Royal Gossip

Su Ming then realized that the Sea of Divine Grace was a discipline school specifically designed for the spoiled children of the temple!

"The prisoners of Divine Might Prison can be used as laborers to maintain the academy, and they can also serve as sparring partners during training," Katharine continued. "The religious criminals of the Temple of Light are all gathered here, to be used by the academy."

"They really know how to use resources," Su Ming said coldly, "They claim to be righteous, but their methods are vicious."

"The Light System isn't the same as Light itself," Katharine said. "Believing in a god doesn't preclude one from committing evil in the name of doctrine." Her voice was equally cold. "It's just one more 'legal' procedure."

"So those extra defensive forces are actually the teaching staff that the temple's higher-ups have allocated to Sea of Divine Grace." Su Ming understood. The high-ups' precious descendants are here; they won't be given toys, but they'll be given high-level teachers and guards.

"That's right," Katharine said. "The information you received about the Divine Might Prison is correct, but the deployment of the Sea of Divine Grace is a recent event."

Su Ming pressed his forehead and began to think.

As agreed, Archbishop Stanton was also on his way to meet them, accompanied by some Feather Race forces. Su Ming and Zijin wouldn't unknowingly stumble upon them, but they would face the predicament of their plan failing.

Fortunately, Katharine corrected the mistake, gaining time to adjust, but difficulties remained. Su Ming's original plan was definitely no longer usable.

****

A mechanical "ding" broke the silence in the workshop; it meant the lean meat porridge Hansite had been simmering in the rice cooker was ready.

Su Ming ladled out a bowl of porridge and placed it beside the hospital bed.

"Thank you," Katharine said.

The baby fussed for a while, but eventually fell asleep. Su Ming made a small crib out of bones, and Katharine put the baby inside.

What's the child's name?

"She has a nickname, Tuanzi," Katharine replied. "She hasn't chosen a formal name yet."

On the table were sliced pickled cucumbers and cabbage, pickles made by Qiluo before they set off. Su Ming handed them to Katharine, watching the Empress of the Stars eat the pickles and drink the piping hot meat porridge with a contented expression.

Su Ming poured himself a bowl of porridge and drank it, frowning as he pondered how to break the deadlock. One problem was that the modern firepower from the technological side had to be used cautiously, otherwise it would harm the rescue target.

The enemy consists of numerous powerful superhumans, and the need to ensure rapid kills while avoiding friendly fire is inherently contradictory.

This is even worse than a multicolored black!

After finishing her bowl, Katharine asked Su Ming to refill it for her. She looked up and saw the number on the wheat bag on the shelf. "Number 390?" she wondered, calculating the weight. "High-calorie staple food, you've carried ten tons!"

The numbering on the bags was done by Younier, and she required everyone to use them from high to low to keep track of remaining inventory at all times. It must be said that Younier's involvement has indeed made materials management much more organized.

"It's just better to be prepared," Su Ming said.

"You carried ten times the normal amount of food," Katharine deduced, "So what you're planning to take isn't just a few dozen prisoners!"

"Since I've come all this way, I naturally want to make as much as possible if I have the chance." Su Ming handed the second bowl of porridge to Katharine. "Your Majesty, I need more detailed information about the Divine Might Prison and the Sea of Divine Grace, including internal details."

A hint of admiration flashed in Katharine's eyes; she didn't give up even after all.

"No problem, I can provide it," she agreed. "I probably don't need to explain; I'm already at odds with the Divine Covenant Faction. This time, they're forcing me to marry King Xialike; I've already completely severed ties with them."

The conflict between Katharine and the temple's higher-ups must be more complex than it appears, and she seems to be deliberately inciting hatred towards the Sea of Divine Grace within their own ranks, Su Ming reasoned inwardly. For instance, if Zijin knew that her loved ones had been mistreated in such a way, she would definitely be furious.

"So?"

"So, I have a suggestion." Katharine finished half a bowl of porridge in one gulp, put down the bowl, sat up straight, and said to Su Ming seriously, "How about we join forces and smash the Sacred Mountain!"

****

Su Ming didn't dare to eat too much, only drank one bowl of water before taking the little Tuanzi back to the room. Zijin was sleeping soundly, so Su Ming put the child down and then went back to sleep.

This time he slept until the afternoon, and when he woke up, Tuanzi and Zijin were no longer in the room.

The train had stopped, but the sound of the locomotive could still be heard.

