Chapter 1513 (1512): The Grand Finale (Fifteen) [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
"That old man has done all sorts of bad things."
The third brother expressed deep sympathy upon hearing this.
"This is truly the pain of one's family of origin."
With one hand, she carried a bucket of mixed cement, while with the other, she grabbed a handful and slapped it onto the broken ends of the four pillars, smearing it haphazardly. Shen Tang gave her a warning look: "Be serious, don't do a shoddy job! I'll be the one cleaning up the mess if anything goes wrong."
The third brother said, "You're already being rude because someone's helping you. Why are you being so picky?"
Shen Tang was still counting on her to be able to use a trowel to do the work.
It's not a delicate task like mending the sky and sewing the earth; it's just filling gaps with merit, so it doesn't need to be too meticulous. Besides, at most a thousand years, this group of humans will be gone, so no matter how solid the continent is repaired, it won't be of any use. This repair only needs to last for a thousand years.
However, Shen Tang didn't like to hear these words.
She was clearly aiming to fix things to the standards of another ten thousand years, and she even justified it by saying, "You're going to build a shoddy project for your loved ones to live in just because you'll be moving in a thousand years from now?"
Third brother: "...No, that won't happen."
No pet owner would casually let their beloved pet live in a dilapidated house; they would definitely choose the best available to their pet.
The third sister shook her head inwardly; she had almost been dragged into a ditch by Shen Tang.
"He turned against you just because you protected your small tribe?"
"It's hard to say that there wasn't an element of my disobedience to Him."
Third brother: "...Be confident, it's guaranteed."
Shen Tang asked the third brother, "What was your reason back then?"
The third brother waved his hand, which was unidentified: "It's unbearable to recall."
She didn't really want to bring up those messy things from back then, anyway, she had quite a few grudges with Tiandao. Tiandao, that old idiot, was the kind of person who ruined his first child and then had a second. He used the lessons he learned from ruining his first child to raise his second, but the second child was also ruined by him, so he started raising a third... Other parents would realize they're not cut out for raising children after raising two or three, but Tiandao is different.
He was bursting with confidence.
I've leveled up my account to number ten...
Oh no, to be precise, it's the 11th.
Ultimately, He successfully used the lessons learned from Number One through Number Ten to spoil a good-for-nothing named Yaozu who was more trouble than he was worth. He hoped that this good-for-nothing Yaozu could inherit the family business, but Yaozu squandered the family fortune and almost killed Him completely.
What was that saying about mortals again?
What goes around comes around.
Over the years, the third sister had vaguely heard gossip about the Heavenly Dao being tormented, but she only wanted to stay away from everything related to the past. She wanted to be a couch potato and not get involved in the turmoil. However, she never expected that "...the tenth sister would actually be the one with the biggest temper."
They absolutely had to dig out the other nine people.
Of course, he wasn't going to poach them to be his slaves—in terms of fighting ability, Old Ten was at the bottom of the rankings, just like him. He dug up the others and messed with them purely to give the nine reclusive, lazy fish a shot of adrenaline, to rekindle their ambition, and to ignite their desire to settle scores with Heaven. He was determined to force Heaven to reveal its true strength.
However, this goal is not easy to achieve.
Once a Sage King, a special being, perishes, half of his essence returns to the Heavenly Dao. The advantage is that he lives as long as the Heavenly Dao, but the disadvantage is that his strength is reduced to half of his peak and he cannot improve further. If he were still at his peak, the Heavenly Dao would indeed have a chance of winning in a battle, but against ten beings weakened by the debuff, he wouldn't even have the slightest chance of winning. Shen Tang sometimes even suspected that this was the Heavenly Dao's deliberate arrangement, to prevent them from overturning the situation.
This is also the main reason why one has to endure being taken advantage of by Heaven.
If you can't beat them, you're guaranteed to lose.
Shen Tang: "This isn't called being hot-tempered, this is called being insidious."
Another word: LYB!
As expected of that cunning old fox who's invested all his points in intelligence, his persuasive words back then even swayed Shen Tang. Various factors combined to bring about this tribulation. Successfully undergoing tribulation under the watchful eye of Heaven is clearly no easy feat.
The third sister asked her a question that had been on her mind for a long time.
"...Speaking of which, although our original forms are all different, our origins are the same. We are all primordial energy that originates from the same source as the Heavenly Dao. Why is it that the tenth brother is much more cunning?" The tenth brother's original form is a fox, but his origin is the same as theirs.
There's no reason for such a large difference.
The Heavenly Dao household register has 100 hearts, with the Tenth Prince having 99, the others having 99 in total, and the Heavenly Dao and Yaozu still owing 98 hearts.
Shen Tang: "...Because the Heavenly Dao is unreliable enough?"
If parents are unreliable, their children are mostly reliable.
By the time it was Lao Shi's turn, the Heavenly Dao had already shown him considerable favor, though not to the extent of spoiling Yao Zu. Shen Tang hadn't heard him complain about the Heavenly Dao's morbid controlling nature. In terms of mental state, Lao Shi was quite sunny and cheerful. Ninety percent of the greatest suffering this old fox had endured in his life was caused by Yao Zu, and the remaining ten percent was due to his unfortunate and ill-fated Daoist partner.
