Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 234 Wang Mang Emerges as a Prodigy, Liu Ao Plans to Become His Apprentice! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Early in the morning, the weather was hot and humid. Zhou Yi was too lazy to make breakfast, so he went down the mountain with Wu Meiniang, had breakfast in the town, and then drove straight to Qingshui Town.

As the carriage passed through the farmland, Wu Zetian noticed that the corn leaves were all curled up.

"What could be the cause? Is it due to pests or diseases?"

The Book of Changes says:

"It's so dry. Ever since the last time the dragon caused trouble and brought some rain, it hasn't rained a single drop for so many days. The whole of Henan is experiencing the worst drought in decades."

The climate is becoming increasingly abnormal; in places where it rains, it's torrential rain, and in places where it doesn't rain, crops can't grow due to drought.

Looking at the wilted crops, Wu Zetian's eyes were filled with heartache:

"If it doesn't rain, we'll lose a lot of food, won't we?"

The Book of Changes says:

"That's why I urged the construction of the Dragon King Temple and even held a consecration ceremony for the statue today, all in order to get the Dragon King to send rain and solve the drought."

The consecration of a temple should be done in the same way as the consecration of the Fude Zhengshen statue in Sanlizhuang, after the temple is built and everything is ready. This is the standard procedure.

However, ever since the Dragon King statue was unearthed, people have been coming to burn incense and worship in an endless stream. In addition, the drought is getting worse and worse, so Zhou Yi decided to consecrate the statue ahead of schedule.

The benefit of doing this is that the Dragon King's blessing will surely bring a timely rain, effectively alleviating the drought.

More importantly, if people rush to worship an unconsecrated statue of a deity, it is easy for evil spirits to take over. The best way is to let the Dragon King begin his work ahead of time.

Since there was no temple in the past, only a solitary stone statue, it wouldn't be considered impolite to consecrate it directly.

Once the Dragon King Temple is repaired, we can consecrate it again; it's not much trouble.

When we arrived at the Dragon King Temple, the construction team was still working hard. The beams could be raised by the day after tomorrow at the latest.

Beside the construction site, people came in an endless stream to worship the Dragon King, some praying for children, some for wealth, some for marriage... Of course, the vast majority of people were mainly praying for rain.

An offering table had been set up in front of the statue, filled with various offerings.

Milk tea, soda, grilled sausages, rice crackers, potato chips, hand-torn bread, cream cakes, brown sugar potstickers... People's wishes are always so simple and honest, highlighting a free and diverse range of options.

In front of the offering table is an incense burner, filled with incense sticks of varying thicknesses.

Teacher Liu from the Cultural Center arrived early. He and his nephew Liu Guangzhi took care of all the offerings needed for the consecration ceremony. Now that the offerings are ready, Teacher Liu has a point-and-shoot camera hanging around his neck, intending to record it and post it on his WeChat public account for promotion.

Traditional folk customs should be vigorously promoted.

Zhou Yi opened the trunk of the car, took out a folding table, spread a cloth on it, first placed the offerings, then the ritual implements. Once everything was ready, the ceremony began.

The sun is high in the sky now, the sky is clear and blue, and there is absolutely no sign of rain.

Zhou Yi performed the ritual method method, chanted incantations, and then slowly peeled off the silk cloth covering the Dragon King's body.

While doing these things, white clouds gradually appeared in the sky above. Before long, the white clouds turned into dark clouds. After Zhou Yi finished the consecration ceremony, a few raindrops began to fall.

"It's raining!"

The workers looked up at the sky, beaming with joy.

With this rain, the corn in the field is saved, and there's no need to worry about the harvest.

Teacher Liu was so surprised that she even forgot to open her umbrella:
"Master Zhou, is this the Dragon King manifesting his power?"

As Zhou Yi put away the ritual implements, he said:
“You can think of it as a miracle, or you can think of it as a coincidence... It was predicted to rain yesterday, but luckily it only started raining after the ceremony, otherwise the ceremony would not have been able to continue.”

