Wei Lou disliked people who were all twisted up inside.
Looking back on half a lifetime, he discovered that he was the most twisted up of all.
For example, when it came to Virtuous Lord Shen Tang.
Wei Lou knew Shen Tang's identity inside and out, and had prepared for both possibilities. On one hand, he would help Shen Tang complete the unification; on the other, he would invest most of his efforts in Jimò Feng. Because he understood—or rather, because he hoped in his heart—that she, as a god, would not linger in the mortal world.
The filth of worldly power should not defile a deity of the highest heavens.
And deities should not grow attached to the authority of the mortal world.
The two were like intersecting lines. A brief overlap at one point was enough; anything more would be too much—of course, a tiny part of it was also the hope that after Jimò Feng took the throne, she would change the horrendously awful state name, Quan E! But as time passed, Wei Lou found that he could no longer understand his younger self. At some point, he had cast aside the thought of Jimò Feng succeeding to the throne.
Until—
In the eighteenth year after unification, Shen Tang brought up abdicating.
Wei Lou froze, as though he couldn't understand what the word meant.
"...What did Virtuous Lord say?"
Wei Lou picked up the piece that had slipped from his hand and fallen onto the chessboard.
Shen Tang good-naturedly repeated, "I said that Lingde is getting on in years, too. After observing her all these years, I think she's now capable of keeping certain monsters and demons in the court in check. I'd feel at ease handing the throne over to her now. What do you think