Chapter 186: The Court Officials Eavesdropping on Thoughts

The old prince directly threw Rong Yimeng to the guards.

“Go, there’s a whip on my carriage, the thickest one. Bring it here and use it! This time, make sure to whip his backside until it splits open! If it doesn’t, keep whipping until it does!” The old prince was truly furious, disappointed that his once sweet and obedient grandson had turned into such a brat.

The tyrant emperor saw this, and so did the court officials.

No one said a word.

Though he was only six years old, having committed such a grave offense, he had to be disciplined. Especially regarding the shrine—if they didn’t make him remember this lesson now, he might truly become an unmanageable brat in the capital as he grew older.

While he was still young and teachable, they had to establish strict rules.

Rong Yimeng had just been whipped earlier, and now, without even knowing what he did wrong, he was being whipped again.

This time, the beating was severe. Despite his howls, his backside was indeed whipped until it split open.

Rong Yimeng cried until he fainted, wailing that he would never bet with Ah Bao again.

Whenever he bet with Ah Bao, he ended up getting beaten—how terrifying!

Ah Bao sat on the steps, still happily munching on her little buns, a faint scent of milk wafting in the air.

The tyrant emperor and the court officials looked at the brightly lit shrine, their brows furrowed in worry.

Ah Bao, in her relaxed state, called out, “Daddy…”

“Yes?” The tyrant emperor snapped out of his thoughts, sighed, and picked Ah Bao up.

“Ay, wuwuwu.” Ah Bao lay on the tyrant emperor’s shoulder, noticing that all the officials behind him had their heads bowed, tears streaming down their faces.

Ah Bao’s eyes widened, [Why are these officials crying? It’s the New Year.]

“Your Majesty, when do you think the Tiansheng Dynasty will have its national deity?” The great uncle’s words left the tyrant emperor stumped. “Ah, without a national deity, the shrine won’t light up. During this year’s Seven Kingdoms Sacrificial Ceremony, our Tiansheng Dynasty will be mocked again, won’t it?”

Ah Bao understood. Daddy and the officials were crying because the shrine wasn’t lit.

[If they want the shrine to light up, that’s easy.]

The tyrant emperor shuddered, instinctively hugging Ah Bao tighter. “Ah Bao, I remember the first time you came to the shrine, it lit up.”

That time, he had only guessed.

The tyrant emperor guessed that Ah Bao had some connection to the shrine.

But at that time, Ah Bao had fallen asleep, so the tyrant emperor didn’t think much of it.

This time, hearing Ah Bao’s inner thoughts, did she really have the power to light up the shrine?

Since ancient times, the shrine only lit up when the national deity descended.

There had never been an instance where the shrine lit up without the presence of a national deity.

“Yes,” Ah Bao nodded.

The great uncle grew curious, “Ah Bao, how did you manage to light the shrine back then?”

The right prime minister also asked, “Yes, Tenth Princess, how did you do it?”

The court officials murmured among themselves. For a while, everyone had been pondering this, but they just couldn’t figure out how the Tenth Princess had managed to light the shrine.

Eventually, they concluded that it was probably… an accident.

Ah Bao scratched her head, almost messing up her hair, even she didn’t understand.

“Daddy, don’t worry, okay?” Ah Bao’s small hand smoothed the tyrant emperor’s furrowed brow, then she slid out of his arms. “Nobody needs to worry, okay?”

The little girl put her hands on her hips, grinning at everyone.

Then she twisted her hips and walked into the shrine.

The great uncle wiped his sweat, “Your Majesty, should we stop the little princess from going in…”

The tyrant emperor shook his head, “Let Ah Bao try, maybe…”

“Ah! Your Majesty, the shrine is lit! The shrine is lit again!”

“My goodness, the shrine really is lit! The little princess is amazing.”

The court officials erupted in excitement!

The tyrant emperor, seeing the brightly lit shrine, immediately had tears in his eyes.

“Our Tiansheng Dynasty is indeed blessed by the heavens, not abandoned by divine miracles! Your Majesty, can you see it? Your Majesty, this old minister is so moved.” The old prince was also extremely emotional.

“Heaven shows mercy; we have not been abandoned by divine miracles, not at all!” The officials echoed.

“Worship the shrine!” The tyrant emperor ordered.

The people behind him immediately nodded, “Yes, worship the shrine.”

Led by the tyrant emperor, they all knelt, solemnly bowing three times to the shrine, as if worshipping their ancestors.

Although the national deity had not appeared, the shrine, which had not lit up for centuries on the sacrificial day, was now shining brightly. This gave them a glimmer of hope.

Among the seven kingdoms, only the Tiansheng Dynasty lacked the protection of a national deity. Even the now-destroyed Feng Kingdom had a national deity; only the Tiansheng Dynasty did not.

“This is also the reason why the other six countries isolated the Tiansheng Dynasty.

They believe that the Tiansheng Dynasty has been abandoned by divine miracles, that it is an unblessed land, a place of calamity, and that it will eventually meet the same fate as the Feng Kingdom—extinction.

‘First bow!’

‘Second bow!’

‘Third bow!’

‘Rise——’

No one knew that at the moment when the temple lit up, the constellation idol being reformed on the Star-Gazing Platform quietly opened its eyes at dusk and looked towards the temple.

She will return eventually——

The Tyrant entered the temple to pick up Ah Bao.

The others followed, all secretly curious about what the princess had done to awaken the temple.

Just as everyone eagerly anticipated and speculated, they heard a series of ‘crack, crack, crack’ sounds, and what they saw left them utterly speechless—

Inside the spacious temple, Ah Bao was sitting on the floor with her little feet sticking out, surrounded by scattered sunflower seed shells.

The little girl was pulling handfuls of sunflower seeds from the little floral cotton jacket she wore, cracking them open with her baby teeth.

‘The little princess… is eating sunflower seeds in the temple?’ the Grand Tutor was astonished. He had lived through many storms in his long life but had never seen anyone dare to eat sunflower seeds in the temple.

The little girl, seeing everyone, grinned widely and said, ‘Nothing… nothing left.’

The Tyrant instinctively asked, ‘Nothing left?’

‘No seeds… no more seeds.’ The little girl had finished them all, her small hands were empty, and she even turned out her little cloth pouch to make sure, but she couldn’t find any more.

The little girl felt disappointed and pouted.

[I haven’t had enough yet. This little pouch is just too small. When we get back to the palace, I need to ask Mother to sew a bigger one. Next time, I’ll definitely bring more.]

The Grand Tutor froze for a moment. Wait, it seemed like he had just heard a certain little girl’s voice in his head.

He bowed and rubbed his eyes, but the little princess wasn’t speaking out loud, so where had that voice come from?

The Right Prime Minister suddenly looked at the person beside him.

The Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review was also stunned. Given his position, he shouldn’t have been standing next to the Right Prime Minister, but in his excitement to rush into the temple, he hadn’t paid attention to where he was standing.

‘Right Prime Minister, why are you looking at me like that?’

The Right Prime Minister’s expression stiffened.

Uh…

He wanted to ask if the other man had heard anything, but with the Tyrant present, he didn’t dare.

Everyone was silently speculating.

The closer they stood to the princess, the clearer the voice in their heads. Those standing near the temple entrance heard it more faintly.

But it didn’t stop them from hearing that little voice in their minds.