I'd like to stay here for a couple more days.

Kangxi knew that Youqing wouldn't say such a thing without a reason, so he asked why: "Is there a problem?"

“I heard from the village head’s wife that there would be a river god sacrifice in two days, where unmarried women under the age of twenty would be sacrificed to the river god.”

Although Emperor Kangxi offered sacrifices to his ancestors and to Heaven every year, he did not believe in the practice of human sacrifice.

Sacrificial prayers were originally beautiful wishes, but human sacrifices, which involve human lives, should never exist.

"Okay, then let's stay a few more days."

Their purpose along the way was to observe the customs and traditions of different regions and gain a better understanding of the current situation in the Qing Dynasty. Naturally, they wanted to stop things like human sacrifice.

The next day, after waking up, Youxing was fed some baby food by the wet nurse and had breakfast. Then she went to talk to the village head's wife.

"I've never seen a river god ritual before, and I'm not in a hurry to go back. I want to see it."

"That's good. The river god is tolerant and loving, and he likes lively gatherings. The more people who come to watch the ceremony, the better."

"When will the new goddess be chosen today?"

"The sacrificial ceremony is tomorrow. You can go to the ancestral hall later. However, outsiders are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall. If you want to see it, you can only watch the goddess enter the water for the sacrificial ceremony tomorrow."

"I see, that's quite proper."

"Yes, we're afraid the river god will be angry."

Can a forgiving and loving river god get angry?

Isn't this a contradiction? I don't understand why these people believe it so readily.

Since they couldn't go to the ancestral hall, Kangxi sent a secret guard to check it out.

Before dinner, the guard returned a little earlier than the village head's family and announced the originally chosen goddess: "Your Majesty, the new goddess is the village head's youngest daughter."

This result surprised both Kangxi and Youqing. Youqing asked, "How was this result chosen?"

"They were chosen by several respected elders in the village, including the village head himself, based on their birth dates and times."

"The village head has no objections at all?" Youqing asked.

"No, on the contrary, the village head is very happy."

"What would a proper young lady's reaction be?" Youqing wanted to know.

"This servant can only see that the village head's daughter looks a little dazed, but she doesn't seem to be sad at all."

Upon hearing this, Youqing frowned. It seemed that the people in this village firmly believed in the river god's protection of the village.

This is bad. Even if she jumps out and shouts that the river god worship is fake, it won't work and no one will believe her. She might even be arrested by the villager for offending the river god.

Kangxi dismissed the guards and then said, "It seems that it is appropriate to expose this directly. The villagers are too ignorant, and they will not believe it even if we tell them. We can only use other methods."

In fact, Youqing already had some ideas in mind: to defeat magic with magic.

Explaining science to these villagers is harder than climbing to the heavens.

They only knew that the rain came during the years of famine by worshipping the river god, and now they naturally believed in the river god.

Youqing shared her idea with Emperor Kangxi, who immediately felt there was no better way.

He bought some supernatural items from the system and prepared to act the next day.

Just as the two finished their discussion, the village head and his family returned.

The village head's family seemed no different from ordinary people; if anything, they were happy.

In the afternoon, the village head's wife called her daughter into the house and carefully instructed her: "It is your good fortune to become a goddess. You must serve the River God well, be sensible, and do not throw tantrums."

The village head's family lived a good life. They had many sons but only one daughter. Although they valued their sons more, they never neglected their daughter. The village head's wife knew that she would never see her daughter again after this, and she was reluctant to part with her. However, compared to her reluctance, the sacrificial ceremony was more important.

Yang Chunhua looked somewhat distressed upon hearing this. She had always obeyed her parents since childhood and knew the importance of the sacrificial ceremony. However, when she thought of that scene, she was not without fear. She was afraid of the unknown, but she could not bring herself to refuse. Everyone in the village was proud to become a goddess, so even though she was afraid, she dared not say anything.

"I've remembered everything you said, Mother. I won't be able to serve you anymore, so please take good care of yourself. Wear more clothes in the winter and don't deprive yourself of anything. My brothers are all doing well, so please don't ruin your health by trying to save a little bit."

Upon hearing this, the village head's wife couldn't help but get teary-eyed. It's said that daughters are their parents' little cotton-padded jackets, and that's so true. Although sons are good and obedient, none of them are as thoughtful and considerate as daughters.

The thought that she would never see him again after tomorrow overwhelmed her with grief.

If she could choose, the village head's wife would also want to keep her daughter by her side. Although the goddess was glorious, she would never see her daughter again. The more she thought about it, the more distressed she felt.

The mother and daughter immediately embraced and wept bitterly.

The scene in the room was broadcast live to Kangxi and Youqing. Watching the mother and daughter part ways, Youqing couldn't help but sigh.

"Ignorance is extremely harmful!"

The mother and daughter are real, but neither of them knew what they would face after falling into the water. Their disregard for human life and their ignorance are chilling.

Even a five-year-old child knows that water can drown a person, yet a group of adults believe that there is a river god underground.

When I saw Yang Chunhua and the village head's wife again, it was dinner time. The mother and daughter showed no signs of distress and were even able to talk and laugh. No one in the village head's house seemed sad, but the dinner was much better than the lunch. That night, Yang Chunhua sat at the head of the table.

Yang Chunhua was a pretty girl, and she was in the prime of her life. In ancient times, women were treated harshly. As the daughter of the village head, if she had followed the normal course of life, she should have married into a harmonious family after a year or two, selected by her family. She would not have become rich and powerful, but she would have had a smooth life.

Before falling asleep that night, Youqing said to Kangxi, "We haven't been on this journey for long, but we've encountered one absurd thing after another. I wonder what else we'll encounter in the future."

She used to be in Yunnan. Although she had been to many places, because of the system, she mostly stayed overnight in farms in the wild. She had never stayed overnight in a farmhouse and knew very little about farm life.

They hadn't stayed in many villages, but what they encountered made Youqing's heart pound with fear.

At times like this, Youqing would miss modern life. Before, she always felt that this was not good enough and that was not satisfactory. But after coming to ancient times, she realized that being able to study, having enough to eat, not having to suffer from the cold in winter, having air conditioning in summer, and being equal before the law... What a happy thing it was.

Kangxi also found it absurd, but he didn't feel it as deeply as Youqing. Youqing had seen better days, a thousand times better than this. Kangxi only felt that he had a long way to go and a heavy responsibility to bear.