Chapter 260 Too Many Common People
Boom.

The sultry heat that had accumulated for many days suddenly exploded, dark clouds rolled in, and heavy rain poured down.

Some pedestrians covered their heads and walked hurriedly, while a fifty-year-old man leaned against the door, looking at the heavy rain and sighing, “After the rain, it will be autumn.”

Some naughty kids even pointed their fingers at the lightning and thunder, shouting and yelling, but before they could show off for long, they got a slap on their buttocks.

Snapped!
The woman mentioned her own child and walked into the main room, mumbling, “You coward, you dare to point fingers at God.”

“Wow…wow wow…”

The alleys were filled with all kinds of accents, the sound of children crying, neighbors talking and laughing, fierce women cursing back, and of course, the sound of rain and thunder.

Boom!

The heavy rain came extremely suddenly. The sky, which was originally at noon, was now covered by dark clouds. There was no bright sky, only occasional lightning and thunder.

Crack! Boom—

A fierce flash of lightning seemed to strike nearby, and the noisy voices in the alleys fell silent. The rain became heavier, and not a single figure could be seen on the streets.

suddenly.

clang!clang!clang!
The sound of a gong, completely different from the sound of rain and thunder, rang out. Several figures ran down the street, led by a man wearing a straw raincoat, who walked quickly while beating the gong vigorously.

The old man sitting on the doorstep recognized Li Dian and asked in a serious tone, “What’s the matter? What happened?”

Li Dian looked nervous and shouted anxiously: “The house facing the street was struck by lightning and there was a fire. I took people to check and found that someone was killed. Someone…”

“He was struck to death by God!”

Li Dian had already waded away through the mud, but the old man was still standing there in a daze. After a few breaths, he immediately got up and went into the house, closed the door, and pushed the bolt.

Even when the door was closed, one could still hear the old man admonishing his family, “This is terrible! A few years ago, someone was struck to death by God, and now another one has come!”

“Something big is going to happen!”

Just as the old man expected, this “thunderbolt from heaven” did cause a big trouble. First, people from Jingzhao Yin came to blockade the left and right sides, and then the Prefect of the Guards came with the Imperial Guards.

Eventually, the big incident was reported to all levels and became public.

After receiving the report from the express horse, the Emperor, who was still in Ganquan Palace, once again, roared like a dragon’s roar –

“Check it for me!!”

The second time God struck lightning with great precision, just like the last time, there was only one death, and the identity of the deceased was also the same, a Taoist priest.

The murder method was the same, the identity of the deceased was the same. In this situation, a forgotten sentence involuntarily appeared in everyone’s mind:

“Anyone who causes trouble to the world again will be punished!”

This sentence seemed like a joke at first, but now it is chilling. Who would have thought that he could really punish someone if he said so…

“Have you found anything?”

In front of the house, Li Gan’s face turned pale, and he tightly grasped the hilt of his knife. The Tiqi, who behaved in the same way as him, had a stern face and shook his head, “We checked carefully, and there is nothing unusual.”

After the words fell, the people under the eaves fell into silence…

No exception is the biggest exception!

Li Gan stared at the rain in front of him, with a fierce look on his face. He wanted to ask: “Is it really God who kills people? “

He had held a knife since he was a child and believed in the knife alone. Even ghosts and gods could not do anything to him, as he was a killer who had crawled out from a pile of dead bodies. But at this moment, the tightly gripped knife handle did not calm Li Gan’s mind.

Click, click, click.

Several pairs of boots walked across the courtyard, and the raindrops wet the cloud patterns on the uppers and also wet their embroidered clothes.

“Have you found out anything?” Li Gan blocked the door with his sword and asked the same question again with an unquestionable tone.

The leading man in embroidered clothes stared at him for a while and said, “No.”

This statement came out.

The atmosphere under the eaves became even heavier. Raindrops fell continuously, and the water vapor stirred up by them lingered in the streets like fog, adding a touch of weirdness to the silent scene.

The unknown about things, coupled with inner confusion, are the perfect breeding ground for fear.

In a situation where nothing was gained and thunder from the sky happened again and again, even if they didn’t want to or were unwilling to do so, everyone’s thoughts inevitably turned to ghosts and gods.

In essence, controlling heavenly thunder to kill people is something that is absolutely beyond human ability and cannot even be imagined!
“General, there is a demon in the Crown Prince’s Palace! There is a demon!”

Princess Pingyang Mansion.

In the study, Gongsun Qing’s face was filled with fear. His voice was trembling and anxious as he said in a panic, “General, please believe me!”

“The prince just asked me about a Taoist priest a few days ago. Now one of them was killed by thunder. It was thunder!”

Gongsun Qing lowered his voice to the extreme and said in horror: “This time it was the crown prince. The last time Luan Da died must have been caused by the crown prince. Two times in a row, do you know what that means, General?!”

Wei Qing stared at him. “Does this mean that the prince can control thunder?”

“Thunder!!”

Gongsun Qing’s hands were shaking and he could hardly control his emotions. He wanted to yell, but was afraid that it would be heard by others, so he gritted his teeth and clapped his hands hard, making his expression ferocious.