He quickly packed up the ritual implements and put them in the trunk. He waved to the people waiting to offer incense, indicating that they should find a place to take shelter from the rain first, as the rain was getting heavier and there was no need to rush to be the first to offer incense.

After everything was arranged, Zhou Yi turned his head and saw the Dragon King statue after the consecration, which looked majestic and awe-inspiring. In particular, the black lines on its body looked both domineering and tough, and even the scholar's robe on its body had a more majestic feel.

To be honest, black really does enhance one's charm; it makes one look dignified and handsome.

The construction site had stopped work, and everyone was leaving early. Zhou Yi said goodbye to everyone and drove Wu Meiniang away from Qingshui Town.

The drizzle continued until noon, and the rain covered a wide area, affecting the entire Yiyang region and even further afield, including Luoyang.

The drought has been alleviated, and some dried-up reservoirs can now be filled with water again.

Back at the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi flipped through the black notebook and discovered that he had actually been rewarded with merit for consecrating the Dragon King.
[The Dragon King statue is cleansed of impurities, and sweet rain falls upon the surrounding area for thousands of miles. Merit +28]

Zhou Yi thought that receiving three to five qian of merit from the consecration ceremony would be quite good, but he didn't expect to receive two liang and eight qian directly. He thought about it and guessed that the relief of the drought had attracted more merit, because if it didn't rain soon, the granaries of the Central Plains would suffer a complete crop failure.

Wu Zetian brought over a cup of hot tea:
"Immortal Master, how long will this rain stop?"

"It's hard to say. It would be best if it rained for a day. The fields are too dry and need some replenishment."

He took a couple of sips of tea, went to the kitchen and made two bowls of sour soup noodles. To be honest, eating something refreshing on such a day went quite well with the drizzling rain.

While the two were eating noodles, during the reign of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty, Chen Tang led his people out of the Jinghe River Valley and arrived at the Guanzhong Plain. The magistrate of Qi County lined up to welcome them and even vacated his official residence for the meritorious officials to live in.

However, Chen Tang had no time to rest. After a short adjustment, they continued south, heading straight for Chang'an.

At this time, Chang'an City had become extremely chaotic. Shi Xian, Kuang Heng and others sent a group of people westward out of Longguan to stop them, but Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou came through Xiaoguan Road and rescued hundreds of Han girls.

The people spontaneously went to the city gate to welcome them, and even though the city gate officer earnestly told them that they would arrive tomorrow, the people were still unwilling to leave.

Nearly a century has passed since Wei Qing and Huo Qubing swept through the Xiongnu, and fifty years have passed since Fu Jiezi casually beheaded the King of Loulan.

Now, the Han Dynasty has finally regained its power and brought the head of the Xiongnu Chanyu to Chang'an. The people were so excited that they burst into tears. After so many years, they finally received some exciting good news.

Kuang Heng and the others were pacing around like ants on a hot pan, trying to stop them, but it was too late. The methods they had prepared had now become mere seasonings to enhance the prestige of Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang.

The Imperial Censor Fan Yanshou intended to impeach Chen Tang for violating military discipline, but before he could even begin, he was silenced by General Wang Shang.

Yes, thanks to the gifts sent by Chen Tang, although he and Lao Gan have not yet returned, the legend of the two is still circulating throughout Chang'an.

In particular, the Xuan paper given to Liu Xiang was called "divine paper" by the great Confucian scholar. He sent a sheet to each of his friends in the court and made sure to ask everyone to help Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang to be granted marquis titles.

Meanwhile, a somber mood hung over Wang Feng's residence. News of Wang Shang's death by chopping down had spread, along with the news of a thousand Imperial Guards being captured by Chen Tang.

