The phoenix deposited Situ Zhaoling on the ground. Looking around, all she could see were sacks of grain. Even the place where the jade table had been was filled up.

Swallowing hard, she managed with great effort to tear her gaze away from the bags and toward the High Priest’s ethereal figure hidden in the mist.

“This believer greets the High Priest.” She bowed, her voice trembling somewhat with excitement.

Chu Jiubian gave a slight nod and got right to the point: “I know what you need. This rice is given to you to alleviate your hardship.”

“This believer kneels on behalf of the common people of Nanjiang and thanks the High Priest for his great favor!”

Situ Zhaoling knelt abruptly and kowtowed several times.

The mist, like a pair of hands, flowed over and helped her up.

The clear, cool voice of a young man echoed faintly: “You are upright and of virtuous character; I wish to take you under my wing. Are you willing?”

“I’m willing!” Situ Zhaoling was overjoyed, and replied without hesitation: “This believer is willing to serve you with utmost loyalty!”

“In that case, you shall now refer to yourself as my subordinate.”

“This subordinate obeys.”

This child had good judgment.

Chu Jiubian was quite satisfied. His tone softened as he said: “I will also bestow upon you this blueprint.”

He had originally intended to buy agricultural reference books, but after careful calculation, he found that buying individual blueprints was more cost-effective. Most of the tool blueprints in the reference books were not needed, as tractors and harvesters were impossible to build here even if someone tried.

So for now, he bought one blueprint for a regular waterwheel and another one for a dragonbone waterwheel.

Situations varied across the Nanjiang region, so both of these methods would likely be useful.

When Jiang Shuoye had formally become his Believer, he had given him the method for steelmaking. Now that Situ Zhaoling had officially joined the group, he naturally couldn’t show favoritism. This tool diagram could be considered a small gift for her; he would give her more good things later.

Situ Zhaoling took the two blueprints floating in front of her and, at a glance, thought of the blueprint her younger brother had shown her before.

Was the High Priest instructing her younger brother too?!

She was delighted, and remembered that her brother could hear her speak about the High Priest. Could it be that the High Priest had also noticed him?

“Thank you very much for the gift, High Priest.” She first expressed her sincere gratitude, then hesitated for a moment before saying: “High Priest, there is something I would like to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“I wanted to tell my family about meeting you, but the words wouldn’t come out. However, I was able to tell my younger brother, Situ Zhaoyao. Is it okay that I did so?”

If the High Priest didn’t want anyone to know about his identity, then she wouldn’t speak of it again.

“It is fine. You may tell your immediate family about the matter of the Divine Realm. But for now, do not reveal my existence to others.”

The High Priest’s name had just spread across the Northern Desert, and the people in the capital were still wary of him. But if news spread through Nanjiang at the same time, these people would not just be wary – they would be terrified.

Most people, when gripped by fear, might choose to behave themselves and stay within their bounds, avoiding contact with such a terrifying thing. But the powerful and wealthy may not.

If they were afraid of something, they would unite like never before, wanting to nip the source of that fear in the bud.

Qin Xiao might also side with them at that point, which would place Chu Jiubian in danger.

Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao were currently allies, but if his power grew stronger and stronger, to the point that he could overthrow the Imperial throne at any time, the cooperative relationship between the two of them would likely fall apart.

Chu Jiubian had already demonstrated his sharp edges and was in a delicate balance with the others in court, so it was best to keep a low profile for now.

Furthermore, he wasn’t in urgent need of Faith Points right now, so he could wait to harvest points in Nanjiang until he needed them later.

“This subordinate understands,” Situ Zhaoling replied. Then she looked at the grain all over the ground and asked: “How should this subordinate get this grain out of here?”

The trading function Chu Jiubian had bought with 30 points would finally come in handy.

He said: “Place your hand on it, and you can bring it out.”

Since Chu Jiubian had bought this batch of grain in bulk from the System Store, it was considered one whole, and there was no need to carry it out bag by bag.

“Yes.” Situ Zhaoling walked up to a bulging grain sack and stretched out her hand.

In the next moment, she was completely enveloped in clouds of mist.

When she opened her eyes again, she had left the Divine Realm and returned to the granary.

The High Priest’s last words still lingered in her mind: if they ran out of food, she could ask him for more.

