Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

"Hey, why is it me? Wait, if I beat him up, it's the same as you beating him up. To outsiders, isn't it all the same?" Lei Yingdian suddenly realized.

"Can I ask Aunt Zhaigong to beat me up?" Shen Liang thought that Hu Zhaigong was the weakest.

"You haven't even gone to Liyue yet and you've already decided to come back empty-handed?" Lei Movie was speechless.

"In short, the War of Kanria hasn't even started yet, but there's no need to drag the next generation into this utterly boring war. Liang'er, it's enough for you to go to Liyue to study. Even a strong place like Liyue is unlikely to be affected by the turmoil in Kanria. You can spend your youth peacefully there. And five years later, when you return in glory, Liang'er, then you can have a drink with your mother. I will listen carefully to your experiences over the years and also arrange your marriage."

As Shen Liang was listening, the last sentence suddenly took a sharp turn, and he was stunned.

“What? You’ll be over twenty in five years, Liang’er. Although you’re slow to grow, men and women can get married at fifteen. Can’t I postpone it until you’re over twenty?” Raiden said. “No need to argue. By then, you’ll naturally have a girl you like. There are many beauties in Liyue’s Ji Palace. If you can’t win the hearts of the women of Liyue, you’ll be unworthy of being the Queen Mother’s son.”

"What do you mean by 'in vain'? Mother, you've never been able to find a man in your entire life..."

Lei Dian gazed at him with tender, loving eyes, and Shen Liang hurriedly hid behind the coffin.

"Let's get straight to the point. You're going to Liyue to study, but we also have tasks for you." Raiden glanced at his sister, and Raiden immediately understood. He slashed a purple-lightning slit behind him and slowly pulled out an exquisite wooden box.

“Currently, the turmoil in Kanria is just beginning. As the rulers, Shadow and I, like the chief gods of various countries, cannot leave our homeland without permission. Otherwise, Kanria's agents might notice this place and liberate the Beast Realm in Inazuma.” Raiden Shin's beautiful eyes flickered as she looked at the box. “Therefore, Shadow and I have always had an idea: to create an agent, to let this person experience life from a ‘non-god’ perspective, and finally return to Inazuma to become our greatest asset. Because we are gods who cannot leave, without experience there is no growth, so we need her as our ‘eyes and hands’ outside.”

"Huh?" Shen Liang scratched the long hair that fell down her cheek. "The Proxy... this box?"

“No, this doll is one I created myself, using my own bones and blood, and learning from Guo Beng’s mistakes.” Lei Yingdong opened the wooden box. “She has a body and her own consciousness, but I took away her ‘emotions’ so that she wouldn’t be as fragile as Guo Beng. In fact, I originally hoped that Guo Beng would leave with you, but Guo Beng doesn’t seem to be suited for long journeys; he’s extreme. But she is my most successful creation. Let her spend time with you, learn together, and ultimately she will become your greatest asset in ruling Inazuma.”

"A puppet that looks like a cannon?" Shen Liang's eyes widened at this news.

To be honest, Lei's movies seem a bit too obsessed with creating puppets. The collapse of the Raiden Kingdom was bad enough, but now there's another one? And just how much do you guys not trust me? You keep talking about me as the crown prince, yet you keep stuffing me with cannons and this puppet. Are you afraid that if you die, the shogunate will rebel the day I ascend the throne?

To be honest, the biggest obstacle to my succession isn't whether anyone will help me or harm me, right? The biggest obstacle is that Sister Ying and Mother might not live for many more years! We're both demon gods, look at Morax next door. Let's not talk about those abstract things, I'm prepared to be the crown prince for life, okay?

But when Shen Liang glanced at the wooden box, his mouth gaped open slightly, and he couldn't take his eyes off it. He quickly ran over, leaned over to the edge of the box, and stared intently at the doll inside.

Sleeping in the box was a little girl with long, dark purple hair, whose appearance was extremely similar to that of the Zhenying sisters. However, she was flat and petite, with a youthful and innocent look, as if Lei Yingdian had sculpted a child based on his own childhood appearance, and she looked about the same age as Shen Liang.

She wore a deep purple, off-the-shoulder kimono similar to the Thor sisters' usual elegant attire, but in a girlish style. Her slender legs were bare, without stockings. She was asleep, her body curled up, her hands hugging her knees. The small figure lay inside the wooden box, nestled in red velvet, like a piece of exquisite jewelry or other work of art.

Seeing Shen Liang's absent-minded look, Lei Yingdong gently curled the corners of his mouth.

She designed this doll by carefully considering Shen Liang's thoughts and prepared for it for a whole year.

