As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

The Crown Princess wants to pray for rain?

Praying for rain is not unfamiliar to the people of Da Zhou.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the royal family or local government would hold rain-praying activities every year.

There were local officials who presided over the rain-praying ceremonies, there were spontaneous rain-praying ceremonies by ordinary people, and there were also officials sent by the imperial court to pray for rain on orders.

Praying for rain for all crops was one of the important duties of local officials, which was related to their performance appraisal. Many officials lost their lives because of praying for rain.

For example, some died of heatstroke while praying for rain under the scorching sun, some died of overwork, some died of worry after failing to pray for rain...there are countless examples like this.

The central court’s prayers for rain became even more serious.

There were routine rain-praying ceremonies conducted by the Ministry of Rites, temporary rain-praying ceremonies by important officials, and rain-making ceremonies held by the royal family every spring and summer.

When drought was severe, it was common for the emperor to pray for rain himself or for the prince to pray for rain.

However, Emperor Jingming has rarely done so in recent years.

It’s simple. It’s just embarrassing if I can’t pray for rain.

He usually gave this glorious but arduous task to important officials of the court. After all, if the officials prayed for failure, he could scold them and then replace them with someone else.

As for when it will rain, well, send more people to pray for rain, and there will always be a lucky person who will catch up, and then he will naturally be promoted to a higher position and rewarded with money...

But no matter what, it is unheard of for the Crown Princess to come forward to pray for rain!

After the Minister of Rites came back to his senses, he jumped up, even more excited than the Minister of Personnel who had been kicked, "Your Majesty, it is disrespectful to the gods for the Crown Princess to pray for rain as a woman. This must not be allowed!"

The Ministry of Rites has just held a rain-praying ceremony, and Doctor Zhang from the Ministry of Personnel is still resting at home due to heat stroke. Is the Crown Princess trying to take over the Ministry of Rites' job?

No, he was not narrow-minded and worried that the Crown Princess would take his job away, but he didn't want the Great Zhou to be laughed at by the people of the world!

The more the Minister of Rites thought about it, the straighter his back became, with a righteous look on his face.

All the ministers echoed: "Minister Chang's words make sense, the emperor is wise!"

Emperor Jingming looked at Jiang Si with a twinkling look in his eyes.

The ministers did not know, but he knew that the seventh son's wife was not an ordinary woman and had never made any mistakes in the past. What if she could really pray for rain?

Jiang Si knelt down and said calmly, "Father, I think the most important thing is to pray for rain, not whether the person praying for rain is a woman."

"But there has never been a reason for a woman to pray for rain on behalf of the court!" said the Minister of Rites, shaking his beard.

"I represent the royal family, not the court."

Minister Gu shouted, "The Crown Prince is still alive, how can the Crown Princess come forward?"

Yu Jinliang interrupted: "I'm not good at praying for rain."

The truth does not lie in the loudness of the voice. What is this old man shouting? Praying for rain is a mysterious thing so only those who are good at it can do it.

Minister Gu was almost blocked by Yu Jian. He stared at him with bulging eyes and trembling lips.

"Extreme drought brings locusts, extreme drought brings floods, and after a long drought, other disasters will surely make the people suffer terribly and make their living miserable. Father, your daughter-in-law has heard that the court and local governments have failed many times in praying for rain, so why don't you let your daughter-in-law give it a try? Isn't it more important for the people to live in peace and security than whether your daughter-in-law is a woman?"

Emperor Jingming's heart moved slightly, and he asked, "Are you sure?"

Yu Jin couldn't help but cough.

Although he believed that since Asi dared to bring it up, he was confident, he still couldn't be too confident.

Emperor Jingming glared at Yu Jian and said, "Shut up!"

Yu Jin rolled his eyes secretly.

As if he's fine after saying so much, can't he even cough?

"Praying for rain requires sincerity. My daughter-in-law can only do her best to pray for rain. As for whether it will rain, it depends on whether God will have mercy on the people affected by the disaster."

Emperor Jingming couldn't help but stroke his beard.

