It’s hard to break a phoenix’s destiny

Chapter 671: The Battle for Food Offerings

The flame at the top of the long incense is still burning fiercely. According to the rules of burning incense, this kind of large incense offered to heaven and earth cannot be extinguished by artificial means, such as blowing with the mouth or fanning with the hand. It basically has to be extinguished by natural means. Therefore, craftsmen who make incense usually mix some fine soil in it to achieve the effect of flame retardancy and slow burning.

I don’t know if Mao Hongmao was too anxious, so he didn’t take this into consideration when making the long incense. As a result, the long incense burned very vigorously and even very quickly.

But because the speed was so fast, the people in the front row became even more nervous.

At this time, Yang Xianrong put her hands together again and shouted to the sky: "Today, I, Yang Xianrong, lead the people to pray for rain. I sincerely beg the Dragon King and the Jade Emperor to have mercy! My husband is also willing to donate a thousand loads of food and grass from the camp, hoping to overcome the difficulties together with the people of Chang'an!"

The people behind him heard this clearly, and they immediately shouted, "Thank you, General!"

"General." Yang Xianrong turned to look at Liu Yao, "You should lead the soldiers to transport a thousand dan of grain here first, and then send it directly to the government office in Chang'an to distribute to the people."

"Okay!" Liu Yao naturally followed Yang Xianrong's arrangements, turned around and went to the camp.

Yang Xianrong looked at the officials and wealthy merchants standing in the first three rows and said, "My lords, to show your sincerity, you can come forward and insert three incense sticks into the cauldron. Then, we will kneel here together and wait for the rain to fall."

But who would dare to step forward after seeing such a situation? They didn't even want to kneel here because it was too dangerous. Seeing the sparks falling into the bamboo basket, everyone was terrified. However, Yang Xianrong was standing here. She was the person who prayed for rain approved by Emperor Liu Cong himself. If they ran away at this time, it would be difficult to explain to Liu Cong. If it didn't rain again, it might be blamed on them.

However, if they didn't leave here quickly, the saltpeter would explode and even if they didn't die, they would be half dead.

If Yang Xianrong died, they wouldn't care at all. However, their lives were important.

Kneeling there reluctantly, Yuan Jianshuo and Zhang Heng lit up a bunch of normal-sized thin incense sticks and handed them to everyone one by one, asking them to step forward and go to the incense and candle table, that is, to get closer to the three long incense sticks.

Jin Zhun was the first to stand up and went forward to burn incense. Then, other officials and wealthy gentry stood up and went forward to burn incense.

In front of the burning incense and candles, the weather seemed even hotter.

Everyone was sweating profusely, their mouths were dry, they were having difficulty breathing, and they were dizzy. But the soldiers in armor were standing by with long swords in their hands. If they didn't do what Yang Xianrong said, they would step forward, pick them up and throw them in front of the incense and candle table to "help" them complete the entire prayer process.

The bodies of the people in the first three rows were becoming increasingly unresponsive, which also affected the people behind them. Everyone was originally sweating profusely, but now they were sweating coldly and even trembling all over. Because they all noticed that the long incense burned very quickly, and in just a short while, half of it had burned...

Some people remained awake, watching each other, and all of them were thinking the same thing:

Is Yang Xianrong really desperate? Then we can't stay with her like this.

Since she asked her husband to move the food, we can also use this method.

It would be better to donate the moldy food as soon as possible so that we don’t have to worry here!

Money is only a thing outside of our body, saving our lives is the most important thing! It doesn’t matter if it rains or not, just leave here first!

Huang Benkun, the wealthy businessman standing in the third row, was the first to speak. He said loudly, "The general's wife is so sincere in praying for rain. I am also willing to donate my own grain to ensure the safety of the people of Chang'an!"

His voice was very abrupt and attracted everyone's attention. Everyone turned to look at him, even Yang Xianrong turned around, looked at him and asked, "Who are you?"

Everyone else was already soaking wet, sweating profusely, and their clothes were sticky and greasy to their skin, making them look awful. But Yang Xianrong was wearing a black robe made of coarse cloth, which didn't stick to her body at all. In fact, she was already sweating profusely, and was extremely hot. But it was precisely because of this situation that such a dress was specially made. There were no sweat stains on the black robe, which made her stand out even more among the crowd.

"The owner of Chang'an Hongfu Gold Shop, Huang Benkun." He wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve. He had just lit the incense and candles, and saw the burning state of the long incense at close range, which made him even more anxious. "I am willing to donate the grain now, and I will move it immediately."

"How much do you plan to donate?" Yang Xianrong asked slowly, and waved to Cui Xi beside her, asking her to come over and support her. After all, she had been standing for too long and her body could not bear it.

"One hundred dan?" Huang Benkun asked tentatively, "There is no surplus food at home."

"Really?" Yang Xianrong looked at him with a smile.

"Really, really, that's really all." Huang Benkun replied hurriedly.

"Forget it, you are just a gold shop owner, and it is not enough to donate this much. You might as well kneel here for a while and show your sincerity to the heaven." Yang Xianrong shook her sleeves. Whether it was accidental or intentional, the flame of the long incense in front of her became even stronger and showed a red light. Her figure became so ethereal in it that it felt extremely unreal.

Seeing that the long incense had burned more than half, another person could no longer kneel and stood up and said, "I am a horse seller in Chang'an City. I am willing to donate 200 dan of grain! Go and move it now!"

Yang Xianrong looked at him again without saying anything.

Then someone else stood up and shouted, "I am Qi Afu, the owner of Hehe Restaurant, and I am willing to donate 300 dan of grain! I will also donate some beef and mutton to show my sincerity to God!"

This time, Yang Xianrong's face showed an unhappy expression again, and she asked: "What? Are you two going to leave? If you leave, you will anger the Jade Emperor and the Dragon King again, and endanger the people of Chang'an! You can't leave!"

"Madam General! We are donating grain! We are doing good deeds to save Chang'an City from drought! We are doing good deeds! How could we anger the Jade Emperor and the Dragon King?"

"This is really a good deed! We don't have anything to eat either!"

"Madam General! Can I donate 500 dan?"

"I'll donate 600 dan!"

"Even if it rains now, nothing will grow in the fields for a while! Why don't you let us go back and move the food first?"

Everyone's shouting turned into begging in the end, because they saw that the incense burned much faster, and gradually became only the length of an arm.