The Qin family's power is mainly distributed in Yuzhou, with dozens of districts in the state, and the territory is vast, all named after the word Yu. Luo Yu'an grew up in Yulin District, and has not even been to many districts in Yuzhou, such as Yuhan District.
Yuhan District is closer to the old house than Yubei District. From the other side of the Qin's old house, it belongs to the scope of Yuhan District. Yuhan District is not the most prosperous urban area in Yuzhou, but it is very special, not only because of its history, but also because it is the place where many large ancient buildings are best preserved.
When her younger sister Yujing was still alive, she once told her that she wanted to travel to Yuhan District in the future. Luo Yu'an promised her that he would take leave to accompany her on the trip after she was admitted to university. However, they never came until her younger sister passed away.
Almost a year has passed, and unexpectedly, she came here alone in the end.
The car passed through the modern and bustling streets of Yuhan District and entered the ancient building area. There were no more high-rise buildings and neon lights, and the outside gradually became quiet. For a period of time, the main city of Qin was built in Yuhan District, which is where she got off the car now, but now it has been converted into a more low-key and restrained mansion. The long white walls and green tiles, bamboo forests, ancient pines and flowing springs are all included in the courtyard.
"This used to be one of the sealed-off old houses of the Qin family, but it is carefully maintained every year. Now it belongs to you." A girl from the Qin family held a black umbrella for her and introduced it as they walked.
Of the two maidens, one stayed in the old house, and the other accompanied her out. In addition to the maidens, there were several other people who followed them quietly.
Luo Yu'an got in the car and was surrounded by these people and came to this large courtyard which had a long history and was expensive to build. He felt as if he had suddenly entered some wealthy family drama.
Later, seeing the countless Qin family members waiting there, this feeling became even stronger. Logically, she shouldn't be so nervous, after all, she is not here to be a rich family's young lady, but a rich family's great grandmother, but she is only in her twenties, and seeing those people who are several dozen years old and can be her father, and even grandfathers who are almost a hundred years old, kowtow to her, Luo Yu'an still can't accept it. She used to respect the elderly and love the young, but now she feels that the chair under her butt is quite prickly.
She looked at the only girl she knew, "You don't have to kneel before me, you are already so old."
The daughter of the clan was the one with the best temper. She said calmly, "We in the Qin clan have always been the most disciplined. Since you are the wife of the clan god and his representative on earth, we must respect you. This is not only for you, but also for the face of the clan god."
Among so many people present, she was the only one who minded this matter, while the others all took it as a matter of course.
Forget it, they are just stubborn old men and women, there is no point in arguing about these, it's just one encounter anyway. There is no such thing as making things difficult for them. Not only that, Luo Yu'an also keenly felt that quite a few people were afraid of her.
Why? Because of the clan god? Luo Yu'an didn't react for a moment. When everyone stood up and watched her leave the reception room, and the clan girl opened a black umbrella for her, she finally reacted. Yes, she is different from them now. She is a "ghost". No wonder they are afraid of her. If she were in the past, she would probably be afraid if she saw a real ghost.
This house is also an ancient house, but it is obviously not as ancient as the old house in the mountains. It is more suitable for modern people's life. Various home appliances and convenient life systems are hidden under the appearance of the ancient buildings. At night, it is brightly lit, unlike the old house where many places still use lanterns.
The bed and various supplies are also more in line with modern people's preferences and habits. After the sun went down, Luo Yu'an walked around the house. She was actually not much different from a normal person now. She could still eat, but she didn't feel anything after eating. It was amazing. She also jumped around the house secretly and found that she could really jump very high. She sat on the beam all of a sudden, and then jumped down quickly to avoid scaring anyone.
However, although this place is very convenient, she still wants to go back to the old house. She misses Shishen a little. It's only been one day since she last saw him. She didn't know she was such a clingy type.
