Chapter 203 The Fifth Day of Entering a Rebirth Novel
Chapter 203 The Fifth Day of Entering a Rebirth Novel
Chapter 203: Day Five of Transmigrating into a Rebirth Novel
Huo Huai had seen the Imperial Preceptor from a distance a few times before, either at palace banquets or during sacrificial ceremonies. He always felt that the man carried an air of pretentiousness and superficiality, completely different from the current cold, ethereal, and immortal impression—like two different people!
“Your Highness?”
The attendant by his side, seeing him suddenly freeze in place, staring straight in the direction where the Imperial Preceptor’s carriage had disappeared, couldn’t help but call out softly, his tone laced with concern.
The prince’s state... it was as if he were possessed!
Could it be that they had inadvertently offended the Imperial Preceptor just now, and the Preceptor had cast a curse on their prince?
The attendant frowned with worry.
Huo Huai was jolted awake by the call, yanked back from his daze.
He took a deep breath, trying to force himself to calm down, but his heart refused to listen, still stubbornly and forcefully beating, reminding him of the immense impact of that fleeting glance.
He pursed his thin lips, his cold and rigid jaw tightening slightly. The hand holding the reins unconsciously clenched, his knuckles white from the strain.
He did not answer the attendant’s query. Instead, he took one last long look at the dark wood carriage that had already merged into the stream of traffic and was fading into the distance, as if to etch that fleeting image firmly into the depths of his mind.
Then, he mounted his horse, kicked sharply, spurring the horse, and said in a low voice: “Let’s go.”
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The night was deep and still.
The Star Observation Platform in the northwest corner of the Imperial City.
This place stood tall, the highest point of the entire palace complex, far removed from the noise and lights of the palaces and towers below. Only the chilly night wind howled unhindered, billowing An Yi’s wide, dark sleeves as if he might ride the wind and soar to heaven.
He sat upright on a cushion in the center of the open-air top floor of the platform, as straight as bamboo, gazing up quietly at the vast, boundless starry sky above.
The sky was like splashed ink, deep and vast. The Milky Way slanted across the sky like a hazy ribbon of light.
Countless stars, some bright, some dim, some clustered, some scattered, moved silently in their orbits according to eternal laws.
The starlight was cold, falling upon him, casting a faint, unearthly silver glow on his handsome features, adding to his mystery.
A few young Taoist Apprentices stood at the stairway entrance below the platform, their hands clasped in front of their stomachs, their bodies slightly bowed.
They breathed as softly as possible, their faces full of reverence and piety, not daring to make the slightest sound, afraid of disturbing the Imperial Preceptor’s “communion with celestial phenomena” and “communication with the gods.”
An Yi’s gaze seemed to pierce the endless starry sky, or perhaps he was simply lost in the grandeur and tranquility of the universe.
Thinking of something, he took a ring from his storage space and put it on.
A blue radiance flickered in the night.
At this moment, he clearly recalled the original plot of this world’s novel.
According to the predetermined storyline, just around the turn from summer to autumn this year, several prefectures in Yongzhou, Great Ming would suffer an extraordinary drought not seen in decades.
At that time, the land would be scorched for a thousand li, rivers and canals would dry up, and all crops would wither, producing no harvest.
Following that would be massive refugee waves, corpses littering the wilderness and people swapping their children for food, along with skyrocketing grain prices, social upheaval, and shockwaves through the court and society.
About five months remained until that predicted calamity.
And the reborn female lead, Ran Zhuyu, precisely by relying on her foreknowledge of this drought, would, before anyone else caught on, secretly use all the money she could mobilize, pawn her entire dowry, and stockpile grain on a massive scale through various secret channels.
When the disaster fully erupted and grain prices skyrocketed to astronomical levels, she would then selectively sell off the grain at the opportune moment.
This maneuver not only earned her immense wealth, filling her coffers to the brim, but also accrued vital capital for her subsequent revenge plan.
At the same time, she would take the opportunity to sell grain at “fair prices” or provide porridge, thus winning over and assisting a group of local officials who were overwhelmed by the calamity and would later be very beneficial to her, thereby initially establishing her own network of influence.
Just as An Yi’s thoughts were flowing, the familiar comments section rang clearly in his ears:
“Drought?!”
“Ah! Natural disaster, man-made calamity!”
“Stockpile grain! Stockpile grain! The female lead wants to stockpile grain!”
“Our girl is so amazing! Killing two birds with one stone! Making money and winning people over!”
“Sigh, it's a pity for the people of Yongzhou, who have to go through this again... But this time, Zhuyu will secretly help a bit, right?”
“Isn't stockpiling grain a bad idea?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“It drives up grain prices...”
“If this matter were reported to the higher-ups, wouldn’t it save more lives?”
“?????? What nonsense is that guy above saying? Would anyone believe it if it were said? Not only would no one believe it, but they might even treat the female lead as a madwoman!”
“Exactly! Even if her words later come true, she might be blamed and made a scapegoat by those influential nobles!”
“...”
An Yi smiled. The comments made sense—it was indeed necessary to speak out about this matter. That was his plan now.
The female lead’s identity couldn’t do it, but he could.
After all, he was now the Imperial Preceptor who could commune with heaven and earth...
An Yi’s gaze slowly withdrew from the brilliant, cold Milky Way, passed over the white marble railing of the Star Observation Platform, and fell upon the vast, ancient empire slumbering in the thick night below.
What met his eyes were the continuous rooftops of palaces, the crisscrossing streets and neighborhoods, and further away, the imagined vast fields and villages.
Misery and suffering, corpses strewn across the wilderness... that was the tragic human spectacle about to occur.
He was now the Imperial Preceptor of this dynasty. Since he knew of this impending disaster, there was no reason to stand idly by and let it happen.
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The next day, in the morning.
The sky was already fully bright.
The Old Emperor usually summoned his close ministers in a side hall called the Nourishing Mind Studio, next to the Imperial Study.
This place was not as solemn and formal as the main court; it was arranged in a more elegant and comfortable style, also better suited to satisfy the Old Emperor’s personal hobby of seeking immortality and practicing Daoism.
A eunuch’s shrill announcement sounded outside the hall: “Your Majesty, the Imperial Preceptor requests an audience.”
“Let him enter,” came the emperor’s slightly hoarse voice from inside the hall.
An Yi walked into the hall with a calm and unhurried gait.
A thick, pungent scent of sandalwood wafted over him, mingled with the metallic and mineral smell of burnt elixirs, creating a strange and oppressive atmosphere.
An Yi raised an eyebrow.
The elixirs that the original host had given to the Old Emperor didn't contain these ingredients.
His eyes landed on several sorcerers standing before the Old Emperor.
The sorcerers lowered their heads.