The guards are relatively free and do not have to stand motionless at their door, like statues. The two of them were joking in the corridor in the courtyard. The maid named Ajaan stayed in the room. Matsukawa Yang gave a brief explanation and told them to call Ajaan if they had anything to do. He would go to the kitchen and ask them to order dinner. It's not too late to say what you want to eat now.
"Is there anything... just, your special dish?"
"Who knows what your place has and how it can be called unique?" Matsukawa Yang shrugged.
"No need." Liu Shenghan said, "Just do whatever you need and keep everything simple."
"That's right. I'll send someone to deliver the meal when it's ready, so I won't deliver it myself. For small things, call Ajaan. For big things, call the guards. Anyway, don't come to me if anything happens."
After that, he walked away. Qi Huan stood up and made a throwing motion from behind, looking angry.
"Why is this person like this?"
"He has always been like this." Liu Shenghan explained, "I have seen him a few times before, but at that time, he didn't seem to be in his current position. He seems to be the nephew of the monarch, I don't know. This person's character is like this, his mind is Not bad. The internal population flow of Jiutian Kingdom is not active, and there are no people to entertain inside and outside the palace on weekdays. I am used to living a leisurely life, and no one wants to mess around. "
This palace is spacious, and even the best inns they have seen and heard of cannot compare to the decoration of other people's palaces. From the market to the palace, what they saw most was a kind of silver-white stone. At first they thought it was white paint, but when Bai Ya touched it while walking around the room, he discovered that the wall was made of cold, hard and smooth stone.
He then asked Ajaan: "What kind of stones do you use to build your houses here?"
"Yes, Miss Jiang, the wall is as white as jade." Jun Aoyan also rubbed the wall.
"You have never seen this?" Ajaan's face was full of disbelief, as if they were pointing at the white rice and asking what kind of food it was, "Isn't it just an ordinary white stone? There are many in the mountains. You can get whatever you want. How much. Use it to build a house to keep it warm in winter and cool in summer. My grandfather said he lived in a white house when he was a child."
"It is said that a long time ago, there was no large-scale mining... Later, it was found that it is most suitable for building houses. It is strong and beautiful, warm in winter and cool in summer. When they didn't build a few buildings, they called them 'white houses'. Now they are everywhere , not surprising, it has become an ordinary thing." Liu Shenghan said from a distance while drinking tea at the table. They looked at the wall carefully.
If compared to jade, it is indeed a bit exaggerated. It is not that flawless, and there are some faint cyan veins, like the blood vessels of stone. And this kind of white is very cold, different from the warmth of jade, and has a light silvery gray texture. After Liu Shenghan finished drinking his tea, he also came over and patted the wall gently.
"In the past, people were only looking for a kind of fragrant stone called Tianxiang Jade, which is very valuable. It is said that it would take thousands of miles to dig out this kind of white stone to find two or two days of fragrant jade. However, Tianxiang Jade is not a priceless treasure. People gradually discovered that The business of building houses with white stones was not a loss, so I just looked for jade as a side job."
Ajaan blinked and asked curiously: "Then what do you use to build houses in your hometown?"
"Our hometown... is very big." Jun Aoyan stretched out his arms to make gestures, "Things are different in different places. In most places, bricks are burned and the houses are built with mud. There are also many wooden houses and bamboo houses, but It’s not very fireproof. In places with little rain, they just use soil and thatch to make them, and some dig cave dwellings directly in the mountains..."
"So pitiful? My grandfather only lived in this kind of house when he was a child."
They didn't bother to explain to Ajaan. Okay, whatever the little girl says, you are right.
"Ah, that's right." Bai Ya glanced at her, "Why haven't you brought the food? It's getting dark. Can you please go to the kitchen to hurry up? The brothers are about to starve out. ”
"Okay. Just wait, I'll be right back."
The little girl jumped out and Bai Ya glanced outside the door. Two guards were fighting with crickets in the distance. Then he closed the door quickly and gently, and immediately set his eyes on Liu Shenghan.
"Why are there two?"
Qi Huan and Jun Aoyan were stunned for a moment, and then reacted immediately. They also expressed doubts, wondering why Liu Shenghan had prepared two paintings, but where was the other one? Qi Huan glanced at the table where the wooden box was placed when he entered the room. The box was missing.
"I put it away." Liu Shenghan still looked at ease, fearless of anything, "The one I asked you to hand over is the portrait of the monarch."
"Why?" Jun Aoyan didn't understand, "Didn't you say that you wanted to present a painting of Gandharva, the god of incense? Why did you paint him?"
"For testing."
"Testing what?"
"Test whether the dignified king of Xiangji Kingdom is a true believer."
"how do I say this?"
When it comes to this matter, there is no point in hiding it any longer. It turned out that Liu Shenghan had doubts about the monarch's religious identity a long time ago - whether he was pious enough. He was the first king of Xiangji Kingdom. When he was young, he was passionate and upright, and wanted to be a good young man who made a difference. At that time, he was just an ordinary citizen in the city-state, and his parents were busy with simple jobs to support a large family. It is said that the elders care for the older ones and love the younger ones. He has brothers and sisters up and down, so logically nothing can happen to him. So he has no enthusiasm, but not only has nowhere to show his skills, but even his parents often ignore him.