Maybe she was too lonely. She had lost all her relatives and even her identity as a human being. The people around her who treated her respectfully were all strangers. She felt an indescribable loneliness. Perhaps compared to Ujigami, she was the one who was most afraid of loneliness.
So let's go back to the old house tomorrow morning. If the women don't want to go, then let them not want to go. Anyway, they can't really control her. The only one who can control her is the god.
Thinking of this, Luo Yu'an's mood improved, and she also had the mind to look at this house that nominally belonged to her. There were many flowers and trees here, and the garden was well taken care of. Luo Yu'an especially liked the rose rack, and when she saw the waterfall-like flowers, she suddenly thought of the god.
"Can I transplant this flower back to the old house? Plant it in the yard of the clan god's shrine." She said to the clan daughter in her usual negotiating tone.
The daughter of the clan was surprised. The old lady had never heard of such a request before. She probably thought her behavior was too casual and frivolous. She frowned disapprovingly and said, "The shrine is where the clan god resides. We dare not make decisions on our own without his instructions. It would be bad if we anger the clan god."
But Luo Yu'an had an inexplicable certainty that Shi Shen would not be angry, he would be happy, he liked such warm and brilliant things.
So she changed her tone of voice and said, "Let someone help me dig up this flower. I will plant it next to the shrine of the god tomorrow."
Lady: “…Yes.”
The next morning, Luo Yu'an was unable to return to his old house as he wished because a special guest came.
The guest was wearing a shirt and trousers, with a long ponytail, looking young and beautiful. She walked towards her in the sun, took off her sunshade after entering the house, and greeted her casually.
"Hello, are you the wife of the Qin clan god? I just saw your clan girl holding a black umbrella for you. You have just transformed not long ago, right? I didn't believe it when my clan god said that the Qin clan god got married, but it turns out to be true."
"I am the wife of the clan god of the Liang clan, my name is Qi Ji. Our Liang clan's territory is in the neighboring Jinzhou. Have you been to Jinzhou? The place is not as big as Yuzhou, but the scenery is pretty good. In recent years, it has been vigorously developed and has become one of the most livable modern cities. You can come to our place to play next time you have the chance. Well, I will invite you when you are stable and don't need the protection of this black umbrella. By the way, our Liang clan has a good relationship with the Qin clan. In the past, we often intermarried. Although intermarriage is not popular in this era, there are still many cooperative relationships. That's why I rushed to see it when I heard the news and congratulated you by the way. I hope you don't blame me for coming here so casually. After all, we are all casual people in our family."
She finished speaking in one breath, and Luo Yu'an was stunned, especially the last sentence, which made her laugh. Although she knew there were other clan gods, she didn't expect to see the wives of other clan gods so soon. They were not quite the same as she imagined. And when she mentioned the Liang family, Luo Yu'an suddenly remembered that in the memory of the clan god, his first sister married the Liang family. Could it be this Liang family? Then their marriage relationship can really be traced back to a long time ago.
"Hello, my name is Luo Yu'an. Thank you for coming here specially to congratulate me. Please take a seat." Luo Yu'an entertained her with a smile.
Qi Ji didn't hesitate to sit down beside her, took the tea that the girl brought, took a sip, and sighed, "Tea is really tasteless, Coke is better."
After saying that, he smiled and looked up at the girl: "Little girl, I want to talk to your wife, you all can go down and play by yourselves."
Being called "little girl" by a little girl, the girl did not feel strange at all. She bowed with a straight face.
There were only two of them in the large, ornately decorated, three-sided transparent room. Luo Yu'an was still feeling awkward about her calling her "little girl". Even though she had guessed that this girl was probably not too young, she still felt it was too weird.
"I went to your old house with my clan god several decades ago. At that time, the clan girl was still a little girl. As for me, I was a princess of a small country in the past, but that country perished a thousand years ago, so I won't talk much about it. You know that I have lived for more than a thousand years... er, or I have been dead for more than a thousand years." Qi Ji casually revealed his age, but like a curious and talkative little girl, he asked her: "You are only in your twenties, right?"
