Chapter 786 The Imperial Advisor is Stunningly Beautiful (13)

"Can we fly there?"

Humans are inherently prone to taking advantage of others. Just now, he was thinking that it would be fine as long as he followed along, but now he wants to fight for a way to get around.

"cannot."

"Why?"

"Because we want to succeed in praying for rain, we need to do a lot of preparations. As a result, we may have to stay in Jizhou for several days. As the emperor, you can't do without people to serve you."

The emperor thought this made sense, but something about it seemed wrong.

"Wait a minute, you can fly on a sword. Let's fly together to Jizhou and tell them to prepare to build the altar. Then we can fly back and do whatever we need to do. We can go back when it's almost done."

Ning Yan reached out and pinched the smooth dragon's buttocks. To be honest, it felt pretty good.

"Why do you think I'm making such a big show of things? It's all for you!"

Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.

He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world.

The emperor's eyes lit up immediately.

The late emperor did not only have one son, so why did he ultimately ascend the throne?

Firstly, his mother was very capable, completely infatuated with the late emperor, and he became empress after only six years in the palace.

Secondly, he is intelligent.

He just turned his clever mind into a love-struck mind after meeting the original owner of the body.

But now that it's his love interest speaking, his intelligence suddenly reigns supreme.

The Grand Preceptor is building momentum for him!

If the emperor were present for such a matter concerning "heaven," and the imperial advisor successfully prayed for rain, he believed that the people would be eternally grateful to him.

Moreover, the two flew away; how could the common people know who they were?

The local prefect had never even seen him, so he probably wouldn't listen to anyone who ordered the construction of an altar.

"But if we make a grand entrance to Jizhou, when will we even arrive?"

Ning Yan said, "Three days is enough."

"How is this possible?"

“Traveling by land is obviously not an option. But we can travel by water.”

Tomorrow after court, gather all the officials who wish to go, preferably two of whom previously served in Jizhou, and also select five hundred guards. We will depart before noon; two days and two nights should be sufficient for us to reach Jizhou.

The Canglan Kingdom has canals.

The canal runs through the north and south, and the Wulikou Canal Wharf is located 300 li east of Jizhou.

At that time, it would take at least ten days for a ship to travel from the capital to Jizhou.

But she had a way to make the ship travel at a speed of 500 miles per day.

The emperor didn't ask any further questions. If the imperial advisor said it was okay, then it must be okay. That's how blind love can be.

So he stopped lying down and immediately ordered people to pack his luggage. He also sent a eunuch to deliver messages to the ministers he was required to bring along, as well as the five hundred guards...

Fortunately, the two of them only caused trouble once, and it was still early; otherwise, those ministers would probably have wanted to skin him alive.

The next morning at court, when the emperor announced that he would personally visit Jizhou to see the Imperial Preceptor pray for rain, many officials volunteered to go with him.

The Emperor appointed several officials, including the Prime Minister, the Minister of War, Chu Zheng, the Vice Minister of Works who had made contributions to the production of glazed tiles, two officials from the Ministry of Works who were skilled in river management, the Director of the Imperial Observatory, the Minister of Agriculture and his deputy, and Minister Hu, who had previously served in Jizhou for three years.

Of course, these people had received the news last night and had already prepared their little bundles.

After the morning court session ended, the group quickly boarded a carriage and headed to the canal wharf.

The Emperor's three large dragon boats were already waiting at the mouth of the canal.

Besides two palace maids, the Grand Preceptor was accompanied by twelve disciples.

The children were of varying ages, but they were dressed in neat Taoist robes and looked very spirited.

Once everyone was present, Ning Yan handed three talismans to the guards. "Put these talismans in the ship's cockpit so the captain can keep a firm grip on the direction. We'll be going very fast, so don't scare them."

The guard obeyed and left.

Soon, the three large ships sailed out of the dock and then sped off south like the wind.

The officials at the bow of the ship all gaped in astonishment. "My God, isn't this ship going too fast? It can travel seven or eight hundred li a day, right?" Their ships could only travel two or three hundred li a day at their fastest.

Traveling two or three hundred miles a day doesn't mean traveling day and night; the crew also needs to rest at night, meaning they can only travel two or three hundred miles during the day.

"It's over 2,100 li from the capital to Jizhou. At this speed, it should take about four days."

The Prime Minister stroked his beard. He had just witnessed the Imperial Advisor give the guards three talismans. He hadn't expected that just one talisman could double the speed of the ships. It seemed that the rainmaking ritual was bound to succeed.

After traveling along the canal for two days and one night, the boat finally arrived at Wulikou Wharf as Ning Yan had predicted. After disembarking, the group rode horses to the Jizhou Prefectural Government Office.

Don't ask where the horse came from.

The three large ships carried officials, guards, and horses.

A message has already been sent from the capital to Jizhou, stating that the Imperial Preceptor will go to Jizhou to pray for rain.

Then, the Imperial Preceptor arrived, but the messenger from the capital had not yet come. One can imagine the immense shock this group's arrival would cause the people of Jizhou.

Coincidentally, the prefect of Jizhou was holding a court hearing when, after Lord Hu, the Imperial Guard, revealed his identity, the prefect of Jizhou immediately knelt down, and the common people and those who had filed complaints followed suit.

Three shouts: "Welcome, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!!!"

His Majesty is here in person! Did you have to be so sudden?

"Lord Su, please rise. I overheard that the two villages are arguing over water diversion. Let's put it aside for now and try it later. Today, the Imperial Preceptor has come to Ji County. You must immediately order people to build a rain-praying altar. Tomorrow at noon, the Imperial Preceptor will pray to Heaven and open the altar to pray for rain!"

The kneeling people immediately started talking excitedly, "Heavens! The Emperor and the Imperial Advisor have both come, and they're here to pray for rain for us. Our crops are saved!"

"Didn't you say we were going to build an altar? How do we build it?"

Let's go help too.

"Grand Preceptor, is there any significance to where this altar should be built, and how should it be constructed?"

Ning Yan said, "The place is spacious, and there is a river or water nearby. The altar is built to be one person high and four zhang square. The altar needs to be decorated with three gold artifacts. Oh, I have already prepared these. The rest are red flowers, incense rice, paper candles, and the shrines of the Five Emperors, Dragon King, Lightning God, Thunder Goddess, Wind God, and Rain Master. That's all. Go and prepare them."

Upon hearing the news, the magistrate of Jizhou arrived and led a group of people to set up the altar. The onlookers also helped.

Meanwhile, the prefect of Jizhou had already invited the emperor and his entourage into the inner quarters of the prefectural government office.

Ning Yan took a look around at Lord Jiang's residence.

The fact that he could live in the back residence of the government office already says a lot. If he were even a little greedy, or had a little bit of silver, he would have bought a decent house in Jizhou Prefecture and moved out.

This government office is rather small, and the furnishings and items inside are extremely ordinary. It's quite a poverty for a fifth-rank official!

"Your Majesty, this place is really too simple. A wealthy merchant from the city just came to the government office. He has an empty three-courtyard house that is very beautifully decorated. Your Majesty can go there to rest."