71 The Rain Ritual - Part 1

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.

Su Li would like to tell the aforementioned person that it would be too late by then because the news of her unintentional snub would have reached far and wide by then and any actions taken later would look like a guilty conscious and a cover-up on the part of The Imperial Family.

Even if Su Li wanted to make up for it, she still had to place importance on the Imperial family's face before everything else.

Anyways, now that the people had been decided, they packed a few essentials, the shadow guards followed their leige from the shadows - pun intended and left for their today trek through the pathways.

The first day Cheng Ru tried to talk with the rest of her companions but she was simply rebuffed with one-word answers. She was sought out by many in the capital and as such had a haughty temperament.

However, with these people, she felt like a country bumpkin since not one of them even bothered to give her - a delicate, beautiful young maiden any face.

She had thought that Zhou Sheng would be easier to crack since he was quite young for his age. He was just a no-name whole the monarch seemed to have taken pity on and wasn't even from a noble lineage. Nonetheless, his tongue was as poisonous as the monarch. Recalling her attempt to break the ice with him left her feeling angry and ashamed.

"Brother Zhou, if you don't mind me asking, what are your plans after we return to the capital?" She had spoken with such dulcet tones.

Zhou She had given her a scathing look for her efforts and replied, "Hmm...I haven't decided on much but I'll stay as far away as possible from maidens. After all, I have always believed in the saying beware the pull on your heartstrings – it's often the purse strings that are being reached for."

It was an intentional jab at her for trying to curry favour with the monarch.

That imp was clearly saying that she was interested in the monarch because it would bring her unimaginable riches and status.

His words had blocked any further avenues of talk and she hadn't been able to give him a similar scathing reply which left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Cheng Ru could also swear that she had heard a small snort from that military commander.

Humph!

Just a coarse military man and he still had the guts to laugh at her, she'll show him his place once she captures His Majesty's heart.

However, what left her feeling even more dejected was that even though His Majesty had chosen her, he never came to her rescue when she was at a disadvantage.

She had even seen a fleeting smile at the monarch's face when Zhou Sheng had said those words.

Cheng Ru felt exhausted and maudlin, body and spirit weary, as they climbed higher and higher up The Kumbh Mountains. She spent most of her first day cursing everyone present in her heart his and felt increasingly uncomfortable ad time passed.

As night fell, they made camp in a small dip of a valley along their way.