A Jiu’s gaze was fixed on her grandmother.
Her fingers moved in intricate, bewildering gestures. To A Jiu’s eyes, they were terrifying.
How did she manage to tuck her middle finger beneath her pinky, and coil her thumb outside her ring finger? She tried it stealthily, only to find it impossible. Her fingers would have to be broken and reattached to achieve such a pose.
Her fingers contorted faster and faster.
A gust, more potent than the coolness of autumn, truly began to blow. The tips of the few trees in the prefectural office’s backyard, clinging to a precarious existence, swayed.
Fine dust stirred beneath the dry rockery.
A Jiu immediately recognized the person hurrying in from outside the prefectural office, clutching a long robe.
There weren’t many people in the courtyard. He clearly followed her gaze, then straightened his back and strode past A Jiu.
His gaze seemed to say, ‘If you want my money, you’ll have to pay with your life. Now you know the consequences, don’t you?’
As the gaze retracted, the man had already entered the pavilion. Steward Li bowed ninety degrees, “Lord Wang, are you well after your journey?”
“I am very well. Why have you come?” Lord Wang motioned for Steward Li to sit with a nod of his chin.
“Your humble servant intended to open a shop in the city. Your subordinates said I was from Menghua City and insisted on investigating me. As a result, the Chamber of Commerce hasn’t approved it yet.”
Steward Li, knowing he had sent five hundred taels of gold, felt no restraint after sitting down. He poured himself a cup of tea.
“That’s easily handled. I’ll order someone to put in a word,” Lord Wang’s eyes flickered towards the Wang clan member periodically.
“That would be excellent. Thank you, my lord.” Steward Li quickly cupped his hands in salute.
Turning back, he asked, “Lord Wang, you invited her last time, didn’t you? The heavens didn’t grant the Wang clan face then. Why are you holding another ceremony today?”
“Speaking of which, your arrival is opportune. I promised this Wang clan member that if she could invoke rain, I would release her son and daughter-in-law.”
“What? Lord Wang, that cannot be done.”
As Li Dachang spoke, he saw Lord Wang’s displeased expression and immediately fell silent.
“Whether it will rain is still unknown, why are you panicking?”
Compared to the rewards of high official positions and generous stipends, Steward Li’s five hundred taels of gold were inert. He, however, was receiving something living.
At the very least, if it truly rained, his promotion to the fifth rank would be immeasurable by five hundred taels of gold.
If the rain did not come, as that girl had said, he could simply kill them.
“What your lordship says is true, indeed it is.” Steward Li agreed.
Just then, a rumble.
Muffled thunder, wrapped in dark clouds, slowly gathered over the sky of Nanming City.
A Jiu’s pupils constricted. This was the first time she had seen clouds so low, and it felt far more intense than last time.
“Ah?” Steward Li yelped in surprise and quickly stepped out of the pavilion to look at the sky.
He looked at the Wang clan member in disbelief. Did this old woman truly know how to summon rain?
Then he looked at the sky again. A fierce wind suddenly whipped up, accompanied by rolling thunder. Streaks of lightning seemed to strike directly above people’s heads.
Terrified, Steward Li flinched and ducked back into the pavilion, his face ashen as he stared at the rapidly changing sky outside.
A Jiu scanned her surroundings. The experienced elders knew that strong winds meant no rain.
After half an hour, the wind abruptly ceased. The treetops stood motionless. The dark clouds in the sky were eerily silent, pressing down like patches of tattered black cotton quilts.
It made one’s chest feel heavy and caused sweat to soak their clothes.
In the oppressive heat, a lightning bolt cracked across the sky, nearly tearing it asunder.
“Pitter-patter!”
A torrential downpour cascaded down, as if the sky had sprung a leak. Vision blurred instantly, and the sound of rain pounded in one’s ears.
“It’s raining, it’s raining…” A Jiu was the first to jump up.
“Miss Jiu, it’s really raining… My heavens, it’s raining…” Yun Hao leaped high in the air.
All the constables stared blankly, holding out their hands to look at the water in their palms, as if dreaming. “This… this is really rain.”
“It’s raining?” Lord Wang, standing beneath the pavilion, abruptly stood up, his eyes wide with astonishment. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Steward Li stared at the curtain of water falling from the pavilion’s eaves, stuttering, “It… it really rained.”