Shen Yu knelt before the Divine Lady statue, respectfully kowtowing three more times before walking out with the plate of mooncakes in his hands.
The night wind brushed against his face, carrying with it the fragrance of sweet osmanthus.
He subconsciously pulled the plate closer to his chest, as if guarding some rare, priceless treasure.
Below the stone steps, a figure stood not far away.
Moonlight filtered through the branches and leaves, casting dappled shadows over his dark robes.
“Brother?” Shen Yu took a few quick steps toward Shen Jue, surprise clear in his voice. “Why are you here?”
Shen Jue stared at him intently. His gaze drifted from Shen Yu's face to the plate of mooncakes in his hands, then slowly moved away.
His expression was difficult to read in the moonlight, his features shrouded in a faint shadow. Only the slight tightening of his lips suggested he was holding back words he could not bring himself to speak.
Shen Yu and Shen Jue were biological brothers. With just a glance at his expression, Shen Yu could tell that Shen Jue was in an exceptionally foul mood.
As for why, he could guess a thing or two.
But when it came to the favor of a deity, no one would willingly yield it to another—not even to their own brother.
After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Brother, did you also come to the Divine Lady Temple to pay respects to the Divine Lady?”
“No, I was just passing by,” Shen Jue said, his voice as flat as a pool of stagnant water. “I saw you enter the temple earlier, so I waited outside for a bit.”
Noticing Shen Jue casting another glance at the small plate in his hands, Shen Yu had no choice but to hold it out to him. “Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I came to pay my respects to the Divine Lady. She bestowed a plate of mooncakes upon me, saying they were made by the Jade Rabbit of the Moon Palace and taste wonderful. Would you like to try one, Brother?”
Shen Jue did not answer.
He slowly raised his hand and gently brushed away the sweet osmanthus petals that had fallen onto his shoulder. His movements were deliberately slow, as if he were waiting for the inexplicable bitterness in his throat to subside.
It was a long while before he spoke again, though he still could not entirely suppress the faint trace of envy in his voice. “I come to the Divine Lady Temple to pay my respects every single day, yet the Divine Lady has never once manifested before me. You are indeed blessed.”
Shen Yu froze slightly, looking up at his brother.
Most of Shen Jue's face was hidden in the darkness, revealing only a tense jawline and tightly pursed lips.
He suddenly remembered that his brother did indeed visit the temple every day, dusting the statue and sweeping the courtyard...
“Perhaps I was just lucky. The Divine Lady happened to descend to the mortal realm for some matters today, so it was merely a coincidence.” Shen Yu pushed the small white jade plate forward a bit more. “Brother, life in the military is harsh. Why don't you take these mooncakes back with you?”
Shen Jue looked at the translucent mooncakes on the plate. The moonlight shone upon them, reflecting a cool, lustrous sheen.
“No need.” He turned and walked away with large strides, his cold, detached voice drifting back through the night wind. “Since they were given to you by the Divine Lady, you should keep them. Whether I eat them or not is of no consequence.”
Watching Shen Jue's figure recede into the distance, Shen Yu felt a vague, inexplicable sense of unease rise in his heart.
Knowing his brother as he did, he knew Shen Jue could sometimes be extreme and impulsive, easily trapping himself in dead ends of his own making.
With the reforms now absolutely imperative, he did not want any rift to form between them that might destabilize the northern region. That would not only betray the Divine Lady's trust but also bring disaster upon the common people.
Shen Jue flipped himself onto his horse.
Whipping his mount, he galloped away from the brightly lit temple without looking back, leaving Shen Yu standing there alone.
The night was late, and the streets were sparse of pedestrians. Most of the shops on both sides were closed, with only a few dim yellow lanterns hanging under the eaves, swaying slowly in the wind.
Shen Jue rode through two streets before pulling on the reins, stopping in front of a small tavern that had not yet closed.
