Chapter 132: It Was The Yellow Emperor Who Took Our Fire
Dynasties on Earth fell, and the vast majority were related to natural disasters.
The Han people’s records of natural disasters are mostly after the Yellow Emperor. The tribal leader of the Xia Dynasty, Hou Yi of the Youqiong clan shooting down the suns, should have encountered a great drought.
At the end of Emperor Shun’s reign, heavy rain fell from the sky, floods overflowed, and later Yu the Great controlled the waters. Undoubtedly, this was a terrifying flood disaster.
From then on, history books record various disasters and famines endlessly. Whenever the consequences of disasters and famines are mentioned, later generations read them with tears in their eyes.
Until modern times, even the present, when disasters and famines come, there still aren’t good ways to cope. El Niño, La Niña—as soon as they arrive, they become human world catastrophes.
These catastrophes are basically the evil consequences caused by climate disorder.
Seeing Chang’an drifting with drizzle again, watching the fine rain mist like needle tips fall on the flowers of plants, on leaves, on branches, gentle like a lover’s caress, Yun Ce couldn’t help but think of the scene in Xi’an where he was smashed by hail—still hail the size of pigeon eggs, damn it.
That hail cost Yun Ce over ten thousand in car repair fees.
In a place as rundown as Chuyun Prefecture, the biggest disaster Yun Ce had seen was a thunderstorm and a heavy rain. The most ferocious the heavy rain got was just forming a big pond on the wasteland, and it disappeared after five days.
Also, Chuyun City itself has no water source—it’s Gaoliang Mountain that busily sends rain and snow every once in a while, ensuring a city of a million people has no worry of water shortage.
1 As for drought disasters, he hadn’t heard of any. The biggest fire was one Yun Ce personally caused outside the protection range of Shehuo.
1 Thinking now of those innocent wild beasts that died, Yun Ce felt vaguely guilty.
1 Such a good place, such good climate, so many people—they just won’t manage and govern it properly. Not governing is one thing, but they could just follow the ‘Huang Lao School of Thought’ that Huo Qubing created, letting the people forage for food in the wild, surviving on their own. Instead, they divide the people into several classes, creating large groups of slaves for their own use.
1 If these guys were all put on Earth, each one would be destined to starve to death.
1 It’s all the Yellow Emperor’s fault. He took the ancestral fire from Earth, making the weather there erratic, causing the descendants of China on that land to suffer endlessly.
1 This was what Yun Ce was thinking in his heart while facing a large field of wheat seedlings about to enter the grain-filling period.
1 “What is Young Master thinking about?” Zhang Min’s soft and glutinous voice came from behind.
1 Yun Ce turned to look at Zhang Min, finally resting his gaze on her half-covered breasts, frowning and scolding: “You haven’t fully recovered yet, and you’re already showing off everywhere? Go back and put on your old clothes. If you dare to expose like this again, I’ll send you to Ji Ming Post Station’s Wan Chun Pavilion to expose yourself.”
1 While spreading her arms and dancing lightly in the rain mist, Zhang Min smiled at Yun Ce and said: “The old clothes were thick and tight—that’s not the style of Han daughters.”
1 The rain mist wet Zhang Min’s gauze skirt. Once this thing clung to her body, Yun Ce felt his heartbeat more intense than the drum beat E Ji struck.
2 Thinking of E Ji, Yun Ce walked a few steps behind a Yi Tree, grabbed E Ji from there, knocked her forehead, and said: “If you dare let Zhang Min seduce me, don’t expose your own skirt hem to warn me.”
2 E Ji smiled obsequiously and said: “Young Master, I’m actually eighteen this year.”
2 “Last year you told me you were only sixteen.”
2 “That’s not my fault for lying. I heard men like young ones, so this concubine just said two years less.”
2 Yun Ce was about to berate her when Doggy’s voice echoed eerily in his mind.
2 “If her bone age now exceeds sixteen, when I evolve eyes, you can use my eyeballs as bubbles to step on.”
2 “Can you evolve into a human later?”
2 “Dogs can evolve into dog-headed people, why can’t I evolve into a human?”
2 “That’s because dogs are carbon-based life, and you’re silicon-based.”
2 “I think here everything is possible.”
3 Hearing Doggy say this, Yun Ce draped his outer robe over E Ji. This foolish woman—Zhang Min was wearing little on purpose to let the rain wet her gauze clothes and show her figure, while she stupidly wore scant clothes and ran out just to get drenched in the rain.
3 Zhang Min, whose gauze clothes were already wet from the rain, continued to sing and dance lightly in the rain mist. It was clear she was enjoying her beautiful body and the now stunning rain mist.
3 This had absolutely nothing to do with love; it was only related to her past miserable life and the cruel harm she had once suffered. Using beauty to compensate for past bitterness was like repainting white coating over a filthy wall. As long as no one destroyed the white wall again, the harm beneath the wall’s surface would never reappear.
3 “She dances really well. Why can’t I dance?”
3 “I had no time to notice her dance; I only saw her breasts and that…”
3 “I want to dance too.”
3 “If you want to dance, then dance.”
3 “I heard that the matriarchs of great families never entertain with their beauty.”
3 “Don’t listen to their nonsense. How could matters in a couple’s bedroom be known to outsiders?”
3 The two chatted and laughed as they left the verdant fields, leaving this beautiful world for Zhang Min to enjoy alone.
