With the plot as the male lead"s armor, the rain calling for the next day naturally became a huge success. However, even though it took place on the same mountain, there was something a little different with his ceremony. Aside from there were fewer people since not few became heartbroken due to Duan w.a.n.g"s failure, the sacrifices to be offered were more than yesterday. Bigger too, and not the usual animals...Alright. Actually, yesterday, due to the letter of advice he received from the general, Hai w.a.n.g gathered his people, rallied the government buildings and sacked all those corrupt and trashy officials who either exploited the ma.s.ses or stole some money from the government"s treasury. Most people that had been found guilty were Rui w.a.n.g"s supporters. There were also a few from the other princes" side, some even under the male lead.
Hai w.a.n.g disregarded all protests and used the mantle of authority granted to him by the ma.s.ses to drag those people to the sacrificial altar the next day. Before the ceremony started, Hai w.a.n.g had all of them executed before the public. They were the ones who became the sacrificial offerings. After all, whose blood could appease the anger of the G.o.ds more than these corrupt officials?
The rain calling was done per Jiang Li"s instruction; find a tall place where clouds heavily gather, set up the sky drums around a raised platform, then slowly shout the rain prayer ninety-nine times at the top of the lungs, with both hands extended upward in the whole duration of the prayer.
Cough, the last part was just Jiang Li trolling of the male lead. There was no shout with raised hands, and actually... the prayer only had to be recited nine times, not ninety-nine.
However, because the male lead didn"t know that awkward instruction was not part of the original prayer ceremony, he blindly followed everything to a tee, causing the general to turn away from the whole thing, for some time, to finish laughing.
Anyway, at least the prayer ceremony turned successful.
A heavy downpour started a minute before the male lead finished his recital of the verses, much to the joy of the commoners and low-born people depending on the land and its natural resources to survive.
Seeing this though, the two other princes" turned dark, especially the first prince who not only failed, but was unlike Rui w.a.n.g who had their imperial father"s endless doting and could get away from failures like this.
Beside Jiang Li, the girl who became puzzled at everyone"s reactions tilted her head to his direction and asked, "Your Highness, there is something I don"t understand. This is only one raining. Why are the denizens this happy, like all of them just suddenly earn or gain overnight riches? Will this be enough to revive a region that is starting to turn into a desert and a wasteland?"
The two of them were at the spot nearest to the altar. Behind them were rows upon rows of soldiers in standby, all to a.s.sist if ever a riot occurred. But two of the soldiers were holding an umbrella for the two of them.
Jiang Li looked at her and answered in a matter-of-fact tone, "No. It"s not enough."
Jiang Ying Yue nodded. "Hmm. Thought so too. So it"s kind of weird for me that they"re celebrating so soon when there is yet to be a good result."
The man laughed, "You"re right. However, the rain is enough to give hope to these people"s hearts which have been wallowing in despair and hopelessness due to the fast-warming climate of this region. There"s also that execution of those sinners who had stolen the tax money and exploited many hard laborers. The rain is so the land will be revived. The purge of corrupt officials is so the hearts of the common people would be recaptured."
He saw that the girl seemed to be thinking about it, digesting his meaning. So he added, "For everyone here, since both hope and justice are given to them by an imperial clan member, they are starting to believe again in the royal power and having hopes that they could go back to their normal lives , through their help, I mean."
Jiang Ying Yue pursed her lips.
It was quite a surprise that even though these people only got showered by a few droplets of rain for some time, their faith in the royal family was immediately rekindled.
Meanwhile, Jiang Li shrugged his shoulders and secretly mused, "People of this era... are really so superst.i.tious and easy to mislead. In the end, it"s because of the current education system. I bet no one will believe me even if I explain how this rain comes, that it"s not sent down by the heavens, but manipulated to come down by men. The heck, I don"t even understand why they believe an emperor is the son of a dragon, that he has a dragon body, even though they could perfectly see that he is a freakin" human."
The man secretly shook his head at this.
Even if he had knowledge beforehand about their lifestyles and beliefs, the ancient"s brains were still really something he found quite hard to understand. Was this may be just the difference between the mindset of someone who had grown up in a modern world and somebody in ancient times?
