In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

"How could that be? I also cannot bear to see such a state of misery."

Dongfang Xiao shook his head, his face filled with indignation and sorrow. "Since you, teacher, have the world at heart, I must also take action... Pass down my order: starting today, tally the losses suffered by the people the day before yesterday. All deficits will be covered by the royal family and distributed through the state religion. There must be no mistakes."

"Yes!" Someone immediately took the order and went to get things done.

Nobody seemed to think there was anything wrong with it—frankly, for them, the Holy Fire Cat Cult and such were definitely not new concepts; they'd been sipping from the royal discount pot for so many years, they were practically immune to any sensitivity to such things…

And the Holy Fire Cat Cult does indeed take charity as its doctrine, so this arrangement is not abrupt at all, but rather quite appropriate.

"Do any of you gentlemen have anything else to attend to? If not, the court may adjourn."

The young empress didn't linger; after a few polite words, she ordered everyone to disperse.

Nobody has anything to say... If someone really had something to say, they wouldn't have said it today. Although the morning assembly is short, it still takes a lot of time to process everything.

However, most people felt that in the past, Cheng Gujian had been in charge of the court meetings, and Dongfang Xiao was at most a mascot. Today, it was a bit of the other way around... In short, Her Majesty the Empress seemed more mature than before.

however.

What they don't know is.

After the court session, Dongfang Xiao, under the pretext of "seeking guidance from the teacher," led Xu Shi into the imperial study. At this time, he had already changed his clothes in the other party's "threshold space" and respectfully knelt in front of the other party.

"Master, are you satisfied with my performance today?"

Please stop criticizing the imperial edict, which is written in a mix of classical and vernacular Chinese. The author only has an elementary school education, so it's already quite mind-bending to write something like this...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 270 All followers of my faith, meow meow meow meow!

2023-09-21

The royal decree designating the Sacred Fire Cat Cult as the state religion was quickly implemented.

The public was naturally overjoyed at the news—over the past few days, many people have come to understand how reliable the Holy Fire Cat Cult is. Not only does the adorable little saintess possess extraordinary skills, but more importantly, she also provides food and drink. It would be a real shame if it were banned as an illegal activity.

Not to mention they might also be implicated... Fortunately, the royal family had the foresight to not actually do that, and instead announced such earth-shattering news.

In this way, not only is the legitimacy of the Holy Fire Cat Cult recognized, but its influence will also be further expanded—its becoming the official channel for the royal family to compensate the people for losses incurred in the trade of Poseidon Stones is the best proof of this.

"No way? The royal family is really that kind?"

When this news came out, people were initially somewhat skeptical—it can only be said that this is the most common relationship between the grassroots people and the ruling class under the social structure of the Hualan Empire.

On a daily basis, there are all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levies, and the social status is unequal. There was even a nobleman who once made a profound statement like "If you can't afford bread, why not eat cake?" Under such circumstances, it would be a miracle if the royal family's public opinion polls were good.

However, when people saw that the church of the Holy Fire Cat Church had been renovated again and that they could actually line up to receive money, they were completely relieved.

it is true!

To be fair, while giving out bread, milk, and eggs every day is nice, it's ultimately not as good as actually giving them money to make up for their previous losses.

While it's impossible to lose everything, it's clear that the royal family, or rather the Holy Fire Cat Cult, has done their research. Compensating 80% or even 70% is already beyond everyone's expectations, enough to dispel the previous gloom and get people back on track.

If you don't want money, you can choose equivalent resources, such as cattle, sheep, or even real estate.

While everyone was overjoyed by all of this, they couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

"I have a feeling that the royal family's unusual actions this time might be due to being inspired by the Holy Fire Cat Cult?"

Someone started analyzing seriously, "Otherwise, the Holy Fire Cat Cult wouldn't have been established as the state religion... Since it's the state religion, the royal family should naturally make some kind of gesture."

"What you say makes sense, but I think it might also be related to Her Majesty the Empress?"

Another person agreed, but also had a different opinion: "My third aunt's youngest son is a guard in the palace. He said that recently, Her Majesty the Empress has been in charge of affairs in court, not the Grand Duke of Gujian anymore. Don't you think so..."

"Oh, you shouldn't say things like that."

Their companions quickly stopped their dangerous remarks, saying, "Besides, why bother with all this? As long as we get the stuff, that's all that matters, right?"

"Ah, yes, yes."

The three of them silently kept quiet, their faces filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.

As for being detained here for almost two days, that's nothing!

……

"See? They should thank us."

In the back room, Xu Shi, whose face was also filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest, put down his account book and sighed.

"That's quite in line with your consistently wicked personality, Master."

Pan Ling, who was behind him, massaged his shoulders with practiced ease, and couldn't help but complain, "But this... isn't necessarily a bad thing."

It's simply a matter of transferring money from one hand to the other—where did the property and supplies distributed to the people of the Hualan Empire come from? Wasn't it the profits taken from the Sea God Stone trade back then...? Seriously, didn't everyone realize this? Or did they at least recoup some of their costs, so they didn't care?

She personally leaned towards the latter, since according to convention, not a single penny of this money would be recovered. This was an unexpected bonus. And let's not say that outsiders were the culprits; the fact is that the big shots were involved, right?

