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

"Six dishes, two hours?" Raiden Mei took out her phone and found that the actual time was only about one hour and thirty minutes.

"If it takes several hours to prepare a meal, then there's no time for anything else every day," Shen Liang said casually.

He was responsible for making several times more food when he was in the orphanage, and he could handle it easily back then, let alone now.

Raiden Mei sighed inwardly for no reason. Boys like this were so rare. This woman's strength was even greater than hers... Raiden Mei was originally quite confident in her cooking skills and had even considered cooking with her as a guest to build rapport, but now it seemed that she was just a novice.

"Is it delicious?" Kiana nudged her and winked. "I was surprised at first too. The landlady is so young, yet she has so many skills. She makes different delicious dishes every day. That's why I come home for dinner every day after work! You'd have to spend tens of thousands of yen to eat such good food outside!"

Raiden Mei was a little unaccustomed to Kiana's overly familiar manner. They were just about to fight each other, but now they were eating together like old friends who had known each other for a long time.

But this feeling was surprisingly good.

"What TV series is this? Is it in Japanese? Why can't I understand Japanese?" Kiana loudly forced Rosalia not to play the bloody game while eating, then changed the channel to watch TV. However, she found that all the channels on this TV were Chinese. She couldn't distinguish between Japanese and Chinese, and was completely confused.

Raiden Mei could only translate the subtitles for her. The two of them stopped eating for less than three minutes, and when they looked down again, they found that the best braised pork and boiled pork slices had been completely devoured by the two little girls. They not only ate until their own bellies were round, but they also took special care of Shen Liang, whose bowl was piled high with meat.

"Wow, landlords, is this how you treat your guests?! Mei and I haven't even had a bite of meat yet!"

"You idiot Kiana, you've been staying for a month already! Are you still a guest?! You already knew that we Shen family members eat by the speed of our hands! Rosalia's APM in League of Legends is 290!"

"You can't even do basic attacks, yet you just sit there pressing enter and hurling insults all day, huh?!"

Raiden Mei chuckled softly.

Many years later, she still often recalled that night when they first met. They ate dinner until one o'clock in the morning, and everyone was noisy and chaotic around the coffee table with its messy cups and plates.

An unknown but awkwardly entertaining Asian talk show was playing on TV. She sat properly on a single sofa, while Shen Liang sipped his soup opposite her, elegant and oblivious to his surroundings. The Arlene sisters and Kiana rolled around on the sofa, vying for control of the TV, occasionally kicking him.

Sometimes Raiden Mei would give Shen Liang a general overview of how humans on the transcendent side live; sometimes she would rest her chin on her hand and watch Kiana and Shen Liang play a game of "Food Wars" together, with Shen Liang getting so frustrated by Kiana's poor performance that he started making sarcastic remarks; sometimes, while they were playing, everyone would get hungry, and Raiden Mei would casually make a midnight snack or breakfast...

—What a waste of time… Raiden Mei rarely wastes time like this.

"But you're happy, aren't you?" Shen Liang glanced at her. "It's getting light. Want to stay and get some sleep? I have plenty of empty rooms."

"No, no, Mei lives downstairs, directly..."

"Oh, I'm having so much fun, don't be such a spoilsport! How about sleeping with me tonight? Don't worry, the landlord is a super gentleman, I've never locked the door in all these days I've been here, I've been trying to catch him red-handed every time, and he hasn't fallen for it! Damn it! I really want to sleep with the landlord in my arms!"

"You're drunk, Kiana." Shen Liang's face darkened. "I told you you can't drink my homemade liquor. Our Chinese homemade liquor is guaranteed to be at least 40 proof!"

"I'm not drunk! And you have to call me senior sister! As punishment, you and Mei will both stay with me!"

Chapter 71 The will of the people is all an illusion.

Early February.

Given Inazuma's geographical location, this is the coldest time of year, and the waters around Nashii Beach, a shallow beach, are even frozen over.

The cold wind, mixed with sea sand, made the banners of the shogunate army flutter. Dark clouds covered the sky. On the wide Nashii Beach on the west side of Tatakasa, countless shogunate soldiers were arrayed in a neat and orderly formation.

Kujo Takayuki stood on a high rocky cliff, with his back to the military camp, gazing in the direction of Umijima Island.

“A verbal battle,” Kujo Takayuki said.

A troop of cavalry suddenly set off from their main camp, raising their battle flags high, and heading straight for the city wall outside Tengdou Fortress, kicking up a cloud of dust along the way.

The Coral Palace garrison at Tengdou Fortress was on high alert! However, it was unlikely that a dozen or so cavalrymen would be able to attack the city, so the garrison simply drew their bows and waited for the enemy's reaction.

As expected, the shogunate cavalry showed no fear of the crossbows covering the city walls. They simply reined in their horses about a hundred meters below the walls, took a deep breath, and shouted at the Sangokyu army guarding the city with disdain and contempt in their eyes!

"You lowly sea creatures! Clean your ears and listen carefully!"