Situ Zhaoling was exhilarated, and quickly stood up to look around.

The granary, which had been empty just moments before, was now overflowing. Sacks of grain were stacked atop one another, filling the enormous granary with practically no gaps.

She ran to the nearest grain sack and pulled out her hairpin, which she used to cut open the sack. Glistening grains of rice immediately spilled out, and she quickly reached out to catch them.

It was real!

The High Priest really did send her so much food!

The granary was already piled high, but the amount before her seemed to be much less than what she’d seen in the Divine Realm.

Had the rest of the grain been sent elsewhere?

Situ Zhaoling hastened out the door to the second granary.

She paused for a moment, then pushed open the door.

Indeed, this one was full too!

S-so much food, ah!

Situ Zhaoling jumped up and down a few times in excitement, then randomly went to two more granaries, both of which were full. All twenty granaries were full!

This much grain was enough to feed the common people of Nanjiang for another six or seven days.

After news spread that the Main Stronghold had received more grain, those grain merchants, fearing that they wouldn’t be able to sell their stock, would definitely begin to lower their prices. At that point, the crisis in Nanjiang would be completely solved.

Of course, it didn’t matter if those merchants went elsewhere to sell for profit.

Nanjiang had the High Priest as its backer.

But Situ Zhaoling didn’t want to trouble the High Priest again unless absolutely necessary. The people of Nanjiang should put in more effort to address the issues here themselves.

She was unaware that her elders had already found a solution to their predicament, so her thoughts naturally wandered.

She was so excited about the great news that she couldn’t wait to tell her family. Ignoring the sweat coating her body, she ran back toward the first granary.

If her brother called their grandmother and the others over, they would definitely come here first.

Sure enough, when she caught sight of the granary in the distance, she saw Situ Zhaoyao leading their grandmother and parents inside.

Situ Zhaoling’s grin widened as she hurried over.

Inside the granary, the four people stared incredulously at the bags of grain that reached all the way up to the roof and almost thought they were hallucinating.

Situ Zhaoyao attempted to touch each and every one of them, repeatedly exclaiming: “Grain! It’s all grain!”

The three adults weren’t exactly calm either, and all went to touch the sacks of grain with their own hands.

Situ Anli took a few grains of rice from a sack and put them in her mouth, her eyes radiant: “This rice is of much higher quality than what we grow ourselves. The flavor is much stronger too.”

“It’s true.” Bai Lihao nodded. “Even in Jiangnan, which is known for its fish and rice, it’s not certain that such high-quality rice could be grown.”

Situ Zhaoyao exclaimed in amazement: “Did A-jie find all of this? She’s amazing!”

Just then, Situ Zhaoling walked in from outside, and everyone’s attention turned to her.

“Ling’er.” Situ Yu extended her hand.

Situ Zhaoling’s eyes curved: “Grandmother.”

She immediately went over and took her grandmother’s hand. Lacking the authoritative air she exuded in front of outsiders, Situ Yu smiled and gently dabbed the sweat off her granddaughter’s face with a handkerchief: “Look how fast you ran! Your face is all red.”

“I’m fine.” Situ Zhaoling giggled and gestured to the grain, asking: “Grandmother, do you like the big gift Ling’er has given to you?”

“I like it very much!” Situ Yu asked in puzzlement: “But Ling’er, where did all of this food come from?”

Situ Zhaoling glanced outside the granary and called loudly to the guards there: “All of you move away, and don’t allow anyone near the granary.”

“Yes.” Upon receiving the order, the guards immediately marched several dozen meters away and kept a wary eye on the surroundings.

There were only the five family members in the granary, which complied with the High Priest’s order to only reveal the truth to her immediate family.

Only then did Situ Zhaoling say: “You may not believe me when I tell you this, but all of this food was given to me by a god.”

“A god?” Realization swept over Situ Zhaoyao. “A-jie, is the god you’re talking about that High Priest?”

“That’s right.”

“So you really did receive divine assistance! A-jie, you’re amazing!” Situ Zhaoyao recalled how his sister had asked him to pray to the High Priest with her.

