To reassure the people, the altar was built to a height of four zhang (approximately 10 meters), and the people from all directions surrounded it.
Liu Zi was a vegetable vendor in the suburbs of Beijing. He could barely make ends meet, and in good years he could save some money. He dreamed every day of saving enough money to get married.
Life was extremely difficult during the drought; people didn't know where their next meal would come from, let alone their wives.
It is said that the Empress's brother was jealous of talent and ordered a general to knock down the statue of the Black Emperor, which was Heaven's punishment and caused a three-year drought.
Originally, a goddess was supposed to save him.
Then, the goddess was young and playful, and the high-ranking officials of the court refused to coax her, thus offending her. In a fit of anger, the goddess went to play with the Queen Mother of the West.
When the news came out, Liu Zi was still in a daze, but his great-grandfather, who was almost seventy years old, sat down on the muddy ground with tears streaming down his face.
"Heavens above! These two damned bastards have offended the gods! We're going to suffer like this!"
Then the others realized what was happening and started crying too. If God didn't send rain, nothing would grow on the land, and people would starve to death.
The situation became increasingly dire after that. One day, two days, ten days, half a month, and now it has been two months without a single drop of rain.
The whole village was filled with the smoke of incense. Every day, when Liu Zi returned from foraging for food in the mountains, the first thing he did was kneel down and beg the Black Emperor to withdraw his divine power.
The second thing is to ask the goddess to come back quickly. The officials don't play with the goddess, but Liu Zi and everyone in the village and county are willing to.
The Goddess of Mount Tai—this divine name and the accompanying stories, such as her birth, her playfulness, and her fondness for being pampered, spread throughout the country.
Upon arriving in Beijing, Liu Zi heard that a Taoist priest was praying for rain. He went through great lengths to squeeze into the temple, clinging to a sliver of hope and silently praying for the drought to end.
But nothing happened... From dawn to noon, not a drop of rain or a gust of wind fell.
Some people were cursing God for not giving them a way to live and for the government for being useless. Liu Zi's anger rose as he listened, and he really wanted to join in the cursing and fighting, since they were all doomed anyway.
"Look, what's on the altar!"
Liu Zi and the people around him looked up together—a burst of golden light, and after the light dissipated, a beautiful little girl appeared in the middle.
With fair skin like jade and a playful demeanor, her dark eyes seemed to possess a magical power that drew people in at first sight.
Liu Zi pushed forward frantically, shouting, "It's the goddess! The goddess has returned!"
There's no mistake, the goddess is young, which fits the description, and the golden light emanating from her must be from a deity; that's how simple the people's thinking is.
After a moment of surprise, the people around seemed to be reminded and shouted loudly for the goddess. The fat man took off the rings on all ten fingers and shouted that the goddess had returned while scattering them.
"Host, you're not really trying to become a god by doing this, are you?" he said, looking at the scene with a complicated tone.
Look, he dares to guarantee that this fabricated goddess of Mount Tai is already a true deity in the hearts of many.
There are still a large number of believers, and a large proportion of them are fanatics. If this were a world with gods, Ling Xiao would at least become a weak god, and he would be the kind of person who rises to the top in one step!
"How could that be? I don't have such a perverse sense of humor. Alright, look, Prime Minister Wang has noticed us. We need to get started."
Ling Xiao gave a few perfunctory replies and quickly changed the subject.
This way.
The Taoist priest Xu stammered, "Goddess, it's good that you're back. The people are finally saved." What he didn't say was that he was also saved.
With the talisman given by the Queen Mother of the West, the drought should be resolved soon. As for why the goddess said she would play for three days before leaving, and why she suddenly returned with the talisman, it's a mystery.
Brother Er Gou wisely shut up.
Not long after this conversation, Wang Yi strode down from the high-rise building and used the army to separate the fanatical crowd before ascending the sacrificial altar.
"Your Highness, is the Queen Mother of the West fun to play with?"
Seeing that he didn't immediately question or beg, Ling Xiao glanced at Wang Yi.
All the crowd saw was the goddess give a soft hum, her eyes slightly darting away, and she muttering to herself:
"There's nothing fun about it anymore. I'm tired of everything. Let the little dragons in the Dragon Palace have their fill."
While the others were puzzled, Wang Yi chuckled to himself.
He knew beforehand that during that trip to the underworld, His Majesty had said that the goddess had teased and bullied the prince and princess of the Dragon Palace before leaving, and had run away quickly for fear of being reported.
This time was probably another stroke of bad luck. They met the Queen Mother of the West again, and it wasn't good for the aggrieved party to stay any longer.
He was actually a little proud. The goddess was a princess of the Qin state in the Great Jin Dynasty. She acted flamboyantly, and as her family, they naturally didn't think much of it.
Ignoring the doubts of others, Wang Yi eagerly asked them to return:
"Your Highness, His Majesty prays every day in the ancestral temple that you have a pleasant time at the Queen Mother of the West's place and that you will return soon."
"What's there to be happy about?" A terrifying glint flashed in the goddess's eyes, her expression changing swiftly, her childish voice icy cold:
"This time, the Black Emperor wants a three-year drought in the mortal realm, and the God of Rain cannot refuse."
"I only asked him to alleviate the drought slightly, and he dared to refuse me, disrespecting His Highness!"
The goddess bit her lower lip hard with her fine teeth, recalling the one who had offended her. Her eyes flashed with venom, and venom poured from her mouth.
"A mere minor deity, a dog of the Jade Emperor of Heaven, with neither a sect nor a powerful backer, yet he dares to offend me like this?"
That's why the goddess thought of asking the Queen Mother of the West for a talisman, mainly because the god of rain had offended her.
It's not that I'm concerned about the severe drought.
Wang Yi fell silent upon hearing this. As a scholar, he disdained the goddess's typical extreme, ruthless, and opportunistic behavior.
But—she is her own goddess!
As the saying goes, it's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person; the goddess of the Great Jin Dynasty is no exception.
At this point, the other audience members were dumbfounded, and Liu Zi scratched his head.
It seems the goddess isn't very kind or generous, and is quite petty... Pshaw, the goddess is still young, it's normal for her to be unhappy when she loses face.
Liu Zi quickly completed his self-analysis. Seeing that the people around him were still shocked, and some were even displeased, he took the initiative to explain his theory.
Wang Yi chuckled awkwardly twice, then readily agreed, saying, "So the goddess gave the ungrateful rain god a hard time."
My goodness, this is the kind of licking I did when I was young.
The goddess smiled, proudly tilting her delicate chin up.
"I beat those long serpents until they cried for their parents, and I'm going to extract their life force to make rain. Dragons are good at wind and rain, and even though they're just small dragons, squeezing them out a bit more will be enough for three years."
Wang Yi offered a dry compliment, saying, "The goddess has really gone to great lengths for us."
The people watching shared the same thought as the kneeling Taoist priest Xu: the dragons of the Dragon Palace were so unlucky; they hadn't cultivated themselves properly in their past lives, yet they encountered a goddess like her!
"What a pity," the goddess said with regret, "The Queen Mother of the West stopped me. She gave me the talisman and sent me down. I wanted to play around with it."
"The Queen Mother of the West is wise!" Wang Yi thought to himself with a cheer.
After everything was said, Wang Yi suggested returning to the palace. The goddess nodded indifferently, indicating that she missed her nephew.
For some reason, the experienced Prime Minister Wang felt a pang of pity for His Majesty.
The soldiers drove away the surrounding villagers to make way for the goddess. Liu Zi walked away reluctantly, turning back as he planned to spread the good news throughout the village, thinking that everyone would surely be happy.
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