Chapter 71 071 A marriage alliance between these two—is that even reasonable?! ...
At first, the celestial realm didn't pay much attention to the mortal ailment of tongue rot, after all, mortals were like ants, and whether they lived or died was not worth caring about. It wasn't until these mortal believers turned to the underworld, no longer worshipping gods but offering sacrifices to ghosts, that the celestial court truly became anxious.
The gods, who had been busy recruiting believers and had not participated in court assemblies for a long time, gathered together today, but they did not see the Heavenly Venerable Yuan Si.
"I heard that the Celestial Venerable has recently fallen ill and is in seclusion to recuperate. I wonder what the reason is, as I don't recall the Celestial Venerable ever being sick before..."
"Cough cough, how could I not be sick? That person is dead!"
Many people in the Heavenly Court knew about Yuan Si's past with the Ghost Queen Zhu Miao, and they all exchanged knowing glances, not daring to discuss it further.
"Alas, with the Celestial Venerable absent, how can we discuss the matter of the tongue plague in the mortal realm?"
"Yes, not to mention the Celestial Venerable, not even a Divine Venerable has come!"
"Why aren't they here? Isn't God Venerable Gongxin here? God Venerable Yuli is here too!"
"Oh, don't even mention it. What difference does it make whether Goddess Gongxin is here or not? Goddess Yuli is just a woman, and she can't even make important decisions..."
Just as the gods were discussing this, someone said, "The prince has arrived!"
When the Crown Prince arrived at the scene, the gods finally had a pillar of support and began to condemn the growing trend of mortals respecting ghosts but not gods.
Although Lord Lin Shen and Yuan Si are father and son, their appearances and personalities are completely different. Yuan Si has a majestic appearance with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, while Prince Lin Shen is more scholarly, refined and handsome but lacking in imposing presence, and even looks somewhat weak.
Before the Heavenly Pillar was severed, Prince Lin Shen was criticized for his inability to advance in cultivation and was considered unfit for the position. However, after the Heavenly Pillar was broken, the spiritual power of the gods no longer depended on their own cultivation but on their believers. Prince Lin Shen was kind-hearted and compassionate, and had a wide following among the people. As a result, his cultivation level rose steadily, and he is now considered a qualified successor recognized by the Heavenly Court.
Listening to the gods arguing below, Lin Shen kept his eyes down and listened patiently until everyone finished speaking and there was a brief silence. Then he said slowly, "This tongue plague originated from the curse of the Ghost Queen Zhu Miao. The people of the Ghost Realm are naturally more advantageous than the gods of the Heavenly Realm in dealing with it. It is inevitable that the pilgrims in the folk will be biased for a time."
"That's true, Your Highness, but if this trend is left unchecked, I fear it will lead to a great disaster in the long run!"
The Crown Prince raised his eyes, his narrow eyes carrying a gentle smile, "Then, according to everyone's opinion, what should we do?"
It is the freedom of pilgrims to choose whom to worship; we cannot force them.
"This calamity originated from the Ghost Realm. Our Heavenly Court should act on behalf of Heaven, wipe out the Ghost Realm, and eradicate all these evil and heretical sects!"
That's incredibly ungrateful. The Heavenly Court and the Ghost Realm have never known peace in all these years. They've fought countless battles, big and small, without ever clearly determining a winner, let alone wiping them all out in one fell swoop.
Such radicals generally don't get much attention, but times have changed.
A celestial being stepped forward and said, “Your Highness, now that the Ghost King Yan Lie has just died and the young ruler Yan Meng has ascended the throne, the people’s hearts are unstable. This is the weakest point in the Ghost Realm in thousands of years. If our Heavenly Realm takes advantage of this time to send troops, it is not impossible to completely wipe out all the demons and monsters.”
After this person, many other gods stepped forward to echo his sentiments. After all, compared to the defection of worshippers caused by the tongue plague, eradicating the demonic realm in one fell swoop would prevent future troubles.
Of course, while some advocate for war, others advocate for peace.
