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

Those who entered saw Shen Liang in a thin white gauze nightgown. It has to be said that a nightgown is not much different from a nightdress, and the white-haired little princess, exhausted and sleepy after a night of tossing and turning, did look very cute and cuddly. Many people showed expressions of admiration, their gazes lingering on Shen Liang's bare feet, which were even more delicate and slender than a young girl's, beneath her nightgown.

Shen Liang, being a boy, was naturally oblivious to this. Only Fa Nan sighed helplessly, slightly frowning as he glanced at the others. Under the unfriendly gaze of General Luo Juan, the passersby quickly restrained themselves and ran into the room.

"Where is Sister Fa Nan going after her final exams?"

"Fanan is a graduate, so there are no final exams. As for where to go, the front lines are currently in a tense situation, but as a member of the naval forces, I wouldn't be of much use in the Abyss of Layered Rocks, so I'll probably just continue drifting at sea."

Are there enemies at sea?

"Given the current situation, it's highly unlikely, but we don't know what the Kingdom of Kanria might do. As General Luo Juan, Fa Nan needs to be able to enter the Yunlai Sea at any time to ensure national security." After explaining, Fa Nan asked, "What about Liang'er?"

"I don't have anywhere to go. I'll go back to Inazuma if I can. But since Mother has made me cultivate outside, it's unlikely that she'll let me go home after a short break. That would defeat the purpose of cultivation," Shen Liang said casually. "I probably have nowhere to go, or I can go anywhere."

He was overjoyed at the prospect of defeating the enemy.

Since there's nowhere else to go, why not go with her to experience life at sea?

The ship was her own private world, far from land and everyone else. By keeping the sailors and Liang'er at a distance, it would be easy to create a delicate world with only the two of them.

But to everyone's surprise, Alice beat her to it. The radiant blonde witch immediately hugged Shen Liang and said with a grin, "How about Liang'er comes out to play with me?"

Shen Liang remained noncommittal. "What are your plans after the final exams, Sister Rosalin?"

Alice scoffed. "Hey, what kind of plan could there be? Little Rosalind doesn't have much money on her. She's from Mondstadt, how could she possibly spend so much money to go back to Mondstadt for just two months of vacation?"

"Isn't she going home either?"

"What? You still want to stay in the dorm with her for a romantic getaway?" Alice said abruptly. She put her arm around Shen Liang's shoulder, pulled the little boy, who only reached her chin, into her arms, and then said with a mischievous smile, "You're dreaming. Rosalin has a boyfriend. He'll probably come to pick her up after the final exams so she can't stay in the dorm with you."

"Brother Rustan has money to buy a boat ticket to come here, but not money to take Sister Rosalyn back?"

"Oh, you know her? Ha, that girl must not want to use other people's money. You don't understand love, kid. In a relationship, one person will definitely not want to use the other's resources. That doesn't feel fair and equal. That's how it is in a relationship that you really value. Nobody wants to be seen as someone who needs to take from their partner."

"Really?" Shen Liang tilted her head in confusion.

Isn't it natural to ask your partner for things?

Shen Liang never felt that he couldn't give his things to his woman, and he didn't care even if he gave her everything. Do people who truly like each other care about such things? If he really liked her and she was all he could see, he would only think she was being coquettish no matter how much she asked for things.

Anyway, Shen Liang frowned and thought for a while, and felt that thinking about it from the other side also made sense. It seemed that when he asked those great demons to do something, they only showed a doting but helpless look, and then agreed without reservation. Even if they really felt it was too much, they would only ask it in a place where no one could see them. To be honest, they didn't seem to think that Shen Liang had made any excessive requests. But thinking about it carefully, Alice was right. Even though the demons indulged him to this extent, they really didn't give him much pocket money.

Alice noticed Shen Liang's puzzled expression. She understood and quietly pulled Shen Liang closer. She glanced at the frowning Fanan before whispering, "Liang'er, you don't understand love at all."

"I understand... I should understand, right?" Shen Liang herself wasn't sure.