Moreover, the young girl still had a conscience; seeing what her master did, she thought it was good, and her hesitant praise was truly from the heart.

"What are you saying? You're getting more and more disrespectful. If you're itchy, just say so."

Xu Shi looked up and glared at her reproachfully, "This is clearly called taking from the people and using for the people, what a good thing, how can it be associated with words like evil?"

Is this how you use this word...? The silly apprentice couldn't help but want to complain, but even if the bad master misinterpreted the word, it didn't seem to make any mistake?

Because Xu Shi paid attention to details—for example, this church, although it had been repaired before, still looked a bit dilapidated overall. Now that it has been established as the state religion, it has undergone a major renovation, inside and out, shedding its previous sneaky atmosphere.

Otherwise, it would look too fake.

As for where this money comes from, it naturally comes from the profits of the Poseidon Stone trade... Although Boss Xu is not short of gold and silver, he has always been a frugal person and will save money wherever possible.

Although he had previously said that the extra money would be used to enrich the little empress, she is now his apprentice in name only, so it is only reasonable for a master to control his apprentice's allowance.

Compared to her master, Pan Ling felt that she was better off as the legitimate apprentice. At least her master didn't interfere with her in this regard. To be honest, she was a hidden little rich woman... It's just that she was used to being frugal, so she didn't have the habit of being extravagant.

In short, taking from the people is definitely not wrong, but as for using it for the people... They come here every day to receive food and drink and listen to the little senior sister's prophecies, so it seems that using it for the people is not wrong either?

After trying to correct her thoughts, Xiaoling felt no guilt anymore. This is what it's like to learn from a bad master.

On the contrary, she felt that there was still a lot she needed to learn, such as handling these details—she could now think about most things in a similar way to her master, but her micro-management skills still needed to be improved.

Well, a master is a master after all. Although his character is debatable, he is indeed very capable.

"Hey, Xu Shi, are you really not doing this to me on purpose?"

But some people might not think that way. They saw Xia Ke'an in the corner looking constipated. "Making me wear cat ears is one thing, but what's with this?"

"What do you mean by deliberately messing with you? If I wanted to mess with you, would I need to do it deliberately?"

Xu Shi explained unhurriedly, "Now that the Holy Fire Cat Cult has come to the forefront, of course it needs to have doctrines, gestures, and other supporting elements. Otherwise, it would still be the same old makeshift operation, and its prestige would be too low."

"Your slogan sounds like something a makeshift troupe would say!"

This reason clearly failed to convince the older woman, whose face flushed with anger. "'Everyone who follows me, meow meow meow meow'—is that something a human could come up with?"

She was actually quite surprised at first, since there was no religion in the City of Night Sin, and she didn't expect the little boy to be so convincing... But the longer it went on, the more she felt that something was off.

This inappropriate art style is at least half due to her being the saintess. First, she wore cat ears, and now she has this shameful slogan. It's hard for anyone to stand it, at least not her.

The white-haired loli considered herself to have seen a lot of things, and since even she lived in Bengbu, one could imagine how others would feel.

That bastard even wanted to wear cat paw gloves! If I hadn't refused such an outrageous request, who knows what would have happened.

Maybe they'll even have to wear a cat tail.

"Then why don't you bring out something even better?"

Xu Shi, who had stolen the idea from his predecessor, remained calm and composed, even taking the initiative to say, "You didn't object when we were naming it, so we can't just give up halfway through, can we?"

"I……"

Xia Ke'an was speechless upon hearing this; she really couldn't think of a better slogan.

The main problem is that she's not good at this, and it has to be said that the slogan is quite catchy and easy to remember.

"I'll take it."

Xu Shi spread his hands, looking innocent, and said, "But it's normal that you can't accept it right away. Maybe it won't be so embarrassing if there are more people around?"

As he spoke, he stretched and stood up.

"……Maybe?"

The older woman blinked. Was he going to come with her?

If that's the case, the sense of shame will actually be less, and it's quite nice to see this naughty guy, Xu Shi, make such a cute move.

"That's fine."

Xu Shi nodded, then walked to Pan Ling's side and patted her on the shoulder, "Go on, little priest, rehearse with your junior sister."

Pan Ling:

What does this have to do with me?

In fact, she was the kind of person Xia Ke'an described as "living in Bengbu". Watching her junior sister awkwardly rehearsing her dance moves, she couldn't help but want to laugh.

The main reason is that the white-haired loli looks very young, and these actions are inherently cute. Considering that her true form is actually an older sister and her silly apprentice, it becomes even more amusing.

But she herself didn't want to do that; it would be far too...

"Hurry up, what are you waiting for?"

"……it is good."

Forced by her master's tyranny, Xiaoling had no choice but to reluctantly agree. She walked to Xia Ke'an's side and, together with her, shook her hands like cat paws from side to side.

"The sacred flame shines brightly."

"Holy light shines brightly."

"All who follow me."

"Meow meow meow meow!"

Xu Shi was quite satisfied with all of this, but suddenly felt a little regretful.

They should have prepared a pair of cat ears for their silly apprentice too.

……

Not long after.