Luo Yu'an was distracted thinking about that thousand years, and was amazed in his heart. He nodded and said, "Yes."
Qi Ji whistled in a charming and graceful manner, "You Qin family gods are really amazing. They are old cows eating tender grass. They married a young wife like you. They must be very indulgent to you and do whatever you want, right?"
Luo Yu'an didn't know how to respond to this, but she didn't need to respond. Qi Ji seemed to be a self-satisfied person, and he quickly continued his own words: "I understand, I understand. After all, I was like this before. It's a pity that we have been together for too long, and the interest of an old man and a young wife no longer exists."
Luo Yu'an had been patiently listening to the stranger's chatter. She was used to being a sister, and seeing that the younger ones all treated her as a sister, she relaxed a little and asked, "The Liang family's deity is also in the Liang family's old house, right? You came all the way here by yourself. Are you okay?"
Qi Ji paused and said, "You seem to have misunderstood something."
"Not all clan gods live in the old house as living statues. As far as I know, only the clan god of your Qin family still follows the ancient traditions."
Luo Yu'an was really stunned, "What?"
Qi Ji: "Like my husband, he has already gone to work. He has been busy working overtime recently. Otherwise, he would have come with me. We in the Liang family will not go to worship him all the time. We only meet him at the annual meeting to report performance. We usually live in the city center, on the top floor of a skyscraper, or in a forest villa, playing with mobile phones and computers. Our lives are actually no different from those of most wealthy people nowadays."
After hearing this, Luo Yu'an was about to overturn her cognition for a while. She finally accepted that there were special beings in this modern world, and that the life of the god was completely detached from modern life. But now she found out that it was not the case
"How could this be? Why can your clan god be so free, but my clan god is still trapped in the old house... Is it because of the Qin clan's request?" Luo Yu'an frowned as he thought of the clan god's painful birthday month and the heavily guarded old house.
"Pfft, little girl, you must be mistaken." Qi Ji laughed as if he had heard a joke, "It's not the Qin clan that trapped your clan god. On the contrary, it's your Qin clan's clan god that trapped all the Qin clan members."
When she said this, her smile was strange, and finally there was some depth in it, as it should be for someone who has lived for thousands of years.
"Hundreds of years ago, the world went through some turmoil, and some things changed. The evil plagues that threatened people in the past gradually disappeared, and many families also declined. You know, once a family declines and perishes, the clan god of that family will die completely. Exterminating the clan is the only way to kill a clan god. Many clan gods have lost most of their power since that time hundreds of years ago, and can no longer protect the family. So now there are only a dozen clan gods left, scattered in various states, living a life similar to our Liang clan god."
"The only difference is that your Qin clan's god is different from the other clan gods. Until now, he still retains most of his power... Do you know how he preserves his power?"
Qi Ji stared at Luo Yu'an, his smile becoming more and more weird, and whispered: "No one knows how he did it, but we know that when he was weak a few hundred years ago, he took the initiative to devour an entire group of several hundred Qin clan members. Since then, he has been able to rely on devouring people to restore his strength. The clan god of your Qin clan is recognized by all clan gods as the most brutal and terrifying one."
Cruel... Horrible? Her clan god? Luo Yu'an couldn't put this word on him no matter what.
"As long as he doesn't want to, how can the clan members trap such a terrible clan god? On the contrary, he is the one who is most unwilling to change and the one who is most unwilling to let the clan members disperse. Therefore, the entire Qin clan is under his firm control. In this modern society, it still retains ancient customs, respect for status, clan elders and descendants... these old things."
"Little girl, don't be so naive. Your clan god is very cruel." Qi Ji said while shaking his head.
When Luo Yu'an heard these words, he suddenly felt his heart beating faster.
She wasn't afraid, she just suddenly felt... so excited.