Chapter 17 017 Picking her up is such a nuisance!
Yun Tianqi learned from a palace servant that Shen Hengzhen went directly to Chang Le Palace after court. He knew something was wrong. He was carrying a cricket cage, so he rushed over and interrupted the conversation between the two in the pavilion.
"Brother Hengzhen, what brings you to my elder sister's place?" Yun Tianqi dismissed Shen Hengzhen's formalities and asked knowingly.
Shen Hengzhen did not rise, but knelt on the ground and replied, "Your Highness, I dare to suggest that we reduce the funding for the Immortal Cultivation Temple."
"Ah... that's what you're doing."
Yun Tianqi's mind raced, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief, guessing that Shen Hengzhen hadn't revealed his desire to participate in the Ascension Conference.
"Wasn't this already agreed upon at the court meeting? The amount has been reduced from ten million taels to five million taels. Is that still not enough?"
"Does Your Majesty know how much the national treasury revenue is in a year?" Shen Hengzhen raised his voice slightly.
Yun Tianqi smiled brightly, "How would I know? You should ask the Grand Minister of Agriculture."
Shen Hengzhen paused for a moment, then continued stiffly, "Your Majesty, in the past three years, the national treasury's average annual income has been only six million taels of silver!"
Yun Tianqi: "Huh? Since you already know, why are you asking me?"
Shen Hengzhen: "..."
Yun Tianjiao was afraid that if he remained silent any longer, Lord Shen would be so angry that he would explode on the spot.
She coughed and reminded him, "Your Majesty, five million taels is still a bit too much for the temple repairs."
"How much? But this Ascension Ceremony will be held in the temples of the three deities in various places. There will definitely be many people going to watch. If we don't repair and strengthen it properly, what if one of the temples collapses due to the crowd? Wouldn't we incur the wrath of the gods?"
Yun Tianjiao said, "Then we don't need to repair every temple. The largest temple of each God Venerable in the main city of each prefecture and county can be repaired slightly. It will only cost less than a million taels of silver."
Yun Tianqi bargained: "No, you have to add another million."
Yun Tianjiao frowned: "Why?"
Yun Tianqi: "The temples of the three deities in the imperial city need to be repaired properly. I also need to go see my elder sister participate in the Ascension Ceremony. I can't let myself be crammed together with the common people!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Tianjiao immediately felt two cold, sharp eyes sweeping towards him.
When she turned her gaze, she saw Shen Hengzhen looking at her.
"So, Her Highness the Eldest Princess also participated in this Ascension Ceremony..." Shen Hengzhen chuckled.
Yun Tianjiao felt that at this moment, Lord Shen was about to shatter right in front of him.
She looked at her spendthrift younger brother: "When did I say I was going to participate in the Ascension Ceremony?"
Yun Tianqi: "Huh? Isn't that right? The latest rules have been released. Each celestial being needs to bring a pilgrim to this Ascension Assembly. What's the name of that new god you're supporting... Oh right, Zhiwei. I heard that everyone hates him now. Apart from you, my royal sister, he doesn't have any other pilgrims. If you don't go with him, who else can he go to?"
Yun Tianjiao was surprised.
After Zhiwei left, she lost interest in the Ascension Ceremony and hadn't paid attention to it for many days. She never expected that such rules would be introduced this year.
Shen Hengzhen's face was grim. He bowed deeply to the two of them and said, "Your Majesty and the Princess are having a chat. I will not disturb you any longer. I will take my leave."
"Hey, Shen Hengzhen!" Yun Tianjiao tried to call out to him, but the other person seemed not to hear him at all.
"This person... just left like that?" Yun Tianqi craned his neck, watching Shen Hengzhen stagger out of Chang Le Palace. "What happened to him... oh dear!"
Yun Tianqi clutched his backside, turning around in shock and anger, "Royal sister! Why did you kick me again!"
"Who told you to bring up such a sore subject!" Yun Tianjiao glared at Yun Tianqi.
Yun Tianqi felt more wronged than Dou E. Looking at the cricket chirping in the cage, he said inexplicably, "What did I do? I didn't say anything!"
