Chapter 89

In the blink of an eye, it was summer again.

For some reason, this year's summer was exceptionally dry and hot. In many parts of the Great Han, not a single drop of rain had fallen for months, and some regions had even begun to show signs of parched land.

The memorials sent up by the officials were all from the governors of various commanderies and counties requesting the Son of Heaven to solve the problem of crops being unable to grow due to the drought. They hoped the Son of Heaven could offer sacrifices to the Heavenly God and pray for rain from heaven.

Liu Che found Liu Li: "A Li, can you ask the Heavenly God when rain can be brought to the Great Han to avoid the drought disaster?"

Liu Li was stunned for a moment and said with difficulty: "A Li cannot contact the Heavenly God at this moment; the Heavenly God... uh, went out to visit relatives."

Liu Che was silent.

Liu Li sighed in her heart; it would be good if there really were Heavenly Gods in this world, then any flood or drought could be easily solved. But where were there any Heavenly Gods? There was only the history of humanity constantly struggling against natural disasters.

The weather this year was indeed strange; there had been very little rain since spring, and now in summer, there was not a drop of rain at all, clearly showing signs of a drought.

If this were in the modern era, one could still have artificial rain to alleviate it, but what should one do when encountering a drought in ancient times?

Liu Li's knowledge was limited, and the only thing she could think of was building water conservancy projects, but how exactly to build them and where to start was her blind spot.

However, fortunately, she had a "golden finger." Taking advantage of the quiet of the night, Liu Li closed her eyes and carefully checked what ancient dynasties would do after encountering a drought.

After checking around, Liu Li discovered that the methods used by ancient Chinese dynasties to deal with droughts, even in the modern era, were basically methods that had been continued from the reign of Emperor Wu of Han.

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, starting around the first year of Yuanfeng, a drought and locust plague lasted for ten years. And when facing the drought, Emperor Wu of Han came up with two response plans.

One was to upgrade agricultural planting, and the other was to build water conservancy projects.

It must be mentioned that although Emperor Wu of Han's posthumous title was "Wu" (Martial), his ability in civil governance was not inferior to Han Wendi or Emperor Jing of Han, and he could even be considered a leader among emperors.

During the later years of Emperor Wu of Han, the Sou Su Commandant Zhao Guo proposed a "Dai Tian" (Substitute Field) method suitable for dry land farming to Liu Che.

This method not only produced a new type of agricultural tool—the Cou Plow—which to a certain extent reduced the burden of farming for peasants, but it also expanded production and provided a better growth environment for crops.

It could be said that Zhao Guo was equivalent to the modern Yuan Longping; his contribution was enormous, almost benefiting the peasants of China from ancient times to the modern era.

Unfortunately, the birth and death years of this person, Zhao Guo, are unknown. He only served as Sou Su Commandant in 91 BC, at which time he was probably not even as old as Liu Che.

Liu Li stayed up all night to write down this "Dai Tian" method and the specific farming techniques so as not to forget them when she woke up the next day.

The next day, just as she wanted to tell A Jiao and Liu Che about this "Dai Tian" method, she heard that the Emperor and Empress had gone to Xuanshi Hall together to discuss state affairs.

Well, going to discuss state affairs early in the morning must be a very important matter.

Liu Li had no choice but to rewrite the "Dai Tian" method in Small Seal Script and hand it to Fuqu: "After Father Emperor and Mother return, help me give this to them."

Fuqu carefully folded the paper Liu Li handed her and put it away: "Nuo."

Only then did Liu Li go out to attend class at the Tai Xue with peace of mind.

For Liu Li, it made no difference whether she came to class at the Tai Xue or not. Because of the previous witchcraft incident, she had skipped class for three months this year, and seeing that there were only fifty days left before the summer vacation, she didn't care.

The person teaching the class Liu Li was in today was the newly arrived Doctor Gongsun Hong. Liu Li stared at Gongsun Hong's gray hair and praised in her heart that this old gentleman was truly dedicated.

Historical records state that Gongsun Hong was once dismissed from office because he could not speak well, and it wasn't until he was seventy years old that he was re-recommended to serve in the imperial court. Later, his official career advanced rapidly, and he eventually reached the position of Prime Minister.

Of course, being a Prime Minister during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han was not necessarily a good thing. Gongsun Hong passed away due to illness after serving as Prime Minister for six years, at the age of about eighty.

