Chapter 1548: Qingyang's Suspicion

This is the largest Miaozhantian temple in Tianshui City, with an area one-third larger than the Xilin Temple, and it has been prosperous with incense all year round. Every five days, nearly ten thousand believers come here to participate in the Goddess's morning ritual, and from the square inside the temple to the four streets outside, it becomes packed to the point of being impassable.

Distinguished guests often attend the morning ritual, such as today.

The grand ceremony ended, and the believers gradually dispersed. Chief Envoy Liang walked toward the distinguished guests in the front row: "Supervisor Qingyang, please."

Qingyang was wearing a goose-yellow brocade robe today, and her appearance and attire were very grand.

Attending such occasions, one must first express reverence and admiration for the Goddess.

She smiled at Chief Envoy Liang, and the attendants and divine followers behind did not follow, watching the two go toward the side hall.

There must be spies sent by the royal court in the crowd, but it didn't matter; they couldn't follow inside either.

Behind the main hall, there was a row of flower corridors built around a pond; the water was extremely clear, with no swimming fish.

At the end of the flower corridor, there was a divine altar, surrounded by fresh flowers and curling incense smoke, with many divine attendants standing there. Chief Envoy Liang waved his hand, and everyone bowed and retreated.

Qingyang personally lit a stick of incense and offered it on the divine altar, murmuring prayers.

Chief Envoy Liang whispered: "How does Supervisor Qingyang feel about my morning assembly?"

"It's livelier than usual, and there are more people." Qingyang slowly opened her eyes, "The Xilin Temple is closed, so the believers have all come here."

She took the initiative to bring up the Xilin Temple, which made the topic easier to extend.

It seems that this supervisor sent by Beijia already knew about the unusual things that happened yesterday. Chief Envoy Liang sighed: "Yesterday, I wanted to invite Supervisor Qingyang to enter the palace together."

And why didn't he? Qingyang was clear in her heart.

"The night the Xilin Temple closed, the main hall collapsed."

Qingyang nodded: "I heard; this is truly a major loss."

"He Xiao, who is managing the capital's eastern expansion plan for the monarch, immediately dismantled all the stone materials, wood, and components of the Xilin Temple and secretly transported them to the east to build the new city. Especially the Panjin Stone of the Xilin Temple, which was used on the Huan Biao of the new city government office."

Qingyang made an "eh" sound: "I have seen that Huan Biao; it is built quite grandly. It actually used the stone materials of the Xilin Temple?"

She understood the temper of the heavenly deities and knew that this kind of matter could be handled as big or small, mainly depending on King Yao's approach.

"When I left Youhu this morning, I saw He Xiao on the road, still as glorious as ever." He Xiao's display had been very grand recently, and he was surrounded by hundreds of guards when he traveled, making him the most eye-catching person in the crowd. It was hard for Qingyang not to notice him.

"It seems King Yao did not deal with him."

Chief Envoy Liang made a "he" sound: "He has a sharp tongue; Chief Attendant Xiao couldn't out-argue him in the Imperial Study."

The location "Imperial Study" was very important. Qingyang smiled slightly; it seemed King Yao intended to indulge He Xiao, pushing the divine official of Miaozhantian to the point of being unable to speak.

This point was too unusual. The Yao Nation's awe for the Goddess was usually expressed through offerings to the temple and respect for divine officials.

Chief Envoy Liang had entered the palace personally, yet King Yao didn't even give him this face?

Seeking one's own death, one really couldn't blame others.

"Then, was the secret transport and misappropriation of the Xilin Temple's building materials just He Xiao's own idea?"

"That's what he admitted." Chief Envoy Liang shook his head, "I don't think it's that simple."

"He Xiao is as usual and can continue to throw his weight around in his capital project, which shows you are right; the truth is not that simple." Qingyang gave a light laugh, "I said before that the Yao Nation is addicted to illusory power and has long had no awe for the deities, only perfunctoriness. Whether it was the Goddess descending an oracle earlier and King Yao stalling, or the temple that should have been completed two years ago, or this time's incident of stealing from the Xilin Temple... Heh, looking at it now, the collapse of the Xilin Temple is also not that simple."

"Yes, the Xilin Temple could have persisted for another three to five years. We also suspect that the seepage hole that appeared inexplicably under the Xilin Temple was man-made. According to Xiangzhuan Shuiling, it appeared within one or two months, just around the time the capital began its eastern expansion."

Qingyang said leisurely: "The Goddess is too benevolent and has never been able to harden her heart. However, Chief Envoy Liang invited me over today; it seems there is good news for me."

Chief Envoy Liang reached out and gestured toward the divine altar: "That's right! My God has already agreed to your request!"

Qingyang's gaze froze.

Just at this moment, the candlelight on the divine altar dimmed in unison, and the two lily buds inserted in the vase suddenly bloomed slowly right under Qingyang's eyes!

In just five or six breaths, they bloomed to the extreme.

A fragrant breeze passed through the air, fluttering the wind chimes under the eaves with a ding-dong sound, sounding both like ethereal music and like whispering human voices.

Only the two people present could understand:

This was an oracle! An oracle personally conveyed by Miaozhantian!

Qingyang faced the divine altar, bowed her head in ritual, her expression solemn.

Not until her skirt stopped fluttering did she raise her head.

That gust of wind had already gone far away, and the lily flowers on the divine altar had closed back into buds, as if nothing had happened.

But Qingyang had indeed received Miaozhantian's instructions:

This true deity had agreed to her request.

All the temples in Tianshui City—not just Miaozhantian's—would assist her in her actions.

This was an earth-shattering decision. Qingyang was rarely overjoyed and smiled at Chief Envoy Liang: "The Goddess has descended an oracle! Then, shall we discuss some details?"

