Chapter 146: The Light of the Martial God of Wealth

Xu Jie returned directly to the military camp. Cai Cong was currently meeting with a guest—a young Daoist priest with delicate features and a naive, green smile. Dressed in a proper Daoist robe, he was lifting his sleeves to sip tea.

"Marquis."

"Ah, you're back. What did he say?"

"His Highness said he will go to pay respects to the Emperor tomorrow morning and will take full responsibility for this matter," Xu Jie replied respectfully.

"Good, that's settled. You may withdraw first. Dongzhu is pregnant, so you should spend more time with her." Cai Cong waved his hand, dismissing Xu Jie. Since Li Tai had agreed, it was now time for him to set up the stage for Li Tai to perform a grand play.

"Master Li Yi, your master told you to come see this Marquis, but why didn't he come himself?" After Xu Jie left, Cai Cong asked faintly, a trace of displeasure in his eyes.

"To pay respects to True Person Cai. Normally, my master would have come in person, but as it happens, the elixir of immortality he is refining for His Majesty is coming out of the furnace tonight. At such a crucial moment, he truly cannot get away. He entrusted me to express his apologies to the True Person and said he will personally visit to apologize another day," Li Yi said with a smile. Cai Cong nodded to show his understanding, signaling Li Yi to lean closer as he had something to say.

"A massive locust plague is coming soon. Has your master calculated this?" Cai Cong asked mysteriously.

"My master has long since stated that this will be a colossal natural disaster. Could it be that True Person Cai has also foreseen it?" Li Yi asked with a completely straight face. Cai Cong's prophecy of the natural disaster was known to every slightly prominent family in the Great Tang; it would be strange if the people of the Daoist sect knew nothing about it.

"I am different from you all. You calculated it, but I saw it. Nine years ago, the locust demon escaped from the Heavenly Prison and was severely injured by the Martial Star Lord, fleeing into the mortal realm. To prevent the demon from wreaking havoc among mortals, the Martial Star Lord also chose to reincarnate into the mortal realm, doing so right in the most noble womb in the world nine years ago. Now, in order to heal its injuries, the locust demon is causing chaos in the mortal realm, and the Martial Star Lord must step forward. I wonder if your master calculated this?"

Li Yi almost pulled out the strands of his horsetail whisk. Impressive! This Marquis lied without blinking and made it sound so believable; he himself was far inferior! However, he did not expose the lie, as this would bring immense benefits to the Daoism.

With a solemn expression, he said, "My master also received a dream revelation from our Patriarch and is already aware of this. Tomorrow, when presenting the elixir of immortality, he will mention this matter to His Majesty."

Goodness gracious! The most noble womb in the world wasn't that of Empress Changsun? Cai Cong was outright pushing Li Tai onto the altar—the Martial Star Lord descending to the mortal realm, what a magnificent title! All the good things in the world were monopolized by the Li family!

"I didn't expect your Patriarch to still care about the mortal realm. How thoughtful. Since you all already know, I won't say much more. Feel free to bring your master over for tea when you have time."

***

Cai Cong was quite satisfied with Li Yi's perceptiveness. With such a clever person around, it was only natural for the Daoist sect to flourish. Li Yi was also extremely excited; this trip was truly worthwhile! What could be more attractive than a true Daoist deity descending to the mortal realm to subdue demons? Cai Cong was simply handing the Daoist sect a massive favor on a silver platter!

"The hour is late, so this humble Daoist will take his leave now and return another day to seek guidance on the Daoist teachings from the True Person!" Li Yi stood up, made a Daoist obeisance, and strode out gracefully.

Cai Cong stretched lazily with a sense of relief. With this matter pushed out, he could rest easy. Even if the Buddhists were skilled at divination, they wouldn't dare make trouble at a time like this. It wasn't easy for the Li family to produce a divine figure; regardless of whether it was true or not, everyone had to grit their teeth and accept it, otherwise Old Li was not someone easy to reason with.

"Marquis, is that it?" Meng Baolai walked in and asked in disbelief. They were talking about pushing someone onto the altar, and it was settled in just a few words?

"Hell no, how could it be that easy? Take my token, go to my estate's storehouse, and get four large mirrors. Tomorrow, I want divine light to shine upon Li Tai. I want all the officials to see that the Prince of Yue is the Martial Star Lord reincarnated. Have reliable people who know the inside story handle this. What kind of miracles do you think your little tricks are? Your lord here is giving you a god directly."

