The capital.
When Shen Xiao, the Marquis of Ningyuan, stepped through the gates of his estate, his face still bore the standard, polite smile he wore in court.
But the moment the doors to the inner courtyard closed, his smile vanished instantly, and his face fell.
“My Lord.”
The old butler hurried forward to greet him.
“Go fetch Mr. Li,” the Marquis of Ningyuan ordered as he quickened his pace toward the study.
Mr. Li arrived quickly.
A man in his forties dressed in a simple green robe, he was a trusted advisor who had served the Marquis of Ningyuan for fifteen years.
As soon as he stepped into the study and saw the Marquis sitting behind his desk, rubbing his temples, he knew something was terribly wrong.
“My Lord, has something happened in court again?”
“The State Preceptor wants me to go to Zhenbei Prefecture.”
Mr. Li was taken aback. “Why go to Zhenbei Prefecture?”
“To propose marriage to the Divine Lady on behalf of His Majesty.”
The Marquis of Ningyuan recounted every detail of today's events in court to Mr. Li.
Silence fell over the study.
Mr. Li slowly sat down opposite the Marquis and spoke with careful deliberation. “My Lord, this is a treacherous path. The Eldest Young Master and the Second Young Master are currently serving under the Divine Lady. If you go to Zhenbei Prefecture as the imperial envoy to propose marriage, how are the young masters supposed to face her?”
The Marquis of Ningyuan slammed his teacup down with a cold laugh. “It is far worse than simply making things difficult for them. If I actually succeed in arranging this marriage, the very person my sons serve will be wed to His Majesty. When that time comes, my sons will surely face a bloody purge.”
“The State Preceptor is trying to force us into turning on each other!”
“My Lord, I fear it is even worse than that.”
Mr. Li's expression was tense as he lowered his voice. “Grand Tutor Xu is a smooth operator. He has always avoided getting involved in the power struggles between you and the State Preceptor, terrified of making a single misstep and losing his position. Yet today, he resigned on the spot. This is highly unusual.”
The worry in his eyes deepened.
“Perhaps the letters sent back by the Eldest and Second Young Masters are entirely true. There might truly be a Divine Lady descended upon the north, rather than some charlatan using the name of a deity to stir up trouble.”
If the one in the north was a true deity, then the problem was far greater than any mortal could bear. To propose marriage to a true deity, even if the proposal came from the Emperor himself, was nothing short of blasphemy! If that happened, and the Divine Lady brought down her wrath, no one in the world would survive.
The Marquis of Ningyuan leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes wearily. “From the look of it, this is an absolute dead end.”
He let out a heavy sigh.
“Whether I go or not, death awaits me.”
Mr. Li hesitated before suggesting, “Could you not follow Grand Tutor Xu's example and resign on the pretext of illness?”
But the Marquis shook his head.
“Do you know how many people died last month when the State Preceptor conscripted labor to build his so-called Star-Gazing Tower?”
A bitter smile touched his lips. “If I resign and walk away, there will be no one left in the Great Yong court to oppose those sorcerers. Guo Rong, the current leader of the sorcerers, is cut from the same cloth as Luo Daoqing. Without anyone to check his power, he will undoubtedly levy exorbitant taxes, tyrannize the common people, and stop at nothing.”
With that, he stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and paced to the window. His back looked solitary and unyielding, like an ancient pine clinging to a cliffside.
“The realm is currently in turmoil, and the land is devastated. The common people are like flickering candles in the wind, barely scraping by in the cracks of this world.”
He gazed out the window. “If even this last gasping breath is stripped away from them, how are they to survive?”
Mr. Li said, “My Lord, you have already done enough for the people over the years. This situation is simply out of your hands.”
The Marquis of Ningyuan turned around to face Mr. Li. “If I abandon the people to the wolves just to secure my own safety, how am I any different from Luo Daoqing? How am I any different from Guo Rong?”
His voice gradually softened.
