The Blue God could influence the wind and rain of the mortal realm, and could also influence the fates of mortals. Apart from resurrection, he could accomplish anything. Therefore, Ruyi did not understand what he was worrying about.

The carriage soon arrived at Lin’an, and Ruyi first returned to the Immortal Meeting Wine House.

The moment she stepped into the entrance, several people inside suddenly rushed out.

“You’ve finally returned!” He Tinglan excitedly embraced her, and Fuman also pounced forward to hug them both together.

Zhao Yanning followed behind them out, smiling as she grumbled: “The border battles were fierce – these two haven’t had a single good night’s sleep these past two months. Poor me, staying up at midnight to accompany them in burning incense and praying for blessings.”

Qingyi was also excited to come forward, but glimpsing the person in the carriage behind, he pulled back his hand and obediently stood three steps away from Ruyi to speak: “While the manager was away, we earned quite a bit of silver.”

Ruyi raised her eyebrows, glancing at the empty wine house hall behind them: “You still earned money?”

“Naturally not from food and drink.” He Tinglan released them and pulled Ruyi inside. “The location of our wine house – what we earn daily from food and drink can barely cover the shop’s rent. To truly earn money, we need the business in the back.”

Ruyi followed them inside and saw that half of the side rooms in the back courtyard had been converted. Inside was a table, a zhang long, with scrolls of case files piled beside it, along with some decorative items resembling judicial instruments.

She understood: “You’ve been taking on cases recently?”

“We never went out to advertise – people came to us with silver of their own accord.” Zhao Yanning brushed his sleeves. “It’s also my fault – my autopsy skills are indeed far superior to those young ones at the Ministry of Justice. Recently, we’ve solved several wrongful convictions. Well, I suppose we’ve lived up to our reputation.”

Seeing his smug expression, Fuman gave him an elbow and shook her head laughing. Then she brought over the case files for Ruyi to examine closely.

In just over two months, six cases. Zhao Yanning caught the suspicious points in the corpses, Fuman gathered additional evidence, Tinglan could present logical arguments, and Qingyi could provide protection throughout – these few people cooperated extremely well and were already receiving cases from ducal mansions.

After Ruyi finished reading the case files and looked at the circle of people waiting for her praise, the corners of her mouth lifted high: “Very well done.”

Several people were secretly delighted, still maintaining calm expressions on their faces as they surrounded her to put away luggage and then went to dine.

Shen Qiyuan waited in the carriage, and after a long while without seeing her emerge again, he couldn’t help but shake his head: “Never mind, let us return first.”

Supreme Lord beside him muttered: “A demon – what business does it have mingling so closely with mortals?”

Song Zhenshan asked with amusement: “Why can’t demons mingle closely with mortals?”

Supreme Lord glanced sideways: “Would you play with the roasted chicken on your dinner plate?”

To demons, mortals were no different from cooked, roasted chicken.

“Demons don’t necessarily need to eat people to survive.” Shen Qiyuan couldn’t help but say. “As she mentioned, they can also cultivate through incense offerings.”

Supreme Lord was dismissive: “Easy to say – those who can consume incense are all great demons capable of taking human form. But what about the lesser demons? To become great demons, wouldn’t they eat people?”

All living beings in the world possess the wisdom to take shortcuts. With easier cultivation methods available, no one would suffer through days and nights in mountain caves.

Shen Qiyuan fell silent.

Song Zhenshan glanced at him and spoke to smooth things over: “When will the Supreme Lord return to the Nine Heavens?”

Supreme Lord tucked his hands away: “No rush.”

Though he was merely a Supreme Lord, he was the guide and appointor for many celestial gods. His deliberate presence beside Shen Qiyuan meant that Shen Qiyuan’s accumulated merit was nearly sufficient to return to the Nine Heavens.

Song Zhenshan nodded slightly.

“Blue God above, I beseech you to protect Great Qian and help Great Qian recover the lost territories north of the Nine Rivers.”

The devout prayer reached his ears. Shen Qiyuan raised his eyes, his gaze passing over pavilions and towers to fall upon an incense chamber.

An elderly man past sixty with snow-white hair, wearing heavy armor, knelt before his divine statue and kowtowed heavily: “I beseech your protection.”

When he raised his head again, the old man’s eyes were full of tears.

This expression was nearly one of despair.

Shen Qiyuan pressed his lips together.

Unless driven to desperation, no one believes in gods and Buddhas. This old general knew very clearly that Emperor Qian’an would not continue sending troops to attack Great Xia, but his lifelong wish was to see Great Qian march north and reclaim all their ancestral lands.

Such sincere wishes he was obligated to hear, but soon other voices reached him.

“Blue God above, I hope the border conflicts will cease soon so my son may return safely to court.”

“Blue God above, please let my beloved return quickly from the Nine Rivers Commandery.”

When wishes contradicted each other, they could only be set aside.

Shen Qiyuan pressed his lips together, waved his sleeve to dismiss the visions, rested briefly at his residence, then changed into court robes to enter the palace.

“Beloved minister.” The emperor’s face was full of smiles upon seeing him. “The journey must have been truly exhausting – come quickly and try the palace feast I’ve prepared for you.”

The palace was magnificent, with silk and bamboo music melodiously pleasing to the ear. Dancing girls with silver sashes around their waists stood on tiptoe, waving their water sleeves, and crystal-clear glazed cups appeared even more gorgeous and rippling under the flower lamps.

Given this scene, Emperor Qian’an’s reluctance to continue warfare was understandable.

He glanced at the officials’ family members seated in the distance and bowed to the emperor: “When your subject departed, Marshal Liu entrusted me to inquire after his ailing wife.”

The emperor thought for a moment: “His wife… Lady Hu, wasn’t it? I heard from the Central Palace that her health isn’t very good. I’ve already sent imperial physicians to their residence. These past two months, there’s been no problem, but whether she can survive past autumn is hard to say.”

The implication was that if Marshal Liu continued marching north, he might not see his wife’s final moments.

Shen Qiyuan frowned slightly and looked directly at the emperor.

His eyes held gentle light and his complexion was ruddy, not at all like the somewhat dazed state from before, clearly having freed himself from Puhua’s control.

Indeed, Puhua could only bewitch him in dreams – as long as he didn’t believe, there was nothing to fear. This meant the current actions were entirely Emperor Qian’an’s thoughts.

He was exactly this kind of emperor, skilled at creating checks and balances.

Shen Qiyuan pressed his lips and offered advice: “Our army’s morale is like a rainbow. If we continue conscripting troops to march north, we could have a fifty percent chance—”

“Come, come, drink!” Before he could finish, Emperor Qian’an thrust a wine cup into his hands, saying cheerfully: “Look at the dancing girls below – they were all personally trained by the Central Palace. If any catch your eye, take them back to your residence.”

Shen Qiyuan lowered his eyes and sighed silently.

Songs and dances of peace and prosperity – here, there was not a grain of yellow sand. The fragrant wine swayed, enough to let one dream of golden ages and prosperous times.

However, as the banquet neared its end, Shen Qiyuan heard a loud “bang.”

Fresh blood seeped from armor, mixing with mud and sand on the ground, slowly flowing northward. Snow-white hair was scattered, covering that wrinkled, aged face. His hand gripped the sword hilt at his waist firmly, the loose skin on the back of his hand showing several straight, prominent veins.

Palace servants slowly gathered around, looking in shock at the red gemstone at the end of the sword hilt.