After washing up, Shen Yunyun returned to start chopping vegetables and cooking.
Xu Zimo stood at the kitchen door watching, and when he saw her twist some mechanism to produce fire, he grew very curious and launched into a barrage of questions.
Shen Yunyun also switched into explanation mode.
She prepared four dishes and a soup.
Xu Zimo, catching the aroma of the food, sat down as well.
"Don't you cultivators not eat?"
Xu Zimo, eyes fixed on the dishes on the table, said, "We can skip eating, but it's not that we can't eat."
Shen Yunyun: "..."
It felt like a tongue twister.
"Then let's eat," Shen Yunyun urged him to start.
Xu Zimo stared, tentatively picked up a piece of lamb spine, and took a bite. His eyes lit up slightly—braised for such a short time, yet it was already so tender and flavorful. This stove was truly remarkable.
Shen Yunyun felt today's dishes were a bit light on salt.
But Xu Zimo couldn't stop eating.
After finishing the meal, he said, "The little emperor you asked me to protect has grown up. There's no need for me to stay there anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I've taken a liking to this place. I want to experience your advanced civilization in this world."
Shen Yunyun almost laughed at his words.
He was clearly being lured by his cravings into forgetting all about home, yet he spoke as if it were perfectly natural, like he was about to explore the world.
But she had no intention of going along with him, because Tang Yuan needed him more than she did.
"Since you've brought it up, I have something to ask you," Shen Yunyun said.
"What is it?"
"You clearly have the ability to make the Great Li Dynasty better. Why won't you give him your full support?"
"How do you know I haven't given him my full support?"
"If you truly had, how could he still be bullied like this by the Southern Chu and Northern Yan kingdoms?"
Xu Zimo was utterly speechless.
Did she think cultivators could do whatever they pleased?
He sighed and said, "A nation has its own destiny, closely tied to the ruler and also to the people. The Great Li Dynasty's fate was originally exhausted, but it survived because of an anomaly. Do you want me to defy heaven and change fate?"
Shen Yunyun didn't understand anything about fate or destiny.
But seeing Xu Zimo speak so convincingly, as if it were real, she paused.
"What's wrong with defying heaven and changing fate? My fate is mine to decide, not heaven's."
Xu Zimo looked at her as if she were a freak.
"Don't you remember why I followed you from the cultivation world to the Great Li Dynasty?"
Shen Yunyun thought back. What was the reason back then?
Oh, right—it seemed he had killed his father and feared divine retribution, so he came with her.
She fell silent.
It seemed he really couldn't overcome heaven.
Otherwise, why would he need to flee that world?
Seeing her quiet, Xu Zimo asked again, "Do you still want me to defy heaven and change fate? Doing so invites divine punishment. Besides, how could I alter a nation's destiny just because I wanted to?"
Shen Yunyun said nothing.
"A nation's destiny is tied to its ruler—enlightened, it thrives; corrupt, it perishes. Forcing a change only brings disaster to the people."
Shen Yunyun understood now. He could change it, but he wouldn't.
Forcing a change in national destiny would not only bring divine punishment but also plunge the people into calamity.
Under a tyrant's rule, wouldn't the people be living in misery?
She also realized that Xu Zimo truly didn't want to return to the Great Li Dynasty.
How could that be allowed?
He was now the national preceptor of the Great Li Dynasty, revered by the people. How could he just abandon his post?
She had to nip this idea in the bud.