confucian community, becoming a renowned Confucian scholar in Qingzhou.

Therefore, even without an official position, he still wielded considerable influence within the Han family.

Because he was cultivating the Han family's reputation and recruiting talent for them.

He was a renowned Confucian scholar in Qingzhou, and which student wouldn't want to become his disciple?

He was the representative of the Han family of Yidu in the Confucian school; which poor family wouldn't want to borrow his name?
So as soon as he said those words, Han Tang couldn't stop feeling desperate.

But she still didn't give up. After taking a deep breath and adjusting her mindset, she wanted to look up and confront her second uncle.

But when she looked up, she was even more shocked, because she saw her father, the highest-ranking official in the Han family at home—the Prefect of Qingzhou—looking at her with a face full of regret.

Once they both speak, there's no going back!

In her extreme anxiety, she hurriedly looked at the elders beside her, hoping to find someone to help her.

But the more this is the case, the more disheartened I feel.

The look in their eyes wasn't the support they wanted, but rather anger, mockery, incomprehension, and indifference.
Ah, powerful families, each with its own branches and factions, each with its own agenda, how can one person's opinion possibly be considered in unison?
Han Tang finally understood where her panic came from.

But after a brief period of despair, Han Tang was filled with endless shock and anger.

The Taoist priest's supernatural powers and the mountain god's divine manifestations—she witnessed them all firsthand. And what she strived for was all for the sake of the Han family's foundation.

They had already seized an incredible opportunity.

How can we just let it all go to waste?
So she stood up angrily, pointed at the ancestral tablets of her Han family ancestors, and said:

“I know that my uncles and elders will not believe my words, but I, Han Tang, dare to swear before all our ancestors that I, Han Tang, have never uttered a single falsehood!”

"If not, then let our ancestors send down lightning to strike me, this unworthy descendant, dead on the spot!"

In this era, these words carry a lot of weight.

But Han Tang was greeted by her second uncle's deep voice:

"Han Tang!"

"Second Uncle, if you don't believe me alone, then the more than twenty guards and maids I brought back can all testify that what I saw last night was not just my fabrication!"

But it would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it; as soon as she did, her father's expression changed instantly, and he shouted:
"Quickly detain all those people. No one is allowed to visit them without my permission. No, that's not right. Detain everyone who has been in contact with them as well!"

The guards outside immediately left.

Han Tang exclaimed in surprise:
"Father! Don't you believe your daughter at all?"

"Who knows what you've been thinking all these years since you left home? We know the Tang'er who never got married, not Han Tang who finally came back but is spouting nonsense."

An elder behind her suddenly spoke in a cold voice, his eyes full of mockery.

Han Tang recognized the other person; he was her great-uncle, who was supposed to replace her father as the head of the family back then.

What she didn't expect was that her usually kind and gentle great-uncle would suddenly say such a tricky and deadly thing tonight.

“Grandfather, I, Han Tang, am not a three-year-old child. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, how could I be so stupid as to not know what to say and what not to say?”

"Wasn't what you said tonight stupid enough? The civil unrest in the southwest is something the court is extremely wary of right now, don't you know that? And the Emperor has long been extremely dissatisfied with our aristocratic families, don't you know that either? Since you know all that, why are you spouting such nonsense?"

The aged voice suddenly rose in pitch, and the old man's withered fingers tapped heavily on the incense table, where the ancestral tablets of the Han family were enshrined, flickering in the candlelight.

Although he did not stand up, he was the most senior and prestigious person present.

When he got angry, all the members of the Han family bowed and apologized.

"Grandfather! I..."

The old man angrily interrupted her, saying:
"Han Tang, do you really think that the ancestral hall of my Han family can keep out the eyes and ears of others?"

Then, the old man, supporting himself on the carved armrest, slowly straightened up and walked to Han Tang's side.

He asked her, word by word:
"So, Han Tang, what exactly are you willing to exchange the lives of my entire Han family for?"

Han Tang hurriedly lowered his head and said:

"Whether it's right or wrong, the elders and I will know once we go!"

"Go where? Go where people can see that the Han family has been making a big show of seeking divine intervention? Do you know that you've put the Han family on the hot seat tonight?!"

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control.

Han Tang's father, the Prefect of Qingzhou, hurriedly interjected, cupping his hands in greeting:
“Uncle, we’ve watched Tang’er grow up since she was little, so I believe she probably really did see something last night!”

