He changed Tiwat

According to ancient customs, shrine maidens must remain chaste and cannot marry. If an Inazuma shrine maiden wishes to marry, she must first leave the shrine.

Although when Kage stayed in "Isshin Sodo", the priest was the biggest rule of the shrine, and no one could object to her saying that shrine maidens could get married - now that Kage has been pulled out, the biggest rule is the gods.

"Then think it over carefully. Do you want to be my dependent... or his?"

When Ying finished speaking, her tone had returned to its usual indifference—just like when they first met in "Pure Land of One Heart," as indifferent as a puppet.

The divine child did not answer.

Ying gave Han Fulai a deep look.

"Han Qing, I am very grateful for everything you have done for Daoqi and I am willing to repay you. But the 'repayment' you asked for is indeed beyond my expectations."

"If the situation is urgent, the contract between you and the divine child can be dissolved immediately; but if you truly wish to take the divine child as your 'fellowship' as a 'god'... then please discuss this matter with me as a 'god'."

After saying that, she turned around and walked away quickly.

Before catching up with Shadow, the puppet general "translated" Shadow's "decree" for the two of them: "Shadow said that she does not agree to this marriage."

Chapter 264 Han Fulai, the Third Generation General [4k]

Linghua, who had been silently praying and waiting in the cave, finally saw her lover return.

A magnificent and noble purple figure has once again descended upon this land that has been absent for more than five hundred years.

"General! You've returned safely!"

Linghua quickly bowed in greeting.

The general's safe return means that Inazuma's calamity has been averted and the earth's veins have returned to peace... This is undoubtedly great news.

However, a hint of worry soon appeared on her face, because it seemed that only the general had returned.

In Linghua's eyes, the general's expression looked preoccupied, showing no sign of the ease that comes after exorcising the calamity... Moreover, even when she bowed and greeted the general, he did not react at all, as if he had not noticed her presence at all.

...In the "dark calamity" five hundred years ago, many of the warriors who followed the general on his expedition never returned.

Could it be... Ying, and Mr. Han and the others...?

Without the general's order, Linghua dared not raise her head. She could only nervously maintain her salute, secretly glancing at the general's expression out of the corner of her eye.

"Shadow, we have returned to the outside world. Your subjects await your orders."

The general's voice echoed in Ying's mind.

After returning to the outside world, Shadow and General naturally returned to the state of "one body, two souls".

Previously, when Shadow dominated this body, the General would not reveal his own consciousness. The only time the two of them simultaneously revealed their will was during the previous struggle for "eternity."

After a five-hundred-year duel, the two generals reconciled, and the Shadow even said to the general, "I will no longer treat you as a 'tool,' you are me."

Since he is no longer a "tool," the general should naturally have his own will. When Shadow uses the body, the general will no longer be asleep in his subconscious, but will be more like a passenger sitting in the "co-pilot's seat," ready to help Shadow at any time and face all future challenges together with Shadow.

At this moment, the general noticed Linghua's unease and immediately offered advice to Ying.

Kage then realized his earlier lapse in composure and immediately switched back to "Lord Narukami, the Supreme Lord": "No need for formalities. The chaos of the Inazuma ley lines has been quelled, and everyone is safe and sound. They will return shortly. I hope the magistrate will take good care of the root system of the Divine Cherry Tree."

Hearing from the general that everyone was safe and sound, Ayaka finally felt relieved and stood up to reply, "Yes, I will obey the orders of the Grand Master."

Ying glanced around briefly and then asked, "By the way, what time is it now?"

“It is midnight now, and the autumnal equinox will be in a quarter of an hour,” Linghua replied.

Ying silently calculated and found that she had only been in the consciousness space for seven days. When she returned, she happened to be there during the "Radiant Splendor Festival" - she had originally planned to appear at the first large-scale festival after the war to appease people's hearts. Looking at it this way, her return time was just right.

It was getting late, so they decided to stay overnight at Narukami Shrine and wait for the festival to begin tomorrow... Thinking of the priest of Narukami Shrine, Kage's expression darkened again.

Forget it, I'll just go to the shrine's official residence.

