Chapter 14 Goddess Appearance and Inner View 2 (A couple of quick sketches)
The shops on Yun Street were bustling and lively. Agou delivered the letter to Duobaozhai. After eating the candy that Sister Liu had given her, she whispered in Sister Liu's ear, "Sister Liu, I saw Brother Lin and another sister eating together."
Liu Yao glanced at her, smiled, and tapped her forehead: "You're quite clever, but I can't get away today. Young Master Shen has brought that young lady over, and I have to go upstairs to entertain her later."
"Which Miss is it? I only know of one Miss Shen."
"She is Madam Shen's daughter. She came from Yunchuan to visit the old lady. I have never seen such a beautiful woman before. I don't know why I haven't seen her in previous years."
"Is that lady's surname Ming?"
Liu Yao looked at her in surprise: "How did you find out about this?"
Agou shook his head and said smugly, "It's a secret."
Liu Yao pinched her cheek: "Oh? Does our little shrew know which gentleman Miss Ming is to be married to?"
Agou's mouth dropped open: "Sister Ming is getting married?"
"The gold and silver jewelry that the Shen family prepared is clearly intended as a dowry for Miss Shen."
Ah Gou covered his mouth as he came out of Duobaozhai. Sister Ming is getting married! Doesn't that mean Brother Xiao's feelings were all one-sided and misplaced? Or did Brother Xiao already know about this, which is why he never expressed his feelings?
She returned to Baifeng Tower with a conflicted expression. Brother Xiao had come down at some point and was leaning back in his chair playing with his jingling magical artifacts. She glanced at him with pity. Oh well, Brother Xiao's temper was bad to begin with. Sister Ming should marry someone better.
Xiao Jingze narrowed his eyes: "What's with that expression?"
Ah Gou sighed deeply, then put his hands in his pockets with feigned seriousness: "Brother Xiao, you have a long road ahead of you. An unnamed master once said that one must learn to let go. You must not be so stubborn."
Xiao Jingze gave a cold laugh and reached out to grab her by the back of her collar: "Tell me what you've heard today."
Ah Gou swung in the air, closed his eyes, and shouted, "Sister Ming is getting married, Brother Xiao, you should give up!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the noisy hall fell silent. Everyone had different expressions. The two girls, who were originally pulling and tugging at each other and about to get up and leave, sat back down with subtle expressions after hearing this. They huddled together and whispered to each other, their eyes glancing in one direction as if they were not.
Xiao Jingze looked around and almost laughed in exasperation: "Where did you hear that? Why don't you ask who her fiancé is?"
Ah Gou looked at him with a terrified expression: "It doesn't matter who she marries, breaking up someone else's engagement is immoral! Brother Xiao, please don't do anything foolish!"
This time, even the whispers in the room disappeared. Xiao Jingze gritted his teeth and said, "Listen to me carefully, your Ming sister's fiancé is me. I am her rightful fiancé!"
"Young Master Xiao?"
Mingying heard these words as soon as she entered the gate. She looked at him in surprise. Shen Yichuan walked out from behind her with a gentle smile: "I have heard that Prince Xiao is flamboyant in his actions. Seeing him today, I can see that he is indeed extraordinary."
Xiao Jingze's expression stiffened. Looking at the innocent-looking child in his hand, he twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "This debt will be remembered by the young master."
Ah Gou shook his head frantically: "Sister Ming, save me!"
Mingying stepped forward and tugged at his sleeve, suppressing a laugh as she said, "Ah Gou is a child who speaks without thinking. Young Master Xiao is tolerant and will surely not hold it against her."
Xiao Jingze scoffed lightly: "Miss Ming is quite pleased with herself?"
Mingying looked at him with a sincere expression: "No, no, absolutely not."
Xiao Jingze let go, and A Gou quickly hid behind Ming Ying, muttering, "Sister Ming, is Brother Xiao really your fiancé? Why don't you find someone else?"
Mingying scratched her face: "Well..."
Shen Yichuan glanced around and said with a smile, "This place isn't very convenient. How about we sit down and chat? What does Your Highness think?"
"No need."
