Yue Fuguang: It's not that I don't like seeing people with beards; it's because that bearded guy isn't clean!
Especially when she watched that bearded man drink porridge—probably few modern people could tolerate it.
"Fuguang!" Yu Boming, sharp-eyed, spotted the curtain of Yue Fuguang's carriage moving and quickly shouted toward the carriage.
"Second Brother!" Yue Fuguang's head poked out from the large window, waving at Yu Boming as if waving at the sky.
With each wave of her small hand, the winds and clouds in the heavens pressed down a little more.
Yu Boming looked up at the sky, which had instantly darkened. The scope was far wider than what he had seen three years ago. "Fuguang, can you cover all one hundred and eighteen miles of the Three Fork Land in one go?"
Yue Fuguang nodded at Yu Boming, her eyes sparkling. "Covered!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Before Yu Boming could say more, the rain poured down in torrents. Wind and rain pelted them, blurring their vision.
But in Yu Boming's eyes, Yue Fuguang remained the most dazzling light in the world. Sincerely, he gave her a thumbs-up. "My little sister is truly amazing!"
Yue Fuguang couldn't help lifting her chin. The wind and rain bent around her, and she, too, thought she was pretty impressive.
Seeing how the wind and rain avoided Yue Fuguang, Yu Boming's eyes brightened even more. "Zheng Feng and the others are waiting ahead. Would you like to meet them, little sister?"
They had heard at Three Fork Land that the Divine Maiden, starting from the capital, had been blessing the land with rain all along the way without stopping. Even when she passed through prefectures and counties, local officials had welcomed and seen her off from a distance, leaving few who could catch a glimpse of her.
Knowing that Yue Fuguang still had to head to He and Ji Prefectures next, Yu Boming asked this.
"You've been stationed here for three years; of course, I must see the soldiers." She smiled at the much sturdier Yu Boming. "Second Brother, I'll stay here for two days. Arrange accommodations for the people I brought." These were her foundation. How could she not meet them after coming this far? Anything less would chill the hearts of her subordinates.
Though Yue Fuguang had never once come to Three Fork Land in all these years, her will had been fully carried out here.
When Yu Boming heard that his sister would stay for two days, his eyes lit up instantly, and his smile stretched from ear to ear. "Don't worry, little sister. I'll handle everything perfectly!"
"Little sister, let's go!" Yu Boming laughed heartily. Riding his horse, he charged ahead, his red cape flying in a straight line behind him, then being weighed down by the rain. His horse's hooves splashed through the puddles that had just formed on the ground, throwing up muddy water.
No one knew what Yu Boming said to Cai Bing, Wei Yan, and the others, but by the time Yue Fuguang stepped out of her carriage, it was surrounded by a group of former idle rich young men, now grinning from ear to ear.
No, after three years of tempering here, those former troublemakers from the capital, once the bane of everyone's existence, had grown into some of the most promising young talents of their generation.
Though they hadn't yet outshone their forebears, they were no worse than the heirs carefully groomed by their respective families.
The moment they saw Yue Fuguang, everyone immediately straightened their expressions and bowed to her. "Greetings, Minister of Education!"
"Greetings, Minister of Education!"
Rainwater streamed down their faces, but it could not extinguish the sparks burning in their eyes.
"You may all rise."
She waved her hand, and the rain falling on them seemed blocked by something, sliding slowly down an invisible barrier.
"This..." Cai Bing looked up in amazement, even reaching out a finger to poke at the space above his head.
"It's like we're the same as the Minister of Education!" Huo Sui's eyes sparkled as he gazed at Yue Fuguang. "So the rumor that the Minister of Education is the Divine Maiden incarnate is true!"
Though they had long known the truth, this was the first time they could say it so openly.
Yue Fuguang waved her hand again, and the wet clothes on everyone instantly became dry and comfortable.
Under the astonished and worshipful gazes of the crowd, Yue Fuguang slowly descended from her carriage.
These two tricks were new abilities she had recently developed. She felt they weren't merely due to absorbing incense offerings.
System 07, hiding in its system space, looked at Yue Fuguang showing off and felt immensely envious. Why could its host, with a mortal body, do things like a deity, while it could not even restore its own data?
System 07 turned over, suddenly recalling Yue Fuguang's early talk of "renting a place," and now fully agreed with that idea.
Having earlier been unable to find peace, it now felt perfectly comfortable lying down!
With a single thought, a glowing, radiant orb appeared in Yue Fuguang's hand. System 07 thought that if it was going to lie low, it first needed to pacify its host.
[Host, do you want me to add some special effects?]
Yue Fuguang didn't know what kind of special effects System 07 meant, but she felt things were already good enough for her. She didn't need anything bigger.
"Better not. I think even without the mind-reading, there's not much to worry about now."
With her current abilities, who would dare to question her identity? Influenced by her homeland's chronic fear of insufficient firepower, Yue Fuguang now, with a certain degree of self-protection, felt her Divine Maiden persona was unshakable.
Yue Fuguang followed Zheng Feng, Bao Qianjun, and the others to the drill ground where the Yue Army camp was located.
The drill ground stood at the outermost edge of the camp, next to a large mountain. At this moment, wind and rain mingled, making the mountain look gray and indistinct.
In the drill ground, which could hold tens of thousands of people, stood over ten thousand soldiers in a dark mass. Yue Fuguang walked slowly onto the high platform, her gaze sweeping over them.
From their clothing and armor to their weapons, from the external matters to the individuals themselves, her first impression was that despite the prolonged drought, the Yue Army maintained decent discipline and morale. The soldiers' spirits were high.
"You have all worked hard stationed in this remote place for so many years!" Her voice was not loud, but it overpowered the howling wind and pounding rain.
As soon as she finished speaking, she intended to say a few more words of encouragement, when suddenly she heard a soldier in the front row, his face full of emotion, tears or rainwater glistening in his eyes. He shouted with all his strength, "No hardship! Willing to die for the Minister of Education!"
Wang Dashan, from Quanzhou, An County, had just received a letter from his parents a few days ago. It said that their hometown had suffered a drought—not a drop of rain in over five months. The village stored water early on, but the drought was too severe. What they had saved was only enough for drinking. When they tried irrigating the fields, the water they spared from their mouths barely wet the surface, let alone filling the cracked earth.
His parents had made the most desperate plan: if it came to it, they would save the water for the children. After all, they had lived a long life; dying wouldn’t be so bad.
Wang Dashan remembered that when he read this part, tears had soaked the thin letter paper, blurring the words.
He turned the page, as if turning over a major hurdle, and stepped into a new beginning.