"Father?!" Han Tang was overjoyed, never expecting her father to stand in front of her at the last moment.

But a moment later, this surprise came to an abrupt end, just as it had come.

Her father glanced at her and said:

"I suspect that someone took advantage of the darkness of night to carefully deceive my foolish daughter, intending to use this to make a big fuss in front of the Emperor!"

The old man turned and glanced at the other person, who was the eldest son of the family head and the future leader of the Han family.

Clearly, he has more influence, status, and supporters than others.

Furthermore, if this matter escalates, it will indeed harm myself.

So the old man stopped talking, turned around and left, leaving with one last remark:
"Don't let me down, you future head of the family!"

As the old man passed away, his lineage, as well as those who were close to him, also departed.

Han Tang's father quickly bowed and said:
"Nephew understands."

Even after the other person left the ancestral hall, the sounds could still be heard. Han Tang's father stood up, his back to Han Tang, and said in a deep voice:

"Separate those people into different guards; I'll interrogate them one by one later. As for you—"

He turned around abruptly, his gaze like a poisoned needle, piercing Han Tang's face.

Strange and frightening.

"You're not going anywhere tonight. You're going to kneel before the ancestral tablets and figure out exactly where you went wrong!"

"Humph!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

Just as Han Tang's mother raised her hand to speak, the maid beside her turned pale with panic and grabbed her sleeve tightly, pulling her towards the door.

The gates of the Han Clan Ancestral Hall were tightly shut from the outside by the guards.

The light in the ancestral hall suddenly dimmed, leaving only the flickering candlelight before the memorial tablets. Han Tang opened his mouth, but the explanations, grievances, and resentment stuck in his throat surged into his heart like a tide.

Finally, recalling the cold, white faces filling the room, she could no longer hold on and collapsed in front of the ancestral tablets of her Han family with a "thump".

"This is clearly the foundation of the Han family's future!"

With a look of mockery in his eyes, Han Tang could only turn to his ancestral tablets and ask:
"Ancestors above, if the mountain god can manifest his power and the immortals can communicate with the gods, then why do you remain silent on such an important matter? Aren't we your descendants?"

Amid Han Tang's sorrow, she suddenly noticed that her ancestor's memorial tablet seemed amiss.

Why did one of the eternal lamps in front of the ancestral tablet go out?
Realizing what was happening, she hurriedly stepped forward.

Upon closer inspection, something was indeed amiss. The wick of the lamp in front of the ancestral tablet hadn't been blown out; it had been smashed out!

Moreover, this wasn't the only ever-burning lamp that was extinguished; the others have simply been relit. This was likely because people from all the different branches of the family had come to the ancestral hall, and the person who lit the lamps was in such a hurry that one lamp was accidentally left unlit.

As for the thing that extinguished the ever-burning lamp
Han Tang looked at the ancestral tablet in astonishment.

Emperor Gaozu didn't stand idly by; it's just that no one noticed?
As Han Tang discovered this, she suddenly realized another possibility.

She picked up the wick and compared its length to the rekindled wick.

Amidst endless bitter smiles, Han Tang discovered another thing that filled her with despair.

The timing of the ancestral tablet being lowered was probably just in time to coincide with the closing of the Qingzhou city gates!

Emperor Gaozu was not only reminding the Han clan here.

Emperor Gaozu even reminded her at the city gate!

The Han family's ship was too big to turn around easily, so the ancestors were telling her not to go home and to return quickly!
At that time, Han Tang can still continue this hard-won immortal destiny for the Han family.

But Han Tang, knowing full well that the Han family was large and each member had their own agenda, and that it was already too big to be left behind, still forced open the city gates and returned to the Han family.

She even used the prestige accumulated by her ancestors to open that door!
Having grasped the crux of the matter, Han Tang knelt before the ancestral tablet of her Han family's great-grandfather, kowtowing repeatedly and weeping:
"Ancestors, it is I, Han Tang, who am unfilial and incompetent!"

Amid Han Tang's wailing and sobbing, a barely perceptible sigh echoed within the Han Clan Ancestral Hall, where the eternal flame flickered.

Subsequently, the memorial tablet of Han's great-great-grandfather, located below Han's great-great-grandfather's tablet, cracked.

Immediately afterwards, Han Tang's great-uncle and father, who had already left, were both struck from behind!
One of them fainted on the spot after being slapped, and the other immediately called out to the assassin.

(End of this chapter)