Xiao Jingze resolutely refused. As he went upstairs, he glanced at Mingying again and tossed her the object in his hand. Mingying reached out and caught it; it was the little bird whistle that he had taken last time.
She blinked, then looked up and Xiao Jingze was nowhere to be seen.
Shen Yichuan called her a few times, and Mingying came back to her senses, smiled and pursed her lips. Had she seen wrong? Xiao Jingze's ears seemed a little red.
——
Xiao Jingze spent two days locked up in Baifeng Tower, and finally managed to paint the face on the wooden statue. When it was placed in that small temple, it really looked quite real.
The statue stood quietly in the shrine, its body seemingly shrouded in a hazy light. Its gaze swept over the statue, then it slightly averted its eyes.
Agou was finally able to see the image of the deity. He excitedly ran into the temple, but when he looked up and saw her, he felt a sense of unease. He lowered his head and slowed his pace, but he couldn't help but look at her again and again. Why did she look like Sister Ming, yet she was as aloof, elegant, and distant as the bright moon?
Xiao Jingze leaned against the door, his gaze unfocused: "What do you think?"
Agou opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word. He then bowed deeply and made three earnest bows.
Xiao Jingze chuckled softly. The temple was silent for a moment. Mingying, with Qingniao by her side, stepped lightly into the temple. She looked up at the shrine. A person and a piece of wood, seemingly immortal yet not quite, stood facing each other silently across the dust and light.
This was the first time Mingying had seen her own statue. She suddenly smiled and asked, "Why are my eyes closed?"
Xiao Jingze turned his gaze to the mountains and forests outside the door: "I didn't have time to continue drawing, so I just sketched a couple of lines."
"I see—"
Mingying nodded and didn't ask any further questions: "I think you carved it very well, and I like it very much. So, after this is all over, could you give me this wooden statue?"
Xiao Jingze looked at her and said, "Do as you please."
Mingying smiled and thanked them. Seeing that the two of them didn't want to talk, she took out a letter from her sleeve and decided to get down to business first: "This is Miss Chen's reply. The Fengshui Immortal appeared during the floods in Xinzhou and Liuzhou. The number of Fengshui Temples increased rapidly that year, and it is very likely that someone was manipulating all of this behind the scenes."
She paused, then added, "If there really is a problem, then the flood disaster in Yuzhou should also be thoroughly investigated."
Xiao Jingze tapped his ring with an inscrutable expression: "This matter is not as simple as it seems. Since the breach in Xinzhou, the court has inspected the dikes and found that they were in disrepair for many years, and the flood was an accident. Liuzhou immediately sent people to reinforce them as a precaution, but they were just as fragile. An investigation revealed that the repair materials were incorrect, and it was just an oversight by the Water Conservancy Bureau. If someone was manipulating things behind the scenes, it would not be something that one person could do, unless that person is already above the Nascent Soul stage."
Agou asked in bewilderment, "If Fengshui Immortal is already a powerful figure, why would he do something that harms the people?"
Xiao Jingze's lips curled slightly: "Naturally, it's to appear as a compassionate savior during a disaster. What could inspire people's desire to seek divine intervention more than despair?"
Mingying remained silent, while Agou pondered, "But most of the people in the Huai River region either worship the Immortal of Fengshui or the Immortal Venerable. How can we let everyone know that there is another deity here?"
Xiao Jingze pointed at her with his folding fan: "I called you here so that I could entrust you with this important task. Little Smarty must know many suitable people. Go now."
Ah Gou's eyes widened, and he asked, holding his breath, "Then what are you going to do?"
The Sumeru Ring flashed, and Xiao Jingze tossed the wooden plaque in his hand: "I need to hang up the plaque first."
Mingying curiously leaned closer. The three large characters "Moon Goddess Temple" were carved in a flamboyant style, and it was hard to make out what they meant without careful observation. She looked up and met his gaze, her expression complicated: "You've even thought of a name."
This person has quite the leisure and refined tastes; she acts like a real person when she's just a fake deity.
