Since June, the imperial palace has issued a decree that some monks falsely claiming to follow the Righteous Path are deceiving the people into worshipping using the name of the Green Lake Water God, when in fact they are under the influence of an Evil God. The Evil God corrupts the hearts of men and harms their yin de. Private worship by the people is prohibited and, once discovered, will lead to fines and labor service. Anyone who reports a household engaging in such worship to the governmental office will be rewarded with ten pieces of silver.
This move caused a ripple across Jiangnan, with the populace disbelieving, especially in Yuhang, questioning what turned their protective deity into an Evil God.