In one corner of his eyes, he saw Sheng Lingxin watching Chen Heng with a complicated expression on her face. She, too, was probably wondering why the heck people were bowing down at scenes like this.
In modern times, even if a dude really does something quite miraculous, for example swallowing a sword yet still have an intact throat upon pulling it out, n.o.body from there would kneel down to wors.h.i.+p that guy. Instead, people would pull up their phones, video-record it, and share it on social media to gain more followers.
But here... He was sure if that same person did the same at this place, he would definitely be mistaken for some G.o.d who descended on earth, or a heavenly messenger from some sacred temple who would bring the common people some prophecies or salvations. People would bow down at his feet and treat him like a prayer statue. He would be wors.h.i.+pped and subjected to an imperial treatment.
Jiang Li thought, in this world, most likely only the female lead would be able to relate to him. That was if the villainess, this incarnation of Na Yu next to him, had really no way of regaining her memories from other worlds.
"Did you suffer trauma from all the blood you see today?" After some time, when his eyes settled on the huge puddle of red, a mix of rainwater and blood, on and around the sacrificial platform, he asked the villainess.
"Thank you for worrying about me. No, Your Highness. I am fine." Though quite startled and confused, Jiang Ying Yue answered. She was not very much affected since from the beginning, she didn"t look at the b.l.o.o.d.y scene.
Actually, she couldn"t even if she wanted to. Because when the execution was still ongoing the man next to her moved forward and blocked her from seeing it. She tilted her head in puzzlement since the man seemed to have forgotten about this already even though it only happened less than an hour ago.
Jiang Ying Yue saw him looking at the red puddle and began wondering what made him so lost in thoughts. On the other hand, Jiang Li just instinctively asked the question since he remembered that because of him, because in his later years in the previous world, he kept vomiting blood, Na Yu became a bit hemophobic.
"The rain should be continuing for a few more hours." She blurted out after looking down at her wet shoes and then checking the thick dark clouds above.
"Yeah." Jiang Li turned around and started leaving the crowded grounds. Jiang Ying Yue"s feet automatically moved to follow after him.
When she caught up with him, he glanced at her once and then said, "There will still be quite some time before we leave, probably a month or two, until one of the crops that the princes would introduce and commission to the ma.s.ses for planting sprout or yield some produce. Until then, we will have to be here to help. Especially you, since you are a healer. Be careful though, I heard one of the towns nearest to a dead river contracted cholera, and it is one of the mission places."
Jiang Ying Yue nodded. She knew what her role would be in this place.
...
The group that arrived in the eastern region became quite busy after the ceremony since the three princes had everyone to contribute. Jiang Ying Yue was also contributing.
Many people were amazed that a lady like her knew so much about herbs and medicine. When some asked where she learned her knowledge, she only smiled and said that it was a teacher arranged by Chen w.a.n.g. And it was the truth since the old witch agreed to pa.s.s down all her knowledge in medicine, gu, and witchery to her due to Jiang Li.
As for Jiang Li, he too, was not truly idle, even if that was what the majority of those around were thinking. The reason was even though officially, he only went with them to escort Jiang Ying Yue, in reality, he was roaming around frequently, especially in the mountains, helping Hai w.a.n.g to hunt animals for meat, or find crops that could produce yields quite fast. There were two that he discovered, namely the radish and turnips.
In between explorations and escort missions, he was secretly meeting or exchanging messages with the prince and his messengers. Or if not, he was with the villainess, enjoying some tea with her or watching her paint and write poems.
A whole month pa.s.sed just like that. Quite a busy but fulfilling one at that, and still a vacation, in Jiang Li"s opinion, since they didn"t have to deal with barbarians. There was also no need to worry about armies from the neighboring countries sneaking attacks and waging wars against them.
He didn"t give much thoughts about the details, but it didn"t take that long for the situation at this place to stabilize.
Due to this, when the court summoned half of them back, he didn"t hesitate to volunteer his whole army. He, along with the villainess, the leads, and Rui w.a.n.g, went back to the capital. Duan w.a.n.g was left to deal with the rest which was decided as his self-atonement for the failed rain calling
The group hurrying back to the capital did not encounter any problems along the way. They arrived within a week of traveling and upon setting foot into the capital, were immediately summoned by the Emperor.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.