The third brother pondered, "This answer must be the truth."
Even after the two of them reverted to their original forms to repair the Four Pillars, the entire process still took nearly half a year. During this time, Shen Tang gradually adjusted and unified her three thoughts. Only then did she understand what the fifth brother meant by that—Shen Tang really didn't need to worry about who she was or who she was; her obsession, as the most important core of her three thoughts, could naturally take the lead. Shen Tang naturally still remembered everything from her tribulation, but she needed to adapt—before the tribulation, Shen Tang had an indifferent personality, but during the tribulation, she had a completely different personality.
In the early stages of the restoration, she sent a divine message to Ji Moqiu to let him know that everything was alright.
Once the repairs are finished, I will return home and tell everyone not to worry about me.
This is not a long-term solution.
Qi Shan and a few others believed that Ji Moqiu, as a divine messenger, could communicate with Shen Tang, and that the messages he brought were true and reliable, genuinely originating from the Lord himself. Others might not believe it. Not only did they not believe it, but they also found it absurd, even suspecting that Ji Moqiu wanted to seize power through this deception—a wolfish ambition that had to be guarded against!
As time went on, even Ji Moqiu heard rumors circulating about it.
During his routine prayer, he spoke of his troubles.
He had a clear conscience, but he didn't want His Highness to be criticized.
Shen Tang responded with a divine message: 【Is that so? Hmph, they're really never quiet. Let them tell me on DingTalk themselves.】
Ji Moqiu relayed this divine message.
Qin Li: [That probably won't work.]
His scholarly way also has its limitations; although he doesn't know where the lord is now, it is certainly beyond his capabilities.
Ji Moqiu said: "There's no need to worry about that."
He took a small statue of a deity from his pocket.
He carved this while working overtime all night.
Qin Li: [...]
Those who received the statue were skeptical, suspecting that Ji Moqiu wanted to use the opportunity to spread his religion! No one expected that these unsettling rumors would vanish without a trace the very next day, leaving everyone looking pale and sickly. When Qin Li and the others inquired about the reason, they all stammered and gave vague answers.
I dare not say that they were severely scolded by the Lord in their dream.
Some people are willing to speak, but they find themselves unable to speak as soon as they open their mouths, as if some unseen force is preventing them from uttering a word.
Ji Moqiu said this is normal.
The time is not right, so some things cannot be said.
Fortunately, this incident stabilized the turbulent situation. The presence of Crown Prince Shen De reassured those in the know, while Qi Shan occasionally appeared in the guise of Shen Tang to appease the lower and middle classes. Life was much worse for the Central Allied Forces. First, their leader died mysteriously, followed by various natural disasters and strange phenomena across the land. The hearts of the people in the Central Kingdoms were broken enough to make dumplings.
If people are not united, their fighting strength will be insufficient.
Once on the battlefield, they naturally suffered repeated defeats.
Kangguo didn't forget that their lord had a branch company outside, and specially arranged for Lin Feng to take over it. Lin Feng himself had considerable prestige in the branch company, and with ample food and military support, the branch company was finally stable.
Even a broken bone is better than being buried on the spot.
With the two forces attacking from both sides and coordinating their efforts, they successfully crossed the river and joined forces in the third month after Shen Tang returned to his position to repair the Four Pillars. Xiahou Yu and the others finally saw their colleagues, whom they had never met but had long heard of.
Shen Tang: [Have you had any disagreements?]
Ji Moqiu said: "There shouldn't be any."
To be precise, the conflict was suppressed before it even had a chance to erupt. After all, the two teams hadn't had frequent and prolonged contact, and were essentially competitors, so naturally there were some misunderstandings and disagreements. However, Chu Yao and his group discussed it privately and leaked the information beforehand.
Regarding that list.
Branch offices account for a full 20% of the total.
In terms of seniority and merit, this is not quite reasonable.
It's not that we gave too little, it's that we gave too much!
When the central continent is re-divided in the future, the officials assigned will primarily be branch office personnel, with officials from other regions serving as supplementary. These are all tangible benefits, enough to silence everyone. Know when to stop; showing any further displeasure would be ungrateful.
Shen Tang: [Wu Hui and the others handled it very well.]
After saying that, he prepared to cut off contact and work overtime to repair the Four Pillars of Destiny.
At this moment, Ji Moqiu asked a question.
Will His Highness return?
【Um? 】
This question was asked on behalf of Qi Zhongshu and the others.
Qi Shan and the others knew that Shen Tang could use the statue to summon people into dreams to attend meetings and court sessions, but for some reason, they also brought the statue back, and in the past few months, they hadn't dreamed of their lord even once. They vaguely realized that their lord was deliberately avoiding them.
This speculation is alarming.
But they can't vent their frustrations yet.
I can only force myself to immerse myself in endless official business. When people are busy and have no energy to think about other things, they can temporarily forget and escape certain realities. Escaping is shameful, but it's useful.