“Whether they are merely surviving or living like ants, someone in this world must hold up the sky for them. Even if it is only to let them live one more day, or eat one more meal...”
Before the Marquis of Ningyuan could finish his sentence, the study door was kicked open with a loud crash.
“Father!”
Along with the rowdy shout, a fiery red figure burst into the room like a gust of wind.
The newcomer was a young girl of fifteen or sixteen, dressed in tight martial arts attire with a leather belt cinched around her waist, carrying a silver spear in her hand.
The sudden intrusion made the Marquis's brow twitch. Once he recognized her, his face darkened. “Shen Ying! You are a young lady. Do you have no sense of propriety at all?”
Shen Ying was not intimidated by her father's stern expression in the slightest. She sat down with casual disregard, grabbed a teacup, took a massive gulp, and wiped her mouth messily with her sleeve.
“Father, I was practicing with my spear on the training grounds just now, and I heard people saying you're going to Zhenbei Prefecture. Take me with you!”
“Big Brother promised to send me a new spear, but it's been over six months and I haven't seen hide nor hair of it.”
The Marquis's face was as dark as night. “I told you to study, yet you spend all day playing with swords and spears. Is this how a young lady should behave?”
Shen Ying curled her lip. “Father, don't you already know whether your daughter is cut out for studying? Besides, isn't it enough that we have Second Brother as the scholar of the family?”
“I truly do not know who you get this temperament from!” The Marquis felt his headache intensifying.
“Who else? Mother was highly educated, and since I don't have a single drop of talent for studying, I must take after you.”
The Marquis of Ningyuan: “...”
What did he do to deserve this?
Just as he was about to say something, the old butler's voice echoed from outside the study.
“My Lord, a messenger from the palace has arrived. You are summoned to court.”
Hearing this, the Marquis of Ningyuan and Mr. Li exchanged a look.
...
While the Marquis of Ningyuan was being urgently summoned to the palace in the capital, Yun Shu was not idling in the north. Using her newly acquired outfit piece, the Tide-Attracting Shark Silk, she brought water back to the northern wells that had dried up during the previous drought, providing clean drinking water for the common people.
Although she had purified all the rivers and streams in the north, they were ultimately not as clean as well water.
In the past, the people had no choice, but now that she had the ability to make their lives better, she had no reason not to do so.
“Host, why don't you take a break?” The little fox had been running around with Yun Shu, and watching her constantly channel water made it wonder if she was an tireless machine rather than a human.
Having filled yet another dry well with water, Yun Shu boarded her Floating Dream Celestial Litter and said to the little fox, “This is nothing. At least I have a carriage to ride in and tea and pastries to eat. My big brother in the peacekeeping forces had it truly rough. They had to wear heavy bulletproof vests in sweltering heat, routinely working over a dozen hours a day. And because their supply lines were so long, they often faced food shortages.”
With that, she turned her head, her gaze passing through the half-open window of the Floating Dream Celestial Litter to look down at the city below.
The streets and alleys were even more bustling than they had been yesterday. No longer were there refugees fleeing in panic. Instead, there were street vendors carrying shoulder poles, elderly women setting up tea stalls, and children chasing a bamboo dragonfly down the smooth cement road.
The clear water of the moat reflected the lush green weeping willows on both banks, their branches brushing against the surface and sending ripples across the water.
Watching this scene, Yun Shu suddenly recalled the last letter her brother had sent her before he died in the line of duty during his peacekeeping mission.
He had written:
“No matter how difficult some things are, someone must do them. Otherwise, humanity will never see the day of peace.”
“Host, what's wrong?”
The little fox interrupted Yun Shu's train of thought.
Yun Shu discreetly wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye and replied nonchalantly, “It's nothing.”
The little fox did not dare bring up Yun Shu's past life again, knowing those memories were painful for her.
“Oh, right, Host.”
“The Cultivation System wants to make a deal with us.”
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