The Wang family was furious and planned to teach Chen Tang a lesson. Shi Xian and Kuang Heng also sent gifts to Wang Feng. Although they did not say it explicitly, their intention to unite was clear.

Wang Feng sat on the couch in silence for a long time, then suddenly asked an inconspicuous boy in the corner:
"Mang'er, what do you think the Wang family should do in response?"

The boy was Wang Mang, who was not particularly outstanding among the Wang family's children. The reason Wang Feng asked him was because Wang Mang's father, Wang Man, had just passed away, and now his close fifth uncle, Wang Shang, had also passed away. He was worried that the boy would become depressed.

Wang Mang rose, bowed, and respectfully said:

"We should thank Chen Zigong for eliminating this scourge for our Wang family."

Upon hearing this, the whole family was furious, wishing they could hang this traitorous bastard from the rafters and beat him.

Wang Feng was also surprised by her nephew's words, and her face darkened.
"how you said that?"

Wang Mang paid no heed to these gazes and said calmly and respectfully:
“Chen Zigong used the power of the gods to kill Uncle Wu. The elders keep saying they want revenge. Are they planning to fight against the gods and bring about the destruction of the clan? The thunder from the sky shows that Uncle Wu’s actions have already offended the gods. If we continue to go our own way, it will be the day our entire family is destroyed.”

Wang Chong, the fourth son of the Wang family, snorted coldly:
"With the Empress backing us, how could our clan be wiped out?"

Wang Mang countered with a question:
"What if Auntie suddenly passes away? What will you have left to rely on? Without the Wang family, His Majesty might be saddened, but without Chen Tang, His Majesty's pursuit of immortality will be in vain, and might even incur the wrath of the gods... Do you think His Majesty would do such a thing for the Wang family?"

Everyone stopped talking.

Clearly, the Wang family does not have that kind of influence.

If Empress Wang were gone, His Majesty would not only not be sad, but might even eat an extra bowl of rice... All signs indicate that he has grown increasingly disgusted with Empress Wang Zhengjun lately, so why would he be sad for someone he dislikes?

Wang Mang's words were a heavy blow to the Wang clan. Wang Feng remained silent for a long time before waving his hand and saying:
"Help me draft a memorial. I want to petition His Majesty to grant Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang the title of Marquis... Gan Yanshou is calm and collected. I petition His Majesty to grant him the title of Marquis of Zhenyuan. Chen Tang's power is so great that he can be the Marquis of Weiyuan. Both of them will have a fief of a thousand households."

Even after killing members of the Wang clan, the Wang clan still cheered for them. Many members of the Wang clan couldn't swallow this insult, but in the end, they could only accept their fate.

Wang Mang suggested:
"The Grand Secretary Shi Xian and the Prime Minister Kuang Heng are framing Chen Zigong everywhere. If you are interested, Uncle, you can write a memorial to impeach these two. Chen Zigong has a divine backer and will surely eliminate their wings in a short time. At that time, our Wang family can enter the court and occupy important positions."

Upon hearing this, Wang Feng immediately began to look at his nephew, Wang Mang, with new respect:
"Mang'er is good. If you have any questions about your studies, you can come to me for answers anytime."

While the young, impetuous prince was beginning to show his talent, in the Chang Le Palace, the fourteen-year-old Crown Prince Liu Ao was also eyeing Chen Tang:
"Tell me, how can I gain the support of the gods?"

In the past two years, His Majesty has increasingly favored Liu Kang, the Prince of Dingtao, and his position as Crown Prince is in danger at any time.

The advisors exchanged glances, feeling that the crown prince was being too ambitious.

However, Imperial Son-in-Law Shi Dan thought Liu Ao's idea was good:

"If Your Highness wishes to succeed, you can kneel down and kowtow to Chen Zigong on the day you meet him to formally become his disciple... Once the master-disciple relationship is established, the matter will be settled!"

Liu Ao's eyes lit up:
"Okay, let's do it!"

(End of this chapter)