After the plaque was hung up, it looked no different from an ordinary temple. Mingying stood outside the door, gazing at the completely different "Moon Goddess Temple," and then turned to ask seriously, "Then what should I do? There is already a Moon Goddess inside."
“Miss Ming should be very experienced as a fairy. Fairies don’t need to do anything; they just need to find a good spot to sit down and enjoy the view.”
“Young Master Xiao, no one will believe in a god who does nothing.”
Xiao Jingze looked at her and saw that she didn't agree. He clicked his tongue and pulled her to sit on the roof beam: "Then you can sit here and listen."
Agou quickly dragged in a child about her size. Looking left and right, she saw that Sister Ming and Brother Xiao were not there, and knew that they must have hidden somewhere else. So she took Ahu to the statue and ordered, "Alright, just make your wish."
Ah Hu was reluctantly summoned by her, but he didn't dare to speak loudly to her. He looked up awkwardly and stared blankly at the statue. Ah Gou saw his dumbfounded appearance and said proudly, "I told you, but you still didn't believe me."
Ah Hu sniffed, wiped his face shyly, and made a wish: "I... I hope to grow taller than Ah Gou."
Agou glared at him: "No way! You're not allowed to be taller than me!"
Ah Hu's voice suddenly grew louder: "What business is it of yours what I made a wish to the gods!"
"Then I want to make a wish too! Sister Ming—uh, no, by the Moon Goddess, I want to grow taller than Ah Hu."
"I wish I could grow taller!"
"I wish I were taller! What you said before doesn't count!"
Xiao Jingze leaned against the roof beam with his legs crossed, and tapped his folding fan expressionlessly upon seeing this. He had originally intended for Agou to bring a few followers of the Fengshui Immortal, but instead, he had brought an ignorant child.
Mingying smiled and her eyes crinkled with happiness. Xiao Jingze glanced at her and asked, "How does Miss Ming hope to have this wish fulfilled?"
Mingying smiled and said, "Didn't Prince Xiao say that I didn't have to do anything? Shouldn't Prince Xiao be the one to find a solution?"
Xiao Jingze chuckled softly: "My solution is—to do nothing. Since both of them wish to be taller than the other, but haven't said when it will come true, let's take turns. Since Agou is tall now, let's fulfill her wish first, and Ahu only needs to wait a few more years. With his natural talent, he will grow very tall by then."
"Would Young Master Xiao also resort to such clever tactics? If A-Gou grows up and finds out that A-Hu is taller than her, she'll make a scene."
Xiao Jingze stared at the open folding fan in his hand, smoothing the fan surface: "If you want Agou to surpass him later, it's not without ways, like having Ahu..."
Mingying interrupted him by pressing his fan: "Actually, their wishes will all come true when they grow up, because when Agou grows up, he will be taller than Ahu is now, and when Ahu grows up, he will be taller than Agou is now."
Xiao Jingze didn't continue speaking, and closed his folding fan with a half-smile: "Isn't Miss Ming's method quite clever as well?"
Mingying returned the smile: "Young Master Xiao, you should probably reconsider your terrible ideas."
The two children inside the temple were fighting fiercely. Mingying removed her hand from his fan and tugged at his sleeve: "I'm going down."
Xiao Jingze didn't want to get involved in the children's play. With a flick of his wrist, he used his folding fan to send Mingying flying down. Her sleeves fluttered upwards, and the isolation spell failed upon landing. The two stopped their bickering. Ah Hu, seeing the scene of someone suddenly appearing alive, stammered, "Help...help! A god...a god has appeared!"
Agou tapped him on the head: "Are you an idiot?!"
Mingying steadied herself, and a leaf blown by the wind landed on her shoulder. She gently brushed it away with her palm, picked it up, looked at it, and said with a smile, "What's the point of arguing? Do you want to hear some music?"
The melody was clear and melodious, the cicadas' chirping suddenly stopped, and Mingying sat under the tree with a thin leaf between her lips, playing a country tune without any spiritual power. Her eyelashes cast a small shadow under her eyes. Xiao Jingze leaned against the roof beam and listened quietly, then suddenly straightened up.
Someone is coming this way.
A note from the author:
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