So this Mr. Gongsun Hong now was at least seventy years old, which was a rare longevity in ancient times.

Liu Li wanted to ask Mr. Gongsun for the secret to longevity and give it to Liu "Big Pig" (Liu Che), who once wanted to live forever and ascend to immortality!

Gongsun Hong was famous in the commanderies and kingdoms for his thorough reading of the "Gongyang Zhuan." Now he was appointed as a Doctor and waited for an edict at the Golden Horse Gate. Later, he was arranged to come to the Tai Xue to teach students the "Gongyang Zhuan."

The classroom was quiet, with only Mr. Gongsun Hong lecturing to the students in a gentle and hypnotic tone. Half of the students in the classroom had their heads lowered, nodding like chickens pecking at rice, and Liu Li was no exception.

Because she had researched the "Dai Tian" method last night and found a lot of information through the 【Encyclopedia】 skill, she had barely managed to restore the specific operating methods of the "Dai Tian" method.

Now sitting in the classroom, listening to Mr. Gongsun's lecture while feeling the summer breeze blowing in from the window, her eyelids felt as heavy as if they weighed a thousand catties.

Suddenly, a paper ball flew in from outside the window without warning and hit Liu Li's little head. She woke up with a start, looked left and right, and finally saw Cao Xiang hiding outside the window.

Liu Li: "?"

Cao Xiang lay on the window and whispered: "Open it and see."

What was this about? Liu Li was full of confusion, but she still unfolded the paper ball Cao Xiang had thrown. She saw it written in a crooked hand: "At noon, gather in front of the Tai Xue gate to watch the dragon boats."

Watch dragon boats?

Liu Li turned to look at Cao Xiang, but who knew this guy had already snuck away, crouching down. Liu Li scratched her head and stared at the content on the note, thinking.

Dragon boats? Dragon Boat Festival?

Calculating the time, wasn't today the fifth day of the fifth lunar month? So Cao Xiang was asking her to go celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival? And even skip class to do it?

Liu Li crumpled the paper ball back up and stuffed it into her bag. She wasn't very interested in this so-called dragon boat; she just wanted to have a good sleep now.

Fortunately, Mr. Gongsun in front did not notice her small movements under the desk. She continued to prop up her head, preparing to fall asleep.

Who knew that just as she entered the state, Chen Ran in the seat next to her poked her awake and also handed her a paper ball.

Liu Li: "?"

Liu Li cleared her head and opened the paper ball in her hand. It was written in a flowing hand: "There is a dragon boat sacrifice among the people; do you want to go play together?"

This handwriting was clearly not written by Chen Ran. Liu Li turned to look at her, her eyes filled with confusion.

Chen Ran whispered: "Sang Qian sent it. He said this dragon boat sacrifice is very fun and asked if you wanted to go."

Liu Li covered her mouth and gave a small yawn, asking with teary eyes: "Is it really very fun?"

Chen Ran blinked and shook her head: "I don't know either, but I heard that the dragon boat sacrifice will be very lively today."

"You want to go?" Liu Li clearly heard the intention to go from her words.

Chen Ran nodded: "Yes, studying and reading in the Tai Xue all day feels so boring; I kind of want to go see this dragon boat sacrifice."

"Then let's go," Liu Li said with a smile: "Let's see what exactly is fun about the dragon boat sacrifice."

"Okay."

After this conversation, Liu Li's sleepiness was completely driven away. She tidied up her desk, listened to Mr. Gongsun lecture for a while longer, and finally waited until he said class was over.

As soon as Gongsun Hong walked out of the classroom, Sang Qian, who was sitting in the back row, ran over. He was high-spirited, forming a sharp contrast with this lifeless summer afternoon.

"Let's go, let's go, let's hurry up while class is over, otherwise we won't be able to leave when class starts in the afternoon."

Liu Li and Chen Ran had already packed their things. The group walked out of the classroom together, and Liu Li asked: "Are just the three of us going?"

Sang Qian said: "There is also my good friend Han Yao."

"Han Yao?" Liu Li heard the name but couldn't place it in her mind for a moment.

"Didn't I introduce him to you when you were going to take my carriage back to the palace?" Sang Qian raised an eyebrow: "The youngest son of the Xiangcheng Marquis family."

Once he said that, Liu Li instantly remembered. There was indeed a young handsome man who was slightly older than Sang Qian back then, and she even thought he looked graceful at the time.

