"Diversion?"
The term caught Lu Chen rather off guard.
Old Wu nodded. "Take the Wu family and the Sun family as examples. My Wu family follows the literary path, while the Sun family practices the martial path.
The three main halls of my Wu family respectively enshrine Emperor Wenchang, Venus Star, and the Moon Goddess. They are the foundation upon which our Wu family was established.
As for the other three New Nobility families in the east of the city, each has its own deity with flourishing Incense Fire—for example, the Matchmaker God and the Wealth God."
"So-called 'diversion' does not mean directly handing worshippers over to other families.
No one can force such a thing. Which God Temple worshippers choose to make offerings at is entirely voluntary; we cannot control it."
"The true meaning of 'diversion,' bluntly put, is avoiding direct competition with the subordinate New Nobility families for worshippers.
For instance, the Longevity Star enshrined by the Xiong family in the east is especially efficacious, so the Wu family simply does not establish a shrine for the Longevity Star.
Worshippers with such needs will naturally flow toward the Xiong Clan Temple."
"Of course, my young friend, you also know that the Zhao family's Longevity Star is equally efficacious. Even your Uncle Sun previously went to the Zhao family rather than the Xiong family.
As for this kind of cross-region competition for Incense Fire, each side relies on its own abilities.
Generally speaking, though, worshippers value convenience and tend to choose efficacious God Temples nearby.
Those who deliberately travel from the east of the city to the north to make offerings are a minority in the end, incapable of affecting the overall situation."
"So that was it." Lu Chen suddenly understood.
He had not expected there to be so