71 The Rain Ritual - Part 1 (1/2)

The Kumbh Mountains towered around the monarch and his imperial officials, reaching towards the sky as if to split it into two.

For the rain ritual to be performed, only five people could travel along with the king to the topmost hollow of the mountains. The King as the centre of a star and the other five would stand at positions akin to that of a star. The rest of the officials were to stay at the base of the mountains and kneel in supplication repeatedly.

Su Li had already decided that instead of pandering to the politics, she would take men who could travel the treacherous two-day journey of reaching the hollow. These mountains were far from safe according to others and the paths leading to the top were steep and even had long drops at some points.

She didn't want to take the older ones along with her lest they fall to their deaths or become bedridden in the end.

The Head Eunuch made the announcement that only people who were in the pink of their health would be accepted by His Majesty to take with him.

This led to a frenzy in everyone present but afraid of the monarch's temper, nobody made much of a fuss.

In the end, the five people selected were - Deputy Head of The Ministry of Rites. He was in his late thirties and could travel fast and wasn't much of a bother. Moreover, he wouldn't use this opportunity for his political gain later on.

The second was The Right Prime Minister's son who was a second rank official in The Ministry of Revenue. Su Li picked him from the lot because even though he was politically savvy, he didn't condone corruption and had a strict moral code.

She felt that such a person should be given a chance to rise above others and this opportunity would add weight to his words in front of his detractors.

The third person was Zhou Sheng. Even though she didn't want to take him along since he wasn't in his optimum health as of yet, the other person had really left her with no choice but to agree.

No surprise there between the two of them but it was surely a surprise for the officials but they kept their thoughts to themselves.

The fourth person was The Unit Commander of The Devil Snare Army - Ning Fu. Su Li chose him because she didn't want her previous actions to demoralise the troops and also to wipe the slate clean. Already enough had happened between the two of them.

She wanted to bury the hatchet and also, show that she still supported him and the other military officials regardless of what happened a few days ago.

The fifth person came as a surprise to one and all. No one had thought that His Majesty would allow a maiden to go along with him to plead for the heavens to end the drought. It was The Left Prime Minister's Clan's daughter -Cheng Ru.

Su Li can't want to make this choice initially but tried to give this opportunity to the girl. She had already snubbed her once. In these times being snubbed by the monarch was a virtual death sentence for maidens.

Who would dare marry such a girl?

Wouldn't it be akin to going against the emperor and telling him that he had been wrong in his decisions?

Su Li didn't want her actions to effect a girl's life so even though she didn't feel good about it, she made the hard choice and did what she felt was right and as a way of compensation.

Now, a person might ask the question that why did Su Li need to do it this way?Wasn't it better to go back to the Imperial Capital and then ask The Empress Dowager to hold some banquet or something and award the girl? It would be much simpler that way.