"No, Your Highness, I know you have some doubts, so I have to make things clear to you. The older sisters you met in Inazuma may love you, but actually they are more about spoiling and submitting to you. They spoil you because they accept all your requests, and they submit to you because they actively ask for things from you just to make you happy." Alice smiled slyly. "Of course, you are the Little Demon God, the son of the Thunder General, so it's only natural that you receive this kind of treatment."

Shen Liang blinked.

"However, pampering and submission are also manifestations of 'love' developing to a certain stage. The key is you, Your Highness Liang'er. You don't understand what love is. You're clueless. In my opinion... you're still just a child."

Mistelin remained silent for a moment before finally speaking:

[Honey, let me translate for you. What she means is that you only know how to possess and conquer, but you don't understand the complex feelings others have for you. In other words, girls need to be cared for. You can't always treat her like just a good friend you can sleep with, even if she's willing, you need to develop some emotional intelligence.]

Shen Liang was even more confused.

Mistelin sighed, realizing that the environment of the past decade had shaped Shen Liang's values ​​in ways that couldn't be easily deconstructed. In his world, "lover" and "female friend with whom you have a lot of fun" were essentially synonymous. This was true for Fox Palace, Spirit Pavilion, and even Mikoto Chiyo.

Nowadays, the same is true for the rain and the rain.

He just wanted to have fun; he didn't care about the other person's lingering resentment.

[Trash.]

“But Rosalyn doesn’t seem to have admitted that he was her boyfriend,” Alice said.

“Miss Rosalyn didn’t say it, but after spending so much time together, I think we’re all familiar with each other. Mr. Rustan is just one step away from her, well, maybe we’re just waiting for Mr. Rustan to speak up.”

"I bet Rustam will confess his feelings when he comes to Liyue this year!"

“How come you see?”

"Hey, if I don't confess this year, I might never have another chance! Didn't you see the news? Mondstadt is also in trouble. The Knights of Favonius are recruiting to drive out the Beast Realm. Rustan is a vice-commander, and he's taking time out of his busy schedule to come to Liyue at this crucial moment. What do you think he's doing here?"

"Too."

Shen Liang lowered his head, thinking of Rosalin's cheerful and charming face, and hesitated for a moment.

For some reason, he felt that it was best not to tell anyone about the discomfort he was feeling.

However, at this moment, Shen Liang heard a sharp whistle. The whistle was urgent and piercing. He looked up and saw a crane moving at an extremely fast speed flash by, flying from the sky to the depths of the Ji Palace in the blink of an eye.

"That whistling sound... an urgent message from afar?" Fa Nan's face instantly turned serious as he looked at the crane flying towards Mount Aozang.

Shen Liang also looked over. Having studied at Jigong for so long, he naturally knew that it represented an urgent military report. Liyue was a vast country, and letters were usually delivered by fast horses, but the fastest horses could only deliver "800 li urgent," meaning they could travel 800 li per day. Liu Yun would occasionally lend her cranes, which would fly a thousand li a day with all their might, and there were even "3,000 li urgent" reports.

During flight, the whistles tied to the cranes' necks beforehand emit a shrill cry. The whistles for urgent dispatches of a thousand miles, two thousand miles, and three thousand miles are different. Anyone who hears the whistles must retreat and must not stop the cranes. Otherwise, if investigated afterward, no matter the reason, they will be killed without mercy.

"Military intelligence has arrived. What does Brother Jigong need us to do?" Fa Nan turned and rushed towards Mount Aozang.

----------

In the afternoon, in a small alley in Inazuma Castle.

The boy stood in the front hall, looking at the small house he had lived in for so many years. The dim sunlight streamed through the windowpanes, casting long, slender shadows on the shabby floor. Then, a stool suddenly came crashing down on him!

"Still looking! You're never going to stop looking! Didn't you hear me tell you to get out? I told you the adults of the Sanshou family have taken a fancy to this little courtyard. I gave you a whole day to move out, but you still won't. You really don't respect the law, do you?" The one who threw the stool was Tongxin, who was in charge of this street and was considered a part-time rent collector. At this moment, he sneered and stomped on the screen that had been pushed over, breaking it as he strode in.