“All the magic is fake, fake!” Gongsun Qing said in horror, “How could I not know how wonderful the magic is? It’s all fake!”

“But it’s true that thunder kills people!”

He approached Wei Qing, his eyes darting around, beads of sweat dripping down his cheeks. “The magic is fake, but ghosts and gods are real, and the prince’s ability to control thunder is also real.”

“perhaps……”

The blood color on Gongsun Qing’s face disappeared in an instant, replaced by endless fear, “Thunder is also a spell, the Crown Prince’s Palace is practicing witchcraft!”

Witchcraft.

Based on his own knowledge, Gongsun Qing gave a reasonable speculation, but precisely because he firmly believed in his speculation, he was afraid.

The more you know, the deeper you fall, and the greater your fear!

Fear is contagious. Wei Qing, who was sitting upright, narrowed his eyes. He received Gongsun Qing’s reminder. After concentrating for a moment, Wei Qing said with a serious face:

“Don’t say those two words casually, and don’t mention them again.”

“Yes!”

Gongsun Qing responded hastily, but the fear in his eyes remained and he was restless.

Wei Qing knew what he was worried about, and said with drooped eyebrows: “If the prince wanted to kill you to silence you, you would have died long ago, and there would be no reason for you to come to my house.”

“Now you are alive, in the future…”

“In the future, I will be a general and die for the Crown Prince’s palace!” Gongsun Qing immediately knelt on his knees, kowtowed quickly and heavily.

After getting the promise and expressing his determination, Gongsun Qing, still frightened, dared to leave.

After he leaves.

A man walked out from behind the study screen. He had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a tall figure. Who else could he be but Huo Qubing? He looked in the direction Gongsun Qing left, “Is he reliable?”

“There is no one in the world who is absolutely reliable.” Wei Qing said in an inexplicable tone.

Hearing this, Huo Qubing tapped the hilt of his sword and said, “If the prince is really practicing witchcraft, the fewer people who know about it, the better.”

When saying this, Huo Qubing looked indifferent.

The thoughts of General Huoqi are similar to those of Li Gan, but also different. They both fought their way out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield, so their fear of ghosts and gods is lower than that of others.

Compared to the illusory ghosts and gods, they believe more in sharp blades that can be touched and held, which can save lives or kill people!

just.

When his thoughts were in despair and he had no choice but to turn to ghosts and gods, Li Gan’s mind began to waver, but Huo Qubing remained as sharp as ever!
If there are ghosts and gods, then so be it. So what?

If it helps me, I will use it. If it hurts me, I will have swords and spears waiting for it!
When the fearless Huo Qubing heard the word “witchcraft”, he was not timid or panicked at first, but thought –

“If the prince is really using the power of ghosts and gods to practice witchcraft, although I don’t care whether witchcraft is evil or not, I am even a little curious.”

‘But I still have to cover up for the prince.’

There is no way. After all, there are too few people like Huo Qubing in the world, and too many vulgar people…

“It’s not a good time to move.” Wei Qing stood up and took down the sword hanging beside him. “An alchemist just died. If Gongsun Qing gets into trouble again, it will only attract the attention of those people in embroidered clothes.”

“I’ll have someone keep an eye on him.”

Before leaving, Wei Qing had a complicated expression mixed with a hint of doubt.

“The alchemists have deceived Your Majesty into wasting money and manpower, and the Crown Prince is displeased and has even taken action to punish them. His starting point is good, but the method is…”

“You can ask later.”

After saying this, Wei Qing took his sword and left the study first. Huo Qubing stood there for a while and then left the mansion as well.

Wei Qing headed for the military camp outside the city, and in accordance with His Majesty’s order, he led 5,000 northern troops to Ganquan Palace, which was several hundred miles away…

at the same time.

Huo Qubing entered the Prince’s Palace.

A large group of soldiers suddenly entered the palace. Fortunately, they were led by the General of the Cavalry, and the probability of escort was much higher than that of a coup, so there was no commotion in the palace.
After Liu Ju heard the news, he came out of the palace to greet him. He asked, “What is this? Do you really want to kill people with thunder?”

Huo Qubing glanced at his little cousin.

Liu Ju leaned back and asked, “Cousin, why are you looking at me like that?”

Huo Qubing didn’t say anything.

He first sent his deputy general away, and then directly arranged for Wei Sheng, who was present, to prepare a meal for him.

Eunuch Wei glanced at the prince, and only turned and left after getting his permission.

When there were no more people in the hall, Huo Qubing raised his eyebrows and looked at Liu Ju, “So, how did you kill people with thunder? Did you use the power of ghosts and gods to perform witchcraft and incantations?”

“Forehead……”

Liu Ju blinked and was speechless.

Huo Qubing pouted his lips in disdain, “Gongsun Qing was afraid that you would kill him, so he went to his uncle to kowtow and beg for mercy. I was just listening beside him, and you are still pretending?”

“Uh…haha.”

