Becoming a Fox Spirit from Under One Person.

Not far away, a number of emaciated figures huddled together, their faces contorted with rage, their eyes gleaming with ferocity, yet they were wary of the sword-wielding guards accompanying the carriage. Chen Ruoan looked up and saw a dark, swirling line of light hanging above the heads of a mother and daughter in the crowd.

"Even though it's right at the foot of the royal city, aren't there more and more refugees in the vicinity?"

"Natural disasters have become more and more frequent lately."

"What about disaster relief?"

"I am of lowly status, so I cannot know for sure." The attendant smiled helplessly. Even if he knew those things, he would not dare to speak of them casually.

"Go and ask around; if anyone is willing to work hard to make a living, they can come with me to Fanyi."

"Yes." The attendant responded a few times, and then led the group over.

With hope in their hearts, the group stopped targeting the mother and daughter, and the ill-fated relationship that was supposed to be severed by death soon was resolved ahead of schedule.

"Can you still hold her? Let the little girl get in the car." Chen Ruoan glanced at the woman who was staggering. The little girl in her arms was in extremely poor condition and on the verge of starvation.

"No, I dare not..." the woman whispered.

"It's alright."

The woman hesitated, but a glare from her attendant startled her, and she immediately changed her mind, placing the girl in her arms in front of the carriage.

The curtain of the carriage was drawn, and Chen Ruoan pinched a wisp of crimson light with two fingers and touched it to the little girl's forehead.

Su Daji was a nine-tailed fox, and her actions within the scope of her fox spirit powers would not trigger a forced correction by the law of causality. Under the nurturing light, the little girl regained some of her composure, her nose twitching as she smelled the delicious aroma of meat.

"Take this and eat it, but remember to eat slowly."

The girl glanced at the meat pie offered to her, but didn't take a bite right away. She pulled back the curtain and looked for her mother for a moment: "Mom, I have some food. Here you go."

"Mother, Mother isn't hungry..."

"Alright, that's all. Remember to eat slowly." Chen Ruoan called out, and the accompanying servants distributed the food for the journey. Everyone felt apprehensive and, following the fox's instructions, ate slowly in small bites.

"What's your name?" Chen Ruoan asked, glancing at the girl.

"Apricot, the kind that's sweet and sour." Children from farming families would name their children after crops like mulberry, peach, rice, and apricot.

"Okay. Little Xing, you'll come with me from now on." Even on the verge of starvation, she still thought of her mother; this quality was something the fox truly appreciated.

"Ah..." Xing nodded as if she understood but not quite.

The carriage continued on its way, and soon the outline of the city came into view.

Fanyi was originally an inconspicuous small to medium-sized city in the northern border of the Yin Shang Dynasty, without royal favor or wealthy trade routes.

During the years of oppressive rule at the end of the Shang Dynasty, this place suffered the most: taxes were levied repeatedly, ditches were silted up and abandoned, fields were half-farmed, salt was as expensive as gold, the people were illiterate, officials exploited them at every level, and the people were exhausted by corvée labor. They had long harbored resentment in their hearts and could only endure and live on in silence.

News of Chen Ruoan's arrival spread quickly.

Knowing Di Xin's temperament, the people in the city were all speculating about what wicked methods this noblewoman, sent on a whim, would use to wreak havoc on the city.

It seems that things are about to get even worse for Fanyi, who is already struggling to make ends meet.

Chen Ruoan's car drove through the street, the curtains lifted, revealing dark clouds overhead that obscured the sunlight. Upon closer inspection, however, they weren't clouds at all, but rather endless black lines.

"Good heavens, I haven't done anything yet!"

This was the first time the fox had ever experienced such hostility simply because of its identity.

"never mind."

Although this city was designated by Emperor Xin, it was a place of destiny for the fox. If they wanted to build a positive cooperative relationship, they could only slowly cultivate their feelings for each other.

When the town magistrate, who was in charge of the town's affairs, came to greet her, Chen Ruo'an got up and got out of the carriage. The old town magistrate was stunned when he saw her, only then realizing what kind of beauty the woman was who could make the king send the city to test her.

