Chapter 209: How Stingy Can You Get?

This cloud cluster, oh heavens, is a dense, oppressive mass of dark clouds.

Anyone with eyes could see the rainfall was astonishing; Marquis Qin Yan, his brothers, Qin Yan, Su Yan, and the other young ones had exerted great effort to push the cloud cluster into the sky. The cluster merged with the heavens, and the heavy clouds spread out to cover the entire sky.

Even after spreading, the dark clouds continued to roll.

Lightning flashed and thunder rolled with a "crack," startling everyone, who then felt a mix of shock and joy. The summoning and the rain from the heavens had arrived together; it was simply amazing.

Raindrops the size of beans fell. Everyone stood happily in the rain, gazing at the sky and taking a deep breath, savoring the downpour. They were soaked like drowned rats, yet still delighted.

Marquis Qin Yan came to his senses and ordered the guards: "Go check the area covered by the rain."

The guards left quickly and returned just as fast.

The guard looked strange and said, "My Lord, the rain is falling only over the farmlands of the Marquis Fu and the Duke Su Fu."

Everyone was stunned. When a summoning brings rain from the heavens, it shouldn't distinguish between one person's and another's; it should pour down everywhere. Yet what did the guard say? It was raining only over the Marquis Qin Yan Fu and the Duke Su Fu.

Prince Su didn't believe it and went to check again.

Then he returned with a speechless expression.

"It's only raining over the two households," Prince Su said with a wry smile.

"I'll go check again," Qin Lang called Qin Xun, and they left too.

With the farmlands already raining, there was nothing for Qin Bi to do. She didn't want to get soaked and prepared to take Rong Yuan and the young prince back: "Rong Yuan, let's go back. This rain is too heavy; getting soaked is like acting like a fool."

"Mother, you go back," Rong Yuan waved his small hand. "I'm not leaving."

The young prince Yan Xun also said, "I'm not leaving either. What heavy rain!"

Qin Bi was dumbfounded. She looked at her father and brothers: "Should I go back by myself?"

Obviously, no one had any intention of leaving.

Qin Di chuckled: "Qin Tang, take your sister back."

Qin Tang nodded. Qin Bi didn't want to leave alone: "Let the rain fall on its own; we should all go!"

"It's not easy to get rain like this," Qin Tan said. "Your father and I must keep watch. If the rain weakens, your eldest uncle and I can reinforce the summoning to make it rain a bit longer."

Qin Bi knew the rainfall volume: "No need to watch; the rain won't stop anytime soon."

Qin Tan and the others dared not leave. Had anyone ever seen a summoning leave? Even immortal sects kept watch when summoning rain. Qin Di waved his hand, and Qin Tang called Qin Bi to leave.

Qin Lang and Qin Xun returned after checking the rain area. Qin Bi handed Rong Yuan to Qin Xun: "Rong Yuan won't leave; Second Brother, keep an eye on him."

Qin Lang waved: "Don't worry."

Qin Lang had a mouthful of words but didn't know what to say. As Qin Bi and Qin Tang left, Lin Yao stayed to watch the spectacle. After all, it was raining over his own prince's fiefdom, and the Marquis Fu was also getting rain; he could watch all day without getting enough.

This rain was interesting; it even distinguished between relatives and non-relatives, raining only over the fertile fields of Marquis Qin Yan and Duke Su. Other households couldn't say they didn't get a single drop, but it was close; at best, the ground surface got damp.

Marquis Qin Yan was so excited he couldn't stay still. He walked along the field edges to inspect. After looking, he couldn't help but twitch his mouth, then looked up. That oppressive cloud cluster really had the nerve to be so stingy.

This rain should have poured down everywhere, yet it stubbornly rained only over the two households' farmlands.

Marquis Qin Yan laughed loudly: "Good, very good. It's satisfying."

Qin Tan and Qin Di also wore broad smiles. Indeed, it was satisfying. Before the Marquis Qin Yan Fu became a cultivation family, their farmlands suffered from a lack of rain. They had asked neighboring cultivation families to cooperate on irrigation, but it took tremendous effort.

They had said all the nice words, but the others acted aloof. Bah, what a pretense!

Now look at this. The rain they summoned had taken matters into its own hands. It could rain however it wanted over their own fields but refused to go to the neighboring households. It was so miserly.

When it came to being generous, this rain was truly generous, pouring down continuously until noon.

Several households near the Prince Anyuan Marquis Fu also had farmlands. Hearing the news, they rushed over. After checking the rainfall amount and the covered area, the young masters of these noble families turned green. They pressed their lips together, unwilling to speak to Prince Su or Prince Qin.

Usually, everyone got along well. How could they be so shameless?!

If the summoned rain stopped right at the field boundary, Prince Prince Anyuan wouldn't say anything. But the heavy rain stopped before even reaching the boundary. The only reason the Duke Su Fu's farmlands received rain was because it overflowed from the main fields.

The main fields received too much rain. If the rainfall had been slightly less, the soil at the edges would have been dry.

"Brother, one cannot act like this," Prince Prince Anyuan said. "Prince Qin, learn from your cousin, the Princess Consort of Prince Xue, Qin He. She cares about everyone in Great Yan and exhausted her spiritual power to the point of vomiting blood just to summon rain."

Speaking of this, Prince Prince Anyuan glanced at the field boundaries. On one side, rainwater spread; on the other, dry dust rose. It made one's throat feel like it was smoking, and the parched land would dry up instantly even if a basin of water were poured on it.

Comparing the two farmlands, Prince Prince Anyuan's forehead veins jumped. "Look at you. How stingy have you become? What, will a little rain over our side make you lose a piece of flesh?!"

Qin Yan stared at the field boundary: "..."

He had nothing to say. He opened his mouth; what could he possibly say?!

"The summoning ability is limited," Qin Yan said. "Please forgive me, Prince Prince Anyuan."

"I suspect you did this on purpose, afraid we'd take advantage, so you made the rain stop right at the boundary." Prince Prince Anyuan grew angrier the more he looked. He pointed at the boundary: "Look at how petty you've become. The rain didn't even reach the edge."

Qin Yan had nothing to say and let Prince Prince Anyuan and the others mock him as they pleased.

They had brought this rain down; it was already good enough that it rained this much. Did they expect this rain to be neighborly, giving a little to this family and a little to that? Who has ever seen such a sensible rain?

Prince Su simply hid to the side. They were all friends, but he didn't know how to respond.

A crowd stared at the rain. Prince Prince Anyuan and the others didn't leave. In Great Yan, where rain was scarce, a sudden downpour in this area quickly became known to everyone in Jingcheng.

Qin Yan happily ran to Prince Xue Fu, rushing to report the good news to Qin He: "Sister Qin He, our Marquis Fu's fertile fields are getting rain. I heard it's a heavy downpour that's been falling for half a day."

Qin He struggled to climb out of bed, her eyes flashing with surprise: "I summoned it."

Exhausting her spiritual power but failing to summon rain would have been embarrassing. With this rain, she had regained her face.

Princess Consort Xue followed behind and said, "It must be the rain you summoned."

Qin Yan blinked. Qin He coughed, swallowed a pill, got out of bed, and said, "I must go see. This is the rain I summoned through hard work, exhausting my spiritual power."

Qin Yan and the maids and nannies immediately went to support Qin He. Qin Yan urged, "Sister Qin He, your spiritual palace is injured. You should go another day. Why rush there now?"

Qin He squinted, took a deep breath, and said, "If I don't go, Qin Bi will steal my credit again."