Qingzhou Prefecture, Hu Family Village.
Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, a large group of people stood. Sweat streamed down their dark necks and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The village head, with a bowed back, almost reverently led an old woman toward the makeshift platform.
The old woman was dressed in a brightly colored cloth robe, with a headband of feathers from some unknown bird, and her face was painted with various colors.
Holding a bell in her left hand and a drum in her right, she walked step by step up to the high platform.
On the high platform, the melons, fruits, pears, and peaches had withered from dehydration under the scorching sun; the only thing that was still alive was the rooster with its feet tied.
The village head led her to the center of the platform and earnestly said, "Spirit Master... the entire village's crops depend on you."
The Spirit Woman didn't reply. Her cloudy eyes slowly swept over the crowd below the stage, finally settling on the large rooster. "If your heart is sincere and your blood is hot enough, the rain... will naturally come."
The village headman quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes... With the spirit medium here, we're sure we can pray for rain."
The spirit woman waved her hand, and the village head quickly stepped down from the stage and stood below with the others.
The spirit woman spread her legs, extended her arms, and gently shook her wrists. A tinkling sound rang out from the copper bells and leather drums, and the crowd below the stage knelt down in a flurry, devoutly kowtowing to the ground as they listened to the spirit woman chanting incantations.
Just as the ceremony was halfway through, a group of constables suddenly burst into the village entrance, shouting, "Stop... stop! What are you all doing?!"
Constable Wang onto the platform and grabbed the spirit medium who was still spinning around. The ritual was interrupted, and the spirit medium opened her eyes, a hint of displeasure flashing in them.
The village headman was startled when he saw Zhu Huaizhang approaching. "Sir... what brings you here? Is there something you need?"
Looking at the villagers covered in mud from their kowtows, Zhu Huaizhang said in a deep voice, "I'd like to ask you what you're doing?"
The village head was reprimanded by Zhu Huaizhang in front of the whole village. His face flushed red and then turned pale. " Lord Zhu... it's only rained three times in six months. We're so worried!"
"In such a hurry, you've called a sorceress... If she's that powerful, why would she come to your village? She'd have been summoned to the palace by the Emperor long ago," he said, then turned to Constable Wang and said, "Take her to jail. I want to interrogate her myself and see how she's harmed the common people."
Upon hearing this, the spirit medium hurriedly said, "My lord... we sincerely pray for rain, and a single ritual costs no more than a hundred coins. How can this be considered harming the people?"
The village head pleaded, "Sir... we had no other choice; the crops on the ground are withering more and more..."
We can't just watch them die of drought in the ground; if it doesn't rain, there's nothing any of us can do...
We invited her here just to put our minds at ease. Sir, we were wrong... please forgive us.
Zhu Huaizhang looked at the group of farmers with a complicated expression. "Rain is a natural phenomenon and has nothing to do with gods or ghosts. Considering this is your first offense... the government will let it go. But if I find you doing this kind of shady stuff again, you'll all be flogged."
The village head wanted to plead for her, but was pulled back by the villagers, and could only watch helplessly as the spirit medium was taken away by the government.
On the way back, Zhu Huaizhang was filled with worry. The people were anxious, and he was even more anxious... But no matter how anxious he was, he couldn't lose his composure.
But as soon as he entered the city, he saw a long queue outside the Anzhi Hall. Zhu Huaizhang had a bad feeling, so he jumped off the carriage and went into the crowd to ask.
"Dude... what's going on here??"
The man didn't even glance at Zhu Huaizhang, sticking close to the person in front of him as if afraid of being cut in line, and casually said, " Anzhi Hall sells Cooling Talisman Paper, five coins a piece..."
As he spoke, he leaned forward. Zhu Huaizhang, suppressing his anger, continued to ask, "Why are you holding pens and ink in your hands..."
"Bring your own writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone... Five coins for a sheet of talisman paper, or ten coins if you don't have any," the man glanced at him hastily, "Wearing this, I'll charge you Five Hundred Wen."
Zhu Huaizhang couldn't help but angrily say, "Is she going to discriminate based on who she serves? Selling a piece of tattered paper for Five Hundred Wen... What is this if not a swindler?"
The old man said warily, "What are you shouting for? The dean of the Green Mountain Academy charges twenty taels a bill, and he hasn't even shouted it out yet, but you've already started shouting it out."
Are you buying it? If not, don't try to grab a spot... We silkworm farmers rely entirely on these Cooling Talisman Paper... One talisman, if stored properly, can last for half a month."
He walked forward with the crowd, saying, "This isn't something you can just buy whenever you want. One per person... fifty per day, once they're sold out, they're gone."
Zhu Huaizhang estimated the number of people in line, "There must be at least a hundred people already? You're still queuing?"
The man said unhappily, "So what... when I get to the front of the line, I'll kneel down and beg... Master Jin is kind-hearted, maybe he'll paint two more?"
Enraged, Zhu Huaizhang grabbed him by the collar, "A grown man like you kneeling before a liar... have you lost your mind?"
"You're the one who's lost your mind! Do you think we don't know whether Master Jin is a fraud or not... Get out of my way!" The man shoved him away.
Someone nearby recognized Zhu Huaizhang and reminded the man, "This is the newly arrived prefect, Lord Zhu..."
The man was so frightened by what he heard that he almost collapsed to the ground, but then he remembered his own silkworm cocoons and stubbornly stood up.
" Lord Zhu... I didn't mean it, please don't be angry."
Seeing him apologizing while moving forward with the group... Zhu Huaizhang was so angry that he was speechless on the spot. He strode towards the Anzhi Hall with the group.
Jin Shanyao was sitting by the window, with people waiting outside. A little girl was collecting money and passing talismans out the window. The two of them were so busy that they didn't even look up.
Looking at the talismans they drew, Zhu Huaizhang was so angry his head buzzed. They didn't even bother to put any effort into lying! At least others had yellow paper and cinnabar, but you gave me black and white writing on white paper.
His anger surged, and he was about to reprimand when he heard a loud shout from beside him.
"What are you doing? No cutting in line..."
Zhu Huaizhang was so frightened that his heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to explain, someone in the line shouted, "If you want to buy talismans, go to the back of the line!"
"Yes... go to the queue."
"In this sweltering heat, we finally made it from the back to the front of the line, and you have the nerve to cut in???"
Zhu Huaizhang's action angered the entire queue, who pointed at Zhu Huaizhang and shouted, "Line up..."
"Get in line... no cutting in line."
Constable Wang handed the spirit medium to his colleague, then quickly ran to Zhu Huaizhang and reassured the crowd, "Everyone, calm down... This is our new prefect, Lord Zhu."
Upon hearing this, the surroundings fell silent instantly. Everyone looked at Zhu Huaizhang's features, vaguely recognizing him... but not deeply... Why wasn't he wearing official robes...?
With so many people and eyes darting around, who could possibly recognize him? Besides, even the prefect has to wait in line.
Zhu Huaizhang didn't care whether the people recognized him or not. He waved to Constable Wang, "Take Jin Shanyao to the prison."
These words caused an uproar, with one Dadan person asking, " Lord Zhu... what has Master Jin done wrong? Why are you arresting her?"
Zhu Huaizhang looked at the crowd and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, Jin Shanyao is a fraud. There is no such thing as Cooling Talisman Paper in this world."
I will immediately take the person to the government office, conduct a thorough interrogation, and then return the money to everyone..."
"What are you saying, Lord Zhu? Master Jin has exorcised ghosts and presided over cases in front of the government office. Do you think I wouldn't know whether this talisman is real or fake?"
If the Jin Shanyao is a scam, then what is real...?