Seeing that the siblings seemed to be familiar with this deity, Bai Lihao subconsciously glanced at his wife and mother-in-law. But although their expressions revealed joy and awe, there was no trace of surprise.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

The position of “Saintess” in Nanjiang had been passed down in the Situ family not only because of the family’s power, but also because the women in their family possessed some extraordinary abilities.

He had witnessed such miraculous abilities several times.

For example, during his second year in Nanjiang, the region had experienced a scorching heat wave which lasted for nearly a month without rain, and the blazing sun had dried up much of the paddy fields.

Thus, the young Saintess had presided over her first rain-summoning ceremony.

At that time, Bai Lihao didn’t truly believe in such things. And even if he did, he only had faith in Daoist priests and the monks in the temples and monasteries.

Even Daoist priests and monks had to pay a price to glimpse the secrets of heaven, and were still mortals at heart.

As for “rain-summoning,” he had only read about it in ancient texts from a previous dynasty, which said that a clan of female shamans had helped the dynasty pray for rain.

But he’d always felt that the emperor had claimed that the rain was sent from the gods in order to embellish it as his own achievement.

This being the case, he still felt a sense of awe when he witnessed the ceremony in Nanjiang.

Then, he witnessed Situ Anli actually manage to summon rain.

She was like a goddess, her face painted with totems as she sang an ancient song, her dancing strange and beautiful. Amidst the rising incense smoke and the soft chanting of the Nanjiang people, the blazing sun was gradually obscured by dark clouds, and soon after, the quenching rain began to fall.

Lasting for three entire days, the rainstorm saved the entire region of Nanjiang.

Since then, Bai Lihao had developed a new understanding and respect for the title of Nanjiang’s “Saintess.”

Once they confessed their feelings to each other, the previous Saintess Situ Yu divined their fate and announced that their destiny together was predetermined, which resulted in their marriage.

After their marriage, Bai Lihao gradually separated the image of his wife, Situ Anli, from the title of “Nanjiang’s Saintess.” In his view, the two were entirely different people.

Now that Nanjiang was experiencing a drought unheard of in a hundred years, Situ Anli did not feel compelled to pray for rain.

He had inquired about it, but she just sighed and told him that the drought in Nanjiang was due to a problem with the fortune of the Great Ning Dynasty. She also said that it wasn’t just Nanjiang that was suffering; the entire territory of Great Ning was about to be thrown into turmoil.

She wasn’t wrong. In the following two weeks, he received a steady stream of letters from the capital, and almost none of them relayed good news.

And after that, Emperor Yingzong and his empress passed away. Bai Lihao thought that the Great Ning Dynasty would really fall into chaos at that point, but Situ Anli’s anxious, melancholy expression changed to one of anticipation.

She held two rain-summoning ceremonies in succession, saying that a “Sacred Star” would soon descend upon the Great Ning Dynasty. This Sacred Star would be capable of influencing the fate of Great Ning, though whether it would perish or prosper was uncertain. 

But Nanjiang was different, and was closely-bound to that Sacred Star. No matter what turbulence the Great Ning Dynasty fell into, Nanjiang would be able to stand firm by relying on that Sacred Star.

Judging by his wife’s expression, Bai Lihao guessed that the “High Priest” his daughter had mentioned was probably this Sacred Star.

He had indeed come to rescue Nanjiang.

“High Priest,” Situ Yu murmured. “Good, good.”

She walked out of the granary while leaning on her cane, then slowly knelt down facing the northeast.

Situ Zhaoling supported her, and Situ Anli and Situ Zhaoyao also followed along behind.

Bai Lihao smiled and went to kneel down with his family.

Although the guards around them didn’t know what was going on, they knelt as well.

“Many thanks to the immortal for his generous assistance. My Situ family is willing to worship the immortal for generations to come and ensure the continuation of our ancestral worship.” Although Situ Yu’s voice wasn’t loud, it was firm and resolute.

The family of five then kowtowed three times in unison toward the northeast.

Watching this scene on the screen, Chu Jiubian let out a soft chuckle.

This family had accepted things rather quickly, unlike the people in the capital who had too many thoughts and calculations running through their minds.

But he was still just an ordinary human being, so he had decided to skip the incense offerings and such, and just speak to Situ Zhaoling again in the future.

Chu Jiubian turned off the screen and checked his points.

He had purchased a large amount of grain, giving half of it to Situ Zhaoling and storing the other half in the System Warehouse.

