Chapter 215 Approaching the Divine (37)
And so, the War of Faith officially began.
Wen Xuanning struck first, advancing triumphantly and eliminating a large number of candidates.
But slowly, as the development of each city gradually stabilized, and the illusion progressed to the latter half, several more temples with faith values exceeding one thousand emerged.
For example, Ling Yuke, who had been steadily building her temple, became the third person to break through the one thousand mark.
And Lin Shuying’s power was not to be underestimated; this girl looked gentle, but her faith value, accumulated steadily, surged forward, even surpassing Ling Yuke soon after breaking the one thousand mark.
Following closely behind were Chu Shudu, Jing Hao, and even an unknown candidate, Gao Yisheng.
Regarding the former few, the officials could only exclaim that they were indeed among the top ten candidates on Yuan Zheng Mei’s hot list. As for this one, they could only praise him as a dark horse.
“It seems this person is particularly skilled at persuading others, especially elderly women; it’s no exaggeration to say he has a silver tongue,” Yan Xueshi said, watching Gao Yisheng eloquently converse among a group of women, somewhat dumbfounded.
These few candidates, precisely because their faith values exceeded one thousand and met the Grand Divine Official’s requirements for devout faith, were bestowed with the methods and raw Materials for building altars.
Suddenly, Hanshan Jun, who had been quietly contemplating, cried out in sudden realization, startling everyone.
“Yuan Zheng Mei! When you called out names in the courtyard before, was it for today?”
The others, for a moment, had not yet reacted to what Hanshan Jun was saying.
Yuan Zheng Mei, of course, knew, and chuckled, “Hanshan Jun is indeed clever and intelligent, truly worthy of being the capital’s foremost White-Clothed Young Master.”
Although there was no direct connection between the two, this indirectly admitted that Hanshan Jun’s conjecture was correct.
Connecting the dots, even the astute Ling Shangshu understood.
He nodded slightly and cupped his hands to Yuan Zheng Mei, saying, “Yuan Zheng, your foresight is admirable; I am impressed.”
Yuan Zheng Mei smiled faintly, stroking his long beard and laughing, “I don’t deserve such praise, I don’t deserve such praise.”
“Old Mei, you… you want to muddy the waters…” Li Shangshu finally understood, his brows slightly furrowed.
“But it also depends on whether they have the ability to muddy the waters,” Yuan Zheng Mei raised an eyebrow slightly, then stretched with a big yawn, “Ah, it’s already been fourteen, fifteen, sixteen days; it should be ending soon, right? It’ll be good when it ends, so I can go back to fishing…”
Yan Xueshi helplessly whispered, “Yuan Zheng… there’s still half the journey left…”
“That long?” Yuan Zheng Mei’s face was filled with shock, which didn’t seem feigned.
Li Shangshu, however, rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Quickly, someone speed it up,” Yuan Zheng Mei yawned, saying listlessly.
“That person must be Young Master Wen Shoufu. He’s already advancing towards the tenth city, and his faith value is steadily rising,” Hanshan Jun said, looking seriously at the constantly reshuffling leaderboard.
Since the War of Faith began, the leaderboard had seen survival of the fittest, with severe polarization: the excellent became even more excellent, and the disadvantaged became even more disadvantaged.
“However, what is that originally leading girl doing now?” Yan Xueshi suddenly remembered Liu Sheng.
Now, Liu Sheng’s faith value had already dropped to second, and once others completed their altars and began collecting surrounding faith, she would likely drop even further back.
“She… seems to still be farming…” Hanshan Jun also felt a bit helpless. Why was she still focused on farming at a time like this?
Everyone else had started waging war, yet you were still living a peaceful life, with chickens crowing and dogs barking?
“Her path is like this: starting with the people’s livelihood, and remaining consistent,” Ling Shangshu said, a hint of inexplicable admiration in his eyes, which he quickly concealed.
