Lu Shuai suddenly grasped Tang Chendan’s shoulder, "Miss Tang, I like you, and I hope you like me too, but definitely not trying to coerce you. The parents of Candy Cake sacrificed for Justice, and we cannot let their child suffer such hardships, it’s unfair. I’m not that great, but this is something I want to do, it’s because of you, and also because of Candy Cake, so there’s no need for you to do this, I think we should not discuss this now. Instead, we should quickly have Master Fang prepare; he said Candy Cake doesn’t have much time."

Tang Chendan tilted her head upward, looked at Lu Shuai, her eyes expressing genuine happiness, "Alright!"

Lu Shuai and Tang Chendan sat in the carriage, carrying prepared magic potion materials. Besides the two main components, Tears of the Dead and the blood of Fire Beetles, many other materials were prepared as well, mostly collected by Shadow Owl over the past two years. Although Master Fang said he had the other materials, it’s still best to over-prepare when concocting magic potions, for there’s only one chance.

After sending off Lu Shuai and Tang Chendan, it was now Meng Po’s turn. There was only one way to receive the Moon God’s blessing: sincerity!

Meng Po removed the Night Patrol’s insignia, carried the dazed Candy Cake on her back, and set off from Shadow Owl, bowing deeply at each step toward the Divine Moon Cathedral.

She hoped the Moon God would pity this child and grant him protection.

Meanwhile, in Lu Shuai and Tang Chendan’s carriage, there was silence for a while.

"Where did you get so much money?" Tang Chendan suddenly asked. She knew Lu Shuai’s identity but wasn’t ignorant of the noble situation. The Lu Family wasn’t the Potter Family; fundamentally, they came from Celestial Capital, wealthier than some but nowhere near the real aristocrats. Few nobles in Dragon Capital could come up with five hundred gold coins on short notice.

"I sold the house the old man left me," Lu Shuai replied with a smile.

Tang Chendan looked at Lu Shuai in shock. Lu Shuai nonchalantly shrugged, "People are more important than houses."

"Idiot!"

...

Li Xin hid in the Canon Law School due to his injuries and enjoyed rare tranquility. Initially, he was worried that news of his skirmish with Yan Tianguang would reach Aunt Fei, who, unlike before, was now with the Citizen Daily, with access to widespread information, and might take notice of this battle.

But over the past couple of days, things hadn’t changed much. The news brought by Justin was just Aunt Fei asking him to eat more.

One couldn’t skimp on meals at all.

Li Xin tried out the alcohol scent tracing and hangover relief pill effects in his dormitory. The pill’s main function isn’t to eliminate tracking, but rather to dispel drunkenness. The old-era alcohols were mixed with substances requiring the pills to negate effects, and they worked to some extent, though didn’t match expectations. The perpetrator likely wouldn’t carry something like this.

He was familiar with the Gourmet Association; their quality was reliable but extremely pricey. Such traditional items were even rarer and costlier.

Regarding the Small Skinned incident, Li Xin wasn’t giving up but avoided getting too embroiled in the Church Court’s and Hundred Martial Hall’s disputes. If he had a clue to solve the case, he was willing to share with Shadow Owl for him to take the blame; Li Xin couldn’t handle it, and he shared this mindset with Kathy.

These days Lu Shuai was nowhere to be found as well, with Huerta delivering meals to him. Li Xin was at leisure, writing, healing, and reading newspapers.

Citizen Daily, Justice Daily, Flying Bird Daily, one of each. Of course, his favorite was still the Citizen Daily. They had added sections, one featuring viewpoints from the Celestial Principle School, with contributions from Mordo and Philson. This increased sales among Canon Law School learners, allowing them to view the latest Celestial Principle insights promptly.

The other section featured the beauty contest, still the most popular. The first stage concluded with a champion emerging, Miss Patir from Divine Revelation Canon Law School, whose passionate elegance took everyone by surprise.

People now eagerly awaited the second stage, reportedly culminating in an overall champion.

For the Citizen Daily, leveraging the beauty contest and Celestial Principle School assured robust competition for a foreseeable period. Naturally, this rendered life difficult for Justice Daily and Flying Bird Daily.

It wouldn’t be surprising if they promptly joined the beauty contest bandwagon.

Li Xin and Lin Fei remained calm about this, with Citizen Daily well-prepared, striving to make the beauty contest more standardized and branded, especially maintaining its reputation to face future competitions.

This was something Li Xin had reminded since the beauty contest gained popularity, prompting Lin Fei’s editorial department to seriously discuss the matter. Newspaper competition was routine; being prepared enables more ease and thoroughness.

Flipping through further, Li Xin’s eyes widened, and he picked up other papers, noting that Justice Daily and Flying Bird Daily featured front pages, notably with Flying Bird Daily dedicating an entire page.

The photo prominently displayed was of Meng Po carrying Candy Cake down the street while kowtowing.

From Shadow Owl, Meng Po carried Candy Cake, bowing at each step, attracting much public attention. Citizens delighted in such peculiar occurrences, leading to newspaper coverage after much public discussion.

Flying Bird Daily excelled at garnering attention through such stories, quickly following up with in-depth reports upon discovering Meng Po as a Night Patrol and Copper Owl of Shadow Owl, recognizing the emergence of major news.

Lately, Justice and Citizen Daily exhibited their capabilities, with the top two clashing fiercely, nearly throttling the third. Flying Bird Daily’s editors were sleepless, desperate for major stories to avoid unemployment.

Flying Bird Daily was less concerned with industry etiquette, eager to enter the beauty contest scene, only to find that Citizen Daily had elevated it to such sophistication that any attempt at replication lost essence. Participants’ quality was... hard to comment on. They realized that many exceptional women chose Citizen Daily for its classiness; would the Celestial Principle choose a lowly paper?

Noble ladies needed these reasons to persuade their families for participation, and Patir’s identity subtly reinforced Citizen Daily’s beauty contest exclusivity.

As for Flying Bird and Justice Daily wanting to establish their own contests, simply assembling an event wasn’t enough.

Flying Bird prepared diligently, with reporters working overtime to fabricate news, yet even their concocting had limits, and Meng Po became their focal point.

When journalists’ pestering began interfering with Meng Po’s actions, she had to comply with interviews. Only then did they relent.

Meng Po viewed this as a test from the Divine Being, disregarding face or job.

Her faith in the Moon God was unwavering, simply hoping for divine attention and a bit of protection for this unfortunate child.