Fortunately, the Warehouse was sized by square meter, and each time he placed something inside, it was added to a corresponding two-dimensional grid. Otherwise, there likely wouldn’t have been enough room for all of the grain.

It had to be said that aside from the fact that the System loved to deduct points, it really took good care of its host in every other way.

He really had gotten a large amount of points from the Northern Desert – he’d already used 300 of them, and still had 100 left.

And he was only 100 points away from being able to recruit another Believer.

He glanced at the Divine Realm section, which showed that he had two chances to draw a card.

Now that the matter in Nanjiang had been resolved, once news spread that the Main Stronghold possessed this batch of grain, the local grain merchants would surely consider lowering their prices.

But according to recent reports, grain prices in Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangzi, and Hubei had more than tripled.

Merchants were driven by profit, and some of them didn’t know when to stop.

Therefore, many grain merchants in Nanjiang would likely travel to these regions where prices were high.

And once these grain merchants joined in, the local grain prices were bound to ease.

The grain merchants in Nanjiang had already experienced a situation where the Main Stronghold suddenly released grain, and didn’t know whether local governments in other places would operate in the same fashion.

In this situation, if the local governments announced that they had grain in hand, these Najiang merchants would inevitably panic.

To avoid losses, they would definitely lower prices further.

And once grain prices started to fall, they would continue to fall.

Chu Jiubian checked the weather forecast. Heavy rain would begin in the north on July 12th, and this rain would spread to the south, where light rain would begin on the 15th.

This light rain would last for almost half a month, at which time the ground would be soaked. Wild vegetables and mushrooms would grow, dried-up rivers and lakes would be filled, and the drought in the south would be over.

Chu Jiubian had initially worried that floods would be more common than droughts.

Because in the original work, it had been flooding that caused the most disastrous consequences, while the droughts weren’t mentioned much. This suggested that even without Chu Jiubian’s intervention, these drought-ridden areas would have had their problem solved eventually.

But with his intervention, at least the Main Stronghold and the Royal Palace wouldn’t be forced to spend half their fortune to buy grain at double the price.

With the grain provided by Chu Jiubian, plus the grain voluntarily handed over by the village chieftains, there would be more than enough.

Chu Jiubian mentally reviewed the entire matter to ensure that there were no oversights.

In that case, he would tell Qin Xiao about the solution to the drought this afternoon.

He would have him wait a few days until the grain merchants in Jiangnan had gone elsewhere, then send messages to the local vassal kings and government offices, instructing them to distribute more porridge and grain to create the appearance of abundant food, thereby lowering grain prices.

The reduced-price grain would be affordable for the common people, and even those who still couldn’t afford it would receive porridge from the government and be able to make it through.

With Chu Jiubian putting the solution out into the open, how the local officials and vassal kings chose to handle it was their own business.

Even if they mishandled things or something went wrong, the blame wouldn’t fall on Qin Xiao or the Imperial Court.

Pingxi-wang and Huguang-wang, for the sake of their reputations and to better govern their fiefdoms, were unlikely to cause any trouble.

As for Guizhou and Guangxi, although they were under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court, the two magistrates hailed from the Xiao family and Lu family respectively.

During this drought, three vassal kings had requested grain from the government, but the memorials from these two places had arrived late, presumably to delay disaster relief efforts and cause even greater harm.

They wanted to use this drought to smear Bai Lihong’s reign as illegitimate, as well as to condemn Qin Xiao as a treacherous minister who brought disaster down on the country.

But if Qin Xiao had already told them the solution and something else happened in the area, it would be because they, the officials in charge, had harmed the common people under their jurisdiction through their own incompetence.

If that happened, then Qin Xiao certainly wouldn’t be lenient; he would simply dismiss them and replace them with his own people.

If Pingxi-wang and Huguang-wang didn’t handle things correctly and still caused serious harm, then Qin Xiao could spread word that the princes were incompetent and immoral, and stir up discontent among the common people of the fiefdoms against their vassal kings. Then, if they waited for the right opportunity, the Imperial Court might be able to reclaim the fiefdoms without bloodshed.

Give them a taste of their own medicine and see how they respond.

Chu Jiubian’s lips curved.

He was doing Qin Xiao a huge favor again, and the debt owed was not insignificant.