The city's residents had no particular thoughts about this meeting; they were all birds of a feather, and once the higher-ups had a sudden idea, those below would suffer.

Despite the city's hostility, Chen Ruo'an refrained from displaying authority or residing in the official residence. Instead, he spent three days walking throughout the entire county, personally inspecting barren fields, silted-up rivers, and inquiring about the people's hardships...

After a while, the people in the city were a little confused. It seemed that this empress from the royal city was really trying to figure out the long-standing problems in the mortal world.

This doesn't make sense, does it?

Chen Ruoan had done the basic investigation and told the old village elder about the new rules that abolished the old system. In order to avoid causal correction and punishment, the fox's reform measures could not be too big, but they still shocked the old village elder.

"One city, one tax, fixed amount each year; regulate the well-field system, reclaim wasteland, and allow the land to fallow and recover; dredge ditches and canals, store mountain water, and relieve drought and flood; regulate salt prices, and eliminate coarse and retain pure salt... Your Majesty! You've really come here to do something!?"

According to the customs of the Shang Dynasty capital, it was inappropriate to seek out a group of lowly people for entertainment, disembowel them, or appreciate "driving beasts to eat people."

"Enough with the nonsense. Separate your men and send them off to carry out their tasks."

"Remember, if there is any misinterpretation in the transmission of this message, I will hang you all on the city wall."

The oracle bone script of the Shang Dynasty was complex and obscure, with numerous and complicated strokes. Only shamans, nobles, and officials could decipher it, while ordinary people could not understand a single character. When government decrees were posted on city gates, the people were clueless and could not understand them, allowing officials to arbitrarily misinterpret the decrees and deceive the people.

This small policy order is the first step in restoring image and building relationships; the fox should be careful not to make the wrong move.

"Yes, yes..." The old village head accepted the order and left with a dark face.

The fox's new policies also harmed his interests.

"The people's hearts have been lost, and it will not be easy to regain them overnight. Six months is still too short."

Since things have come to this, all we can do is try our best.

Two months passed quickly.

Chen Ruoan was lucky; he arrived in Fanyi just in time for the harvest season. The slight change in the tax collection had an immediate effect, and the resentment in the city was not so strong. The boundary line gradually returned to its normal, undyed state.

As night fell on the fifteenth, the fox, bathed in the clear light of the full moon, revealed its nine tails faintly through the hazy white veil.

Su Daji is said to have been possessed by a nine-tailed fox. During the Yin and Shang dynasties, the boundaries between the supernatural and ordinary people were aware of the existence of cultivators. Therefore, the fox did not need to be too wary of the surrounding gazes. She used the moon to cultivate and nurture the wishing tree in her soul.

Xing and her mother stayed behind as maids to take care of her daily needs. The little girl was quick and efficient, observant, and sometimes she could even keep up with the adults when it came to some tasks.

One day, she whispered to her mother, "Mother, there's a fox."

"What fox?"

“I saw it, there is a nine-tailed fox next to Your Majesty.”

The woman patted her head and laughed, "That must be something that brings good luck."

The concept of fox spirits did not exist during the Yin and Shang dynasties.

"Xing, you must be careful what you say. Although Her Majesty is kind-hearted, there must be things she cannot tolerate."

"Oh." Xing nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

After finishing her work, she slipped through the dog hole in the courtyard wall to find her playmates next door. The fox was experimenting with some private school construction, and Xing had thus made many friends her own age.

"I'll tell you something secretly, but you're not allowed to tell anyone," she whispered to a boy with snot bubbles running down his nose. "There's a fox."

"Oh..." the boy nodded.

Children don't seem to have the habit of keeping secrets. Turning his head, the boy ran to the street corner and said to the little boy holding a windmill, "I have something to tell you, but don't tell anyone else, okay?"

"Oh."

Gradually, some capable people in the community combined recent policy changes with children's playful banter, creating popular rhymes that circulated in the streets and alleys:

"A nine-tailed beauty descends to the mortal realm, clearing fields and filling huts with rice. Salt prices are low, writing is easy, and year after year, songs of joy fill the roads. There is a gentle nine-tailed fox spirit, Su Ling, who descends on clouds to guard the desolate hills..."