"General, you understand the hardships you face in your survival, and the Shogunate has no intention of taking the lives of millions of you and committing atrocities! But you lowly people treat our army's goodwill as worthless, destroying corpses to build mounds of corpses and killing prisoners without any sense of honor or shame!"

"Our army fought with the intention of quelling the rebellion and restoring peace, yet we have been humiliated like this. General, you are magnanimous, but how can you tolerate this!"

"Hereby, the Tenryo Envoy issues this final ultimatum: surrender the city! You lowly people are ordered to bind and hand over the despicable High Priestess of the Coral Palace and her followers, and your family property may be preserved! If anyone continues to resist, Lord Kujo Takayuki has ordered that after the Shogunate army breaches Kaigi Island, the entire island will be slaughtered, children will be conscripted, and women will be used to support the army!"

The Coral Palace army defending the city could not tolerate such humiliation and immediately ordered their troops to fire arrows!

However, the shogunate army's cavalry were not afraid at all. Among them were users of the Geo-type Eye of God, who directly raised their shields to intercept them.

The shogunate cavalrymen smiled coldly and continued shouting:

"Furthermore, the General is kind and has given you an extra choice! If you hand over Mr. Shen Liang, the Liyue craftsman who used magic oil to ambush our army, you will be rewarded the same as if you had handed over Liu Ge of Coral Palace!"

"Bullshit!" The centurion on the city wall immediately realized he couldn't let him continue shouting and yelled, "Balloons! Fire!"

The fully charged ballista fired straight at the enemy. The users of the Shogunate's Eye of God activated their shields to protect the cavalry, but the powerful bolts still pierced through the shields, shattering the rocks. Users of Eye of God with other attributes immediately followed up, detonating the bolts that had lost most of their kinetic energy. The cavalry used this opportunity to create distance and escape the range of the bolts.

Even so, because there were more than one ballista on the city wall, two or three cavalrymen who were not properly protected were successively smashed by the terrifying crossbow bolts!

But this demonstrative attack was quickly stopped. Using ballistae to attack a small, agile cavalry force was not worth the effort; losing only two or three men from hundreds of giant arrows was a loss for the Coral Palace army. They watched the cavalrymen gallop back to their own lines, gritting their teeth in resentment.

"It's the same old insults again..." the centurion spat. "Same old tricks, just a different name!"

“The Shogunate army just said… hand over Mr. Shen…” someone said hesitantly.

The centurion kicked him hard. "Have some shame! If it weren't for Mr. Shen, we would have lost this Tengdou Fortress long ago. You'd probably be dead somewhere by now! Besides, use your brain and think about this. This is a divisive tactic. Last time they said they'd stop the war if we handed over Mr. Shen, but now they're not even going to stop the war. Even if we hand him over, we can only save our family property... save my ass! We've lost Haiqi Island, what family property do we have left!"

But the man just looked at the centurion with a pained expression.

"Captain, I understand, I get it all... but is this right? Why should this happen? We could have been at peace, but Lady Kuji insisted on fighting. She was willing to risk offending the Shogunate to protect that Liyue person, and now the Shogunate is starting another war, and even handing over Mr. Shen won't stop them..."

The centurion looked at his distraught subordinate, moved his lips, but said nothing.

"I want to ask why? Mr. Shen's life is his life, but aren't the lives of so many of us lives too? She is the Palace Attendant, and I understand that her life is the most important... But what about Mr. Shen? Just because she likes Mr. Shen, does that mean we have to exchange our lives for him? I've been thinking, I really have been thinking, but I just can't understand... Why are some people's lives so important, while our lives are so cheap?"

"Disrupting morale! Spouting nonsense!" The centurion turned his head away, forcing out a few words, "Normally, you would be executed on the spot!"

The young man looked at him, closed his eyes, as if he no longer wanted to resist.

The centurion's face was extremely grim, even ferocious, but after glancing at the people around him and then at the soldier, he turned his head away sharply: "Don't let yourself be affected! On the battlefield, having wild thoughts will only get you killed! You're here to serve your country, don't be a coward!"

----------

"The people of Haizhi live a hard life, so they are more valiant and admire brave people. Shen Liang, whom you mentioned, is a heroic young man who has established a great reputation. He is naturally valued by the people of Haizhi. But if he continues to hide behind the Coral Palace and refuses to sacrifice himself for the people of Haizhi, this value will naturally turn into contempt or even hostility."

Kujo Takayuki spoke slowly, glancing at his adopted daughter beside him. "Sara, you think your father is despicable. But I know the Coral Palace won't hand over Shen Liang; they're not stupid. But the will of the people is a strange thing. It's something a few clever people can't control. No matter how much the Coral Palace gambles, they can't control the people's thoughts. Just like how the Coral Palace didn't want the threat of massacring the city to reach the people in order to protect Shen Liang, it doesn't matter. Even if only the soldiers on the front lines start to think about it, our goal is achieved. What we want is for the people of the Sea Gods to resent their leader, to resent their hero, and then, to collapse without a fight."

