"Are you alright?" Long Yuan asked Su Muyao with a worried tone, looking her up and down before letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was unharmed.
While the speaker was saying "It's nothing," the sound of gongs and drums began to ring out from the high platform above.
Long Yuan looked at the high platform and said to Su Muyao, "I should go up now. You can just sit here and watch."
Seeing Su Muyao nod, he strode towards the high platform.
The ministers had already turned their eyes to the crown prince when he arrived.
Everyone was curious about whose baby that child was, that the Crown Prince would take such good care of him.
The officials' relatives who lived nearby were also very curious, as the dignified crown prince actually referred to himself as "I".
Su Muyao sat on the stool, feeling annoyed by the whispers around her.
Su Laosan regretted bringing his precious child along.
After all, he knew that those high-ranking officials had many private affairs and scandals, and if he accidentally offended them, his whole family would be in trouble...
All the people who were to perform the sacrifice had arrived when the emperor and empress finally arrived late. The people below immediately knelt down and paid their respects when they saw the emperor, who was wearing a dragon robe, and the empress, who was wearing a phoenix robe.
Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!
"Long live the Empress!"
Su Laosan also knelt down, and seeing that his daughter was still standing, he quickly tugged at her sleeve.
He whispered anxiously, "My daughter, you mustn't be rude!"
Taking advantage of her small size and the long robe, Su Muyao simply squatted down without kneeling.
With so many people around, surely no one would care about a mere baby like me. Seeing that the person in the seat of honor finally raised his hand to let everyone stand up, Su Muyao finally stood up.
Before long, the sacrificial ceremony in front of him had already begun, with his singing and dancing.
Su Muyao found it fascinating. She saw the painted-face priest jumping around and chanting incantations, but she couldn't understand a single word.
Even after most of the day had passed, there was still no effect.
At this point, the emperor directly asked the priest, "How is it?"
Then the painted-face man stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, this rain is something this priest could not obtain."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed drastically; they hadn't expected the priest to dare speak to the emperor like that.
The emperor, seated on the throne, was not angry. He simply asked softly, "Why can't you get it by asking?"
The priest remained silent, walked from the high platform to the edge to face all the people, and then slowly spoke: "People, I am a famous priest from Jiangnan who can communicate with the gods."
After saying this, the man looked down at the audience and saw that most of the elderly people were looking at him with pious eyes. He smiled with satisfaction.
"But this rain is impossible to pray for. Not only that, but the drought will continue until all the people of the Great Dynasty die."
Upon hearing this, the people below erupted in uproar, and the emperor also stood up, squinting at the priest.
The painted-face man stopped keeping the mystery to himself: "I just communicated with the gods. In his previous life, the crown prince of the great dynasty committed many evils, oppressing the people and causing widespread suffering."
Unexpectedly, the reincarnated demon became the crown prince of a great dynasty and won the emperor's favor, enraging the gods and causing the drought that has lasted for so many years.
This is divine punishment; only a sacrifice by the crown prince can appease the gods' wrath.
None of the ministers dared to utter a sound, but some of the common people spoke up from the crowd.
"No wonder the drought has been going on every year since the Crown Prince was born, right up until this year. It seems that the Crown Prince is not worthy of his position and should be sacrificed to appease the gods."
After these words were spoken, many people began to shout loudly, "The Crown Prince's sacrifice to Heaven has appeased the wrath of the gods."
Some uninformed commoners also joined in, thinking that although the royal family had immense power, they couldn't possibly execute all the common people.
But most importantly, if the crown prince does not perform the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven, and the drought continues, they will only face certain death.
Su Muyao squinted at the crowd; it was obvious that this rain-praying ceremony was a setup for the Crown Prince.
Many of these commoners were planted by the masterminds; otherwise, even ordinary people wouldn't dare to directly shout for the Crown Prince to perform the sacrificial ceremony.
Then the emperor slammed his hand on the high table.
He roared, "Imperial Guards, arrest this babbling idiot and torture him severely! I want to see who ordered this, daring to frame the Crown Prince!"
Soon, the commander of the Imperial Guard led a group of men and captured the priest and all the people who had come with him from Jiangnan.
The captured high priest was still shouting, "Heaven is going to destroy my great dynasty! The emperor of this great dynasty is protecting his own son, disregarding the lives of the common people..."
Having seized the high priest, the commander dared not give him another chance to speak, and directly tore a piece of cloth from his body and stuffed it into the high priest's mouth.
The farce ended quickly, and the emperor only briefly said that he would investigate the matter and give the people an explanation.
As the royal family and ministers left one after another, the common people huddled together and whispered among themselves.
Su Muyao was carried in Su Laosan's arms as they slowly made their way through the crowd.
Su Muyao listened to everyone spreading the rumor that the drought would end if the Crown Prince were to be sacrificed to the heavens.
Su Muyao found it all quite laughable.
After returning home, Su Laosan told his family what had happened at the rain-praying ceremony that day.
Old Man Su was the first to speak out: "It's obvious that someone wanted to harm the Crown Prince, which led to this incident. No one can communicate with the gods."
But after saying that, Old Man Su suddenly looked at Su Muyao.
He was originally a non-believer in God, but since having his own precious daughter, he has gradually come to believe in the existence of God, since his daughter's master is probably a deity.
Only a deity could possess such a magical artifact.
Qin Meijuan, who was sitting to the side, suddenly said to Su Muyao, "Little ancestor, it would be best if you had less contact with His Highness the Crown Prince in the future."
Otherwise, what if it implicates the whole family?
Qin Meijuan was genuinely afraid because her niece's close relationship with the Crown Prince could implicate the whole family, which would be a huge loss.
"Grandpa, Grandma, I'm going back to my room now."
After saying this, the little dumpling jumped off the stool and headed towards her room.
"How dare you talk like that?" Boss Su suddenly slapped Qin Meijuan.
This immediately enraged Qin Meijuan.
Standing up, he pointed at Boss Su's nose and shouted, "Am I wrong? There are so many people in our family. We can't let our little niece's close relationship with the Crown Prince implicate the whole family later."
Besides, we're just ordinary people. There are so many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital; anyone could easily crush us.
"Enough! If you want to argue, go back to your room. Get out of here, all of you. Just looking at you gives me a headache."
Grandma Su looked at the troublesome eldest son and got up to leave.
The Crown Prince stood to one side of the Imperial Study, with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Rites, and the Grand Tutor standing directly below him.
These men followed the old emperor in his youth, and they were the ones who supported the current emperor after he ascended the throne.
What do you all think?
Several ministers simultaneously looked at the crown prince standing to the side.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com