“Her name is ‘General,’ not a code name, her real name is ‘General.’” Lei Yingdong’s slender fingers traced the delicate cheek of the little girl who looked exactly like her, a barely perceptible hint of envy flashing in her eyes before quickly disappearing. “If one day we were to retire…we would retire sooner or later. When you, Liang’er, hold great power in this world, you will need such a loyal and reliable assistant. From now on, she is yours. How she grows up, how she views this world, will all depend entirely on your education.”

"My...doll?"

“Yes, your doll. After all, a king can’t do everything himself; someone has to share the burden of his ideals. My sister and I can trust each other, but you can’t, so you should also have someone you can completely trust,” Lei Yingdian said. “In fact, she is my most perfect creation, forged from my own flesh and blood, but only a small portion of it was extracted, so she can only remain in the form of a young girl. You can think of the little general as a subspecies of a demon god; she has a portion of my fighting power, and she might play an unexpected role in times of crisis.”

Shen Liang knew he couldn't go to Liyue unprepared. Although Lei Dian and the others talked about training him and letting him go far away, they were actually reluctant to let him get into any trouble. The so-called Shogunate army offered no real security; this puppet was the real bodyguard, wasn't it?

They say they'll learn and grow with me, but isn't their real concern that I'll be killed or captured in a foreign land? The last one, the Thunder Kingdom Collapse, was called a "flawed product" but still had the fighting power of a great demon. This time, the little general is a "perfect product"!

"Thank you, Sister Ying! I love you!" Shen Liang leaned over the wooden box and reached out to touch the little girl's face. Then he saw the innocent girl open her eyes indifferently, her beautiful purple eyes meeting the boy's curious red eyes.

Extremely beautiful.

His eyes were exactly the same as those of his two favorite Thunder Gods, but unlike them, these eyes lacked the doting affection from above, the care of a mother, and the expectation of a successor. They held only indifference.

But Shen Liang was particularly fond of that kind of gaze, that pure gaze as if she were seeing the world for the first time, even if it was indifferent... Indifference meant that everything had not yet begun, that she was not a mother like Lei Dianzhen, not a master like Lei Dianying, not a continuation of any existing relationships.

She is just a doll that hasn't been colored yet.

Just then, the fox on his shoulder suddenly bit him. Shen Liang snapped out of his daze from the girl's indifferent gaze and realized that he had unconsciously reached out to touch her face. The doll silently watched the boy stroking her cheek, neither resisting nor moving.

For some inexplicable reason, Shen Liang suddenly felt that he knew someone similar. In a memory from who-knows-where, he had once warmed milk, put on a movie, and held a little girl who was equally indifferent, as if she had lost all emotion.

"Brother," the doll girl suddenly spoke.

Shen Liang felt as if struck by lightning and instinctively took a step back.

"Does she...she...do she have self-awareness now?" Shen Liang asked.

“Actually, the general certainly has one, but this is her first time using it. I haven’t instilled my personality into her, only my knowledge and memories, so the general hasn’t formed her own complete personality yet and may not understand your actions, which is why she’s keeping quiet.” Seeing that he seemed to like it, Lei Yingdong’s smile widened. “But it doesn’t matter, she likes you a lot and thought of you as her older brother the moment she met you.”

"You like me?" Shen Liang looked at the expressionless little girl and felt that there was no trace of emotion in her.

"Although she did not inherit my personality, she did inherit my memories. Even though she viewed my memories from an outsider's perspective, they still influenced her. For example, her aesthetic sense. In my opinion, the most adorable person in the world is you, Liang'er. So this preference more or less influenced her, and she naturally thought that everything about you was in line with her aesthetic sense."

"What kind of ideas have you been feeding them?!"

“A general’s personality needs to be shaped slowly. Right now, she’s like a newborn baby. Although she knows a lot, she doesn’t understand the meaning of her life. You need to actively teach her all the common sense and worldview she needs.” Lei Yingdong took the little girl out of the wooden box. The little general, who looked like her mother, stood there blankly, her little face still calm and indifferent, even more so than a blank slate.

"Are you going to take her away?" Lei Yingdong asked. "If you take her away, you'll have to take responsibility. She doesn't understand anything and needs you to take care of her. After all, she's a doll. She can't be activated without energy, so you have to keep an eye on her at all times... I know you're also a child who hasn't been out of being taken care of for long."

Shen Liang's expression was terrible: "I have to take care of a baby who can't even eat properly?"

"I'll still eat, the only problem is I won't know how to use chopsticks..."

Can I choose not to bring it?