It had finally come to this step. Chief Envoy Liang felt a mix of emotions in his heart; after all, he was also a Yao Nation person.

But the Goddess's command could not be questioned. He pointed to his study across the pond: "Please."

This discussion lasted until the sun slanted to the west.

Qingyang walked out of the temple, her steps light and happy.

The most important major event had finally gone smoothly; it was not in vain that she had been lurking for so many days.

With Miaozhantian's support, the space for her subsequent actions had finally opened up.

Yuan Xuan had already prepared the carriage and was waiting for her at the entrance. Qingyang didn't care about the gazes of the spies in the crowd and boarded the carriage to return to Youhu.

Tianshui City was as lively as ever, and the mortals were still busy, completely unaware of the crisis lurking in the city.

Leaving the East City Gate, there was a large expanse of yellow mud.

This was the eastern suburb currently under expansion. No matter how flowery the official propaganda was, apart from a main road and a model block, there was actually nothing.

Yet it was this kind of muddy land that made the entire Yao Nation obsessed.

This country was truly sick; from the monarch to the commoners, everyone had fallen into the eyes of money, yet they had forgotten that there were deities three feet above their heads, forgotten that they needed to maintain awe for supreme greatness. No wonder the heavenly deities were deeply disappointed in them.

Yes, disappointed.

The heavenly deities hoped to recover a large amount of nightmare qi from the Shanjin Plain, but the Yao Nation had shirked its responsibility several times and had no achievements. Therefore, the dissatisfaction of the heavenly deities toward the Yao Nation had long been overflowing, but Miaozhantian, as the main deity worshipped by the Yao Nation, had never made up her mind.

She was one of the thirty-five true deities and also an important leader of the Lingxu divine crowd. As long as she didn't agree, it was very difficult for the Holy Venerable Lingxu to take action against the Yao Nation.

Yet King Yao hadn't even been able to capture the Goddess's heart, and recently even caused such a ridiculous mess as misappropriating temple stone materials.

Qingyang saw through his greed at a glance.

As a monarch of a country, his greed had long since overwhelmed his awe for the heavenly deities.

Otherwise, how could he let He Xiao, who had committed a major mistake, go and let him continue to remain at large?

Neglecting the heavenly deities, this was a major taboo!

However, He Xiao's behavior was also very strange.

No matter how short of stone materials the new city construction was, he shouldn't have set his sights on the temple.

This person's mind was meticulous and clever, and he did things without a single flaw; how could he suddenly poke such a big hole?

The divine officials of Miaozhantian believed this was instigated by King Yao. But Qingyang didn't think so.

Just like when he suddenly manipulated the Youhu Villa and went against her, He Xiao's purpose was unfathomable. But what he did to the Xilin Temple objectively aggravated Miaozhantian's resentment toward the Yao Nation, making Qingyang's persuasion work smoother.

Thinking of this, Qingyang's heart stirred; could it be?

Combining He Xiao's various actions in the Yao Nation, a strange thought sprouted in her heart:

He Xiao's arrival in the Yao Nation seemed to be with ill intent as well.

At first, King Yao wanted to use him as a tool to humiliate Qingyang, and he indeed succeeded, and used his own way, with results far exceeding King Yao's expectations;

Then, he offered a plan for the capital's eastern expansion, opening up the carnival feast of wealth explosion that the Yao Nation was currently experiencing.

But in Qingyang's view, this path was a dead end and would leave endless trouble.

Now, he suddenly directed the officials and teams under him to steal, dismantle, transfer, and misappropriate the Panjin Stone of the Xilin Temple, once again provoking the Goddess's dissatisfaction with the Yao Nation.

And Qingyang remembered what Chief Envoy Liang had said earlier: the seepage hole that caused the Xilin Temple to collapse prematurely appeared only in the last month or two, and even Xiangzhuan Shuiling couldn't explain the reason.

Chief Envoy Liang suspected that this was done by King Yao's people.

But one or two months ago, the capital's eastern expansion project was just a plan on paper and hadn't officially started yet. Based on her understanding of King Yao, he had no reason to take action against the Xilin Temple so early.

It was He Xiao who persuaded King Yao...

He Xiao was more certain than anyone that the capital's eastern expansion plan could be successfully implemented.

So, did he dig the hole that caused the Xilin Temple to collapse?

Thinking of this, Qingyang's palms seeped a bit of cold sweat.

If it was truly He Xiao's doing, had he started laying out his plan so early? No, that's not right; following this line of thought and digging deeper, what else had He Xiao laid out in advance besides the collapse of the Xilin Temple?

In her view, He Xiao's actions had always been somewhat strange.

Every action of this person seemed to follow the trend, but in reality, he was carrying out a destruction.

Destroying the relationship between King Yao and Qingyang, which was destroying the relationship between the Yao Nation and Beijia.

Destroying the relationship between the Yao Nation and the deities.

Soon, he would also destroy the relationship between the Yao Nation's nobles and the commoners, which was the relationship between the Yao court and the people;

Conversely, He Xiao had long since set up a trap, not only calculating against the Yao Nation's monarch and ministers but also calculating against the Miaozhantian deity, and even calculating against her, this former Beijia state preceptor! They had all become a part of his plan.

The depth of this person's mind and the viciousness of his strategy were something Qingyang hadn't seen many times in her nearly two hundred years of experience.

Why could the Yao Nation, ten thousand miles away, encounter such an opponent? The wind blowing in from outside was chilly, and she lowered the curtain.

Having said that, these were all not He Xiao's duties; why did he take such a big risk, even risking his life to do it?

If it were said that the focus of his destruction, his true purpose, was one and only one—

The Yao Nation. ===== CHAPTER 1549 =====