"I told you I'd move out right now, why are you being so aggressive?" the boy said in a low voice. "Why did you have to smash up my house?"

"Don't you have a home? That 'borrowed scenery' mansion? Get out of here! I'm protecting you. If you don't leave, the general's order has already come down. If I see you on Narugami Island, I'll report you to the authorities!" The rent collector grinned, "To tell you the truth, brother, I've wanted to kick you out for a long time. You've always paid the lowest rent in all these years. I thought you were relying on some kind of status... Your Highness! Hahahaha! Let me tell you, I've been holding back a lot of anger. I haven't even bothered to settle the rent you've shortchanged me all these years!"

The soldier silently picked up the broken wooden box from the ground and opened the fan inside. This was an item that Lei Yingdong had once given him as a reward. Lei Yingdong had never lacked food, clothing and other necessities, but he rarely gave him personal gifts. He had never even used this fan; he had simply put it away in a nanmu box.

He glanced at the hut that had been completely destroyed by the group of thugs and couldn't help but chuckle. This was what it was like to lose power. These people had once respected and feared him because he was a big shot in the shogunate, a puppet, but also a puppet of the Thunder God.

But now he has been stripped of his official rank, and a notice has been posted at his door banishing him from Narukami Island, forbidding him from ever setting foot in Inazuma Castle again, with an order to comply within one day. These fools, whom he would never have given a second glance before, dare to barge into his house and smash his things.

"You want to die, huh?" The landlord kicked him in the back, making him stumble.

The soldier pulled down his hat brim, turned around, and prepared to leave. Just then, the rent collector suddenly grabbed a table leg next to him and smashed it on his head. "I told you, do you want to die?! It's already afternoon, and you still want to take your things? Put them down! The notice said you only had time until noon today. These things belong to the government now, you can't take anything with you!"

“This is my stuff!” The soldier touched his cheek, wiped away the red blood, stared at him, and said, word by word.

"I'm saying, Your Highness, the country is collapsing. I'll count to three. If you don't leave by then, I'll report you to the authorities and let them see if this really is your property." The rent collector laughed loudly. "Ah, this feels so good! I've wanted to beat you up for ages! What kind of look is that? After all these years, I've hated that kind of look the most! Who do you think you are!"

Chapter 84 At worst, Dad will support you.

The stragglers could barely contain their anger. After all, he was a creation of God. Even if he didn't have the power of a general, he had strength far beyond that of ordinary people. He even wanted to tear this arrogant and unreasonable beast to pieces right now.

But he couldn't do that. He knew that there was more than just this rent collector around. In the quiet corner of the alley, in the courtyards of ordinary people, on the second floor with the doors and windows closed, there were countless people from the Yin-Yang Bureau hiding.

Those people are watching him, and they will certainly keep watching him until he leaves Narukami Island. The Onmyōryō under Kitsai-gū monitors everyone in the shogunate, and they will pay even more attention to "outcasts" like him who are about to be purged. Once he makes a move, they will definitely seize the opportunity.

One could even say that the rent collector acted deliberately; he knew perfectly well that the stripped soldier had just been stripped of his official position and dared to provoke him—a risk no commoner should take. But what if Fox Palace had tacitly allowed his subordinates to kill him on some pretext? In Fox Palace's eyes, he might have already revealed something, but when he was still Thor's puppet, Fox Palace didn't want to cause trouble. Now that Thor despises him, killing him or imprisoning him in Shadow Mountain's dungeon might not seem like much to Fox Palace anymore.

The moment that announcement was issued, it proved the attitude of the gods. He was transformed from a "creation of the gods" that no one could offend into a "lowly thing" that everyone would willingly bully in accordance with the gods' will.

"Is this really what you want?" the stragglers asked themselves silently.

He didn't know how to answer.

The landlord watched as the once arrogant and disdainful young man silently put down his cherished fan, raised an eyebrow, and stopped his aggressive approach, watching him walk out of the room.

Just then, the half-closed wooden frame in the courtyard was suddenly pushed open, and soldiers in uniform rushed in with envelopes in hand. Seeing the stragglers about to leave alone, they shouted, "Wait! Please wait a moment, you... wait a moment!"

