Metaphysics was already carved into Su Ning's bones.
Therefore, late at night while staying up for New Year's Eve, at around eleven-thirty, she and the Su family prepared to go together to snatch the first incense offering. Regarding this, Half-Immortal Su was both excited and a bit puzzled:
"Eldest niece, why are we going to the White Cloud Temple?"
It wasn't that the White Cloud Temple was bad. It was, after all, a famous Taoist temple. Every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year when people rushed to offer the first incense, the outside was packed with a sea of people—
But there were better, even more popular places.
For example, the Yonghe Temple, which held a lofty status, or the Temple of the God of Wealth, which perfectly suited Su Ning's identity as a merchant seeking fortune.
"Is the White Cloud Temple not good?"
Su Ning didn't answer directly, but merely countered with a calm question. Hearing this, Half-Immortal Su thought to himself, Oh no. He realized that snatching the first incense was also a display of status. Commoners had to endure the cold and line up outside, while dignitaries and nobles simply arrived at the designated time according to their status.
Therefore, some people even said:
To observe the shifts in status within Beiping City, one didn't need to analyze all sorts of complicated matters; just looking at the order of positions for snatching the first incense on New Year's was enough.
His eldest niece was indeed a capable person.
But her foundation was not yet stable.
Perhaps places like Yonghe Temple were being snobbish and hadn't given his eldest niece a good spot in line, which was why she chose the White Cloud Temple instead.
If that were truly the case.
Hadn't he just poked at his niece's sore spot!
"It's good, it's absolutely wonderful." Annoyed with himself as he was, Half-Immortal Su was quick to make amends. Without batting an eye or skipping a beat, he began to extol the virtues of the White Cloud Temple. From his mouth, even a single blade of grass from the temple had a history of saving a person's life.
Su Ning listened with a placid expression.
In truth, there wasn't any deep reason.
Yonghe Temple might be efficacious, but its direction was a bit off for her, so it was better to avoid it. As for the Temple of the God of Wealth, it was a place she wanted to avoid at all costs—
What if it actually worked?
She wouldn't be able to spend it all.
She just couldn't spend it all!
Among the remaining choices, the White Cloud Temple was not only the closest, but after she promised to donate a golden body for the deity statue, they had agreed to let her subordinates enter the premises to protect her and eliminate any danger.
"I don't understand these things," Su Ning smiled. "But Uncle is an insider. Since even you praise the White Cloud Temple so highly, it must truly be excellent."
She said these words lightly and breezily.
Yet the underlying meaning made it sound as if Half-Immortal Su was truly some supreme immortal, and that the White Cloud Temple, worshipped by thousands of believers, only proved its worth because he offered a couple of words of praise.
Su Chen raised his long eyebrows in astonishment, unable to resist looking at Su Ning.
He found that she didn't seem to be joking at all.
No way... Did his cousin really believe his dad was some sort of half-immortal?
"Well, it's not quite that exaggerated."
Even with Half-Immortal Su's thick skin, he blushed at this moment, saying evasively, "The White Cloud Temple is indeed quite efficacious. You'll know once you stay in Beiping for a few more years, eldest niece..."
"What's wrong with that?"
Su Ning looked earnestly at Half-Immortal Su and retorted as if it were a matter of course, "Whether the White Cloud Temple is efficacious or not is something we'll only know later, but Uncle, your spiritual cultivation is number one in my heart."
"Incomparable to anyone else!"
"Ah, I'm actually not as amazing as you say, eldest niece."
Although his words were exceedingly modest.
In his heart, Half-Immortal Su was absolutely thrilled. A true talent scout! This is what you call a talent scout! His eldest niece's judgment was simply extraordinary; only she could see how his talents had gone unrecognized.
...
Having affirmed Half-Immortal Su's abilities.
Su Ning didn't delay either. She set off right on time at about twelve o'clock. The order the White Cloud Temple had given her was seventh. It might not seem high, but it was actually very good.
To give an analogy.
She was like a sudden breakout star in the entertainment circle, possessing both buzz and fans. She might look like an unstoppable force, slaying gods and buddhas in her path, but in reality, there were still quite a few true heavyweights pressing down from above.
It wasn't that those heavyweights hadn't wielded immense power and influence before.
It was just that their peak time had passed.
Speaking of which, the White Cloud Temple truly lived up to its name as a famous Taoist temple. Compared to other places that held first incense events, usually, the first thirty sticks of incense were exclusively reserved for dignitaries and nobles.
Only the remaining spots were left for the common folk to fight over.
The White Cloud Temple was different.
Over the years, they had only ever reserved fifteen incense spots for the rich and powerful.
And then—"Why are there so many people here?"
