“System, switch the monitor to Shen Jue and the others.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the image of the Governor's Mansion appeared on the system panel.
Yun Shu glanced over.
Amidst the shifting light and shadows, Shen Jue, Pei Du, and Shen Yu sat in the main hall, their expressions solemn.
“Since we cannot reach a conclusion through discussion...”
Shen Jue’s voice was low. “It would be better if I returned to the Capital with the State Preceptor to accept my punishment. Perhaps that will settle this matter.”
Hearing this, Pei Du shook his head. “General Shen, the State Preceptor has left the Capital in person and mobilized such a large force. Do you truly believe he is only after you?”
His voice was not loud, but every word hit like a hammer.
Shen Jue’s brow twitched as he raised his eyes to meet Pei Du’s deep gaze, which seemed capable of piercing through everything.
Pei Du continued, “Rumor has it that the State Preceptor by His Majesty’s side is an immortal reincarnate. General Shen, if you’ll forgive my bluntness, you are not qualified enough to make the State Preceptor move in person.”
Shen Jue: “...”
Ever since that night when he proposed breaking the engagement with the Pei Clan, Pei Du had been looking at him with nothing but disdain. His words were always barbed and filled with sarcasm.
After a moment of silence, he said, “Luo Daoqing is by no means an immortal reincarnate. He is nothing but a charlatan and a fraud!”
Having witnessed the Divine Lady’s heavenly abilities, looking back at the petty tricks Luo Daoqing used was simply laughable. How could someone like him dare to claim he was an immortal?
“You don't believe it, but His Majesty believes he is an immortal.”
Pei Du stood up and paced to the window, gazing at the faint outline of the Divine Lady Temple in the distance. His tone was as cold as frost. “Most likely, the State Preceptor has heard of the Divine Lady’s deeds and feels that she threatens his position. He intends to harm her!”
The Pei Clan of Heluo had been a lineage of high officials for generations, with five prime ministers coming from their single house.
According to the family’s original arrangements, he was supposed to enter government service after his eldest brother took over as the head of the clan.
Unfortunately, the imperial court was now a foul mess thanks to the sorcerers led by the State Preceptor. This forced him to temporarily abandon the idea of taking an official post, as he had his own ambitions and refused to waste his life in such an environment.
It just so happened that Shen Yu had sent him a letter inviting him to Xindu. Initially, he only thought of it as a casual visit.
Who would have thought...
The rumors of the Divine Lady descending to Xindu were actually true.
How fortunate he was to be able to see a true deity.
Even if he were to die now, he would have no regrets.
“No one shall be allowed to offend the Divine Lady!” Shen Yu’s voice rang out suddenly, forceful and resonant. “If not for the Divine Lady’s mercy and her protection of Xindu City, this place would have long since become an empty husk under the locust plague. No matter what the State Preceptor is planning, he’ll have to step over my corpse first!”
“In that case, there is only one option: battle. Xindu City has three hundred city guards; taking on ten men each will not be a problem.” A murderous aura, honed on the battlefield, emanated from Shen Jue. “As followers of the Divine Lady, how can we allow some petty scoundrel to offend her!”
From the moment they drank the first bowl of porridge bestowed by the Divine Lady, they had already consciously placed themselves in the position of her subjects.
In their hearts, their monarch was not the fatuous and incompetent Emperor Ling of Yong, but the Divine Lady!
When the sovereign is insulted, the subject dies. The Divine Lady was above all else!
Pei Du clearly shared the same thoughts as the Shen brothers. “The State Preceptor’s influence is deeply entrenched. His arrival this time will surely involve a massive mobilization. However, Xindu City is easy to defend and hard to attack. With you personally leading the troops, General Shen, and with the Divine Lady having the people's hearts, we might just be able to make the State Preceptor return empty-handed!”
The same determination was etched onto all three young faces. Without a doubt, they were all prepared to fight to the death without retreating.
Just then...
The sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.
Shen Er rushed in to report, “Second Young Master, many citizens have gathered outside! They say they want to see you; they have things to ask!”
Shen Jue and Pei Du exchanged a look.
Shen Yu, however, had already stood up from the desk.
“Brother, Zirang, you two discuss the city’s defenses. I will handle the matters outside.”
With that, he left the hall without looking back.
Outside the Governor's Mansion, a dense crowd of people stood together.
There were laborers and peddlers dressed in coarse short tunics.
There were farmers clad in hempen clothes.
There were even merchants who usually lived in comfort.
Their faces were all filled with anxiety.
“Look, everyone, Young Master Shen is out!” someone shouted, and the crowd immediately became restless.
Everyone looked over, their gazes fixed on the young man walking out from the gates.
He wore a moon-white robe and possessed a handsome, refined face, yet there was a steadiness between his brows that belied his age.
He was like a sword hidden in its scabbard.
Though he showed no sharp edge, no one dared to treat him lightly.
Shen Yu stood still on the steps, his gaze sweeping across the vast crowd below inch by inch.
“Everyone, why have you come here?”
“Young Master Shen, I’m just a blacksmith. I don't understand any grand theories. But I have a conscience and I know how to be grateful. Now that some villains are coming to harm the Divine Lady, I’ll be the first to say no!” A burly man dragged a cart forward and whipped off the cloth covering it. “This is all the iron in my house. I’m donating it all! I only ask that you don't let those villains offend the Divine Lady!”
These words were like a drop of water falling into boiling oil; the crowd instantly erupted.
Next, a plump middle-aged merchant squeezed his way out, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “I... I am Manager Zhao from the silk manor in the south of the city.”
He handed a heavy money bag to Shen Yu. “There are three thousand taels of silver here. Consider it a small token of my sincerity.”
A farmer carrying two bags of grain squeezed through and set them on the ground, saying gruffly, “Young Master Shen, I heard that fighting a war requires grain and fodder. I don't understand much, so I took it upon myself to bring two bags of grain from home!”
Shen Yu’s eyes gradually turned red.
He wanted to say something, but his throat felt as if it were blocked by something, and he couldn't utter a single word.
In the crowd, more and more people stepped forward.
One after another.
It was like a flood bursting through a dam; there was no stopping them.
Grain, money, cloth, ironware, medicinal herbs, and more were piled in front of the Governor's Mansion gates, growing higher and higher until they formed a small mountain.
Those things weren't necessarily precious.
But what they carried was the sweat from the palms of ordinary citizens, the rations they had painstakingly saved by tightening their belts, and the blood squeezed from their very bones.
What was most moving was that...
There were even people actively stepping forward to join the fight, even though going to the battlefield had been something everyone avoided since ancient times.
A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, as thin as a bamboo pole with the innocence not yet faded from his face, squeezed to the front. He craned his neck and shouted, “Young Master Shen, I might look thin, but I run fast! I can be a scout! I can deliver messages!”
“Me too!”
“I want to join the city guards as well! Without the Divine Lady, there would be no Xindu City. We cannot let villains offend her!”
“We can't have less courage than women! If that State Preceptor person dares to come, we’ll beat him back!”
More and more young and middle-aged men stepped forward.
At the moment they stood forth, there was no fear of the battlefield on their faces, only the determination to protect the Divine Lady.
When the people's hearts are won, great things can be achieved. When the people's hearts depart, ruin follows immediately.
At this moment, Shen Yu finally understood the weight of those words.
Watching the scene of absolute unity through the system monitor, Yun Shu’s eyes involuntarily turned red as well.
What a lovely group of people.
“Host, my eyes seem to be peeing.”
The system was sobbing uncontrollably. “Sorry, I might be a bit sexy... wait, no, I mean sentimental...”
Yun Shu: “...”
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