When the Chicken Finishes the Rice, the Dog Finishes the Flour, and the Flame Burns Through the Lock (Bonus chapter)

Well...

The ministers had no reason to refuse.

Following a former king's example and bringing down rain was an excellent thing.

Mei Bo was also a member of the royal clan, though his blood ties to King Zhou were already quite distant, roughly like the relationship between Liu Xie and Liu Bei. In a good mood, the king might call him Royal Uncle; in a bad mood, sorry, but what remote mountain gully had this relative crawled out of?

But Mei Bo had never relied on his birth. He was capable, outspoken, and skilled at offering counsel, and had risen to Senior Grandee through his own abilities.

A capable man like him naturally realized that King Zhou wanted to use the mandate of heaven theory to pit royal authority against divine authority, but he knew even better that this was far too large a step.

That was why he had always disapproved of the mandate of heaven theory and had remonstrated several times. Although King Zhou had never accepted his counsel, he felt quite pleased with himself. Hadn't things changed now?

First came the ancestral rites on Phoenix Mountain, then the sacrifice to pray for rain. Both were signals of goodwill from King Zhou.

Heaven's mandate remained the same unalterable mandate.

The only question was, could they really pray this rain into coming?

Could it be...

Mei Bo looked toward the seasoned, steady Wen Zhong.

Grand Tutor Wen understood the Daoist arts of the Immortals. Perhaps he really had a way.

After Zi Shou found a residence to stay in, Wen Zhong came to pay his respects.

Seeing Wen Zhong arrive, Zi Shou said, "Grand Tutor Wen, look at this. Guanjiangkou has suffered days of drought, and it has already become a disaster. I am deeply troubled over it and