The stragglers suppressed their anger and turned their heads away.

However, the soldier seemed to realize something, and his attitude became respectful again. He quickly stepped forward and handed over the envelope, but before he could get it, the rent collector snatched it away, grinned, pulled out the letter, and began to read: "Your Highness Lei Dapao..."

His expression froze instantly, turning from mockery to cold sweat. He decisively handed the letter back to the stragglers.

The soldier was taken aback. The man's sudden awe gave him a strange feeling. Logically speaking, he usually didn't receive any letters from anyone except for the shogunate's announcements. He didn't know anyone in Inazuma at all.

He looked down and found that it was a familiar handwriting, Shen Liang's elegant Imperial True Script, delicate and beautiful yet with firm strokes, exuding the supreme and noble aura of the Empress, and was Lei Dianzhen's direct disciple.

"I haven't heard any news from you lately, and now I know you're leaving. I'm thousands of miles away from you all, and I asked my mother and Sister Ying for the reason, but their answer might not be until a few days later, by which time you'll have already left Inazuma. Tsk, if I were here, I would definitely have stopped you, and things wouldn't have come to this."

But so be it. You've never really been interested in the Shogunate anyway, just like when we played together back then. We're both looking outwards, but I just want to go out and have some fun, while you're thinking about so many things I don't understand. If you have your own plans, then go for it.

But if you have nowhere to go, how about trying Liyue? I'm doing pretty well in Liyue. Although I don't have much money to rent a place in Liyue Harbor, it's a vast and resource-rich place where every piece of land is fertile. In the villages outside Liyue Harbor, you can easily cultivate a piece of land and settle down without paying for it; they'll only collect taxes after you've lived there for several years. How about it? If you come, I can lend you a hand.

Liyue is far more prosperous than our Inazuma. Even a random village there wouldn't be bad. Once I've made some money, I'll open a clothing store or restaurant in the city. I guarantee I'll quickly become one of Liyue's top businessmen. You probably don't understand what it means to have a business mind a thousand years ahead of its time. You call me "Dad," and I'll take care of you. Even if you're useless, you won't starve.

Oh, by the way, this was sent by telegram, not a letter, so don't ask why I can't send you some money; you probably don't need it. Once you're settled in somewhere else, remember to write to me to let me know you're safe and sound. You absolutely must remember, understand? I've been gone for six months and you haven't sent me a single letter. I feel like you don't consider me a friend anymore.”

The letter was signed "Thunder and Lightning Cool," and the paper was freshly written; the ink was still warm. It was probably because of the sender's distinguished status that the telegraph office guessed the recipient was about to leave and immediately dispatched someone.

At this moment, the rent collector next to him carefully placed the fan on the chair beside him, forcing a smile, "This...that person is, His Highness Liang, right? I didn't expect you to have..."

The stragglers gripped the letter tightly, crumpling it into a mess.

The rent collector hurriedly put down the Mora or other valuables he had previously collected, and frantically pulled Tongxin out the door, leaving Sanbing alone in the empty courtyard.

The soldier's hands trembled. He felt he couldn't take it anymore. He clutched the letter and ran outside, to the end of the alley, standing on the cliff overlooking the sea, breathing heavily in the wind. He couldn't help but think about the strange little things that the boy who had amazed half the shogunate had given him, like the handmade iron chair. He would often write late at night, leaning back every now and then to experience the creaking springs. Shen Liang had said it was some kind of ergonomic chair, though he didn't really understand it, only that it felt very comfortable. Later, the chair broke, and Shen Liang promised to make him a new one, but it was never finished by the time he went to Liyue…

"Why did you climb onto the roof? Only idiots like high places, you know?"

"This spot is the best for watching the sunset. Me? I don't like watching the sunset. I'm looking at my mom's beautiful landscape. Hmm, maybe it will be mine in the future."

"There's nothing wrong with the doll. You're not immune to bleeding or eating."

"At worst, your dad will support you."

Unable to explain why, the soldier felt a tightness in his chest, a feeling of being suffocated and extremely uncomfortable.