···

Chen Ruoan is still practicing under the moonlight, and his faith seems to have deepened recently.

In my soul, the charred wishing tree completely shed its scorched bark, revealing jade-like branches that stood tall and graceful.

"That's strange, who's helping me spread the word?"

Chapter 262 The day I awaken will mark the beginning of a new era.

The incense entered his body, and his faith continued to nourish the wishing tree. Perhaps because of the huge difference in power levels, the effect of one-third of the wishes in this city far exceeded Chen Ruoan's expectations.

In the blink of an eye, the entire tree had occupied half of the soul space. Judging from the crown and branches alone, the tree's volume far exceeded that of the first one.

Chen Ruoan stroked the tree trunk, looked up at the red ribbons fluttering among the branches, and nodded thoughtfully.

The rules and settings of the world have changed, and I must adapt to the process of improving my abilities. What used to take decades to accomplish now only takes half a month.

"Choosing to come to Fanyi was a wise decision. This small town is also my lucky town."

News from Fanyi reached Chaoge, but no reply came for a long time. Di Xin's predicament had made him lose interest in the woman with whom he had made the bet.

Winter has arrived, and this year's snow is more intense and violent, causing many houses to collapse in the suburbs. Fortunately, the foxes were mobilized in advance, preventing too many casualties.

Five months have passed, and the upheavals in Chaoge have far exceeded Chen Ruoan's expectations: Bi Gan's forceful remonstrance led King Zhou to dissect his heart to see its seven orifices, shaking the court and the country; Ji Zi feigned madness to avoid disaster and was imprisoned as a slave, causing disunity among the royal family; King Zhou's half-brother, Wei Zi Qi, repeatedly offered advice to no avail, then fled to the Zhou state with sacrificial vessels, becoming an inside agent for the Zhou army...

The Shang army, with an elite force of 100,000, embarked on a distant expedition to the Eastern Yi, expanding their territory by thousands of miles but exhausting the nation's resources. After the victory, the main force remained stranded in the southeast.

King Wu of Zhou offered sacrifices to King Wen in Haojing and declared that "Yin has committed serious crimes and cannot be left unpunished." He then allied with eight states, including Yong, Lu, Peng, and Pu, to form an anti-Shang coalition, and war was imminent.

Chen Ruoan glanced at the strange characters in the letter and casually tossed it into the brazier.

"Judging by the time, I won't be able to return to the capital."

Fanyi is located in the northern border region, with no mineral deposits or natural defenses, and is not considered a strategic location. The fox, however, is capable of protecting the peace and stability of the people in this area.

Compared to worldly wars, the fox is more worried about the war of cause and effect that started at the same time as the Battle of Muye.

Immortals fight, mortals suffer.

With Chen Ruoan's limited imagination, he simply could not have foreseen the scene of a group of powerful beings fighting against a magical corpse.

"Damn it, why am I not Huo Linfei, the male protagonist of a Chinese fantasy manga? That way I could conquer the entire universe in seven days."

As the fox's thoughts drifted, Xiao Xing passed by the courtyard carrying a wooden basin and a change of clothes. The little girl's hands were the type that easily chapped; they would swell up like little toads as soon as they got wet or cold.

"I already said, some clothes don't need to be washed."

Xing blinked, puzzled, and asked, "But if we don't work, won't we go hungry?"

"Your values ​​are really simple." Chen Ruoan beckoned her over, treated her frostbite, and even eliminated the skin's tendency to freeze easily with his "double-handed" methods.

What reward do you desire?

"Why are you rewarding me?" Xing couldn't remember doing anything good, and even her mother rarely praised her lately.

"The many rumors you've stirred up in the streets and alleys have saved me a lot of trouble." Chen Ruoan suddenly remembered that using street rhymes to create public opinion was a common tactic used by politicians throughout history. Xiao Xing's unintentional act had indeed helped to consolidate faith, so she should be rewarded.

“Oh, that one.” Xing clapped her hands. “So Your Majesty likes to be praised. There’s nothing to reward you with. I can praise Your Majesty in your ear every day.”

“That’s different. I’ll make you a new dress and then take you out to eat.”