4 Returning from Yun Ce’s manor, Wu Tong went to see Transport Commissioner Zhang Heng.
4 “So you’re saying the ancestral land’s situation might not be much better than Great Han?” After hearing Wu Tong’s speculation, Zhang Heng was greatly surprised.
4 “Yun Ce cherishes population, that’s normal. But he also cherishes slaves—that doesn’t make sense. If Yun Ce isn’t pretending, it means the ancestral land now not only lacks abundant produce but also struggles with progeny.
4 At the same time, what I saw clearly today in Yun Clan Manor is that their farming is meticulous, probably aimed at supporting more people with the least land.
4 Transport Commissioner, you know too—human nature is laziness. For the ancestral land’s people to abandon their lazy nature and become diligent, there’s only one reason: their living environment is very poor.”
4 Zhang Heng slowly nodded and said: “Shehuo was taken by Yun Ce. Is it possible he wants to bring Shehuo back to the ancestral land?”
4 Wu Tong sighed and said: “I think that’s why Chuyun Prefecture Shehuo, cut off from ancestral fire, can still burn.
4 Shehuo that we don’t want, Yun Ce is sustaining with his life.
4 Actually, he doesn’t need to do this. Since they are brothers of the same sect and origin, dividing a wisp from the ancestral fire for them isn’t impossible.
4 If Yun Ce can really return with a dragon as boat, I would like to go along and see how they live now—it would be quite enjoyable.”
5 Zhang Heng also sighed and said: “Since they are poor relatives and blood kin, if we can help, we naturally should.
5 Nowadays, it just depends on when the High Priest will lay it all out with Yun Ce.”
5 Wu Tong added: “With Iron Enclosure Pass’s crisis unresolved, we ultimately can’t free up strength to handle the Emperor’s matters. In the past six hundred years, we’ve indulged the Emperor too much.
5 Nowadays, the Emperor’s behavior gives me an illusion—he seems to be helping the Gui Fang people deal with us.”
5 “The Han Emperor was originally a distant imperial family relative in King Huo’s military. At that time, the generals urged King Huo to declare independence, but King Huo refused, so this great opportunity fell to them.
5 Now, many years later, those Emperors really see themselves as the masters of Great Han.
5 King Huo could be killed back then, and we can kill too—it’s just selecting another Liu Shi descendant to be Emperor.
5 Today Chang’an has rain. Liu Changsheng early donned a cape and lay by the fire pit, where a group of candle flames were circling the ancestral fire, queuing to leap.
5 Occasionally, some candle flames would be too naughty and fall out of the fire pit. Liu Changsheng would use his finger to help those stray candle flames back into the fire pit, letting them continue dancing happily.
5 A tall man entered from the gate. Even the ancestral fire seemed to forget to keep dancing, igniting a ten-foot-high fire pillar, looking down at the visitor.
6 Ever since Qing Feng and Ming Yue were seduced away by Yu Heng, only High Priest Liu Changsheng remained in Dragon God Hall.
6 Seeing the black-clothed man rudely enter, Liu Changsheng sat up straight and said softly: “Your Majesty, why come here late at night?”
6 The black-clothed man removed his hood, revealing a stern long face, knelt before Liu Changsheng, and said: “Reopening King Huo Mansion—not to the High Priest’s liking?”
6 Liu Changsheng chuckled: “The day after the Dragon-Breaking Stone fell in King Huo’s Tomb, a splendid King Huo Mansion became a pile of ruins.
6 According to history books, Emperor Maozong was overjoyed and held sixteen days of banquets with the people. Now that you reopen King Huo Mansion, aren’t you afraid your ancestors will crawl out of their tombs to punish you?”
6 Emperor Liu Mu sighed heavily: “I’m not worried about ancestors crawling out of their tombs. I’m more worried King Huo will walk out of his tomb.”
6 Liu Changsheng coldly looked at the Emperor for a while, then suddenly laughed loudly: “King Huo is already dead.”
6 Emperor Liu Mu was unaffected by the abrupt laughter and continued softly: “King Huo’s essence spirit has already birthed one boy and one girl.”
6 Liu Changsheng laughed: “As Yu Heng said?”
6 Liu Mu shook his head: “Astronomer Royal Huang Li said it. High Priest, this is our trouble.”
7 Liu Changsheng laughed loudly upon hearing this: “This is your trouble, not ours.”
7 “I wish to kill Yu Heng—what does the High Priest think?”
7 Liu Changsheng still chuckled: “That’s your matter, unrelated to this old man.”
7 Liu Mu raised his head and said softly: “Iron Enclosure Pass—the High Priest no longer cares?”
7 Liu Changsheng laughed: “If the Gui Fang people could destroy Iron Enclosure Pass, they would have long ago—not waiting until today.”
7 Liu Mu still said softly: “For a very, very long time, the greatest threat to our Great Han Liu imperial family has not been the Gui Fang people, but those arrogant generals in Iron Enclosure Pass.
7 High Priest, you are also of our Liu imperial family line. Can you bear to see our Liu imperial family follow Xuan Yuan Shi’s footsteps and ally with the Gui Fang people?”
7 High Priest Liu Changsheng glanced at his crotch and chuckled: “This old man probably can’t anymore. The Emperor is in his prime and should be quite favored by Gui Fang women.”
7 Emperor Liu Mu bowed to Liu Changsheng, put his hood back on, turned, and left Dragon God Hall.