As they were talking, they had already walked to the back gate of the Tai Xue. Looking from afar, there was one man and two women standing there.

Chen Ran called out softly: "Sister Yan, Sister Wan."

Han Wan turned to look at them, her beautiful eyes curving: "Princess, A Ran, you are both here."

The group met up, and Sang Qian said: "Let's go quickly. We'll go out from the back gate; my family's carriage is already waiting at the back gate."

"I heard the dragon boat sacrifice starts at the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), and I don't know if we can make it," Han Wan said, turning to look at the man beside her: "Cousin, you must not tell my father about skipping class today."

The young man whom Han Wan called cousin was exactly the Han Yao that Sang Qian had mentioned earlier. He looked scholarly, and upon hearing Han Wan's words, he only revealed a faint smile: "I am skipping class with you; how would I dare to go tell my uncle?"

Han Wan breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good."

Liu Li was surprised: "Sister A Wan, shouldn't you call him Cousin-Uncle?"

Han Yao was the son of Han Ying, and Han Ying and Han Wan's grandfather were cousins of the same generation. According to seniority, it should be Cousin-Uncle, so why was it Cousin?

Han Wan was even more surprised: "He is my cousin."

Liu Li was a bit confused. She looked at Han Yao and then at Han Wan, her face full of bewilderment. Could it be that the history books were wrong?

Han Yao looked at Liu Li's expression and asked softly: "Is something wrong, Princess?"

Liu Li asked: "What is Xiangcheng Marquis Han Ying to you?"

Han Wan said: "He is my grandfather's brother."

Han Yao replied: "My grandfather."

Liu Li was silent. After all that, it turned out she was the one who got it wrong.

When Sang Qian introduced Han Yao as the son of the Xiangcheng Marquis to her, she subconsciously took the Xiangcheng Marquis Han Ying she knew as Han Yao's father.

Now that she thought about it carefully, the Xiangcheng Marquis Han Ying had passed away as early as the reign of Han Wendi, and his son Han Shizhi had inherited the title afterward. Han Yao was the son of Han Shizhi, so he and Han Wan were cousins.

"I didn't expect that the always clever Princess Jianling would also have times when she makes mistakes?" Sang Qian teased with a smile.

Liu Li glared at him: "I am not a sage; isn't it normal to make mistakes?"

"Hahaha, the Princess is right." The group all laughed, a scene of harmony.

Just as the six of them were about to set off, someone suddenly called Liu Li's name from behind: "Liu Li!"

Liu Li turned to look and saw that it was Cao Xiang who had brought people over.

Before Liu Li could speak, Cao Xiang took the initiative: "Didn't we agree to meet at the Tai Xue gate? If I hadn't heard from the attendant that you came here, we wouldn't have waited for you."

Liu Li looked at him, then at Liu Yue and Liu Ling who came from behind him, and finally at Huo Qubing, who seemed reluctant to go, following at the very back. She raised an eyebrow and said: "It's good that you came. We were also planning to go watch the dragon boats; let's go together."

Cao Xiang looked at the people beside Liu Li and frowned: "There are a lot of people; the carriage I prepared won't fit everyone."

Sang Qian raised an eyebrow and said: "Don't worry, Marquis of Pingyang, we have our own carriage."

"Cousin Xiang, if we don't leave now, it will be too late," Liu Ling reminded from behind.

There were no guards at the back gate of the Tai Xue, but the door was locked. The group stopped at the back gate, and Han Wan said: "How are we supposed to get out now?"

Liu Ling: "If I had known, I should have gone through the front gate of the Tai Xue. I am a princess; who would dare to stop us?"

Han Yao, who was on the side, revealed a confident smile, and then he took a key out of his sleeve: "Since we plan to skip class, we naturally have to be prepared."

Han Wan: "Cousin is still the capable one."

Han Yao opened the lock on the back gate, and the group walked out of the Tai Xue one by one. Two carriages were parked at the back gate.

Sang Qian urged: "Hurry, hurry, get in the carriage. If we dawdle any longer, we won't make it to the dragon boat sacrifice."

Han Wan and Wei Yan'er walked in front and got into the carriage first. Wei Yan'er turned and reached out to Liu Li: "Princess, come up."

Just as Liu Li was about to take Wei Yan'er's hand to get into the carriage, Cao Xiang on the side spoke up: "Liu Li, come and ride in our carriage. Wouldn't it be crowded for the six of you to sit together?"