Just as she was about to speak, a series of unified prayers suddenly came from above: "The grass sings in a ring, severing filth and cutting off evil. The divine cherry blossoms hang with dew, cleansing the deep abyss."

Tiny specks of radiant wish energy flowed into her body, following the sounds of prayer.

Kage looked up towards Narukami Taisha Shrine: "This is...?"

Ayaka replied: "To welcome the return of the Shogun, my elder brother led the people of Inazuma on the outlying island tonight in holding the 'Mio-no-Narukami Kariyama Festival,' and the shrine maidens of the shrine also formed a prayer array at the main shrine."

Ying finally understood where the willpower that helped her defeat the general came from.

She nodded and said, "The Kamisato family is worthy of the reputation of the Inazuma family. I will reward you for your contributions. The 'Radiant Splendor Festival' is about to begin, so I will stay at the Kamisato residence tonight."

"Yes. Your Excellency's presence is an honor to our humble abode." Linghua quickly bowed her head in gratitude. "Please wait a moment, Your Excellency..."

The fact that the General is willing to stay at the Divine House represents the favor of the gods, which is naturally not to be refused.

Ayaka now has to return to the Kamisato residence to prepare for the Shogun's arrival—the Kamisato family has been busy with the festival preparations these past few days, with the editors of "Yaedo" and various magistrates running in and out, making the residence a mess. Toma and the other household officials have gone to the outlying island with Ayaka, leaving them short-handed, and they fear they might neglect the Shogun.

Furthermore, according to the shogunate's etiquette, when the shogun visits the residence of his subordinates, the subordinates are required to beat drums to welcome him. She also had to drag Madarame Hyakubei, Hirotada, and others out of bed overnight to line up at the gate to beat the drums...

"There's no need to disturb everyone. I only need to sit quietly and meditate." Seeing Linghua's nervous appearance, Ying's mood inexplicably improved.

Yes, that's more like it.

I am the most supreme and noble being of Inazuma, the "Eternal God." So many people want to be close to me but cannot—how could anyone think that I am inferior to a certain pink-haired fox?

How foolish!

“Shadow, he didn’t say you were inferior to the Divine Child. He never intended to propose to you from the beginning; you’ve misunderstood.”

The general honestly complained in his mind.

Ying's eyebrows shot up instantly, and she immediately retorted, "What did I misunderstand? I never thought about proposing!"

"..."

The general wanted to say, "I am you, I know what you're thinking, there's no point in deceiving yourself." But considering that saying this might mean going back and fighting for another five hundred years, the general wisely chose to remain silent.

Shadow complained to the general in his heart: "What makes me angry is that they have been keeping it from me all along—especially about that contract! He clearly knew that the divine child was my kin, yet he still made a contract with him, and even declared to my face that he would take the divine child away from me! Isn't that betrayal?"

"..."

The general actually remembered that before Han Fulai mentioned the contract, he had said he had "reasons for having to do it," but Ying didn't give him a chance to finish speaking... As a general, no matter how outrageous a subject's advice may be, one should listen to it completely. Whether to reward or punish, a decision should be made only after hearing the entire story.

However, the general also knew that honest advice was hard to swallow, so he decided to wait until Ying was more receptive to it.

"And the Divine Child too! If she had explained it to me properly, I wouldn't have blamed her, but she just wouldn't. Look at the way she looked then, as if she thought I had said something wrong! Was I wrong?"

"You are not wrong." The general was on Ying's side in this regard.

For a member of the family to enter into a separate contract with another is, of course, a betrayal, and any god would be angered. The general knew that Shadow had already restrained herself at that time—although her anger seemed somewhat irrational, she had the grounds to be angry.

Ying glanced back at the torii gate that connected to the space of consciousness.

No one has followed suit yet.

The image of Han Fulai holding the goddess's hand and proposing to her for marriage flashed through her mind once again.

Ying felt a tightness in her chest.

"In short, my mind is made up—if he really wants to marry the Goddess, fine, I'll give him that chance. As long as he can defeat me fair and square, I'll acknowledge that he's qualified to take my family away."