"Of course there is. If you don't like it, I won't force you to accept it. You can leave the general behind, and I'll erase the general's memories from this activation and reset it. In fact, the general isn't fully completed yet. If it weren't for giving it to you, my personal idea would be to create a fully mature general, using my body as the general's vessel. Such a general would naturally possess the same combat power as me. What do you think of this plan? That way, I'll have a puppet exactly like me working for me. Anyway, it doesn't matter who it's for, so I might as well keep the general for myself rather than give it to you." Lei Yingdong observed Shen Liang's face gradually turning ugly, and the corners of his mouth turned up. "Of course, this is no different from killing the current general and recreating a new one."

Shen Liang's expression was terrible. At this moment, he saw the general standing there turn his head, his beautiful but lifeless eyes staring blankly at him, and then he said, "I don't want to die. I don't want to lose my memory at all. I want to be with Liang."

Lei Yingdian remained silent. She stood behind the general, arms crossed, smiling as she looked at Shen Liang.

Shen Liang looked at the little general's profile. Although this doll had no emotions whatsoever, it was unambiguous in expressing its thoughts. Shen Liang didn't know if she was afraid or had any other emotions, but he didn't want to delve into it. Under the watchful eyes of Lei Yingdian, Lei Dianzhen, and the others, he ran over, took the little general's soft hand, and pulled her behind him.

The general was about five or six centimeters shorter than him. He stood calmly behind him, straight and staring at the back of Shen Liang's head without expression.

Shen Liang stared awkwardly at Lei Yingdian, then pouted and said, "I didn't know Sister Ying would threaten people. I don't like you anymore."

“A puppet that lacks even basic common sense is obviously not a person, so how can this be considered a threat?” Lei Yingdong chuckled. “It’s just that Liang’er, you’re too kind. But it’s alright, we can leave the unkind things to the General in the future. Alright, stop making that face. The General is a beauty modeled after me. Liang’er, wouldn’t it be a visual treat for you to take such a page to Liyue?”

"How do you enjoy it?" Torachiyo asked, her mouth practically watering with envy.

Lei Movie smiled without saying a word.

"I originally wanted to go alone..." Shen Liang muttered, "Fine, one more mouth to feed is one more mouth to feed. Anyway, even if I refuse, you will definitely throw this guy at me. Sister Ying, you went through so much trouble to create him, how could you just take him back like that? You're just fooling me."

As soon as Shen Liang finished speaking, he felt the little general lean against his back, her body temperature and weight transmitted through the contact. The little general didn't have the voluptuous and tall figure of Lei Yingdian; her chest was flat, but still soft.

Ying glanced at her sister, and the two sisters smiled simultaneously.

"But since you've assigned me one person, I want one too," Shen Liang said defiantly. "You're not giving me a big ship and you're forcing me on a clueless idiot. You have to give me some compensation, Mother."

Lei Dianzhen had no choice but to lean against the wooden table and open his arms to gesture for his beloved son to come over. Shen Liang reluctantly sat down in Lei Dianzhen's lap, avoiding looking at Lei Dianzhen's face.

She couldn't help but chuckle. Seeing her son's body pressed against her, yet his expression still showed dissatisfaction, she lowered her head and gently kissed the boy's earlobe.

Shen Liang shuddered. Raiden Zhen always liked to use this kind of sudden stimulation to make him obey, and it was surprisingly effective. Apart from Raiden Zhen, no one else knew what his weaknesses were.

"Liang'er, be good, can you understand your mother? The familiar friends you want to take away are all important ministers of your mother. And although your aunts are all very beautiful, they are also old women who are hundreds of years old. What's the point of always being with them?" Lei Dianzhen smiled.

The others dared not speak out, and besides, if being a few hundred years old is considered an old woman, then you, sir, are over a thousand years old and still call her "Empress Mother" all the time. Why don't you call yourself "Grandma" in front of Liang'er?

Shen Liang clung to Lei Dianzhen's fair and tender shoulders, stared into his mother's eyes, and after a long while said, "I want the Divine Child."

The little fox on his back was stunned, then chirped and circled around him, excitedly coiling around his shoulder, and watching the lightning with him, looking on with great delight.

The Divine Child is the pet of Raiden Shin and Raiden Movie, a pink little fox with the bloodline of Shiro. Seeing that it was very intelligent, cute, and had fur similar to Yae Sakura, Fox Palace named it Yae Divine Child and gave it to Shin to play with.

Lei Dian never expected his son to make this request. He was both annoyed and amused. He grabbed his son's ear, hesitated for a moment, and then let go.

"Don't you know that the goddess is Mom's favorite pet?"