Liu Ju laughed dryly, patted Huo Qubing on the shoulder and led him to the back hall, “It’s not a matter of pretending. This kind of thing can’t be seen in public. There’s no need to add to my cousin’s troubles.”

“hehe.”

“Cousin, what did you mean by witchcraft just now?”

“Huh? If it’s not witchcraft, how do you direct the lightning to strike people?”

“Well, this is not a spell. If you stand on the top of a mountain with an iron rod on a rainy day, the thunder will hit you… I don’t recommend you try it yourself.”

“It’s so simple?”

“Do you think?”

There are some mysterious things that are fine if you don’t know the inside story. Once the trick is revealed, it’s like watching a magic trick. You suddenly understand it, but it becomes boring.

Since Huo Qubing asked, Liu Ju did not hide it.

As Liu Ju said, things like drawing lightning to kill alchemists cannot be made public, and there is no need to tell others without special reasons.

But people close to him asked specifically, such as Huo Qubing, and his uncle Wei Qing who asked Huo Qubing to ask questions. Liu Ju told them everything he knew.

It’s no big deal.

It has nothing to do with witchcraft or ghosts, it has nothing to do with science…

of course.

Talking about science nowadays is no different from talking about theology. Even Huo Qubing, who had the deciphered by Liu Ju, still had doubts, let alone other people who knew nothing about it?
This time, people who should be scared and those who shouldn’t be scared were all scared.

Under pressure, the emperor directly mobilized a large army to protect him, but there were people who had no army to mobilize and who seriously lacked a sense of security, such as the remaining few Qi local scholars.

Without even submitting a letter of resignation, the frightened people kowtowed three times and nine times outside the city of Chang’an, then turned around and ran away!
I returned to Qidi overnight…

The targeted charlatans ran away, and the influence caused by them also changed after a few days of fruitless investigation.

The Jianzhang Palace was still under construction, but the sacred mountain in the Taiye Lake was not being repaired, the platform for the gods that was originally planned to be built was also cancelled, and all the plans related to the immortals were implicitly erased.

Based on estimates for the remaining construction, the construction period will be significantly shortened.

As for why those traces were erased, don’t ask. If you ask, the General’s Mansion will be clueless.

Furthermore.

No one would ask what the answer is. In fact, everyone has a vague concept in their mind. If we want to describe it accurately, it should be…

……

“Heaven and man are connected.”

In the distant Guangchuan County, an old man was looking up at the sky and muttering to himself: “Your Majesty, you use the divine right of kingship, but you don’t want to be restricted.”

“You didn’t want to in the past, but today you can’t escape bondage after all.”

When a country is about to be defeated due to its misconduct, Heaven will first send disasters to warn it. If it does not reflect on itself, Heaven will send strange phenomena to frighten it. If it still does not change, it will suffer defeat.

present.

God has sent out strange warnings!
The old man could sense that His Majesty was afraid. He walked slowly in the yard, and after much hesitation, he decided to return to the vortex.

“Prepare the carriages and horses, I want to go to the capital!”

……

After the heavy rain, the temperature began to drop significantly, but the emperor still lived in Ganquan Palace and had no intention of returning to Chang’an.

As time went by, the prime minister, the chief censor and others also went to Ganquan Palace one after another. This led to some interesting changes in the “merger of the two small palaces”.

In the past, there were two palaces, Xiweiyang and Dongtaizi, which were adjacent to each other.

just now.

They are separated by hundreds of miles, the Northern Ganquan and the Southern Prince’s Second Palace…

“The effect is remarkable. I will recommend you to my father in a few days and appoint you as the commander of the grain-collecting army.” Next to the farmland of the Shanglinyuan Palace, Liu Ju clapped his hands and shook off the grains.

He walked along the edge of the field and said, “The field replacement method is effective, but the space outside the palace is too small, so perhaps the experiment won’t reveal the problem.”

“You should promote it in Guanzhong first. I will ask the officials in the three prefectures to cooperate. We will see next year. If you encounter any problems, you should make changes in time.”

“If grain production continues to increase next year, we will expand to Kanto.”

While talking.

Liu Ju raised his hand and pointed backwards, saying with a smile: “When that time comes, I will definitely ask for credit for you, Zhao Guo!”

Zhao Guo, the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, who was following behind him, was flattered and said, “I dare not take credit for it. The promotion of this method is inseparable from the support of the superiors of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Your Highness…”

“All right.”

After getting on the road, Liu Ju looked back and said teasingly, “I have people around me who flatter me. What they say is better than what you sing.”

“If you can increase the grain production by farming well, that will be the best way to flatter me. Don’t learn some nonsense from them.”

Zhao Guo’s face immediately turned red when he heard this. Wang Heng and other officials from the Sinong Temple beside him laughed loudly when they saw this, “Hahahaha.”

Liu Ju climbed onto his horse and waved his hand, “Everyone, get busy.”

“Farewell to Your Highness.”

After the team left the palace, Zhang He leaned over and asked, “Your Highness, are we going to the Temple Workers’ Institute now?”

“Go to Youfufeng and visit the official school.”

“Here.”

(End of this chapter)