When they formed their business deal, Chu Jiubian hadn’t said he wanted Qin Xiao to do anything for him, but after this matter was over, Qin Xiao would definitely agree to whatever he asked.

It was a done deal that Chu Jiubian would be given the authority to oversee the Imperial Examinations.

Chu Jiubian was in a good mood, and figured his luck should be good too.

So he called to the System: “I’ll draw a card.”

[Okay. The card pool has been updated for Host. Please extract keywords.]

Chu Jiubian looked at the floating cards and randomly selected two of them.

He had two chances. In order to avoid drawing duplicate cards, he might as well draw two at once. 

But if these two happened to be ‘Armed Forces’ and ‘Wealth,’ repeating the keywords of the previous two, then he would really be in trouble.

The System probably hadn’t expected him to draw two cards at once. It froze for a few seconds before withdrawing the remaining four cards, but said nothing about Chu Jiubian violating any rules.

Chu Jiubian felt that he might have just exploited a loophole in the System.

If the System were to work with a new host, it would likely fix this vulnerability and put a penalty in place such as deducting points for drawing multiple cards at once.

Chu Jiubian snickered.

The keywords on the two cards before him were gradually revealed: [Wealth] and [Charisma].

Sure enough, there was a duplicate.

He stowed away the Wealth card and kept only Charisma.

As for Wealth, he could just take it out and use it when he needed it; it was like saving his progress.

Chu Jiubian examined the remaining Charisma card.

Did “charisma” mean that it would be someone good-looking?

Or that they would have a good personality and be popular?

Or perhaps they would be able to command a large following?

[Suitable Believer cards have been selected for Host. Please select a card to summon them.]

The keyword cards had vanished, and were now replaced by four new cards.

Chu Jiubian had a bad feeling about this. After quickly scanning the four cards, he was speechless.

Wonderful, three out of the four cards were familiar faces.

He grabbed the card floating on the far right and thought to himself, As expected, it’s you again.

The card held only a few lines of text: [Ning-wang Qin Xiao, age 25. Charisma rating: 99 (one point deducted out of fear he will become conceited). Everyone who meets him finds his charisma unforgettable. (Not recommended!)]

This System must be malfunctioning – it kept picking out the same person but rejecting him each time.

However, this description was not incorrect. Who could forget someone like Qin Xiao after meeting him?

He was powerful, intelligent, handsome, and had a great physique.

Strangely, Chu Jiubian recalled the feeling of his pectoral muscles again.

Wait. 

This wasn’t right.

Chu Jiubian was really beginning to wonder if he was a pervert.

Constantly obsessing over someone’s pectoral muscles was really abnormal, ah.

But he had worked with many male actors before, many of whom had bigger pectoral muscles than Qin Xiao, yet he hadn’t been interested in any of them. Why was this time different?

[Host, are you certain you want to draw this card? This System does not recommend this option.]

Chu Jiubian: “Nope.” How close were he and Qin Xiao?

If he dared to bring this person in now, he would surely recognize him.

The Divine Realm was his biggest secret right now, and must never be known to anyone outside of his Believers unless absolutely necessary.

Because of this, the other two people he was familiar with couldn’t be chosen either. The risk was too great.

He glanced at the two cards on the left – An Wuji and Hong Fu.

[An Wuji, Commander of the Imperial Guard, age 26. Charisma rating: 90. This handsome, wealthy, and single commander is the dream husband of countless young men and women.]

[Hong Fu, Grand Eunuch to the Emperor, age 30. Charisma rating: 95. He is skilled in both civil and martial matters, capable of fighting on the battlefield and raising children gently at home. Able to compose poetry and manage thousands of palace servants, such a powerful eunuch is the ideal man in the hearts of countless palace women.]

Chu Jiubian had known that Hong Fu was very capable.

In the original novel, this Eunuch Hong was Bai Lihong’s most capable assistant from beginning to end. He could do anything, was particularly capable of knowing the emperor’s mind, and was absolutely loyal to Bai Lihong.

His role was pretty much the same as all-around secretary Qin Chaoyang.

Why would someone like that enter the palace and become a eunuch? And why was he so loyal to Bai Lihong?

Chu Jiubian didn’t investigate further; he would figure it out eventually.