...
After the sun sets, the air becomes stuffy, and the once clear daytime sky is covered with thick clouds. Even the fish in the pond float listlessly to the surface, opening and closing their mouths to breathe.
Yun Tianjiao had Chunxi find the details of this Ascension Ceremony, and then sent Fuman to inquire about Zhiwei outside the palace. As Yun Tianqi had said, his reputation was bad, and not a single pilgrim had visited the thousand temples so far.
What has he been doing all these days...?
Didn't I already tell him to work hard to attract more pilgrims?
"Fu Man, how's the shrine you made last time coming along?"
"Your Highness, it's ready and I was just about to send it over for you to inspect."
Yun Tianjiao said, "Please come out."
Fu Man then brought over a tray, on which was placed Zhiwei's ancestral tablet.
Yun Tianjiao ordered his men to set up the ancestral tablet and personally lit an incense stick. However, after waiting for a long time, Zhiwei did not appear.
Chunxi and Fuman whispered, "This Zhiwei Heavenly God is so audacious. He's only been gone a few days, and now he's ignoring even His Highness's summons."
Fu Man often went out of the palace to do things for Yun Tianjiao, and knew far more information than Chunxi. Looking at the flickering incense and candlelight from afar, he murmured, "Could it be... that he can't come?"
A muffled clap of thunder sounded outside the window, and lightning ripped through the night sky.
As the incense stick burned out completely and the flame went out, Yun Tianjiao suddenly felt an ominous feeling.
"Prepare the horses, I need to leave the palace."
Chunxi and Fuman were both taken aback.
"Your Highness, it looks like it's about to pour rain outside..."
As soon as the words "Fu Man" were uttered, a torrential downpour began, pounding against the bluestone pavement outside the Chang Le Palace with a loud crash.
The palace maids and eunuchs braved the strong wind blowing in from outside and hurriedly ran to close all the doors and windows.
Yun Tianjiao tucked a bundle of incense and candles into his bosom, wrapped himself in a cloak, mounted his horse, and galloped out of the palace at breakneck speed, heading towards Yunji Mountain in the rain.
The night was deep and the rain was heavy. After leaving the city, it was almost pitch black. Fortunately, Yun Tianjiao had the habit of carrying a luminous pearl with him, and he could barely find his way by relying on the faint light.
When the tiny, half-person-high shrine by the roadside came into view, Yun Tianjiao felt like he had gone mad. He had rushed to this godforsaken place without a second thought, simply because the person hadn't responded immediately.
But who says that a deity will respond to a worshipper's incense offerings 100%?
Maybe they just don't want to pay attention.
The horses in the palace were all fine steeds presented as tribute from foreign lands, and at this moment they obediently stood quietly with Yun Tianjiao in the pouring rain.
The weeds were like a carpet, the shadows of the trees swayed wildly, and in this heavy rain, there wasn't a soul in sight. What could she possibly hope for?
Yun Tianjiao was lost in thought for a moment, feeling utterly bored. He pulled on the reins, turned his horse around, and prepared to return to the palace.
"Your Highness?"
A faint male voice pierced through the rain.
Yun Tianjiao suddenly turned around and looked at the temple behind him, thinking he was hallucinating.
"Your Highness...is that you...?"
It was indeed Zhiwei's voice.
She immediately dismounted and went behind the temple, where she saw a man leaning against a corner, half-dead.
"What are you doing here?" If Yun Tianjiao was half-drenched by the rain, then the once spotless deity was now a complete drowned rat.
His dark robes and long, dark hair, soaked by the rain, clung to his body and face, making his already fair skin appear even paler and sickly.
But the eyes that looked at her were bright, like the last burst of energy in a terminally ill person, radiating the final light as they exhausted their life force.
"Instead of asking me why I'm here, Your Highness should ask yourself..."
Zhi smiled happily, his eyes almost overflowing with joy. He forced himself to sit up, his collarbone peeking out from under his collar, like a seductive demon in the rain.
"Is it because you miss me and can't bear to leave me that you came here to look for me?"
