Chapter 9 — Hearing the Voices of Animals, I Became the Director of the Tyrant's Zoo

She changed into an elegant outfit, the makeup on her face was very light, led more than a dozen palace maids and stood under the castle, looking up at me with a sad expression on her face.

"Khuc ty envoy, have you seen? The locust disaster is coming. You said you can cure it, today this palace will see with your own eyes how you can cure it."

Her voice is not small. Under the citadel, there were more than a hundred people surrounding, all of whom were scared by the locusts and ran to sincerely escape danger. Vuong Tu Yen turned around to look at the crowd, his voice carrying a cry:

“My dear elders and elders, this palace is incompetent and cannot prevent natural disasters.”

"But today I'll put my words here—if Khuc Ty can really repel the locusts, I will kowtow to her in front of everyone. If I can't repel them..."

She stopped for a moment, tears falling just in time:

"So it's the heavens sending punishment and evil spirits raging. Even if I risk my life, I still have to pray for justice on behalf of the people."

As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of the people below the city looking at me changed. The whispers were like a rising tide.

"Your highness is so kind..."

"Can that monk really do it? I heard that she was the one who called the grasshoppers..."

"I find it very difficult, the grasshoppers are so black, what can I use to block them?"

I stood on the castle wall, clutching the banner in my hand. This move of Vuong Tu Yen is too poisonous. She dragged civil and military officials and people down to the castle as spectators. I repelled the locusts, that was her credit for "presiding over justice". We cannot repel the locusts, that is evidence of "evil demons appearing". Block both ends, there will be no loss. But she forgot one thing. The moment the fire flared up, everyone's mouths closed. Three deep trenches simultaneously rose up into walls of fire, dyeing half of the sky red-orange. Thick smoke of sulfur and wormwood billowed in the night wind. The locusts crashed into the sea of fire, making a crackling sound, like a rain of roasted beans. The first wave of locusts was burned to death, the second wave was blown away by thick smoke, the third wave circled in the air for a long time, and finally turned around and flew south. It was quiet under the citadel for half a stick of incense. Then there was an explosion of cheers.

“Retreat! Grasshopper retreat!”

"The fields can be saved! No need to starve to death this year!"

"Long live Lord Khuc! Lord Khuc save us!"

The first person to kneel down was an old farmer, with tears on his wrinkled face, facing the castle and kowtowing:

"Lord Khuc has the grace to save lives! The villagers kowtow to you!"

The second person, the third person, the hundredth person. Under the castle, the kneeling area was completely black. The sounds of crying, shouting, and kowtowing mixed together, accentuating Vuong Tu Yen's ridiculously pale face. Her lips trembled, she wanted to say something, but she couldn't get a word out. There were more than ten palace maids nearby, no one was worried about supporting her, they were all jostled by the crowd until they collapsed. I leaned against the wall and looked down, but just as I was facing her eyes she looked up. There is hatred, there is anger, there is incomprehension, there is also a trace of fear that cannot be hidden. I went down from the castle. The crowd automatically separated into a path, all using angelic eyes to look at me. I come In front of Vuong Tu Yen, he stopped and looked down at her from above—the first time she had to raise her head to look at me.

“What did your noble lady say just now?”

I deliberately tilted my head.

"If you can't repel the locusts, you are evil. If you can repel them... will you kowtow in front of everyone?"

Vuong Tu Yen's fingernails dug into his palms, his lips trembled then trembled again, but he said nothing more. The eyes of the people behind her were like razors on her back. At this moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the city gate. Trieu Ky rides on a horse, wearing a black cloak, behind him is a civil and military mandarin. He restrained himself and stopped outside the crowd, his eyes surpassed everything, falling on Vuong Tu Yen's kneeling figure, then moved to my face.

“Khuc Thai Vi.”

“God is here.”

He jumped off his horse and took three steps toward me. The whole city was silent, only the morning wind carrying the smell of gunpowder and wormwood blew behind him.

"You saved hundreds of thousands of people in the capital."

This time he spoke in front of the people of the whole city, civil and military officials and Vuong Tu Yen. Completely different weight. Trieu Ky turned around to face the crowd:

"Communicate my will——Your noble concubine Vuong is slandering loyalty, bewitching people's hearts, spreading lies, and authentic evidence. From today, she will be stripped of her title as a noble concubine, demoted to a commoner's position, transferred to the cold palace, and cannot leave without a decree."

Vuong Tu Yen suddenly raised his head, the makeup on his face was smeared by tears:

"Your Majesty! I have been wronged——"

“Unjustly?”

Trieu Ky tilted his head to look at her.

"When you sent people to spread rumors in the market street, didn't you think I would find out? When you let Chu make a statement, didn't you think I would be angry?"

Vuong Tu Yen opened his mouth, all excuses were stuck in his throat. Trieu Ky waved his hand. Two guards stepped forward to pull her away. She turned her head to look at me, only a gray silence remained in her eyes. Below the castle it was quiet for a moment. Then, the old farmer who took the lead shouted:

"Your Majesty is holy! Sir Khuc has the grace to save lives!"

“Your Majesty is holy!”

“Long live the great song!”

The shouts became higher and higher, from the city gate to the citadel, and from the citadel to the field further away. In the early morning light, the fields that had just been saved were green, covered with dew and wormwood ash, gently swaying in the wind. I don't know when, Trieu Ky came up behind me. He was wearing a black cloak, his hair was slightly tangled by the night wind.