It’s hard to break a phoenix’s destiny

Chapter 662: Sincerely praying for rain but to no avail

The two of them lay there for the whole afternoon, until Yang Xianrong fell into a deep sleep again. Liu Yao then quietly got up and returned to the military camp in the south of the city.

This place is ten miles away from Chang'an City. Part of the land is planted with crops by these soldiers, but due to drought and water shortage, these crops, which should be about to enter the harvest season, are now wilting. Even if some of them have produced fruits, they are half the size because they have been dry for too long.

The generals who knew how to farm had already complained to Liu Yao, but Liu Yao had no solution. All he could do now was to send more people to dig a few more wells to solve the problem of drinking water for so many people.

"How about we pray for rain first?" Everyone in the big tent was already discussing. As night fell, it was finally not so hot, but these men simply exposed their upper bodies. The scars of all sizes on their bodies were like military medals, recording the stories that had happened in their lives.

Liu Yao also had many scars on his body, especially the seven bloody holes. Although they had healed long ago, the scars were still there, and looked even quite hideous.

When Yang Xianrong gently stroked it with her fingers, she shed tears.

Thinking of her haggard face, Liu Yao felt a little pain in his heart.

"Is praying for rain useful? I heard that many people have gone to the Big Buddha Temple to pray for rain, but it hasn't rained yet." Yang Xiankang sat aside, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan. His body was clean and had no scars, but he had become darker and thinner due to recent training. He never believed in ghosts and gods, so he always scoffed at the nonsense of praying for rain.

"But we have to do this, right?" Shen Yue, one of Liu Yao's lieutenants, pursed his lips. "Usually, a grand ceremony is held when it's not raining."

"How about finding a magician to give it a try?" Guo Jin suggested again, but Yang Xianyong and Li Lianhua beside him shook their heads. Li Lianhua said, "It's obvious that Jin Zhun wants to pass this hot potato to the general, so the general should follow the convention and pray for rain first. It doesn't matter if it works or not, at least he should do it first."

"Okay." Liu Yao withdrew his thoughts and nodded in agreement.

On the third day, all the incense, candles and paper money were ready, and Liu Yao performed a rain-praying ceremony in an open field outside the city. It was indeed his first time, and he was not familiar with many of the procedures. Jin Xi also brought all the people from Chang'an Prefecture to come over, and the monks from the Big Buddha Temple were all present, and everyone performed a ritual with some hesitation.

Liu Yao also prayed to God sincerely, and burned three incense sticks and inserted them in the incense burner, appearing very solemn.

The people of Chang'an who knelt with him were also praying, praying for a heavy rain to come soon.

However, the sun was still hanging in the sky, the fields were dry, and even the birds and beasts had disappeared, probably hiding somewhere. If this continued, it would not be long before the people would be displaced and starved to death, even if there were no enemy troops to attack.

Two days later, there was still no sign of rain, and it was even hotter than before.

Liu Cong was also feeling extremely hot in the palace, so he asked someone to pass a message to Liu Yao: Pray for rain quickly!

Liu Yao had no choice but to organize people to pray for rain again. However, this time he carefully looked at the people who came to pray for rain. Except for the necessary officials of the Han Dynasty, none of the wealthy merchants and gentry came. The people knelt down to worship God very devoutly. Liu Cong also asked the eunuchs around him to kneel with Liu Yao, but the wealthy merchants and gentry did not even let their servants come. When he prayed for rain for the first time, he clearly required that each household must send one person to show the greatest sincerity to God.

It was the second time he prayed for rain, but these people still didn't come. Did he have to move the emperor out before they would come?

But judging from Liu Cong's look, he was probably unwilling to come out.

So, what to do now?
As soon as the rain-praying ceremony was over, everyone immediately hid in the shade. Some of them were quick enough to even take off their official uniforms in an attempt to avoid fainting.

However, seeing the sun so majestically now, even Liu Yao, who doesn't understand the weather, can tell that it is absolutely impossible for it to rain for a while.

He was a little discouraged, so he followed Wang Shen and the others back to the imperial city to report to Liu Cong. However, Liu Cong still didn't see him. It was said that he was taking a nap and no one should disturb him.

Liu Yao felt annoyed, thinking that he had not been home for a few days, so he decided to go back and see Yang Xianrong and the children first.

When they stepped into the gate, they saw the two brothers of the Yang family helping Cui Xi and others carry buckets of water. It turned out that there was no water in the well of the general's mansion. They still had some surplus food, but it was too bad to have no water. At the intersection, the two brothers of the Yang family saw Cui Xi and Wang Po and others driving a carriage hurriedly back. They said that they were worried about leaving Yang Xianrong alone at home to take care of the two children.

When Liu Yao heard this, he didn't bother to fetch water and hurried back to the backyard. But before he even entered the house, he heard a loud explosion, which scared him to death.

He kicked the door to the backyard open and rushed in, shouting, "Third sister, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

The yard was filled with the smell of saltpeter, but there was no smoke or dust. It looked like the kind of firecrackers that children play with, except that the noise was a little louder.

Yang Xianrong was leaning against the eaves, Yang Ruoxi was standing beside him holding little Futian, and Liu Cheng was smiling happily. Seeing Liu Yao walk in with a dark face, Liu Cheng was so scared that he immediately threw away the fire starter in his hand and knelt on the ground in a proper manner, "Son, pays respect to father."

Seeing that Yang Xianrong was fine and the children looked fine, Liu Yao finally felt relieved. But he asked Liu Cheng again, "Why did you come back? Didn't I tell you to take people to Xiangyang to have a look?"

"I wanted to go originally, but there are still two carts short of loading the grain and fodder, so I planned to go talk to the people in the Ministry of Revenue. But I haven't been home for a long time, so I wanted to have a meal and talk with my mother." Liu Cheng has grown a lot taller and looks like a little adult.

"Don't be like this, our family finally got together, we can't wait to be happy." Yang Xianrong stood up with the help of the porch column, and stretched out her hand to greet Liu Yao. Liu Yao refused to let her take another step, and rushed forward to support her, "You, you are also fooling around with them. Do you know that saltpeter is very dangerous..."

"It's not bad. Liu Cheng brought this firecracker just now. It's really fun." Yang Xianrong was very happy. "When I give birth to children, I must make a few of them."

"My mother likes it, and I have some more." Liu Cheng was also very happy. "There is a man in the Shaoying Group whose father used to make saltpeter firecrackers. He also likes to study these things. We are still discussing making some good-looking firecrackers to set off during the New Year."