Kujo Sara bowed his head: "Sara thanks Father for his teachings."

Kujo Takayuki glanced at her and smiled slightly.

"But Father, is the massacre of the city... true?" Kujo Sara asked in a low voice. "Isn't this just an excuse for us to exert pressure and manipulate public opinion? If we really conquer Umijima Island, are we really going to..."

"Of course it's true. Since we made this promise with the honor of being the Tenryō Magistrate, then it's true." Kujō Takayuki said calmly, "Sango-no-miya Ryūka's hanging of her corpse on a mound of corpses to humiliate the shogunate has greatly shocked the shogunate. Now, all the officials in the court believe that the Tenryō Magistrate will be hung on the pillar of shame for this defeat. In order to wash away the shame, we must win a great victory, we must massacre the city. We have no possibility of peace anymore. Umijima brought this upon itself... I don't understand why Sango-no-miya Ryūka would do such a thing."

Kujo Kaura remained silent.

In truth, wars have winners and losers; it doesn't always have to involve massacring entire cities. But Sangokuni Ryuka is utterly insane, insulting the shogunate with corpses. If such provocation isn't met... what will become of Inazuma's reputation? The Kujo clan will lose their position as Tenryō Magistrate! This is why Kujo Takayuki personally went to the battlefield. This time, the shogunate has amassed over 100,000 troops for a decisive battle at Nashiina, truly intending to destroy Sangokuni at any cost.

"Let's start the war." Kujo Takayuki glanced one last time at the beautiful palace surrounded by coral trees in the distance, then turned and left. "It's so beautiful, what a pity."

Chapter 72 I don't lack men, I lack sons!

Coral Palace Ryuga was quietly warming herself by the fire in her tent when suddenly someone strode in without even announcing themselves.

"The shogunate has attacked the castle; it's Kujō Takayuki."

Everyone in the tent immediately looked at him. His cold, hard face remained expressionless. "This time they dare not use the Kamui Island cannons again. They can't afford the losses, and they can't figure out how to protect the cannons on the battlefield in a short time. The walls can still be held for now. The vanguard is already engaged in fierce fighting with the enemy. Kujo Takayuki's command ability is inferior to Kujo Sara's, so they can manage for now, but—"

Coral Palace Ryuka casually remarked, "Too many people?"

"Kujo Takayuki has almost exhausted all the resources of the Tenryo Magistrate, and it is estimated that at least 100,000 troops have been deployed at Meishida. It will only take a short time to break through the walls of Fujito Fortress."

"How long is the time question?"

"It could take anywhere from three to ten days, but considering the various deceptive and misleading statements spread by the other side... it might be around three days."

Coral Palace Ryuka nodded indifferently, "Isn't this great? It's just what we wanted."

Then she saw the group of people with serious expressions.

"Don't look at me like that. Just go about your business according to the original plan." Ruka Sangokami chuckled. "Didn't we already think about this day? Why are you making such ugly faces... You can keep making those faces when Ryou-chan comes back."

“You really are…” After a few seconds of silence, Sihe asked softly, “You really love Mr. Shen, even though you’ve only known him for less than two months.”

"That's right, I treat him like a son." The high priestess chuckled. "I'm not lying to you. I've been so lonely all these years. I don't mean I lack men, I just really lack a son or something... The profession of priestess is ridiculously against human nature. My child should be this age by now!"

As she spoke, she laughed at herself, her voice gradually softening, "Sometimes I have wild thoughts, what if I had a son? What should I name him? Would he look like me? Would he be a bit annoying but also very cute?"

Sihe fell silent. In fact, everyone was silent, watching Coral Palace Liuge laugh while her hands trembled slightly, as if she had some kind of obsession with having nothing left.

Most of the living goddesses and priestesses of the Coral Palace are detached from worldly desires, but this is not true detachment; rather, they entrust their lives to the island of Umi-gi. A woman can alleviate loneliness through her career, but the maternal instincts deep within her genes cannot be concealed.

Offering everything to the gods and their people is both an honor and a curse. Coral Palace Ryuka loves children, and even though Shinkai is already fifteen, she still enjoys teasing her because she subconsciously treats Shinkai like a daughter.

The same goes for Shen Liang.

Rather, Ruka Sango thought that if she had a son, he would definitely be like her: with the same black hair, as beautiful as her, as willful as her, and, like her, sharing the same ideals.

“It’s a pity he hasn’t grown up yet.” Coral Palace Ryuka’s smile faded as she stepped out of the tent. “Let’s proceed according to plan. Everyone to your positions. Our war has begun.”

----------

Nashi Beach.

The heavy snow in the sky was almost dyed by the flames of war, arrows swept across the sky, and the sound of elemental explosions echoed throughout the battlefield.

With the taste of gunpowder filling his mouth, Daichi collapsed to the ground, watching the Shogunate soldiers slowly approach amidst the flames of war.

His left hand had been cut off, leaving only his right hand behind his back, gently pinching the dark gem.