These two, like Qin Xiao, were familiar with him and very intelligent, so he wouldn’t consider them for now; he could reconsider later if needed.

He shifted his gaze to the third card, the only one he could draw.

[Wang Qichen, young master of the Wang family, age 23. With a charisma rating of 100, no one could resist him even if they wanted to. He is none other than the most dissolute playboy and handsome face in the capital, Young Master Jiyue. Additional attribute: known in public opinion to represent the moon and justice. (Recommended!!)]

Represent the moon and justice?

Chu Jiubian’s expression went strange for a moment, then he hurriedly erased that dreamlike image from his mind.

“Wang Qichen,” he murmured, recalling that he had met the man briefly at the auction that day.

The other’s long, loose hair and rambling remarks made him completely different from those scions of noble families who were praised today — and even more so from the Wang family, which placed emphasis on etiquette to an extreme degree.

He was already twenty-three, and couldn’t really be called rebellious. He just liked to be free.

Chu Jiubian understood his charisma rating of 100, as he was indeed very beautiful.

But did that public opinion group refer to the great scholars and officials of the Wang family?

But the Wang family should currently be controlled by that pretentious Wang Huanzhi. Wang Qichen was a dandy with no real power, only the title of “young master,” and was not on good terms with his father, Wang Huanzhi.

In this situation, how could those great scholars and officials of the Wang family be considered an additional attribute?

The System’s information was always accurate, so the distribution of power within the Wang family may not be as it appeared on the surface.

And this young master of the Wang family may not be the good-for-nothing dandy he appeared to be.

Chu Jiubian was completely unfamiliar with Wang Qichen, and didn’t know what he might want or what his personality was like.

It seemed he should learn more about him first. It would be unwise to rashly bring him into the Divine Realm now.

He didn’t want to repeat the mistake he’d made the first time, just casually bringing Jiang Shuoye in, only to find that the other party didn’t trust him at all.

He wanted to ensure that his Believers would quickly develop trust and reverence for him.

[Host, someone has been detected entering your bedroom. Would you like to leave the Divine Realm?]

Chu Jiubian’s gaze sharpened: “Yes.”

After emerging from the Divine Realm, he didn’t open his eyes immediately.

Yaotai Residence was so safe that only his own people could get into his bedroom, so it was either Xiao Xiangzi, one of his fellow servants, or…..”

“Jiujiu, is Xiansheng okay?” The child spoke quietly, but the concern in his voice was evident.

Qin Xiao stood by the screen, arms folded as he gazed at the young man lying properly on the bed.

Who slept so perfectly still?

It looked less like he was asleep and more like he was in a coma.

There was a tug on his sleeve.

He lowered his eyes to find the boy looking up at him with a frown: “Jiujiu, should we call an Imperial Physician?”

Chu Jiubian actually wanted to pretend to wake up when he heard this. He had acted out this scenario many times before, and was certain that nobody would notice any abnormalities.

But then he heard the man whisper: “I’ll take a look at him.”

Subsequently, he heard the man’s footsteps approaching the bed.

Chu Jiubian’s mind raced, and a wicked thought occurred to him. Come here.

Let’s see how Lord Ning-wang looked when he was frightened.

The footsteps stopped beside his bed. Chu Jiubian’s breathing was steady, and his eyelashes didn’t even flutter. He appeared to be fast asleep.

“Chu Jiubian?”

A deep, pleasant voice rang out, but the person on the bed didn’t stir.

Qin Xiao leaned down slightly and nudged the young man’s shoulder: “Wake up.”

There was still no response.

The child came to the bedside. Seeing the situation, he asked anxiously: “Jiujiu, what’s wrong with Xiansheng—”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw his uncle reach out and pinch Xiansheng’s nose.

Oh?!

The child’s eyes widened in astonishment.

What was he doing?

Chu Jiubian’s breathing cut off, and he cursed inwardly as his eyelashes trembled slightly.

A hint of a smile flashed through Qin Xiao’s eyes.

But in the next moment, this smile was replaced by surprise. His dark pupils reflected the young man’s handsome visage and the undisguised sly malice in the other’s eyes.

Qin Xiao slowly looked down and saw the other’s well-defined hands covering his chest.

And then those hands squeezed.

---

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Chapter 31 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 33