If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

Days passed steadily by, and five years quietly went by in the blink of an eye.

For the past five years, the monk Ikkyu would come to Chu Yuan's residence every day, sit cross-legged in front of Chu Yuan, and repeatedly recite that strange scripture.

Ever since Chu Yuan first heard the scriptures and gradually quieted down.

Ikkyu then opened the iron cage and released Chu Yuan, no longer using the chains to restrain his movements.

After five years of continuous chanting and recuperation, Chu Yuan's violent and aggressive aura gradually dissipated, and he rarely lost control of his emotions anymore.

The most obvious change was in his mindset.

Many things happened in the Kingdom of Beishuo during these five years.

On the same day that Chu Yuan went berserk and caused trouble at Jingyang Palace, continuous torrential rains fell in the upstream area of ​​Beishuo.

On the day the torrential rain fell, the dike of the Wulan River breached directly.

In just one day, the land within a radius of hundreds of miles was completely submerged by the flood, turning it into a vast expanse of water.

News of the disaster reached the capital.

Upon receiving the urgent report, Emperor Renzong immediately dispatched personnel to the disaster area for relief efforts.

At the same time, he secretly wondered whether it was just a coincidence that Chu Yuan went mad and the Wulan River breached its banks on the same day.

The floodwaters raged for a full half month before slowly receding.

After the floodwaters receded, the entire disaster area was covered in mud, with livestock that had drowned and wooden beams left behind after houses collapsed lying haphazardly in the mud.

The rotting items emitted a strong stench in the humid environment, permeating the air throughout the disaster area.

Rumors also slowly spread among the people.

Many people privately discussed that the breach of the Wulan River was a divine punishment sent down by heaven, blaming the Northern Shuo royal court for its immoral conduct, which led to such a terrible disaster.

Ten days after the flood receded, the first group of refugees arrived outside the city of Beishuo.

The garrison commander, fearing that the influx of refugees into the city would cause chaos, refused to order the city gates to be opened.

With nowhere to go, large numbers of displaced people could only kneel on the outside of the moat.

Looking down from the city gate tower, one sees a dense, kneeling crowd.

In the crowd, an old woman held a dead infant in her arms.

She didn't burst into tears; instead, she raised her head and stared intently at the royal flag hanging above the city gate, her lips moving repeatedly as she murmured the same phrase over and over again.

"The water of the Ulan River is red, it's red..."

Before long, a nursery rhyme began to circulate among the refugees.

"Ulan River, white bones, King of Beishuo, sitting in a tall building. The tall building collapses, the river flows, the nobles flee, the poor are buried."

More and more people began singing the nursery rhymes, and the news gradually spread to the royal city.

In the end, even the young children in the capital could hum these few lines of the song.

Before the disaster could be alleviated, another problem arose.

The eldest prince, who was in charge of disaster relief, lost millions of kilograms of grain while escorting it.

Knowing he could not escape blame, the eldest prince prepared to hang himself on the official road, but was saved by passing refugees.

Later, the eldest prince, for some unknown reason, went mad and rallied a group of refugees to start an uprising.

The series of unexpected events weighed heavily on Emperor Renzong's mind, making it difficult for him to sleep at night.

He devoted most of his energy to disaster relief, issuing a series of decrees to allocate food and supplies to the affected prefectures and counties.

No matter how Emperor Renzong tried to manage and arrange things, the disaster did not improve at all; in fact, the situation became more and more serious.

Not only was the disaster getting worse, but the number of displaced people was also increasing, and the rebel army was becoming more and more courageous in battle.

Imperial edicts were issued one after another, but they made no difference, and many disaster relief officials lost their lives as a result.

Under immense pressure, Emperor Renzong locked himself in the Xuanzheng Hall and did not meet with anyone for a full day and night.

When the palace doors reopened, Emperor Renzong walked out of the Xuanzheng Hall and immediately issued an imperial edict, bestowing upon Chu Yuan the title of Prince Ming and promoting the former Consort De to the title of Imperial Concubine De.

When these two decrees were issued, everyone in the entire Northern Shuo Kingdom was stunned.

Countless officials, both inside and outside the court, secretly complained, feeling that Emperor Renzong had become senile.

Now is a critical moment when the disaster is severe and the rebels are rebelling.

Those officials who made meritorious contributions by rushing to relieve disasters and suppressing rebels should have been commended and rewarded.

Instead, His Majesty issued an edict to reward the mentally challenged prince whom everyone had previously avoided, as well as a concubine in the harem who had no noble family background.

The officials could only grumble inwardly; no one dared to stand up and offer advice in court.

Everyone knew in their hearts that Consort De's maternal family were just ordinary merchants, without any powerful clans backing them up.

Being in the deep palace is like being a rootless duckweed, with no power to rely on, and unable to stir up any waves.

The newly appointed Prince Ming, Chu Yuan, was previously known as a fool, and now he remains at Xiangguo Temple, not in the palace.

This award will not harm the interests of any aristocratic family.

But things took an unexpected turn.

Not long after Emperor Renzong issued the imperial edict of investiture, the disaster relief work suddenly went exceptionally smoothly.

The rebel army also suffered repeated defeats under the suppression of the main force.

The breached riverbank of the Ulan River was quickly sealed by craftsmen and laborers.

And that's not the only good thing.

In the previously flooded area, people unexpectedly unearthed several previously undiscovered iron and silver mines while clearing away the silt.

The discovery of the mineral vein promptly replenished the national treasury and alleviated the financial pressure brought about by disaster relief.

In less than three months, the rebel army was completely defeated, and the eldest prince, knowing his sins were grave, committed suicide by kissing his own throat.

After that, Emperor Renzong's actions became increasingly incomprehensible.

His attitude towards Consort De changed significantly. He doted on her and often stayed overnight in her palace.

A year later, Consort De became pregnant again and successfully gave birth to a prince for Emperor Renzong, who became the tenth prince of Beishuo.

Inside the meditation room of Xiangguo Temple.

Chu Yuan held a scroll of scriptures and was studying it carefully.

In one more day, it will be Chu Yuan's twentieth birthday.

In the past two days, Emperor Renzong and Consort De each sent people to deliver the prepared gifts to the temple and hand them over to Chu Yuan.

The two originally planned to take advantage of Chu Yuan's birthday to bring him back to the palace.

According to the old customs of Beishuo, the coming-of-age ceremony of a prince at the age of twenty is a major event and should be held in the palace.

But Chu Yuan refused to go back and insisted on staying in Xiangguo Temple.

Emperor Renzong and Consort De knew of his unusual temperament and did not force him.

The night was deep, and the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) had arrived.

Inside the meditation room, Chu Yuan, who had been lying peacefully on the bed and fast asleep, suddenly opened his eyes without warning.

The look in his eyes at this moment was completely different from Chu Yuan's appearance over the past few years.

The gentle, dull expression of the past has vanished, replaced by an indifference and vicissitude that have lingered over the long years in his eyes.

He lay quietly on the bed and muttered a curse under his breath.

"Damn it, this cycle of reincarnation has actually lasted for tens of thousands of years."

The person who has now awakened is no longer the Eighth Prince Chu Yuan that everyone knows.

Instead, it was Zhou Ming who had gone through reincarnation and finally awakened from it.