sjar Chapter 401
Chapter 401
Xie Zhiyan nodded in agreement. "So the Junior Preceptor means to ask Royal Father for more soldiers and generals, just like with that small island last time, and have the imperial court dispatch ships as soon as possible to take over and garrison it."A cold look flashed across Xie Zhiyan's face. "The Eastern Yi fear power but have no gratitude; they fixate on trivialities but lack a sense of righteousness. I'm just worried that once they get what they want, they'll go back on their word. It's not like their ancestors haven't done this before!"
Emperor Mingxi said dismissively, "If the Eastern Yi really dare to do so, our Great Yan is not to be trifled with. Bullying our dynasty's Junior Preceptor is tantamount to declaring war on Great Yan."
Thinking of this ready-made excuse to deploy troops, Emperor Mingxi couldn't help but pick up his teacup and take a large gulp. If Huo Ying, Feng Tang, and the others knew about this, who knows how many wicked ideas they could come up with.
As the saying goes, speak of the devil. Just as Emperor Mingxi thought of this, he heard a young eunuch outside announcing that Lord Huo Ying and several other officials were requesting an audience outside the hall.
Yue Fuguang did not ask the system what Emperor Mingxi and his ministers discussed during their late-night, candlelit conversation regarding Chrysanthemum Island and the Eastern Yi.
The next day, when she finally got up, Cuizhu served her as she washed and dressed, while telling Yue Fuguang about Yanji's visit.
"Miss, after I gave him the note you wrote last night, you should have seen the look on his face when he read the contents."
Cuizhu mimicked Yanji's expression at the time, vividly performing it for Yue Fuguang. This mixture of crying and laughing was exactly what Yue Fuguang had expected.
"I guess Yanji's expression back then definitely wasn't as pretty as Cuizhu's is right now."
"Miss, your guess is spot on. I was there too, and that Eastern Yi prince can't even compare to Sister Cuizhu." The ever-praising Qingzhu immediately chimed in.
"You're such a sweet-talker!" Cuizhu gently tapped Qingzhu on the forehead. Qingzhu ran outside, covering her forehead, not forgetting to leave a trail of flattery as she went: "Miss is always right!"
[Host, Qingzhu is wrong this time. Even you make mistakes!]
"What's the matter, 07? Tell me, how am I wrong?"
[Host, I'm not the one saying this; it's the rumors spreading outside.]
The system immediately distanced itself from the statement, lest its host decide to punish it as well. As her abilities grew stronger, her heart was growing darker too.
After dealing with the noble families, it was as if a restrictive switch had been flipped for its host. If it weren't for the karmic restraints of the merit system, she probably would have let loose completely by now.
"Rumors spreading? Do you mean someone is deliberately guiding public opinion? Can you find out who did it?"
[It started with complaints from your 'believers,' which were then deliberately steered and spread by people with ulterior motives from various factions. Since many people visit relatives and friends during the New Year holidays, the news naturally spread much faster.]
Yue Fuguang poked the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks. "So, those faint accusations and complaints I heard in my sleep at night weren't dreams, but the actual words of my believers?"
With her fragile ego, how could she bear this? The title of 'Immortal' gave her enough confidence to say no, but as a hypocrite, she couldn't stand it when others said no to her.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She pushed her bowl aside, and after everyone else had left the room, she continued speaking to the system, "Since they don't believe in me, they won't need to believe in me ever again!"
Although she quite enjoyed being called 'Divine Maiden' by others, she hadn't lost herself in it.
Yue Fuguang always remembered that her primary identity was a tasker, and completing her mission was the top priority.
As for faith and incense offerings, those were just unexpected bonuses. As long as it didn't affect the progress of her mission, what did it matter if she lost some incense?
In short, she couldn't allow herself to be wronged!
She had a fragile ego and was petty; she lacked the magnanimity to simply ignore the ignorant or the common folk.
[Host, what do you want to do?] the system asked cautiously. She wouldn't just kill everyone in a fit of rage, would she?
There weren't too many people across the lands of Great Yan saying these things, but it wasn't a small number either. If she really killed them all, Emperor Mingxi would have a massive headache dealing with the aftermath.
If Yue Fuguang knew that the system thought of her this way, she would definitely roll her eyes hard and ask it, 'Am I that kind of person?'
"Naturally, I'll revoke their qualifications to worship me. You didn't think I'd kill them all, did you?" What kind of person did it take her for!
Yue Fuguang sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and focused her mind on her qi acupoints. She looked inward to guard her dantian, purifying her body, calming her breath, and clearing her mind.
Following the faint connections of incense offerings, she listened intently, seemingly able to hear the various prayers and complaints more clearly.
A cacophony of murmurs rushed into her ears like the buzzing of a swarm, containing both prayers and grievances.
She traced the connections toward the sources of obvious malice.
At the Du family in Big Willow Village, Old Lady Du was respectfully offering incense to the 'Divine Maiden.' She had just lit the incense and hadn't even had time to beg the Divine Maiden for rain, when she saw her husband and several sons walking listlessly into the courtyard carrying hoes and shovels.
As soon as her youngest son, Du Hetao, entered the house, he yelled, "Mother, is the food ready? I'm starving to death!"
Old Man Du couldn't help but scold him, "Little Four, can't you see your mother is offering incense to the Divine Maiden? Yelling and shouting like that will disturb the Divine Maiden, watch your skin!"
For a family like theirs, if they encountered such weather in previous years, they wouldn't dare eat a full meal. Fearing the whole family wouldn't survive a famine year, they would save as much of their rations as possible.
Now, thanks to the Divine Maiden's grace, poor laborers like them were able to plant crops that yielded thousands of catties per acre. The weather in the first half of last year was still decent, and even in their poorest-quality fields, the potatoes and sweet potatoes they planted yielded over a thousand catties per acre.
Even the acre or so of wasteland that he and his eldest son had cleared at the foot of the mountain, which was entirely planted with sweet potatoes, yielded over eight hundred catties because the father and sons were willing to put in the hard work to tend the fields.
Therefore, the family was not short of food for the time being. It was just water that the whole family had to use sparingly.
Old Man Du took the incense from his old wife, bowed respectfully, and carefully placed it into the small clay incense burner, which was already piled high with ash.
When Old Man Du sat down and slowly drank some water, Old Lady Du looked at the bright sky outside and asked, "Old man, why are you back so early today?"
Old Man Du put down his coarse porcelain bowl, stroked his gray beard, and sighed. "The fields are all dry; there aren't even many weeds left. The land to be planted next year has long been prepared. There's no work to do right now, so we came back early."
Although the village had dug wells and stored water in ponds, that water was meant for irrigating the fields when planting started in the spring. No one was allowed to touch it now, so the land just had to remain dry for the time being.
Sitting under the eaves, he looked up at the sun overhead and a sky without a single cloud. Even though it was only the fifth day of the first lunar month and still within the New Year festival period, the festive atmosphere in the village had diminished greatly due to the drought. Even the children didn't dare to be too rowdy with their holiday laughter and play, for fear of angering the elders who were already anxious about the dry weather.
"Old woman, if it still doesn't rain by the time the fifteenth passes, let the boys go to town to find some work." With no work in the fields, their daily routine consisted of just chopping wood and fetching water. If they didn't go out to find some jobs, they couldn't just sit around idle.
Poor families couldn't afford to be idle for even a single day.