That year, the Xiangyin Sect was so small that eight out of ten people had never heard of its name, and one had heard of it but was not a believer. There are less than 7,000 people in this city, and 700 people doesn't sound like a small number. But in Jiutian Kingdom, which was still the Southern Kingdom in Bai Ya's mouth at that time, almost everyone had some beliefs. Hundreds of years ago, Buddhists came to this country and brought such a long-standing faith with them. Later, Taoism was introduced from Bai Ya's hometown, and a large number of magical tools and commodities were also brought. In addition, there are religions, large and small, occupying every corner of the country. Although the Xiangyin Sect is considered a native belief in the local area, it emerged too late and faced many obstacles.
Until the true God comes.
Through legitimate and unfair suppression and exclusion, the number of heretics outside the Xiangyin Sect has been drastically reduced. There are no bloody methods, but most of them "abandon the darkness and turn to the light". After all, you don’t know where the God you praise every day is, but here is a visible and merciful God who proves his identity with miracles and wins over people’s hearts with real benefits. People who lack a sense of belonging will naturally know How to make the right decision.
The young monarch is an exception. Their whole family came from a difficult life, and compared to the psychological comfort of their parents, they needed real food to survive. As for his parents, they once had no choice. His grandparents were ordinary Buddhists, and their choice was self-evident. And one day, when the God of Fragrance sent wealth and food within their reach to them on the principle of equal exchange, they defected to the Lord God of Fragrance at the speed of illiterate readers.
In other words, he was forced to join the religion without realizing it. Not a good thing, not a bad thing.
Liu Shenghan didn't know what happened next. All she knew was that the boy had somehow fallen at the mercy of the Gandharva, the god of incense, whom he had once turned a deaf ear to. He must not be the most loyal believer. From the perspective of obedience, Lord Xiangshen should also know that he is not the best candidate. But now he is in this position, barely managing the country well.
"He has no choice." Liu Shenghan was determined, "Faced with the temptation of huge benefits, anyone may change their mind. How did Master Xiang Shen and his envoys preach back then? Those who are capable work harder, and the more they work, the more they will get. They It is claimed that the benefits that everyone gets now should not be the price they pay and the weight they deserve. Their efforts should get more and more valuable things. At first, this statement was very popular among the middle and lower class civilians. After all, As believers, by dedicating their faith and labor, they indeed received more food and money than before.”
"Well, aren't those dignitaries worried?" Jun Aoyan frowned, "We who fight all know that the most troublesome thing is the peasant uprising. They are hungry and have suffered enough, so they are fearless. "
"Gradually, those nobles also benefited." Liu Shenghan said quietly, "As long as you convert to the Xiangyin Sect and do things according to their requirements and instructions, you will get the rewards you deserve."
Qi Huan rolled his eyes and cursed: "Do you have a good conscience?"
"The strange thing is that no one has done anything against their conscience."
"What?" Qi Huan didn't understand. None of them understood.
"It's really hard to say..." Liu Shenghan looked around, as if looking for something that could be used as an example. Finally, she set her eyes on the fruit plate on the table. The fruit was fresh and there was a small knife beside it. This knife looks very dull, let alone peeling, even sharpening nails is laborious.
Seeing that she kept looking there, Jun Aoyan asked, "What happened to that knife?"
"Well, this knife -" Liu Shenghan picked it up, "It's very blunt, isn't it? Now let's call in nine officials."
"Nine?"
"Yes, nine. Among them, as long as five officials reach a consensus, this knife can kill people. And these five people do not necessarily have to be followers of the Xiangyin Sect."
The other three didn't speak. They looked at Liu Shenghan cautiously, their expressions clearly indicating that they did not understand.
"If more than five people decide to use it to kill people, the result cannot be changed, and other people no longer have the power to make decisions. There are only three types of people here - Xiangyin believers, believers of other religions, and people without faith. If two of them The faction occupies four people, do you think the remaining one has any decisive power?"
"Probably...no?" Jun Aoyan thought for a while, "He is just a person."
"That's wrong. Everyone thinks so...but in fact, he is the one with the most power."
"Why?"
Bai Ya could probably figure it out, but he was too lazy to think about it as seriously as Qi Huan. If you want to know the answer, it’s faster to just ask. It was rare for Liu Shenghan not to talk too much, so he went on.
"Two four-person groups are bound to be in opposition. Now if I say that four people decided to use this knife to kill people, the other four people are opposed. If the position needs the support of five people to be passed..."
He can influence the outcome of decisions as he pleases.
Qi Huan slapped his thigh, startling the others.
"That's not right." Bai Ya rolled his eyes, "Not all choices are black and white. I can kill with this knife, or I can choose not to kill, but I can also use other weapons and methods, or Use this knife to kill others?"
"What Bai Shaoxia said is right. In addition to the problems of black and white, there are also problems where there are more than two choices. But since there are no longer two choices, everyone can come up with new ideas. When opinions are too mixed, this The method is no longer applicable. But in this case, because there are so many people talking, it is more difficult to discuss and come up with a solution."
"Then, what does this have to do with the matter of conscience you mentioned?" Jun Aoyan asked.
Recommended: The Witch Doctor Awakens to read on your mobile phone.
