Shen Yu had already read the secret letter and knew a thing or two about the situation, so he was not surprised when Pei Wanning brought it up.
“Brother, Miss Pei isn't lying to you. Father is indeed the envoy sent by the Yong Dynasty to propose marriage.”
Shen Jue slammed his fist onto the table. The teacups rattled, jumping and splashing water everywhere.
“I already sent a letter back to the capital, explaining clearly and plainly that the Divine Lady has descended and manifested, and that she is the only true deity in this world. Yet he actually didn't believe me!” His voice was hoarse. “And now he's getting involved in this kind of mess. He has truly gone senile!”
Shen Yu lowered his eyelashes slightly, his fingertips brushing against the edge of the secret letter. After a long silence, he said quietly, “Brother, if you were in Father's position and someone suddenly told you that a divine lady had descended to the mortal realm, altering land and sea with a wave of her hand, would you believe it?”
Pei Wanning added objectively, “General Shen, it is not that the Marquis of Ningyuan is foolish and stubborn. Rather, matters concerning deities are inherently beyond common sense. It is difficult to believe such things with just a few words.”
“As for the marriage proposal, as far as I know, the southern court is currently dominated entirely by State Preceptor Guo Rong. This assignment as the envoy might not have been accepted by the Marquis of Ningyuan of his own free will.”
Hearing their words, Shen Jue's lips trembled a few times. The raging fire in his chest seemed to have its firewood pulled away, and he fell silent in dejection.
He recalled that when he first heard about the Divine Lady descending to distribute porridge, he hadn't believed it either. He had even thought that Shen Yu's fanaticism toward the Divine Lady was the result of being drugged, which had clouded his mind.
Seeing Shen Jue's expression soften, Pei Wanning knew he had taken her words to heart. She softened her tone. “General Shen, now is not the time to act on impulse. The Child Emperor of Yong is personally coming to Zhenbei Prefecture, and the accompanying envoy is your father. You and I both know exactly what they are planning. They are counting on the fact that you and Second Young Master Shen will hesitate to strike for fear of harming your father!”
Shen Jue sneered, hostility swirling in his eyes. “He is gambling with my father's life to see if I will soften my heart!”
Shen Yu folded the secret letter, tucked it into his sleeve, and looked up at Shen Jue. His voice was completely flat, without a single ripple of emotion.
“Therefore, Brother, you cannot lead the army.”
Hearing this, Shen Jue suddenly snapped his head up.
Shen Yu met his gaze and said, word by word, “If you lead the army, the Child Emperor only needs to push Father to the front lines. Will you fight or not? If you fight, you commit parricide. If you do not, the army's morale will crumble, playing right into those villains' hands.”
A dead silence fell over the hall.
For a moment, Shen Jue was also speechless.
The phrase “placing justice above family” was too heavy for him to even utter. He could climb mountains of daggers and plunge into seas of fire for the Divine Lady, dying without regret, but he could not bring himself to kill his own father.
After a brief silence, he pursed his lips and said, “Even if I cannot lead the army into battle, there are still General Feng, General Zhou, and the other generals. We can't just sit here and wait for that little emperor to make a grand show of proposing marriage, desecrating the Divine Lady!”
Feng Chunya stood up and said in a deep voice, “This general is willing to lead troops south to reclaim the seven southern prefectures for the Divine Lady!”
The other military generals also stood up one after another, cupping their hands to volunteer.
“This general requests to go to battle!”
However, Pei Wanning picked up the teapot and poured herself more water. The sound of the flowing water was exceptionally clear in the quiet hall. “I'm afraid we cannot make the decision on this matter. We must consult the Divine Lady.”
“What do you mean, Miss Pei?”
Shen Yu looked sideways at her.
“The Child Emperor of Yong seeking to marry the Divine Lady is a presumptuous and arrogant act, which is indeed detestable. However, since this matter ultimately concerns the Divine Lady, it is not something we, her believers, can decide on our own.” Pei Wanning set down her teacup, her gaze calm yet sharp.