"...Since he wants me to be this 'elder,' then I have to pass the 'elder' test. This is my own choice."

Ying emphasized the word "elder" in particular.

“You two already fought at ‘Pure Land of One Heart’ last time, and you lost.” The general honestly told Ying that the conditions for this “martial arts contest to find a husband” had actually been met long ago.

“That wasn’t a real one-on-one duel, so it doesn’t count,” Ying insisted.

What she said was certainly true. On that occasion, Han Fulai relied on the "power of the wishes" of the Inazuma people, and also received help from the Divine Child, Ying, Xingqiu, and others. Strictly speaking, Ying did not lose in battle, but rather "admitted defeat" by complying with the wishes of the Inazuma people.

But this time, if you want her to "admit defeat," you have to actually beat her.

"Besides... as you know, his desire to marry the goddess is not something that can be agreed to so easily."

“Indeed, from that perspective, the conditions you offered are fair. He really should prove his qualifications.” The general agreed with Ying’s statement.

When a prestigious samurai family in Inazuma seeks a son-in-law, they often test the applicant's martial arts skills. If the applicant's skills are insufficient, they are not qualified to inherit the family's prestigious lineage.

According to Inazuma's tradition, a son-in-law is entitled to inherit the family name. Inazuma's "son-in-law who moves into the wife's family" does not simply become a member of the wife's family, but is adopted as a "son-in-law's adopted son"—that is, Inazuma's "son-in-law who moves into the wife's family" becomes the father-in-law's adopted son after moving into the family, which is equivalent to one's own son marrying one's own daughter.

Although this rule may sound somewhat unethical, it is the foundation for a family to continue and thrive in Inazuma, a country frequently embroiled in war.

Moreover, in many cases, the inheritance rights of an "adopted son-in-law" are even higher than those of a biological son.

For example, the marriage between Hiiragi Senri, the only daughter of the former Kansei Magistrate Hiiragi Shinsuke, and Kujo Kamaji, the second son of the former Tenryō Magistrate Kujo family, was opposed by both families, with the main issue being the "right of succession".

If Hiiragi Chisato were to marry into the Kujo family, she would automatically lose her right to inherit the Hiiragi family. Since the Hiiragi family has no other heirs, Hiiragi Shinsuke would never allow Hiiragi Chisato to marry out of the family. Hiiragi Chisato would have no choice but to be adopted into the family.

However, if Kujo Kamaji becomes the son-in-law of the Hiiragi family, he will become "Hiiragi Kamaji," the adopted son and heir of the Hiiragi family.

Putting aside the fact that the Hiiragi family's status is not as high as the Kujo family's, Kujo Kamaji becoming the Hiiragi family's son-in-law is equivalent to being demoted from a daimyo heir to a hatamoto... Even if the Kujo family and Kujo Kamaji were willing to lower their status, Hiiragi Shinsuke could not believe that Kujo Kamaji would be loyal to the Hiiragi family—what if this marriage was a conspiracy by Kujo Takayuki, and after Hiiragi Shinsuke's death, Kujo Kamaji led the Hiiragi family to submit to the Kujo family, and the Hiiragi family's succession would end in this generation, and Hiiragi Shinsuke would not be able to die in peace.

Similarly, if Kujo Sara were to marry into the family, her husband would directly gain the same inheritance rights as Kujo Masahiro, the eldest son of the Kujo clan. After Kujo Takayuki's death, this "adopted son-in-law" could potentially compete with Kujo Masahiro for the position of head of the clan.

Therefore, during Kujo Takayuki's lifetime, he strictly supervised Sara, even forbidding her from having too much contact with his soldiers, mainly to prevent Sara from suddenly bringing back a son-in-law and disrupting the Kujo family's succession. Sara could only marry after Kujo Masahiro succeeded to the headship of the family.

The most prestigious family in Inazuma is, of course, the Raiden family, which possesses the "Thunder Three-Tomoe Crest".

Previously, the Divine Child orchestrated the civil war between Narukami Island and Umijima Island behind the scenes, instigated various "Ikkyushu" to storm the Shogunate, and finally confronted the Raiden General in person, but the Raiden movie did not hold the Divine Child accountable.