The car's speed dropped noticeably. Su Ning looked outside in confusion, only to see a sea of people. There were people on the ground, in the trees, and even on the eaves of roofs, and they were still several hundred meters away from the White Cloud Temple!
Let alone her, even locals like Half-Immortal Su felt the crowd was abnormally large. They had come to snatch the first incense in the past too.
There were a lot of people back then as well.
But it had never reached the exaggerated level before their eyes.
Su Ning, however, already understood. The commoners squeezed outside wore tattered clothes and looked exhausted, yet the eyes they occasionally cast toward the White Cloud Temple shone with a glimmer of hope.
She could even catch a few snippets of conversation:
"God bless, I hope to burn a good stick of incense today."
"May my whole family be safe... have food to eat..."
"No more war..."
The times were turbulent, and their lives were getting worse year by year. Powerless to change anything, they pinned their hopes for a safe and stable future on the gods and buddhas.
That was why there were more and more people.
Su Ning and her group were heading for the back door of the White Cloud Temple, but the area around the temple was completely blocked. As the car tried to pass through the crowd, even though it slowed down, it still provoked a chorus of resentful complaints.
Especially since Su Ning had brought a lot of manpower.
It made people even more dissatisfied.
"Which family's noble is this? Putting on such a huge show just to worship and offer incense, aren't they afraid of angering the gods!"
"People like them only come to beg for the gods' protection because they've done guilty deeds. They're most afraid of being assassinated. Looking at the extravagance of this car's owner, the wicked things they've done must be far from small."
"Exactly, exactly."
"Evil people like this won't be blessed by the gods even if they offer incense."
Relying on the cover of darkness and the massive crowd, these people weren't afraid of being singled out for trouble. Coupled with the pent-up frustration of waiting for so long, their words were as caustic as could be.
Before Su Ning even reacted to hearing this, Su Zhenzhu beside her gritted her teeth, her eyes instantly turning gloomy. She whispered to the driver, "If you drive too slowly, these people will just dawdle—just step on the gas and charge forward, then they'll know fear!"
The driver was taken aback.
He subconsciously looked at Su Ning.
Su Ning didn't have any particular reaction. Her gaze fell on the young girl beside her, and she raised an eyebrow with a smile... Was she no longer trying to pretend in front of her?
"Just listen to Zhenzhu."
Receiving the order, the driver no longer hesitated.
He stepped on the accelerator, letting out a massive roar of the engine as a warning, and then, spotting a gap in the crowd, he sped up and charged forward.
Screams and angry curses erupted.
But the speed at which the crowd scattered also increased rapidly. In an instant, a narrow but passable path appeared ahead.
Before long, they arrived at the back door.
Su Ning got out of the car. The waiting little Taoist priest hurriedly came forward to greet them. He gave a Taoist bow and was just about to speak when, with a creak, the door opened from the inside.
"Why are you here!"
A square face, a long gown, and a gaze looking at Su Ning as if wishing to slice her into a thousand pieces.
—It was actually Deputy Mayor He.
"Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable. This good believer, Miss Su is naturally here to offer incense, just like you."
The little Taoist priest answered earnestly, frowning at Deputy Mayor He as if to say, Are you stupid? How can you not even see that.
"Shut up, I wasn't asking you."
Vice Mayor He reprimanded her out of humiliation and anger. Then, realizing that Su Ning was actually next in line right behind him to offer incense, he grew even more furious and agitated, unable to hold back his mockery:
"White Cloud Temple is really going downhill. Just for a bit of gold and silver, they would actually host the descendant of a eunuch. What a disgrace. If word of this gets out, I am afraid no one will ever want to set foot in White Cloud Temple again."
Descendant of a eunuch.
Su Ning found it incredibly strange. Why did the people who tried to attack her always have to bring up this phrase? Had they not realized that she did not care about it in the slightest?
Besides—
It was not as if she had never been a real eunuch before!
However, while she did not care much herself, she noticed that the Su family members and her subordinates were all seething with anger. Su Ning knew very well that in the minds of the people of this era, such words were highly insulting.
The crowd then watched the scene unfold.
Su Ning took a few steps forward. The corners of her lips curled into a contemptuous smirk, and her eyes were cold:
"The Republic has been established for so many years now, yet Vice Mayor He's brain seems to still be stuck in the previous dynasty. You keep harping on about eunuchs, which is truly baffling."
"Oh, I remember now."
She put on a look of sudden realization, and mocking, caustic words spilled from her lips:
"Vice Mayor He only has one son. Young Master He has been fooling around with women since his youth, yet he is nearly thirty and still does not have a single heir. The He family line is about to end. It must be out of mutual sympathy for your shared plight that you always think of the word eunuch, right?"