The carriage Sang Qian prepared was about the same size as the one Cao Xiang prepared, but there were only four people on his side, which would obviously be much more spacious.

Liu Li turned to look, then smiled and refused: "It's fine, the carriage here is quite big; it won't be crowded." After saying that, she took Wei Yan'er's hand and boarded the carriage.

Wei Yan'er then pulled Chen Ran, who was behind, up.

Perhaps because of Liu Li's refusal, Cao Xiang's expression darkened. After getting into the carriage, the others also noticed his unhappiness.

Liu Ling pouted: "Cousin Xiang, she didn't want to come here; it's her own ignorance. Don't be unhappy."

Cao Xiang's brows furrowed even tighter: "Liu Li is your sister; how can you say that about her?"

"I'm just helping you speak, aren't I? Why are you scolding me?" Upon hearing Cao Xiang's words, Liu Ling suddenly felt that her kindness was not rewarded. She turned to look at Huo Qubing, who was sitting opposite: "Cousin Huo, did I say something wrong?"

Huo Qubing lifted his eyelids to look at Liu Ling and said: "The Little Marquis is right. Princess Jianling is your sister; you cannot be so rude."

Liu Ling was surprised: "Cousin, why are you speaking up for Liu Li too? We are a family. We even teamed up to deal with her before; have you forgotten all of that?"

Cao Xiang: "Teamed up to deal with A Li? When did that happen?"

Huo Qubing: "..."

He gave a low cough and looked at Liu Ling with a warning gaze: "That's all in the past. We were young and ignorant then and accidentally offended Princess Jianling."

Liu Ling, who had been warned, pursed her lips and didn't dare to say anything more.

Cao Xiang looked enlightened: "I finally know why A Li didn't want to come here to ride in the carriage; it turns out it was because of you two." Cao Xiang looked at Liu Ling and Huo Qubing, then lectured Liu Ling in the name of an older brother: "Liu Ling, as a younger sister, how can you bully your own sister?"

Liu Ling puffed out her cheeks: "When did I bully her?"

Cao Xiang looked at Huo Qubing again: "Little Huo, it's not that I'm lecturing you, but as a man, how can you bully a little girl like A Li?"

Huo Qubing: "?"

He attempted to explain: "That was two years ago; I am now... quite on good terms with her."

Cao Xiang interrupted him: "Two years ago, A Li was only five years old. You bullied a five-year-old child? You have no manliness at all!"

Huo Qubing: "."

He raised his eyebrows and said bluntly: "Little Marquis, if I remember correctly, at the New Year's Eve banquet at the end of the third year of Yuanguang, you seemed to have bullied her too."

Cao Xiang chose selective amnesia: "Did I?"

Huo Qubing curled his lips and said: "At that time, the Emperor gave Princess Jianling a basket of 'Suppressing Evil Money,' and Princess Yue was not very happy, so you gave your own 'Suppressing Evil Money' to Princess Yue in front of Princess Jianling, and then you bumped into her."

Cao Xiang: "Does that count as bullying?"

"They are both your cousins; why did you only give it to Princess Yue and not to Princess Jianling?" Huo Qubing clicked his tongue and said: "And you were nine years old at the time, taller than her and sturdier, and you almost knocked her over."

Cao Xiang: "..." Had he really done such a thing?

Huo Qubing said, crossing his arms and leaning against the carriage railing: "In that case, is the reason Princess Jianling didn't want to ride in the same carriage as us because of you, Little Marquis?"

Cao Xiang denied: "Impossible, A Li and I have already made up. This time we came to watch the dragon boats, I was the one who invited her."

Liu Ling retorted: "But she didn't come to watch the dragon boats because of you."

Cao Xiang: "..."

For a moment, the entire carriage fell into a mysterious silence. Huo Qubing raised his eyes to look at his cousin Liu Yue sitting opposite him; he actually knew in his heart that the real reason Liu Li didn't want to come to this carriage was because of Liu Yue.

Regarding this cousin, Huo Qubing only felt that her thoughts were becoming increasingly difficult to guess.

In the carriage Liu Li was riding in next door, the atmosphere was much more active than on the other side.

As the oldest of the six, Han Yao was already sixteen years old this year. So he was responsible for popularizing the origin of this dragon boat sacrifice to everyone: "It is recorded in the 'Book of Changes' that the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon will appear today. In ancient times, people would sacrifice to the Dragon Ancestor in the form of dragon boat racing to pray for good weather and timely rain. Therefore, this Dragon Boat Festival can also be called the Duan Yang Festival."