Cai Cong chuckled, scaring Meng Baolai immensely. This master was too ruthless; with a single move, he left that group of bald donkeys with no way to parry.

"Don't worry, I'll go arrange it right now. Tomorrow, I will make sure all the officials on Zhu雀 Street see the divine light belonging to the Prince of Yue," Meng Baolai immediately promised. He had followed Cai Cong longer than anyone else, handling all the dirty and exhausting work, making him the person Cai Cong trusted the most.

That night, the Secretariat was brightly lit until dawn, and fierce arguments could occasionally be heard echoing from within. At daybreak, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui snorted at each other as they walked out of their respective doors. Du Ruhui's health was failing, and he was willing to shoulder the responsibility together with Cai Cong, but Fang Xuanling refused. As a longtime friend, he feared this would implicate Du Ruhui's descendants.

The others were even more vehemently opposed. What was Cai Cong in the first place? By what right did he submit a sacrificial text to the heavens, and what qualifications did he have to shoulder this responsibility? In the end, wouldn't the Great Tang be the one left holding the bag?

Carriages and horses bustled endlessly along the streets of Chang'an. In the summer morning, the sun had already risen slowly by around five o'clock. Fang Xuanling leaned against his sedan chair with his eyes closed, the faint sound of snoring coming from within.

Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, Gao Shilian, and the others were no better off. After a night of intense mental exertion, everyone was utterly exhausted.

Everyone was racing against the clock to gather their strength. The arguments of last night would have to be continued in the imperial court today, and losing focus was strictly forbidden.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out on the main street, growing louder and louder. Fang Xuanling and the others were also awakened, and just as they wanted to ask what had happened, their sedan chair was set down heavily.

Fang Xuanling drew his ceremonial sword and lifted the curtain, thinking some kind of riot had broken out. To his shock, he saw a carriage in the middle of Zhuque Street enveloped in a five-colored auspicious glow. Every time the carriage moved forward, the glow followed it step by step. The coachman and the horses were frightened out of their wits, having no idea what to do.

"That is... the Prince of Yue's carriage," Fang Xuanling muttered to himself. There were only two people in all of Chang'an who rode in carriages to court: one was Cai Cong, who understood nothing and no longer rode in one anyway, and the other was the chubby Li Tai, who found sedan chairs too cramped and was the only one shameless enough to ride in a carriage.

Li Tai stepped out of the carriage, and the five-colored glow enveloped him even more densely. The little fatty was not scared at all; instead, he found it quite fun, waving his hands and feet to scatter the glow around. Taking a fancy to it, he even hopped down from the carriage and paced back and forth a few times.

The auspicious glow persistently followed him wherever he walked, causing the servants and slaves to drop to their knees and kowtow incessantly. The Prince of Yue's chief steward grinned from ear to ear—this was a heavenly blessing of unprecedented proportions!

Meng Baolai and his men had sufferings they couldn't voice. *My good Prince, I beg you, stop walking back and forth! The mirrors are so big, it's hard to adjust the angle!*

Fortunately, after a while, Li Tai grew bored, curled his lip, and ducked back into the carriage, whereupon the auspicious glow gradually dissipated. Meng Baolai breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness this damn fatty didn't walk out of the illumination range, or the Marquis would surely strangle this little fat man. Meng Baolai thought to himself, and indeed, at that moment, he genuinely wanted to strangle this bastard Li Tai.

All the officials wore heavy expressions. Encountering such a scene early in the morning was simply bad luck. Looking at the Prince of Yue's chief steward, whose face was practically split in half from smiling, he was undoubtedly trying to seize the opportunity to stir up trouble and make waves.

Li Chengqian was steady in his actions, valued benevolence and filial piety, and showed great care for the common people. During the major disaster, he had repeatedly used funds from the Eastern Palace to relieve the people, earning deep affection from the populace. Most importantly, this Crown Prince was very willing to listen to the opinions of officials like them, which left them immensely satisfied.

They would absolutely not allow the Prince of Yue's steward to whip up a storm. Some officials even began to silently resent Li Shihmin for bestowing too much favor on Li Tai, causing the ambitions of these subordinate officials to swell so rapidly.

Everyone thought with one accord that later on, they must not give this scoundrel any chance to speak.