The seventh brother's wife found a very good reason.

He punished the series of officials who had failed to pray for rain for the crime of being dishonest.

He didn't want to do that, but emperors of all dynasties had done the same thing. Did they expect him to come up with new charges?

After a brief pause, Emperor Jingming spoke slowly: "In this case, the Crown Princess will represent the royal family and perform the Grand Rain Sacrifice."

The Yu sacrifice is divided into the Yu sacrifice and the Dayu sacrifice. The Dayu sacrifice is a grand ceremony to offer sacrifice to heaven, which is only held during times of severe drought and is grand and magnificent.

It can be said that Jiang Si presided over the Great Rain Sacrifice on behalf of the royal family and the emperor. Once the prayer for rain was successful, the status of the Crown Princess would be unshakable.

Who dares to interfere with a Crown Princess who has been recognized by the God of Heaven?

The ministers were shocked: "Your Majesty, this is absolutely not possible!"

Emperor Jingming looked around at his ministers and said calmly, "I have made up my mind."

"emperor--"

Emperor Jingming waved his hand and said: "If the Crown Princess's prayer for rain is successful, it will benefit all the people. If it fails——"

Emperor Jingming turned his gaze towards Jiang Si and said calmly, "Then let's do as Minister Gu said, demote the Crown Princess to a concubine, and appoint another Crown Princess!"

Everything has its limits. The seventh brother's wife barged in like this and made such outrageous remarks. If she fails, he certainly can't cover it up anymore.

"Father!" Yu Jin was shocked.

Emperor Jingming snorted coldly: "Why, do you have any opinion?"

Don’t the couple have discussed such an important matter behind closed doors?

It’s too late to regret now. The emperor is no pushover!

"Father is so unfair to the Crown Princess. Those rumors were instigated by people with ulterior motives—"

"That's enough. If you think it's unfair, then cancel the Crown Princess's prayer for rain. As for how to calm the storm, we can discuss it later!"

"This——" Yu Jin looked confused.

Seeing Yu Jian like this, the ministers felt that Emperor Jingming's decision was right, and they all said in unison: "Your Majesty is wise."

Yu Jin lowered his eyes, with the corners of his mouth curving up in an imperceptible arc.

Emperor Jingming was too lazy to talk to the Crown Prince and his ministers, so he looked at Jiang Si and said, "Crown Princess, since you want to pray for rain, what do you think about this?"

“It’s business as usual.”

Emperor Jingming nodded slightly and said: "Then the Great Rain Ceremony will be held by Qin Tianjian..."

"Father." Jiang Si called out in a clear voice.

Emperor Jingming was slightly stunned.

Jiang Si lowered his eyelids and said calmly, "The auspicious date chosen by the Qintianjian will make my daughter-in-law feel uneasy. My daughter-in-law has no requirements for the Yusi ceremony. She only hopes that the auspicious date will be chosen by her."

Emperor Jingming suppressed his embarrassment and asked, "Which day do you want to set?"

Speaking of Qin Tianjian, he did feel a little guilty towards the Crown Prince and his wife.

He ordered Han Ranche to investigate the officials of Qintianjian, and later found out that a charity that had been destroyed by a fire long ago was actually related to the palace.

He didn't even dare to let Han Ran investigate further.

"One more day of drought means more suffering for the people. My daughter-in-law wants to set the day for praying for rain to be seven days later."

Seven days later, it was April 18th, the 22nd year of Jingming. In the previous life, after months of drought, on this day, a rain fell from the sky. At that time, the streets were deserted, and tens of millions of people ran to the streets and knelt on the ground crying, thanking God.

This day was also the day when she returned to the capital from Wu Miao in her previous life, and she happened to witness the grand occasion.

"Well, let's set it for seven days later. Minister Chang, the Ministry of Rites must do its best to organize this Great Rain Sacrifice and make sure nothing goes wrong with it."

The Minister of Rites agreed reluctantly.

Such a grand ceremony only had such a short preparation time, the Crown Princess must have been taking revenge on him for standing up and speaking just now!