[Hansite, what's wrong?] Su Ming asked via message.

[Shunting.] Hansite replied.

Shunting refers to changing the order of the train cars. Hansite and Younier are moving the fully loaded coal cars to the front so that the zombies can load them onto the locomotive. When they set off at dawn, there was still a little more than half a carload of coal left, so shunting at this point means they've run out.

Su Ming got up to wash up, then went to the workroom. Sure enough, Zijin was there with Tuanzi, arguing with Katharine.

"Good afternoon." Su Ming greeted the scholar, then turned to Katharine, "Your Majesty, you sound very energetic."

"The recovery is going well."

"Thanks to you all," the injured patient, leaning against the bed, stopped arguing with Zijin. "I never dreamed that just a moment ago I was covered in wounds..."

I was starving and freezing, but I'll be able to have hot tea in a heated room in the next moment. Thank you!

"I'm repaying the favor I did for letting you go back then," Zijin said. "From now on, be more self-disciplined. All bindings and barriers, choose one: 'Your master allows me to move freely within the workshop area,'" Katharine said.

Zijin's eyes narrowed slightly. "Although I'm used to arguing with you, I don't like this kind of joke!"

"I'm sorry!" Katharine immediately knew that Zijin was really angry, and quickly apologized.

Su Ming sat down next to Zijin, about to speak, when he suddenly heard Hansite call out, "Lord Liya, please come here for a moment, there's a small problem here."

Zijin put on her coat and left the carriage. Soon, she heard the sound of a girl casting a spell outside. It seemed that the ground was uneven and the carriage needed to be pushed by "human force".

"Being imprisoned by the White Bone Mark back then was Ailisha's most painful memory. You don't need to bring that up again," Su Ming said.

He checked Katharine's vital signs and found them to be stable, except for a slightly elevated temperature. This was a sign of infection, given the many wounds on the woman's body. However, the other world had many ways to treat infections, and Qiluo and Zijin's magic could handle it.

Katharine herself should be stronger than those two combined, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to persevere.

Katharine shook her head, "This won't anger Ailisha." She was actually a little confused herself, seeing Su Ming teasing the little Tuanzi.

Suddenly it dawned on me, "She doesn't like you being talked about like that!"

Regardless of how the world perceives it, this new ruler did not use the White Bone Mark to manipulate Ailisha.

Su Ming didn't understand the intricacies of the situation. "Me?" he asked, pointing to himself in confusion.

"I just can't stand me saying anything bad about you." Katharine revealed a playful expression. "You've prepared baby formula for this trip, haven't you?"

Is Ailisha pregnant?

"Are you out of your mind!" Zijin's voice came from outside. "Where am I supposed to get pregnant? Can't you stay still for a second?"

"No, no, no, I'm asking sincerely." Katharine was genuinely confused now. She looked at Su Ming with some bewilderment, "Aren't you two a couple?"

"Why do you think we are?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

Katharine scratched her head, feeling a little insecure. Perhaps she had misjudged things because she was too tired these past two days?

Faintly, she heard a familiar voice singing, "Let us form an iron wall~~"

Katharine recognized the voice and looked incredulous. "Heavenly Father of the Gospel! What did you do to it?"

"We've loaded it with some new Thought Entity," Su Ming replied, stomping his foot on the floor. "Now it's the main driving force."

Katharine couldn't help but burst into laughter. She clutched her wounded abdomen, curled up in a ball, and said, "Heavenly Father of the Gospel, drive!"

"Haha!" she pounded the hospital bed in a fit of rage. "If those Divine Covenant Faction find out, help! They'll be mortified!"

Even after Zijin returned, Katharine hadn't completely stopped laughing. She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and took out a gold card from her pocket.

Hand it to the scholar.

"The Cardinal Identity Card of the Temple of Light," Katharine said. "With this Gospel, it will be completely obedient. Unless the Speaker or the Pope arrives in person, anyone else trying to rescue it will warn you."

The steward of Midsummer Island is normally a powerful regional official, holding a very high rank.

Zijin put away the card. "More than twenty years have passed. The little nun from back then has now risen to a high position."

"It's just a title; the actual power is far more than just nominal." Katharine laughed self-deprecatingly. "I was sold out by the temple's higher-ups. They used my marriage to cede territory and beg for aid as a fig leaf—these people only care about this useless face."