Shen Tang remained silent for a long time.
So long that even the few people who had been surrounding Ji Moqiu and praying for him lost their faith. How could earthly kingship make the gods linger?
Judging from her decision to appoint a crown prince, she already had the intention to leave.
After a long while, Ji Moqiu heard a response.
Not only him, but everyone inside the tent heard it.
[...Don't rush us, keep going! Do you know how much work is involved in building four pillars? It's not just four roof beams!]
Those are the four pillars that support the entire continent.
Couldn't they calculate how big the four continents are?
Even a rank 20 Marquis, working tirelessly without food, drink, or sleep, would take a month or two to travel from the far west to the far east. One can only imagine the scale of the four pillars supporting such a vast continent. Shen Tang couldn't rush the work; she had to answer a multitude of inquiries every day.
She is only temporarily away from her post; she did not abscond with the money.
Is it really necessary to keep such a close watch?
Everyone: [...]
Hearing that familiar tone, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Having received a response, they couldn't press further about why they hadn't been arrested for working in their dreams during this period, since there was plenty of time in the future.
From its humble beginnings to its current state, Kangguo has been almost constantly at war, giving them ample experience in post-war reconstruction. While working to annex the remaining central territories, they have slowed their pace and devoted some of their energy to post-war reconstruction.
[Indecisive] Even without stopping, I'm still too busy to keep up.
They also need to find time to focus on the crown prince's early education.
On the day Shen De was born, a physician from the medical community came to examine him and was astonished to find that his bones and muscles were in such good condition that it was not something a newborn infant could have. Judging from his bone age, he was more like a one-year-old child.
They develop faster than others, and grow faster too.
In the first two months, you grow one year older each month.
It wasn't until the age of three that their growth rate returned to that of a normal toddler.
The Crown Prince's background and mind were both unique; unlike ordinary children who would cry out for their mother and father, he had difficulty speaking, yet he could understand many simple phrases. After some discussion, Chu Yao and the others decided to treat him specially during this special time, arranging classes for the Crown Prince to receive his early education.
We will begin formal instruction once the troops have returned to the capital.
Gong Xichou: [It's only been three months, no matter how you look at it...]
These cold-blooded and ruthless people are simply stifling human nature!
When there was no war, Gongxi Chou was in charge of protecting Shen De's safety; he didn't trust any other useless idiots. This crown prince showed him intense affection, staring at his braid from their very first meeting. He even considered sneaking a grab when Shen De wasn't looking.
Gong Xiqiu had anticipated this, but did not stop it.
In his view, how much strength could a young child have?
The final result—
Chubby Shen De chased after a python.
He uttered a muffled sound: "Snake, snake."
The chubby little hand was still clutching half a broken hair.
Gong Xichou: [Stop chasing!]
How could a young child's physical strength compare to that of a martial arts master?
Shen De's activity range didn't allow her to continue the chase, and she was secretly brought back by her personal guards after running only a short distance. Apart from crying once when she fell and hurt herself on the day she was born, she didn't shed a tear for a while afterward, which amazed people, who said that she was indeed worthy of being the lord's daughter.
This child's talent is evident in every aspect.
Two months later, he was able to express himself in short sentences.
Although the winter in central China is warmer than in the northwest, Shen De was still dressed up as a round, chubby bundle. Qin Li finished his lesson and looked up to meet her almond-shaped eyes, brimming with confusion, just like his lord's. His heart melted: "Does Your Highness have any questions?"
Children have a strong desire to explore the outside world.
After the lecture, Shen De could go out and play for a while.
"Shushu...Shushu?"
Shen De grew tall quickly, but his teeth didn't keep up. He only had five teeth in total, and he always drooled when he spoke.
"You mean Qi Zhongshu?"
"Books!"
"He went to lead his troops into battle."
We should take advantage of the momentum and clean up this mess with Qu Guo.
Shen De clearly didn't understand what leading troops into battle meant; she only knew that Shu Shu, who was supposed to attend class today, would only come tomorrow. She liked both Shu Shu very much. Qin Li accompanied her to play, or rather, play, which really meant Shen De riding a small pony or playing with a small bow that was about her height. A few steps away stood a target, and Qin Li squatted down, patiently correcting her bow-holding posture.
Shen De, who had just been pouting and frowning, suddenly pushed away Qin Li's unsuspecting hand and ran away.
Qin Li lost his balance and fell.
He refused to be helped up: "It's alright, go and follow His Highness."
Young children act on a whim.
As long as the child is within sight, it's fine; there's no need to be overly restrictive. He just hadn't expected Shen De, with her short legs, to run so fast that she couldn't stop and crashed straight into a wall. The force of the impact sent her sprawling to the ground.
A moment of confusion flashed across her small face.
Qin Li ran over, his steps becoming slower and more hesitant.
Several feet away, the figure in green smiled, bent down, reached under the child's armpits, and picked him up: "Whose child is this?"
(︶.︶)
Today is the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao). I wonder if there are any Gaokao candidates here?
(End of this chapter)
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