Volume 1, Chapter 66: Praying for Rain

"Can you help me pray for rain?"

Yun Qing narrowed his eyes as he sized up Li Hanzhou. He looked somewhat like a swindling Taoist priest at first glance, yet the confidence between Li Hanzhou's brows, coupled with his ability to appear here without a sound, proved that he was a man of genuine capability.

And yet, there was not the slightest trace of true qi circulating within Li Hanzhou's body.

If he was not an ordinary person, it could only mean that Li Hanzhou's cultivation far surpassed his own imagination.

"People come to me every day, but you are the first to say you want to cooperate with me," Yun Qing said. "You claim you can summon rain, but how am I supposed to believe you?"

"Whether you believe me or not, isn't Your Highness planning to pray for rain today anyway?" Li Hanzhou replied. "Wanshui Prefecture has suffered from a drought for three months without a single drop of rain. Your Highness's trip to pray for rain is merely an attempt to show your face before His Majesty, win the favor of the common people, and accumulate political capital for your future contention for the crown prince's seat."

"In fact, Your Highness knows very well in your heart that making it rain is no easy feat. With a three-month drought, your prayers will basically not move the heavens to rain. You have already prepared for the possibility of no rain, and His Majesty is all the more unlikely to blame you for this. Instead, he will feel that you hold the common people in your heart. However, if it truly rains, it will mean that Your Highness's devotion has moved the heavens, and that the heavens pity the people, proving that Your Highness is truly destined to rule. When His Majesty learns of this, he will undoubtedly value you even more, isn't that so?"

Li Hanzhou's words stirred a profound reaction in Yun Qing.

Of course he knew that if rain could indeed be brought, allowing Wanshui Prefecture—parched for three months—to feel the sweet dew of rain, his reputation as an imperial prince would undoubtedly soar to its absolute peak.

"How do you wish to cooperate?" Yun Qing could not help asking.

"Simple. I merely wish for Your Highness to help me find someone," Li Hanzhou stated.

"Just to find someone?" Yun Qing relaxed. If it was merely finding someone, could anything be easier?

He was, after all, the Fourth Prince of the Great Zhou Empire; finding a person was a trivial matter to him.

"That's right, just find someone," Li Hanzhou affirmed with certainty.

"Very well!" Yun Qing agreed.

"Then what must I do shortly?" Yun Qing asked again.

"You need not do anything special. Just proceed as Your Highness originally planned, and leave the rest to me," Li Hanzhou said leisurely.

Yun Qing nodded, then walked out of the room.

At the sacrificial altar in Wanshui City.

Yun Qing was already prepared.

Hearing that the Fourth Prince had personally come to Wanshui City to pray for rain, the townspeople flocked in droves to watch the spectacle.

The Lord of Wanshui City, along with several local officials, had also arrived early to wait.

The entire area surrounding the sacrificial altar was a sea of people.

The Great Zhou's Silver-Armored Guards stood on guard nearby, cordoning off the altar. Each of these Silver-Armored Guards exuded a heavy aura of bloodlust, indicating they had undoubtedly tasted blood on many occasions.

Their gazes swept across the surroundings like falcons, watching for any sign of troublemakers.

"Greetings, Fourth Highness!"

Seeing Yun Qing arrive, the various officials knelt in unison.

"Rise, everyone," Yun Qing said with effortless detachment.

"Your Highness, everything is prepared," Yun Qing's personal guard approached at that moment, speaking to him respectfully.

Yun Qing nodded. Looking into the distance, he immediately spotted Li Hanzhou standing at the very top of a stone tower some distance away.

Curiosity stirred within Yun Qing as to how precisely Li Hanzhou intended to summon rain.

The gathered masses looked towards Yun Qing with intense excitement. Wanshui Prefecture's three-month drought had left crops unable to grow, and they desperately yearned for a heavy downpour.

"Let's hope this actually works," prayed a dark-skinned, robust man.

"How could it possibly work?" sneered a scholar-like man nearby. "It's merely for show."

"Shut your mouth! The Fourth Highness is praying for rain for our sake, yet you stand here spouting nonsense," someone immediately retorted with indignation.

"You don't believe me?" the scholar-like figure said with utter disdain. "This so-called prayer for rain is nothing more than a performance staged for us commoners to bolster his bid for the crown prince's seat. Even if the prayer fails, the current Emperor won't blame him; they'll simply attribute it to the will of the heavens. The Fourth Prince will then claim he did his absolute best, having expended no real effort while garnering a stellar reputation. Heh, you people don't understand—the waters run deep in the imperial family."

Hearing this, the surrounding townspeople grew doubtful, finding a twisted sense of logic in his words.

Meanwhile, in a restaurant not far away, a young nobleman clad in white silk sat by the window, watching Yun Qing's rain-prayer ritual in the distance.

"Fourth Brother, oh Fourth Brother, I truly want to see how you pull off this rain-praying act," a smirk played at the corners of the nobleman's lips.

"Sixth Highness, our men have already blended in among the commoners," a servant-like figure stepped forward to report.

"Good. These peasants actually believe my fourth brother is here to pray for rain for them. We must let them know this is merely a formality; we cannot allow public sentiment to sway toward my fourth brother," the young nobleman declared.

"Rest assured, Your Highness, this servant guarantees that the Fourth Prince's efforts today will be entirely in vain," the servant chuckled softly.

Back at the altar, Yun Qing's rain-praying ceremony had commenced. After paying homage to heaven and earth, Yun Qing stepped onto the raised platform and proclaimed in a resonant voice:

"My name is Yun Qing. Today, I stand here to pray for rain on behalf of the people of Great Zhou!"

"Let heaven bear witness: the common people are innocent. Under this prolonged drought, the fields are cracked, the crop seedlings are withered, and survival is arduous. Deeply aware of the people's suffering, my heart burns with anxiety. I implore the heavens to show mercy, to bestow sweet dew to relieve the people's plight, and to grant grace to all living souls!"

"I am willing to offer my utmost sincerity in exchange for the peace of the people. If rain is granted, I shall certainly lead the people in thanking the heavens, govern with diligence, protect the subjects of Great Zhou, and ensure they live and work in peace and contentment forever!"

With that, Yun Qing dropped to his knees and bowed deeply to the heavens!

The multitudes of commoners below hurriedly kowtowed as well.

Up in the restaurant, the Sixth Prince smiled faintly. "Fourth Brother is taking this quite seriously. I almost believed it myself."

Yet at that very moment, a ferocious gale suddenly swept across the land!

Dark clouds rolled across the sky, accompanied by flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder that startled everyone.

The sky instantly turned pitch black.

This abrupt transformation left every resident of Wanshui City dumbfounded.

"This is..."

"Is it going to rain?"

No one dared to believe their eyes.

They had only just finished praying, and rain was already imminent?

The agitators planted among the crowd by the Sixth Prince were completely stunned.

Did it have to be this miraculous?

They prayed, and the heavens immediately delivered?

Was the divine connection really this efficient?

Naturally, all of this was the work of Li Hanzhou. Having cultivated the Great Heavenly Phenomenon Art to a profound realm, he could effortlessly influence regional meteorological phenomena. Summoning wind and rain was virtually nothing to him.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

The Sixth Prince's expression shifted drastically. He bolted straight up from his chair, staring at the sky outside in utter disbelief.

"Your Highness, this..." The servant was rendered completely speechless.

Just then, heavy raindrops began to fall leisurely from the sky.