“Miss Pei is right,” Shen Yu said. “How about we go to the Divine Lady Temple first thing tomorrow morning to report this matter?”
“What if the Divine Lady is angered by this?”
Shen Jue was deeply worried.
“The wrath of a deity is like a thunderbolt,” Pei Wanning paused for a few seconds before continuing, “but the Divine Lady has always been fair. If the Marquis of Ningyuan was merely unable to disobey his sovereign's command and had no intention of desecrating her, the Divine Lady might not direct her anger toward him.”
Afterward, the group discussed the details of how they would consult the Divine Lady before returning to their respective estates, each carrying their own heavy thoughts.
...
The next morning, before the sky had fully brightened, the streets and alleys were still shrouded in a thin mist, but voices could already be heard on the long street outside the Divine Lady Temple.
The commoners gathered in small groups at the bottom of the stone steps in front of the hall, observing the situation inside, though none dared to enter rashly.
The temple doors were tightly shut, yet it was not dark inside.
Shen Yu and the others knelt on prayer mats.
Pei Wanning explained the situation in detail, reporting that the Child Emperor of Yong was leading the marriage proposal envoys and would soon arrive in Zhenbei Prefecture.
Finally, she kowtowed.
“O Divine Lady above, we, your believers, dare not make decisions on this marriage proposal on our own. We pray for your guidance.”
The hall fell silent for a long time.
It was so long that Pei Wanning could not help but look up at the Divine Lady statue, only to be startled by the realization that the stone statue's eyes seemed slightly brighter than before.
Her heart leaped, and she hurriedly lowered her eyes.
Before she could think further, a sudden gust of wind swept through the empty hall, pushing the prayer mats beneath everyone back by half an inch.
Immediately after, the flame of the ever-burning lamp in front of the Divine Lady statue suddenly shot up a foot high before abruptly shrinking back down, without spilling a single drop of oil.
A voice rang out within the hall. It was neither loud nor soft, yet it seemed to press down from all directions simultaneously.
“A marriage proposal?”
“A mere mortal king dares to covet a deity?”
The voice paused for a breath, and the temperature inside the hall plummeted.
“How bold.”
Pei Wanning lay prostrate on the ground, her back tense and straight.
She could feel an invisible, majestic pressure rolling over her like a tide, making it almost impossible to breathe.
Shen Yu managed to keep a relatively proper kneeling posture, but his forehead was pressed completely against the ground, and his voice trembled.
“Please appease your anger, Divine Lady.”
The people behind him woke up as if from a dream, hurriedly kowtowing and pleading in a chaotic chorus for the Divine Lady to appease her anger.
Yun Shu stood invisibly in front of the statue.
As she changed into the outfit she had coordinated beforehand, she asked the little fox, who was busy tapping away on its keyboard.
“System, are you ready yet?”
The little fox wiped its sweat. “Almost there!”
Since the preparations were not yet complete, Yun Shu had to play the part of an enigmatic deity, leaving the kneeling crowd waiting on the floor.
Fine beads of sweat broke out on Shen Jue's forehead. A drop slid down his nose and dripped onto the blue brick floor with a soft patter.
This was not the first time he had seen the Divine Lady show anger, but never before had it made his heart race with such sheer terror.
A deity is not to be desecrated!
Only at this moment did he truly realize this truth.
Just as everyone was filled with apprehension, a faint shimmer of light suddenly enveloped the Divine Lady statue.
At first, it resembled the fragmented reflections of moonlight on water, delicate and hazy, but the light gradually grew brighter.
Starting from the facial features of the stone statue, it spread inch by inch along the folds of the carved robes. Wherever the light passed, the cold stone began to turn as warm and smooth as jade, and as soft as silk.
Then, the Divine Lady statue came to life.
The stone-carved fingers curled slightly, and her fingertips lifted gently, causing the light silk ribbons hanging from her sleeves to sweep across the offering table.
The Divine Lady stepped down from her divine seat.
Her smoky-purple skirts trailed silently across the blue bricks, each step seeming to tread directly on the hearts of the crowd.
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