Chapter 62: The Old Scoundrel's Rudeness
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Chapter 62: The Old Scoundrel's Rudeness
Cui Tang looked and saw that another elephant, which had been calmed by its handler, had also broken free and was now charging toward the sacrificial pit.
The tension, which had only just started to ease, immediately returned.
“Damn it! Is it never going to end?” Chang Kuo cursed, not caring about anything else. He snatched a knife from a Xuanzhe soldier, held it in one hand, and grabbed Chang Suining with the other, intending to protect her as they retreated.
“father, there's no need,” Chang Suining held his arm back, gently shaking her head.
The mother elephant soon approached the two of them, but its speed had slowed down. Chang Kuo lowered the knife slightly, his battlefield instincts telling him that the elephant was no longer a threat.
Chang Suining stepped forward, past Chang Kuo.
The mother elephant let out a sorrowful cry and extended its trunk to lightly touch her injured left shoulder.
Chang Suining turned her head slightly and saw the wound on her shoulder, with blood seeping out.
The mournful cry continued, and those who heard it were filled with an inexplicable sense of sadness.
The disheveled girl stood tall, looking up at the massive creature.
Despite the stark visual contrast between the young girl and the giant elephant, the scene appeared surprisingly harmonious, like a painting full of Zen, bringing a sense of calm to all who saw it.
The mother elephant’s eyes were filled with a look of plea and sorrow.
“Don’t worry, we won’t kill it,” Chang Suining said.
It was as if the mother elephant understood her words. It raised its head and let out a call before retreating to the side, standing guard over its companion in the sacrificial pit.
Xi’er rushed forward, seeing Chang Suining covered in blood but unsure where to start, her eyes filled with tears. “Miss!”
At that moment, a large hand extended a dark cloak.
Chang Suining followed the bloodstained hand upward to see a stern, expressionless face.
Her torn and tattered clothing made her accept the gesture without hesitation. She gave a small nod. “Thank you.”
With the girl’s acknowledgment, Xi’er quickly took the cloak and helped her put it on and fasten it. Meanwhile, Chang Kuo exchanged a glance with Cui Jing, who was still watching the elephant in the pit.
Seeing that Chang Suining was safe, Yao Ran finally let out a long-held breath and approached her mother, Pei Shi.
*Slap!*
Pei Shi raised her hand and slapped Yao Ran across the face, gritting her teeth. “Useless! You can’t even take care of yourself!”
Yao Ran stared at her, dumbfounded.
The girl, who had just survived a near-death experience, met her mother’s cold, suppressed eyes—eyes that seemed filled with a hatred she didn’t understand. In that moment, Yao Ran could no longer hold back her feelings of grievance, and tears streamed down her face.
At the same time, a terrifying thought flashed through her mind.
Was her mother really angry at her for not taking care of herself?
Or… had things not gone the way her mother expected, and that was why she was venting her anger on her?
This suspicion chilled Yao Ran to the core, and her tears suddenly stopped.
“Enough…” Even the usually submissive Zeng shi couldn’t hold back anymore. “Ran’er just narrowly escaped death… Why must you be so harsh, sister-in-law?”
As she spoke, she pulled Yao Ran to her side.
Pei Shi’s gaze turned icy. “I’m teaching my daughter. It’s none of your business.”
“Enough.” The Yao family’s matriarch frowned, interrupting the unpleasant exchange.
Yao Xia, her cheeks flushed with anger, dared not say anything out loud, but in her heart, she clasped her hands together and made a silent plea—They said the Dayun Temple was a place where gods and spirits were especially attentive! So if Buddha saw and heard all of this, may he strip Auntie of her merits!
Take them all away!
Make her owe them!
The young girl quietly voiced her darkest and most wicked accusations in her heart.
No one else seemed to notice the brief argument among the Yao family’s women.
With the rampaging sacred elephant now trapped in the sacrificial pit, the crisis appeared to have passed, bringing a momentary calm.
But this calm was clearly superficial.
Everywhere one looked, the wreckage spoke of the same terrifying outcome—the entire blessing ceremony had been utterly ruined.
the Holy Emperor had meticulously prepared for this spring festival.
Now, though the imperial face didn’t show fury, it had taken on a frosty air.
Several elephant handlers knelt at the base of the altar, begging for mercy. “We failed to detect the sacred elephant’s distress earlier. Our incompetence is inexcusable!”
“Yet everything was done with the utmost care… We don’t know where things went wrong!”
“The sacred elephant has always been gentle and has never rampaged without reason. Today’s events… we truly don’t know what caused it…”
“Please, Your Majesty, punish us as you see fit!”
No one even dared to plead for leniency.
A few officials also knelt. They oversaw celestial phenomena and divinations, including the selection of auspicious dates. The head, trembling under the Holy Emperor’s cold gaze, finally spoke, “The sacred elephant would never harm people without reason… The elephant embodies the symbol of peace and is a harbinger of good fortune, a messenger connecting Your Majesty and the Da Sheng Dynasty to the heavens… For the sacred elephant to behave this way during the blessing ceremony, I fear… it must have sensed some ominous presence…”
At these words, the faces of the surrounding people paled.
Instinctively, everyone turned to look for this “ominous presence.”
At that moment, a loud voice suddenly rang out.
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
“You officials from the Astronomical Bureau, is this how you work—carelessly slandering others without a shred of evidence?”
Chang Kuo pointed angrily at the head official. “You, with your sneaky, rat-like face, make people sick just by looking at you. If anything, you’re more like the real ominous presence! And that mouth of yours is as filthy as a sewer. If we ever go to war again, we won’t even need to prepare sewage to repel the enemy—just bring you and your mouth along, and we’ll win without lifting a finger! Wouldn’t that be grand?”
He continued, turning his fury on the other Astronomical Bureau officials, “I see your bureau must be completely broke! What, can’t even afford a rope to tie this rabid dog up? If you don’t have the money, I’ve got some!”
With that, he actually pulled his money pouch from his waist and hurled it hard at the head official’s head.
“Take it all! If you don’t need all of it for a rope, use the rest to make paper effigies, buy funeral banners, or hire pallbearers! Just make sure you keep the coffin steady this time—don’t let it flip over again and bring even more bad luck, in life *and* in death!”
The head official’s face turned a deep shade of red and black as his official cap flew off from the impact of the pouch. Humiliated and frightened, he couldn’t even lift his head.
How could this old scoundrel be so vulgar and shameless?
Isn’t anyone going to step in and stop him?
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