The tavern keeper was bending over to clear the bowls and cups from a table. Hearing the sound of hooves, he looked up and asked, “Would you like some wine, customer?”
Shen Jue dismounted, casually looped the reins over the hitching post in front of the door, and strode inside.
“Pour me a pot.” He fished out a piece of silver from his sleeve, placed it on the counter, and said in a slightly raspy voice, “Make it the strongest you have.”
The tavern keeper glanced at him, turned to take down a black-glazed wine pot from the shelf, broke the clay seal, and poured it full with a gurgling sound.
The rich aroma of wine suddenly burst forth, its spiciness carrying an aged bitterness that made one's eyes sting.
Shen Jue raised the bowl and gulped it down in one go.
The strong liquor entered his sorrowful gut, yet it did not put out the fire in his heart in the slightest. Instead, it was like pouring oil on the flames, making them burn even hotter.
He closed his eyes, and that scene floated before him once more: the Divine Lady bending down, her fingers holding the small white jade plate as she handed it to Shen Yu, her expression gentler than he had ever seen before.
Across the street, Yun Shu held the little fox, watching Shen Jue drown his sorrows in the tavern with an unreadable expression.
The little fox looked helpless. “Host, the male lead's Favorability has started to fluctuate wildly like a roller coaster again.”
As it spoke, it suddenly caught sight of two figures. “Huh? Isn't that the dummy Fang Shuo and little Cui He? Why are they still in Xindu City?”
Cui He and Fang Shuo had originally planned to pack up and return to Chaoyang City after attending the worship ceremony on the Day of Divine Descent.
But once they arrived in Xindu City, they realized that Chaoyang City was far too lagging behind.
Thus, they chose to stay, hoping to learn more things to bring back and benefit the people of Chaoyang.
They were not the only ones with this idea. Xindu City had already become the political center of the north, and no other city in the world could match its prosperity.
Furthermore, they were all believers of the Divine Lady. If they stayed to learn Xindu City's advanced knowledge, the officials in charge of those fields would teach them everything they knew without holding anything back.
Aside from Fang Shuo, who was basically a mascot Governor for Chaoyang City, those who could become the Governors of the other northern cities had all undergone rigorous selection. None of them lacked brains.
Although all the cities were now connected by cement roads, shortening travel times by several folds, the journey was still exhausting. For them to make a trip to Xindu City was truly a rare opportunity.
Who would be willing to miss such a chance?
From a distance, Fang Shuo spotted Shen Jue inside the tavern. He recalled how the man had always disliked him, acting as if Fang Shuo owed him millions of silver taels.
Thinking of this, he had no desire to go over and invite snubbing, so he planned to pull Cui He along and take a detour.
Instead, he heard, “Fang Shuo, halt.”
To Fang Shuo's ears, this voice was no different from bumping into a ghost in the middle of the night and having it call his name. “Little Senior Sister, I must have spent too much time planting rice seedlings lately. My head is spinning, and I'm actually hallucinating. I thought I heard someone calling my name.”
“Let's hurry up and go, I'm exhausted,” he urged.
In Chaoyang City over the past few years, although Fang Shuo was the Governor on the surface, the person actually in power was Cui He.
After years of experience, she had long since transformed from the little girl who was so hungry she would raw-chew a fish into a young adult capable of protecting the city's populace. With solid, undeniable achievements, she had won the absolute respect and admiration of everyone in Chaoyang City, from the officials to the commoners.
If not for the fact that she was still too young and had not yet had her hair-pinning ceremony, Fang Shuo would have long since resigned from his post as Governor as he wished, gone to Yecheng to find his aunt, and lived the life of a lazy, laid-back slacker.
“Fang Shuo, General Shen is our teacher's brother. He is considered our elder, so you must not be rude to him,” Cui He said.
Somewhat reluctantly, Fang Shuo followed Cui He into the small tavern, pulling a long face as he sat down across from Shen Jue.
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