Since he referred to himself as "Mom" instead of "Empress Dowager," it meant that Raiden Shin had already given in. The little boy with white hair and red eyes finally smiled and kissed Raiden Shin's cheek hard. "It's precisely because it's Empress Dowager's favorite that I'm taking it! I understand Empress Dowager, so Empress Dowager should also understand Ryo-er. Hmph, if Empress Dowager loves me, then she should be willing to part with it!"

“Okay, then it’s settled.” Raiden Shin answered without hesitation.

The little fox stared dumbfounded at its former master, whose attitude had changed in an instant. But it was only dumbfounded for a second. The next second, it rolled its eyes and started licking Shen Liang's cheek.

Like pets, Yae no Miko and Raiden Shin are exactly the same – they show no sentimentality whatsoever.

So, that summer, the Crown Prince Inazuma, the Fire-Chasing Demon God, and the Lightning Ryo, at the age of sixteen, traveled to Liyue with a doll and a fox.

[There's another woman even more beautiful than your mother, the most beautiful woman in all of history, why don't you mention her?]

Okay, in the summer of that year, Shen Liang, sixteen years old, ventured into Teyvat with a doll, a fox, and a super invincible white-haired mature and beautiful girl.

----------

He came out of Raiden's bedchamber.

Since it was their last day in Inazuma, Shen Liang naturally spent the last night with Raiden Shin and Raiden Movie. After the gate closed, several great demons stood on the steps outside the inner palace, gazing at the moonlight.

"I still remember the day Liang'er was first brought back to the castle tower. He was so small, all wrinkled and not very pretty. When Zhen suddenly said that he would be her son, we were all shocked. We thought he was hiding a child from us... In the blink of an eye, he's grown up so much." Ling Shanfang shook the wine pot and gazed towards the desolate sea.

"Back then, we couldn't find anyone in the entire castle tower to breastfeed Ryo. We couldn't let this get out, or it would be bad for everyone if a scandal broke out. In the end, we secretly went to the kitchen to make goat milk. The dignified Sakura no Saigu, Oni no Chiyo, actually had to sneak away from the cook in the middle of the night to steal things." Torachiyo also looked at the desolate sea a thousand miles away. "Fortunately, Ryo is indeed a demon god. She grows as fast as the wind blows. In just three years, she has developed to this extent... It's just that she hasn't improved at all in the remaining years. She's just the same size as she was meant to be. It looks like she'll never be able to reach Reizenbo's chest in her entire life."

Ling Shanfang was a towering figure. As the leader of the Tengu clan, she was a renowned demon queen, standing nearly two meters tall. When she held Shen Liang, he could practically nestle in her arms, and if her clothes were lifted, he wouldn't even be visible, since he probably didn't weigh half as much as Ling Shanfang…

"It's alright, Liang'er's nutrition has all gone where it should," Ling Shanfang said calmly. "The most important thing now is what we did. We deceived him, making an innocent child leave his home and Daoqi. If we die, how will he face this fact when he returns to Daoqi? Just thinking about how he, as a demon god, has an immeasurable lifespan and will suffer endless torment... I will feel guilty for the rest of my life."

"You're already feeling guilty before you're even dead?" Fox Palace laughed.

"You can't feel guilty after you die, but feel guilty for a while first."

The three great demons couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Fox Palace continued, "So we can't die, not just for ourselves, but for Liang'er, and for many other things. Our lives are no longer just our own. Do you really think Liang'er can calm down and be his ruler after losing everyone? He's naturally playful and mischievous, and he avoids taking responsibility like the plague. This shows that he hasn't grown up... But I don't want him to grow up. Growing up comes at a price."

“I already understand,” Ling Shanfang replied. “I lost Sasa Baihe, who could have led the Tengu clan to glory. I can’t lose Ryo’er too. So I decided a long time ago to cover everything up for him. I will let Ryo’er be a carefree crown prince for the rest of his life. He will never be the emperor. That’s enough. May Shin and Kage live forever, and may Ryo’er and I live forever too.”

Even if you can only be the Crown Princess for your entire life?

"Fox, don't you just want to be the Crown Princess?"

"The title of Crown Princess sounds too young. I am different from you. I am still a pure young girl. My child in the future will definitely be Liang'er's eldest daughter."

Torachiyo and Reizenbo laughed dangerously, the two beautiful youkai grinding their teeth together. Kosaigu glanced at them, then turned away: "We don't even know if Liyue can resist the invasion of the Beast Realm. If even Liyue can't withstand those calamities, then Ryo'er in Liyue and in Inazuma... seem to be no different."