Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 297 296 People Fishing or Fish Fishing People?
This time, Feng Xiuhu didn't even go inside the door.

He and Wan Laiqiu, like underground party members making a secret rendezvous, completed the handover of items outside the dimly lit courtyard gate.

Wan Laiqiu said that Feng Xiuhu brought flowers from outside into the courtyard yesterday, which displeased the Empress, who ordered him to clean the courtyard again from scratch.

These words reminded Feng Xiuhu that, in his memory, Wan Laiqiu always seemed to be tending to the courtyard, even carefully wiping the recliner where Feng Xiuhu had sat several times.

Feng Xiuhu secretly thought to himself that Feng Yu Niangniang might have a cleanliness obsession.
But upon closer reflection, Liu Ying'er doesn't seem to have these problems.

The night she took Liu Ying'er home, she deliberately waded through the water, showing no disgust at all.

He couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is the relationship between Liu Ying'er and the Empress?"

Wan Laiqiu glanced at him and reminded him, "Whatever the relationship, it has nothing to do with you."

Feng Xiuhu found the old man really annoying, as he spoke without any restraint.

So Feng Xiuhu insisted: "I am a god, can't you show me some respect?"

Wan Laiqiu's reasoning was quite sound: "I've never seen a god as shameless as you. Think about it carefully, what you've done is like something a god would do?"

Feng Xiuhu said defiantly, "What I did wasn't human either."

Wan Laiqiu was silent for a moment: "...You're quite self-aware."

As the conversation progressed, Feng Xiuhu suddenly remembered that the temple had been unusually quiet lately, a stark contrast to their previous attitude.

He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Vadrajo wants to convert officials to the religion, doesn't the temple care?"

Yesterday, almost all the high-ranking officials from the government came to the Great Hall to participate in the prayer. Regardless of whether they were sincere or not, the fact remains that they came, and it has been published in the newspapers, so the matter can no longer be suppressed.

But to this day, neither the government nor the temple has given a specific explanation, as if nothing had ever happened.

This is clearly abnormal. Just like how the Duke of Daguo relied on the church to support him, in order to maintain balance, the temple also had to support the government. So even if the temple didn't want to get involved, Mayor Yan Qingtian would take the initiative to go to the temple to make trouble.

Instead of the calm and tranquility we have now.

Wan Laiqiu smiled silently: "It should be managed, but it can't be managed."

Feng Xiuhu became even more curious: "Is there anything in Fancheng that you can't handle?"

Wan Laiqiu looked at him: "Aren't you Vadracho's student? How come you don't know anything about this?"

Feng Xiuhu was taken aback. How could this be related to him?
He humbly asked for advice: "If you don't explain it clearly, I'll dump garbage in the yard every day."

After considering it in his mind, Wan Laiqiu felt that Feng Xiuhu was capable of doing such a thing.

So he shook his head and began to explain.

"Because Vadragio chose the best time."

"This was a brilliant move, and it was beyond my expectations."

"Whether it was earlier or later, I could not sit idly by and watch him propose that officials convert to Christianity. But it is precisely at this critical juncture that I have no choice but to let him do it."

Feng Xiuhu asked, "What critical juncture?"

Wan Laiqiu replied, "The crucial moment when the fish bites the hook."

"The Queen has been plotting for a long time to catch that big fish. The Church is pressing forward step by step, the temple is retreating one after another, the war is provoking, the monks are being sacrificed, missionary districts are being divided, and the deliberate show of weakness is all to create the illusion that the Queen's faith is being eroded by the fog but she is helpless to do anything about it - these are all bait to feed that fish."

“Now that the fish has taken the bait, I can’t make any rash moves—and Vadragio is clearly aware of that as well.”

Feng Xiuhu had heard about the entanglement between the Wind and Rain Goddess and the Seven-Colored Scale from the Goddess herself, so he had long suspected that the Wind and Rain Goddess wanted to deal with the Seven-Colored Scale.

But judging from Wan Laiqiu's explanation, it seems that this is not just a matter concerning the Empress alone.

"Was that fish caught by the Queen and the God of Mist together?"

Feng Xiuhu asked tentatively.

Otherwise, there's no way to explain how the church and the temple, one advancing and the other retreating, cooperated so perfectly.

Wan Laiqiu lowered his head and remained silent, offering no affirmative answer. Feng Xiuhu's eyelids twitched; he remembered that mass of divine power.

This matter is probably not that simple.

Who is the fish and who is the angler? Only the Goddess of Wind and Rain and the God of Mist probably know.

Wan Laiqiu's silence spoke volumes. This was no longer within their scope of discussion. Feng Xiuhu had neither the right nor the ability to interfere; even asking about it would be a sin.

The two tacitly ended the conversation.

Wan Laiqiu dusted off his sleeves: "No need to see me out."

Feng Xiuhu bowed and took his leave.

……

"I feel like something's not right."

On the way back, Shi spoke in a low voice.

“I think so too.” Feng Xiuhu scratched his buttocks. “I think I’ve put my underwear on backwards.”

Shi paused for half a second: "...I meant the wind and rain."

Feng Xiuhu nodded: "What I said makes sense. Perhaps fog is more suitable as my underwear than wind and rain—it seems to be able to cover things up better."

Shi paused for half a second: "...You want to betray us?"

Feng Xiuhu shook his head: "It's too late. To this day, I have never seen what the God of Mist looks like, never had any contact with him, and know nothing about him. This means that I have no fate with him."

Shi was speechless for a moment: "So you really considered betraying us?"

Feng Xiuhu said matter-of-factly, "What difference does it make who I follow? If I had a choice, I would naturally prefer to follow the one with the better chance of winning."

Erosion countered, "What if the winner is Seven-Colored Scale?"

Feng Xiuhu was taken aback; he had never actually thought about this question.

Shi's tone was slightly sarcastic: "You think what I said was wrong was the mist? Actually, I was talking about the seven-colored scales."

“The unusual movements of the mist have been known to the wind and rain, and she will take precautions. What is truly strange is the seven-colored scales—it’s hard to say whether it is a person fishing or a fish fishing for a person.”

On the slope, Feng Xiuhu stopped and subconsciously looked back towards the dark port area.

He immediately realized what Shi meant by "strange".

“That’s right, merfolk have been appearing in Sail City far too frequently lately.”

“Mike also said that there have never been so many merfolk as this year. Even he could sense it. How could Vadrajo and Wanlaiqiu not know? How could the Goddess of Wind and Rain and the God of Mist not know?”

"The Seven-Colored Scales took the bait too obviously—as if it were afraid that the Goddess of Wind and Rain wouldn't know that it had taken the bait."

"What does this mean?"

Feng Xiuhu asked himself and answered, "That means he took the bait on purpose."

Why would someone deliberately take the bait?

Feng Xiuhu continued to mutter to himself, "Perhaps Seven-Colored Scale is confident that he won't be caught, but he seems too eager. It might be more than just confidence."

Shi sighed, "I'm in a bind, unable to move forward or backward."

Feng Xiuhu was awakened by those words, and a look of realization suddenly appeared in his eyes.

This is the Empress's current situation.

She ended up getting trapped in the very scheme she had created.

Shi Youyou said, "This is a battle between gods. My advice is to leave here as soon as possible to avoid getting involved."

(End of this chapter)