This is partly because the divine child truly meant well for her, and partly because the divine child was the only remaining "thunder god's retinue" in the world, and the only "one of their own" left in the "Thunder Family".

Although she and Miko were as close as best friends and sisters, in terms of seniority, Miko was actually at the level of a "shogun's adopted daughter." She was sent by Kitsai-no-miya to accompany Raiden Shin, just like Sara was sent to the Kujo family as an adopted daughter.

According to Inazuma's inheritance system, if anything were to happen to Rai, the Shinji could simply change his surname and sit in the castle tower.

For Lei Movie, the God Child causing trouble is equivalent to "My daughter is also colluding with the Japanese?" - Even if she really is colluding with the Japanese, I only have this one daughter, can I kill her?

Marrying the divine child is essentially equivalent to automatically acquiring the right to succeed the next Thunder General.

In other words, if Han Fulai really marries the Divine Child, he will not only be the "successor of the Emperor," but also have the title of "shogun of three generations."

Since Han Fulai proposed marriage to Lei Dianying as an "elder," it means he wants to be the heir of the "Raiden family"... It is perfectly reasonable for the head of the Raiden family, the second shogun Lei Dianying, to test the heir's martial arts skills before granting him the right of inheritance.

"However, if he really wins, are you really willing to be this 'elder'?" the general asked again.

"Of course." Ying remained true to her word.

The general offered a very practical suggestion: "Well, I think you should take this opportunity to consult your subordinates on how to be a parent—human offspring reproduce very quickly, and if the two of them get married, you might become a grandmother in a few years."

"Who's his grandma!" Lei Yingdong roared in fury.

Linghua cowered to the side, watching the static electricity crackle in the air.

Although she couldn't hear Lei's movie and the general's inner monologue, she had already noticed that the general seemed to be in a very bad mood...

The only one who saw through the truth was the famous detective Paimon, who looked like a child but possessed extraordinary intelligence.

"I think... if he really proposes to Kage, Kage will say yes, right? Maybe Kage will even agree to marry him along with the Divine Child, since the Divine Child is Kage's familiar after all."

On the way back, Paimon said this to Ying.

When she recommended romance novels to Kage at "Yaedo," Kage remarked that "it's only natural for strong people to have many lovers"...

Even if Han Gongzi was a "playboy," Ying's attitude at that time seemed to suggest that she didn't care much.

Moreover, Young Master Han is indeed a powerful figure who once defeated General Thunder and saved Inazuma, which seems to align with the concept of the Shadow.

Ying was still engrossed in watching the drama unfold, a strange smile on her face: "Maybe so... but don't you think this kind of story development is more interesting? By the way, tell Ayaka about this too, hehe."

"What's so interesting about that? We're not reading a light novel!"

Exhausted, Paimon silently covered his face, lamenting his loss of the royal cuisine and hot springs. Shadow stormed off, and of course, the promised reward was gone...

—A few days later, Paimon, who has finally tasted the red bean rice made by the general, will come back to thank that "playboy".

Chapter 265 To Marry the Divine Child, One Must First Pass the Examination

In the realm of consciousness, the divine child glared helplessly at Han Fulai: "I'm telling you, do you even know what proposing marriage to me means?"

"I know." Han Fulai still looked very serious. "But even if Ying doesn't agree, I won't give up. In any case, this is a necessary 'status'."

"'Recognition'... Why are you so fixated on such a trivial matter..."

The divine child silently lowered his eyes, his expression a mixture of joy and sorrow.

She originally planned to quietly make it a fait accompli... Even if Aying found out, she would at most get angry and then turn a blind eye...

Anyway, Ying probably wouldn't actually cut her down.

She was indeed willing to give herself to him and to be his "family"... but she never thought about having a "status" or "official status".

After all, both of their identities are very sensitive. If they were to get married, it would be a political marriage between Inazuma and Liyue, which would be no less complicated than marrying the "Saintess of Mondstadt"...

The goddess actually sees herself as a "lover" – that is, a "mistress".

Although this identity may not sound honorable, it allows one to balance both emotions and interests.