"My purple qi..."
Chen Baxian watched for a moment, then suddenly perked up!
"Good lad! I knew you wouldn't abandon Great Chen! As things stand, you're the only Chen with a chance of turning this around!"
As he spoke, he suddenly turned toward the north of the city, disgust on his face.
At the far edge of Great Chen's founding emperor's sight, streams of Buddha Light crossed and shifted, sketching the outline of a painting as though someone were splashing ink across a canvas.
A painting poised to cover all of Jiankang City!
"Greetings, Vice Minister Jiang."
Su Ding and the others were not surprised to encounter a Chen Kingdom official, but the arrival of the vice minister of the Court of State Ceremonial was unusual.
"As far as this humble Daoist knows, the court handles matters concerning the vassal lords and those from all quarters who submit to the realm. Why is its vice minister waiting for us here?"
Jiang Yi had come prepared and answered smoothly. "Daoist Master, you've likely spent so long cultivating in the mountains that you know little of affairs in the Mortal World. These days, Buddhism and Daoism flourish, and many wanderers travel the land. The court has established the Monk-and-Daoist Registry to oversee them, and it happens to fall under our court..."
Su Ding nodded and was about to speak.
But without warning, Chen Cuo said, "Why call it the Monk-and-Daoist Registry? Why put monks first? I think Daoist-and-Monk Registry rolls off the tongue better."
"..."
The atmosphere went cold.
Su Ding and the others exchanged glances, unsure why he had suddenly said that.
Jiang Yi was taken aback too.
Since becoming vice minister, he had received plenty of wandering monks and Daoists. He had experience to spare, but no one had ever