"Isn't politics all about these kinds of statements?" Su Ming said, turning to Zijin, "Your classmate said he wants to come with us to bomb the school—no, the Divine Might Prison and the Sea of Divine Grace."

He briefly recounted the information Katharine had provided the previous night.

"Sea of Divine Grace?" Zijin weighed the options. Even if her power increased, she still couldn't proceed according to the original plan. Many ants can kill an elephant, let alone a pack of Hyena. The entire operation plan had to be revised with Su Ming.

But there were important questions she needed to clarify first, so she turned to Katharine, "This child isn't Xialike's?"

"You know all about Xialike and Chloe's messy affair," Katharine said to Zijin. "He's just using me to shut everyone up."

"Oh?" Zijin understood the underlying meaning, "So you're all in name only?"

"Uh-huh."

After finishing the shunting, Younier came to the workshop, poured tea for everyone, and put down a dish of peanuts.

Zijin pulled up a chair and sat down next to Su Ming, picking up her teacup. "Who is the little Tuanzi's father?"

Katharine looked at the little Tuanzi of joy dancing in Su Ming's arms, "Yignaxiu."

"So you managed to seduce Yignaxiu?" Zijin raised an eyebrow. "He was the most handsome guy at the Knight Academy back in the day, and I went to all the trouble to sabotage your dates."

Who is Yignaxiu?

"A very handsome knight cadet," Zijin replied. "He's now a full-fledged paladin, the lowest rank. His Dou Qi and combat skills aren't great, but he's got quite a muscular build."

So they're just pretty faces? Su Ming sighed, thinking how the emperor and empress of Stars were really playing games.

Katharine rolled her eyes at Zijin, "If you hadn't sabotaged things back then, Yise's father would have been him!"

"You're the one who's promiscuous, and you're blaming me?" Remembering her past achievements, Zijin was very happy. "But who is your daughter Yise's father?"

Katharine sighed. "Back then, I was so angry that I went to find your brother, Weiaoyasi."

Su Ming looked at the scholar lady, his mouth agape, "You have a younger brother?"

"Why not?" Zijin asked, puzzled.

[But you're not Yi Yi] Su Ming said, she was clearly the child of the Shattered Light Sword Saint Atiya and the dragon Misaila, born in a special way. [My birth was indeed troublesome, but my mother Atiya was a normal human.] Zijin threw a few peanuts into her mouth, chewed them, and spat them out, shell and all. [Is it strange that she gave birth to a younger brother for me in a normal way?]

[Not surprising!] Su Ming quickly shook his head. "Um, the peanut shells need to be peeled," he reminded him.

"Of course I knew, I thought it would save me trouble," Zijin complained. She poured the peanuts onto the table, smashed them with her hand, and then picked the kernels out of her mouth.

However, this resulted in most of the peanuts being crushed.

"If I'd known she was my niece, I wouldn't have held back." Zijin gave up fiddling with the peanuts, took a sip of tea, and swallowed the remaining shells. "I shouldn't have struck her stomach with that sword."

"Then shouldn't you return your niece's weapon, the Blade of the Scales, to her?" Katharine asked.

Zijin turned to the hospital bedside, "Shouldn't a niece give her aunt something nice? And speaking of this—" her eyes narrowed, "You almost killed us back then!"

During the Battle of Agate Sea, Katharine employed a strategy of guiding the Songstress Class to fire long-range artillery, nearly covering the entire Zhiyuan.

"No, you'll be fine," Katharine explained.

"Nonsense!" Su Ming completely disagreed. "If I had been a second slower in accelerating the steamship, you would have blasted me to pieces!"

Katharine patted Su Ming on the shoulder, comforting him, "Of course! How can we rescue Ailisha without getting rid of you, the controller of the White Bone Mark?"

"..." Su Ming finally understood what was going on with Yise's recklessness. She was trying to lure Zijin away to prevent the subsequent artillery fire from accidentally injuring Zijin.

So, he was the only target from beginning to end? Su Ming was extremely dissatisfied. It was one thing for two armies to fight for their own side, but this was a completely undeserved disaster for him. "Hey, I almost lost my life!"

"Ignorance is no excuse," said Katharine. "How could I have imagined that Ailisha was—"

She realized what she was saying and swallowed the rest of her sentence: "Giving money to the new controller."

"What do you know?" Zijin glanced at her coldly.

"How did I know you two were collaborators?" Katharine asked obediently.