Yun Tianjiao noticed that the sleeves of Zhiwei's divine robe were faintly translucent. Startled, he turned back to the front of the temple and saw that the divine tablet inside was flickering with a precarious divine light.
Even when he's about to die, he still can't resist showing off!
Yun Tian, filled with arrogance, hurriedly took out the incense and candles from his bosom, lit them with a tinderbox, and offered them all before the ancestral tablet.
The divine light, which was on the verge of extinction, stabilized again, and she returned to the back of the temple, looking down at the god who had just escaped with his life.
"I built you a thousand temples, and you've ended up like this? Are you trying to make all my money go down the drain? If I had arrived any later, your divine essence would have dissipated!"
With the power of the incense offering, Zhiwei's complexion improved significantly. He suppressed his smile and quietly looked up at Yun Tianjiao. Raindrops dripped down his eyelashes, wetting his eyes, making him look like a pitiful yet obedient stray dog.
"It is my incompetence that has disappointed Your Highness."
Yun Tianjiao's anger instantly dissipated. His hand unconsciously tightened its grip on the hilt of the True Word sword at his waist, and he asked, "Is it because of me that you can't attract any worshippers?"
Zhiwei immediately denied it, "It's just that I'm incompetent, it has nothing to do with Your Highness."
Yun Tianjiao remained silent for a moment, then said, "Don't worry, I will find a pilgrim to accompany you to the Ascension Ceremony."
With Zhiwei's looks alone, as long as she can stand out at the Ascension Assembly, she will have no trouble attracting pilgrims who appreciate beauty, and she will probably not end up in such a state in the future.
Little did anyone know that Yun Tianjiao was full of plans for his divine path, but the person in question did not appreciate them.
"Thank you for your kind offer, Your Highness, but it's not necessary."
Yun Tianjiao frowned slightly. "Why?"
"If I cannot go with Your Highness, then I might as well not participate in this Ascension Ceremony."
Yun Tianjiao sneered, "Didn't you boast that you would win the Reincarnation Mirror for me? You've already gone back on your word?"
"At the time, I didn't know I needed to bring a pilgrim. The situation changed, so it doesn't count as breaking my promise," he argued.
Yun Tianjiao was annoyed by his reckless attitude.
"Fine, go or don't go, I don't care! But if you miss this Ascension Ceremony, it will be even harder for you to attract worshippers, and in the end, you will only face death."
Zhiwei calmly replied, "The pilgrims I care about most no longer believe in me. Even if there are thousands of incense offerings in the world, they are worthless to me. What do I have to fear if I perish?"
Yun Tianjiao thought this person was completely unyielding and angrily said, "Aren't you afraid of dying?"
"Without Her Highness the Princess, I would have died long ago."
Another rumble of thunder rolled by, and lightning ripped through the night sky, illuminating Zhiwei's eyes.
Those eyes shone brightly at that moment, reflecting her, and only her.
Yun Tianjiao was at a loss for words, so he just glared at the other person angrily. After a moment, he threw down the words "I don't care if you die or not" and turned to leave.
But then I heard the sound of something falling to the ground behind me.
Zhiwei's divine power was weak, and he eventually couldn't hold on any longer and fainted.
Yun Tianjiao: "..."
She used a great deal of effort to get the man onto the horse, then mounted herself and let the barely breathing man lean against her back.
"Fine." Knowing he couldn't escape this self-inflicted injury, Yun Tianjiao finally relented. "I'll go with you, is that alright?"
The lithe, boneless god rested his head on Yun Tianjiao's shoulder. Upon hearing this, the corners of his lips curled up, and he casually nuzzled against that thin shoulder, like a fox that had succeeded in its scheme.
"Um."
A deep, soft response brushed against Yun Tianjiao's neck and reached his ear, sending a shiver down his spine.
This person...
Yun Tianjiao frowned, pulled out the hemp rope he carried with him, and quickly tied the two of them together to prevent Zhiwei from falling off the horse midway. Then he loosened the reins, squeezed the horse's belly with his legs, and rode back to the palace.
What a menace!
A note from the author:
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Here it comes!
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