The sky above Chentang Pass looked as though it had shattered, ****.
Several commoners walked through the rain in straw raincoats.
"The Dragon King is furious! Who knows how long this rain will last!"
"What a coincidence! The moment King Zhou arrived at Chentang Pass, the downpour started and the weather changed."
"I heard it rained when he proclaimed himself emperor at the Fengshan Sacrifice, too."
"But didn't I hear that the rain stopped afterward, and a dragon and phoenix appeared as auspicious signs, with the phoenix crying across the nine heavens?"
"Those were all rumors! Haven't you seen the people spreading them in the taverns? Every last one was fat as a pig. Weren't they all King Zhou's Royal Guards?"
"They made up every one of those lies!"
"If something weren't amiss, how could this happen!"
"This is all Heaven's punishment for King Zhou's disrespect! Now we're flooded one moment and covered in frost the next, with the weather changing wildly. How are we supposed to live!"
"Watch your words! King Zhou is still inside Chentang Pass. Those Royal Guards could crush you to death just by sitting on you, and you dare say things like that?"
Li Jing and Lady Yin felt bitter as they listened to the discussion.
The abnormal weather was clearly Nezha's doing, yet people who did not know the cause blamed King Zhou instead.
King Zhou was magnanimous indeed. When Li Jing explained the facts and offered to clear his name, he said there was no need.
"Nezha is only a child. He may not be able to bear such pressure. If it leads him to make another mistake, that would hardly be desirable. Better for me to shoulder a little infamy and explain matters when the Dragon King returns."
What a great ruler