“Your Highness, although there will be some chaos during the transition between the two Ghost Kings, the Ghost Realm still has General Meng. As long as he is still alive, no matter how much the Ghost Realm stirs up trouble, it will not really be weakened. In my opinion, rather than the two sides fighting each other and suffering heavy losses, it would be better to adopt a policy of appeasement.”
The Crown Prince, now intrigued, asked, "Oh? What kind of appeasement policy is it?"
"Since the Ghost Realm is currently weak, they are probably unwilling to fight. Why not take this opportunity to propose a marriage alliance and marry the Ghost Realm princess as the Crown Princess, thus forging a friendship between the two realms and demonstrating the benevolence and magnanimity of the Heavenly Court?"
These words caused an uproar in the court!
Many gods looked at the brave warrior who dared to propose this plan, thinking, "Could it be that this fool hasn't heard those famous rumors? If the rumors are true, Prince Lin Shen and the princess of the ghost realm might actually be half-siblings!"
Is it reasonable to arrange a marriage between these two?
To everyone's surprise, this brave man not only ignored the warning glances from his colleagues, but also continued to work on the feasibility of this plan—
"Although gods and ghosts cannot marry, ghosts can also cultivate the divine path. We can send an envoy to the Ghost Realm to teach Princess Yanmeng. Once she successfully ascends to godhood, she can marry into the Heavenly Realm."
This person is either crazy or stupid...
The gods present secretly glanced at the Crown Prince's expression. They knew that when the Empress was alive, she hated nothing more than hearing the name of Zhu Miao. And now someone actually wanted her son to marry Zhu Miao's daughter. This was simply trying to anger the Empress so much that she would come back to life!
Seeing the gods' cryptic expressions, the Crown Prince smiled and said, "I know what you are thinking. As far as I know, before she died, the Ghost Queen Zhu Miao made a vow to use this matter as a curse. I think that these absurd rumors will be dispelled. What do you all think?"
The gods naturally agreed.
The Crown Prince asked the Venerable Gongxin, who was resting with his eyes closed, "Venerable Gongxin, what do you think?"
Gong Xin nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, startled awake by being suddenly called out, his eyes wide with confusion: "Huh? I think it's good, very good."
Everyone was used to Gong Xin's absent-mindedness; even Yuan Si Tianzun couldn't do anything about it, so what could Crown Prince Lin Shen say?
He then sought the opinion of another deity present: "Deity Yuli, do you advocate war or peace?"
The only female deity standing at the edge of the hall bowed slightly and said respectfully, "I believe that this depends on His Highness the Crown Prince's opinion, since the marriage alliance is also related to His Highness's marriage."
Crown Prince Lin Shen was slightly taken aback, then gave a self-deprecating smile: "As expected of the Divine Lord Yu Li, you still treat me as a person of flesh and blood. I am extremely grateful."
Yu Li bowed slightly again, his attitude neither humble nor arrogant, and stepped back to the side.
In the mortal realm, men are revered, and so it is in the celestial realm. Over thousands of years, only two high-ranking goddesses have been able to hold discussions in this celestial palace. One of them has already departed forever, becoming an existence that the gods deliberately avoid, leaving only the Goddess Yu Li.
Therefore, Lord Yuli kept a low profile and had a very small presence in the Heavenly Court on ordinary days. He became even more cautious in his words and deeds after Yumeng's incident.
Her words were a resounding statement, silencing both the pro-war and pro-peace factions.
Seeing that no one else spoke, the Crown Prince summarized the day's court meeting in one sentence: "I am aware of everyone's opinions and will report them all to the Heavenly Venerable. As for what to do next, it is up to the Heavenly Venerable to decide."
The gods all agreed, and only after the prince left did they withdraw in turn.
Three days later, the Ghost Realm received a letter from the Heavenly Court, which turned out to be a betrothal letter from Prince Lin Shen.
The woman he was proposing to marry was none other than Princess Yanmeng, who had just ascended the throne as the Ghost King.
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