Alas, what a pity…
…
Meanwhile, the Princess in the imperial palace, seeing her son ascend to the top of the rankings, couldn’t help but sit up, a faint smile gracing her lips.
The Emperor, seeing his sister’s reaction, shook his head with a smile and said, “It seems you still care. And why wouldn’t you? After all, he is your son.”
The Princess playfully glared at the Emperor, “Brother Emperor, I merely…”
“Enough, enough, I won’t tease you anymore. However,” the Emperor also looked with great satisfaction at Wen Xuanning’s calm and composed handsome face, “this child is indeed a great talent, unfazed by honor or disgrace.”
At this moment, the Emperor’s face lit up as he checked a spirit message.
“That little girl’s dossier has been obtained,” he then called out loudly to the door, “Present it.”
Subsequently, a eunuch entered the hall, bowing his head and holding a thick book. From a distance, he performed a kneeling bow: “Reporting to Your Majesty, the dossier for thirty-ninth xuan candidate has been delivered, combining information from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue. Please, Your Majesty, review it.”
“Very good, present it,” the Emperor said, highly pleased.
The Ministry of Revenue held household registration information, allowing for tracing relatives, migrations, and past livelihoods and duties, while the Ministry of Rites contained academic records and performance from childhood onwards.
The combination of the two provided a comprehensive overview.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The eunuch held the book high with both hands, respectfully presenting it to the Emperor.
The Emperor took it and casually said, “Alright, you may withdraw.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The eunuch quietly withdrew.
The Emperor expressionlessly opened the book. A moment later, a hint of surprise escaped him, and then his expression became solemn as he continued to read.
The Princess, by his side, lowered her head, attending to the tea, seemingly unconcerned.
After a while, she slightly raised her eyes and casually spoke, “How is it, Brother Emperor? Have you discovered anything?”
“She indeed has some connection with a certain official of this examination.”
“Who?” The Princess lightly covered her vermilion lips, her bright eyes wide.
“Ling Fu.”
“Ling Shangshu? But they don’t share the same surname?”
“Ling Fu, originally named Ling Youpei, is precisely the elder brother of Liu Sheng’s mother.”
“This? Then why did he become Ling Fu, and I remember, isn’t Ling Fu from the Guanghai Ling Family? Wasn’t he the legitimate son of the then Imperial Censor?”
“Sister Emperor has a good memory; I almost forgot his father’s former official rank and grade. Yes, a third-rank official… However, he is from a collateral branch, merely adopted.”
“He’s not even a biological son?” The Princess found this quite a novel piece of information.
“Hmm… After he passed the examination for the National Academy, his uncle proposed that he be adopted under his name, as his legitimate son.” The Emperor and Ling Fu had a very close private relationship, especially during the time when the Emperor was still a leisurely prince; they almost called each other brothers, so he naturally knew many private matters.
“However, I do vaguely remember him saying he had a younger sister, but he hadn’t seen her for a long time. It turns out she stayed in a small place.”
The Emperor heavily placed the jade tablet on the table, looking at Ling Yuke and Liu Sheng, who were closely trailing each other on the faith value leaderboard—now one third, one fourth—his eyes narrowing in thought.
However, it seemed Liu Sheng’s faith value would soon drop to fifth.
…
Liu Sheng, naturally, was unaware of the many external evaluations of her, whether regret or praise, and it wouldn’t disturb her in the slightest.
She only wanted to do what was in her plan, such as her current settlement plan.
Now, after several days, Liantang Village had another harvest of grain, and finally, everyone in the entire city could eat their fill.
Before long, the variety of fruits and vegetables also enriched, allowing people not only to eat enough but also to obtain sufficient nutrition.
“Is this like cyber full, then cyber nutrition?”
“Hmm… why not?”
“I suspect outside, war is already raging, while we are still in Farmville…”
“Hmm… why is that bad?”
“Enough! I want to hit you!”
“Can you hit me? Hehe.”
Regarding the relationship between Ling Fu and Liu Sheng, some darlings seem to have guessed it very early, 666666