"But why was there no dragon boat activity on this day last year?" Chen Ran raised a question. She could be certain that she hadn't heard of any dragon boat activity on this day last year.

Han Yao was stumped by the question: "This..."

Sang Qian laughed out loud and said: "Because at first, this dragon boat sacrifice was popular in the Wu Yue (modern-day Jiangsu and Zhejiang) region. I don't know how it spread to our Chang'an this year."

Liu Li: "It's probably because there are signs of drought in the Great Han this year, so the Wu Yue people who migrated to the Guanzhong region thought of the dragon boat sacrifice activity to sacrifice to the Dragon King and pray for rain."

Han Yao nodded: "Princess Jianling's words are reasonable. Actually, I was also very curious at first why there would be a dragon boat sacrifice activity on this year's Duan Yang Festival."

Wei Yan'er whispered: "But I heard that Duan Yang is an evil month and an evil day, because Qu Yuan committed suicide by jumping into the Miluo River on this day."

Han Wan said: "I've heard of this too. In previous years at this time, my mother would pick mugwort leaves and use hot water to soak me in a bath. Mother said this day is called the Bathing Orchid Festival."

When Wei Yan'er heard what Han Wan said, her eyes revealed a bit of envy. As a concubine's daughter in the family, she did not have such treatment.

Sang Qian said: "Don't you all smell a special scent in the carriage?"

Everyone listened to Sang Qian and then smelled carefully. Liu Li smelled a faint scent of mugwort and raised her eyebrows: "There is mugwort in the carriage?"

Sang Qian: "Unh-huh." As he spoke, he waved his sleeves to show everyone an aromatic sachet hanging from his waist, showing off: "This is the mugwort sachet my mother sewed for me."

Seeing this, everyone said in unison: "Tch."

Liu Li was quite envious of the atmosphere in Sang Qian's family. Sang Hongyang did not take concubines, and there was only Sang Qian's mother in the family, which was why Sang Qian was raised to have such a personality.

Thinking of her own family, if it weren't for the soul swap between Liu Che and A Jiao, how could there be only one Lady, Wei Zifu, in the Weiyang Palace?

Unofficial history and miscellaneous talks once said that Emperor Wu of Han would rather go three days without food than one day without women.

However, putting herself in his shoes, Liu Li thought that if she were the Emperor, seeing so many beautiful sisters surrounding her every day and trying their best to please her, it must be a very enjoyable thing.

They were chatting, and soon the carriage arrived at the place where the dragon boat sacrifice was to be held. Because it was a sacrifice organized spontaneously by the people, there were quite a lot of people watching, and the entire lakeside was surrounded by people.

Liu Li and the others didn't arrive too late. After parking the carriage, standing on the carriage step, they could see a large and beautiful dragon-headed boat parked on the lake.

There were many small boats around the dragon-headed boat, similar in shape to the dragon in ancient totems. Liu Li watched from afar, marveling at the creativity of the ancient working people; this dragon boat was truly lifelike.

Cao Xiang, Huo Qubing, and the others walked over from behind. Cao Xiang greeted Liu Li: "What's so good about standing on the carriage? Let's go to the front to watch. I heard there will be a dragon boat race in a while."

Liu Li was intrigued and turned to the young ladies beside her: "Sisters, let's go down and take a look too."

The group got off the carriage together, and Han Yao arranged: "It's just right that the four of us men protect the princesses and the young ladies in the middle as we walk."

Cao Xiang nodded in agreement: "That's true. After all, there are many people here; it wouldn't be good if we got separated."

Liu Ling and Liu Yue held hands, Han Wan held Liu Li, and Wei Yan'er held Chen Ran. The six girls walked in the middle, and the four boys surrounded them in the center.

The group set off toward the lakeside in a grand manner to watch the dragon boat race that was about to begin.

Sang Qian said: "I heard that people on the scene can also sign up to participate in the dragon boat race. If you win first place, there is even a prize."

Cao Xiang: "What prize?"

Sang Qian pointed to a few things placed on the bow of the large boat: "It should be those."

Liu Li stood on tiptoe to look and could vaguely see that it seemed to be a golden object. This appearance looked a bit familiar... Good heavens, isn't this a national treasure displayed in the history museum?