134: A mortal seeking protection

The nights in Yan Province Prefecture City were even livelier than in the capital.

The closer one got to the temple, the more people bustled about in an endless stream.

Many villagers, busy with work during the day, made time to come and worship at night.

Numerous vendors seized the opportunity to sell small trinkets, making the entire night market feel vibrant and full of life.

The old man selling candy, the peddler with his carrying pole, the young couple walking arm-in-arm... everyone's face was alight with a peace he rarely saw in the capital.

"Young Master, are you from out of town?"

The old man at the tea stall asked with a smile, "You've come at just the right time. If you wish to worship Lord Chuping, tomorrow is the first day of the month, and there will be a grand ceremony at the temple."

"I heard that a very important person from the capital will be attending this time."

"Lord Chuping has always shown compassion for Mortals. Every time, the offerings are distributed to the faithful who come to worship. Those offerings are no ordinary things; after eating them, even the sixty-year-old old woman next door gave birth to a child..."

"As for the young men, they have endless strength every night."

"Young man, you should come early tomorrow..."

In reality, it wasn't that the offerings were special, but rather the villagers' psychological effect.

Lin Chuping would bestow a wide-ranging Blessing upon the faithful during each grand ceremony. This ethereal thing called Blessing was imperceptible to the villagers, and this change always occurred after they had consumed the offerings.

Therefore, everyone believed that these offerings were divine objects imbued with Lord Chuping's Divine Power.

After being consumed by Lord Chuping, wasn't it perfectly normal for a trace of Divine Power to remain on them?

Completely reasonable, logically consistent.

Li Shun took the opportunity to sit down at the tea stall: "Elder, is this Lord Chuping... truly so efficacious?"

"Efficacious! How could he not be!"

The old man's beard bristled with excitement. "Ever since Lord Chuping struck down the Blood Fiend with a bolt of heavenly lightning, our Qingzhou has not been troubled by monsters. We actually fled here from Yan Province a few days ago..."

"Yan Province? From Yan Province?"

"Yes, Yan Province suffered a great drought, so we fled to Qingzhou. If it weren't for the drought, who would want to leave their home... But it's also a good thing; thankfully, we escaped quickly. As for those who didn't escape, I don't know what happened, but they all died..."

Li Shun's hand tightened around his cup: "Everyone in Yan Province died?"

As an emperor, he was unaware of such a massive event. Although Yan Province had always suffered from severe droughts, the imperial court annually distributed disaster relief grain. Hadn't this year's relief grain just been sent out?

Li Shun's heart was greatly shaken, and he suddenly had a bad premonition.

"Elder, when you were in Yan Province before, did you ever receive any disaster relief grain from the imperial court?"

Li Shun asked anxiously, but the tea stall owner looked at him as if he had seen a ghost.

"You child, why do you dream so much at such a young age!"

"It's good enough if they don't come to collect our grain."

The old man shook his head and leaned in conspiratorially: "I heard that those important people in the imperial court only care about power struggles and don't care about the lives of us common folk..."

"Bang!"

The teacup was placed heavily on the table, startling the old man.

Li Shun forcefully suppressed his surging emotions and managed a smile: "Sorry, my hand slipped."

After leaving the tea stall, Li Shun wandered aimlessly through the city.

Yes, after being emperor for two years, why was he still daydreaming!

The people of an entire province had died, and he knew nothing of such a huge matter.

Such dereliction of duty, such oversight, such misjudgment!!!

Hahahahaha!

If it weren't for years of upbringing, Li Shun would have wanted to howl at the sky right now. What kind of emperor was he, what kind of monarch did he claim to be?

Unconsciously, he found himself in front of the temple in the west of the city.

Although it was already night, incense still wafted around the temple, and many common folk knelt in worship on the steps.

He stood in the shadows, looking at those devout figures, feeling as if a stone was pressing on his chest.

As the ruler of the nation, he should have been the pillar that all people relied on, yet now he had to depend on a deity to protect his subjects... "Your Majesty."

A familiar voice sounded behind him.

Li Shun turned around and saw Shen Jianhong standing not far away, a look of surprise on his face.

"Minister Shen also comes to worship the gods?" Li Shun asked indifferently.

Shen Jianhong bowed: "This subject... was just passing by."

The two looked at each other in silence for a moment, then Li Shun suddenly said: "Walk with Us."

They walked slowly along the path behind the temple, and the surroundings gradually grew quiet, with only the chirping of summer insects dotting the night.

"Minister Shen,"

Li Shun suddenly spoke, "Do you think We are a good emperor?"

Shen Jianhong paused: "Why does Your Majesty say that?"

"Speak frankly, there is no harm."

"..."

Shen Jianhong took a deep breath, "Your Majesty is diligent and loves the people, but..."

"But indecisive, controlled by powerful officials, with ambitions but no power to realize them."

Li Shun interjected self-deprecatingly, "We know."

He stopped, looking up at the starry sky: "But this time, leaving the capital, We have seen so much. In the capital, We daily worried about how to balance various forces, how to consolidate imperial power. But here..."

He pointed to the scattered lights in the distance, "They only care if they can wake up alive tomorrow."

Shen Jianhong looked at the emperor's profile in shock, seeing for the first time the true pain in the eyes of this man who was always so unfathomable.

"Your Majesty..."

"Tomorrow's sacrifice, We will go personally."

Li Shun suddenly said, his tone resolute, "Not as the Son of Heaven, but as... a Mortal seeking protection."

Shen Jianhong's eyes widened, then he bowed deeply.

"It is a Blessing for the people that Great Yan has such a monarch."