Wei Min once again led his men outside the city. Seeing the piles of flour and the frozen buns and steamed buns, he immediately knelt before Shen Yunyun and Tang Yuan. Tears streamed down his aged face. He sobbed uncontrollably.
After Shen Yunyun and Tang Yuan left, Wei Min said to his trusted deputy, "Do you know who they are?" The deputy shook his head. Wei Min said excitedly, "That is the current emperor. The one beside him must be the future empress." The deputy was utterly shocked. He knew their identities were extraordinary, but he never imagined they were the emperor and empress. So Wei Min's words "must be" and "future" were completely overlooked by him; when he spread the word, it became the empress.
Within half a day, everyone in the military camp knew that the ones who had delivered grain and clothing were their emperor and empress. The soldier who had once crouched and eaten with the emperor was completely dumbfounded. He had actually crouched and eaten with the emperor? Wait, the emperor ate crouching down like some rough fellow? Another soldier fainted from sheer excitement. These soldiers suffered insomnia for several days in a row. They were too thrilled.
Shen Yunyun and the emperor's visit had directly won over the hearts of all the northern frontier soldiers. Especially Wei Min, who had been stationed in the north for years. He was now completely loyal to the emperor. When Shen Yunyun left, he gifted her some jewelry and treasures. Shen Yunyun said, "I don't want these. Could you give me some paintings or calligraphy instead?" "Paintings?" "Yes, either yours or the empress dowager's."
Tang Yuan's heart leaped with joy, and he immediately ordered ink to be ground. He painted on the spot. He created a "Seven Steeds Painting" and a "Cat Chasing Butterflies Painting." The "Seven Steeds Painting" was similar to the "Eight Steeds Painting," both depicting horses. In the "Cat Chasing Butterflies Painting," the kitten was a black-and-white cat with a white belly, hiding under the flowers, poised to strike. Its big, round eyes were fixed intently on the butterfly perched on the flower. It looked as if it would pounce and catch the butterfly at any moment.
Shen Yunyun loved the "Cat Chasing Butterflies Painting." If one hadn't seen a cat hunting, they couldn't have painted it so vividly. She decided to keep this painting for herself and had Gu Changye sell the other one. Back in the modern world, she handed the painting to Gu Changye. Gu Changye had already taken advantage of her many times and felt embarrassed to keep doing so. He simply suggested she leave the items with him to sell, and he would take a commission based on the proportion. Though he loved money, he knew when to stop. Shen Yunyun was different from others; she had many valuable things. If she ever felt it wasn't worth it and switched to someone else to sell, he wouldn't make a single cent.
"Not selling this one?" Gu Changye asked, looking at the "Cat Chasing Butterflies Painting." "Not selling this one. Just have it framed for me." "Alright." Gu Changye agreed readily.
Shen Yunyun finally breathed a sigh of relief. She felt like she was always so busy. She had only connected to a few worlds so far. If more came, could she handle it? Though it seemed to outsiders that she spent one minute as one minute, in reality, sometimes one minute for her equaled several hours for others. She was a bit tired. She wanted to quit.
Before, when she had no money, she wanted to earn well. Now that she wasn't short on cash, she didn't want to work anymore. She wanted to slack off. But this thought only lingered for a moment before she suppressed it. Because she thought of Wang Laoqi, of the beastmen, of those struggling to survive in the apocalypse. She was their deity; she couldn't afford to be negligent.