A dragon could indeed summon wind and rain but for Yuan Rutan, that wasn’t a decision he could take lightly.
He lay flat on the ground, idly clawing at bits of dry earth with the tip of his talon. His golden eyes darted around cautiously.
His spiritual power was limited. What if he brought the rain… but Heaven didn’t grant him any merit in return? Then he’d have to hide away in some damp pit, too weak even to till the soil.
He pictured himself barely able to open his eyes, scraping through the mud for a few loaches to eat. The little dragon drooped his head. Truly, this was a test of endurance.
He flicked his tail, gaze drifting toward a ragged shack in the distance.
Inside, a woman held a shriveled baby in her arms. The child was too weak to cry properly, and the woman’s breasts had long run dry.
Drops of blood fell from her wrist into the baby’s mouth. The child turned his head away, wailing feebly.
Yuan Rutan thought to himself, since the day he was born, he had never once tasted milk either.
Back in his village, little Xiaoyezi was born frail, and her grandmother had raised a goat just to provide milk for her.
Yuan Rutan clutched his own sunken belly, feeling dejected.
But wasn’t he born weak too?
He looked at the baby’s cries fading to whimpers, and his tail twitched. Then he spread his wings and rose into the sky.
The small golden dragon flew slowly, scanning the land below. In his vision, ten miles away, a long column of people stretched across the horizon, like a moving serpent.
Yuan Rutan narrowed his eyes. The men wore solid armor, marching in step. Soldiers, perhaps, imperial troops.
Within the convoy were wagons, some covered with straw, others loaded with barrels of water.
He tilted his head, then looked back at the cracked, lifeless ground. Maybe these humans were sent by the court to bring relief to the drought-stricken region.
And indeed, after a while, the convoy reached Drought County.
The purple-robed official who had presided over the earlier executions stepped forward to meet them.
Several people alighted from a carriage, among them, an elderly man surrounded by attendants.
The old man and the purple-robed official exchanged formal bows.
Yuan Rutan stared at the elder. There was something odd about him, he had no beard and his voice was… sharp and high-pitched.
Curious, Yuan Rutan drifted closer to eavesdrop.
The old man rubbed his brow, sighing.
“Disasters year after year, the treasury is empty… The granaries of the entire Xuan Empire are nearly exhausted. This year’s drought, despite sending men to carry water again and again, it’s like a single drop against a wagonload of fire.”
The purple-robed man, middle-aged with weary eyes, pressed his lips together, “You’ve worked hard, Lord Wang. The road was long and rough, please, rest now.”
The old man, apparently Eunuch Wang, waved a hand, “Serving His Majesty, how could that ever be called hardship? My labors are nothing compared to the emperor’s.”
The official clasped his hands behind his back, gaze lowered.
“The treasury is bare, but the people must be saved. I’ve sent Yuan Lin back to the capital to report on Yan Prefecture. Hopefully His Majesty will send more grain and supplies.”
Eunuch Wang squinted, smiling faintly, though the meaning behind his smile was impossible to read.
“Lord Yuan Lin… Lord Li, let me give you a bit of advice. His Majesty has only recently ascended the throne, still in his prime. Best not to place your bets too early.”
Listening, Yuan Rutan tilted his head. What were they talking about?
But he noticed the purple-robed official, Lord Li had broken out in a cold sweat, his face pale.
Li forced a strained smile.
“Eunuch Wang must be mistaken. I am loyal to His Majesty.”
The eunuch snorted through his nose, eyeing him sideways, “Li Yin, your niece is engaged to Prince Rui. Must I say more?”
Li Yin’s fists clenched. He gave a dry laugh.
Eunuch Wang flicked his horsetail whisk, looking him up and down. His voice dropped to a low murmur.
“There are twenty-six princes in all. The emperor may choose any one of them. And now both Prince Cheng’s consort and Prince Rui’s consort are expecting, His Majesty is strong and vigorous. He can easily wait for the next generation… even the one after that.”
He smiled thinly, then looked out toward the devastated land of Drought County and sighed.
“General Yin has sent men to divert water from Danzhou. Minister Lin is overseeing irrigation. Let us hope Yan Prefecture finds peace soon.”
Li Yin bit down hard and bowed, “I… will rally my entire Li clan, ten thousand stones of grain to aid Yan Prefecture.”
Eunuch Wang nodded, then with the help of his attendants, retired to a nearby tent.
The soldiers began unloading the wagons, grain and water distributed to the people under the officials’ supervision.
Yuan Rutan watched as the woman from earlier received a bowl of porridge. His heart eased slightly.
After finishing her porridge, she was given a steamed bun.
Her lips cracked and bled as she whispered for just one more sip of water.
“Water is scarce,” the soldier told her. “Hold on. In six days, more will arrive.”
The woman looked dazed, coughed weakly, and wiped blood from her wrist.
Yuan Rutan blinked, examining his claws.
He thought back to what the two men had said earlier, about the court sending more water and food.
If he brought rain now, he’d save many lives but if Heaven denied him the merit, he’d suffer for years.
If he didn’t bring rain, he’d be fine and the government was already helping, right?
His golden eyes flickered. He looked again at the wagons of grain, the starving people slurping porridge like beasts.
He hesitated only a moment before flying back to his rabbit hole.
Too exhausted, he fell asleep almost immediately.
When he awoke, the air stank of burning flesh.
He darted out and saw people with torches setting the corpses of refugees ablaze.
Among them lay the woman who’d fed her baby blood that morning, her eyes closed, half her body already in the flames.
Yuan Rutan froze.
An hour later, thunder split the sky. All of Yan Prefecture trembled.
The sleeping refugees stumbled from their tents, kneeling and weeping under the first peal of thunder.
Even the soldiers dropped to their knees, staring blankly at the heavens.
Inside the command tent, Li Yin, sleepless all night, rushed outside at the sound.
He looked up at the purple lightning cracking across the sky and burst into wild laughter.
“Heaven blesses us! Heaven blesses Great Xuan!”
Eunuch Wang, disheveled, also ran out, laughing hysterically.
“Heaven will not abandon us! Yan Prefecture is saved!”
But then, Imperial Physician Sun came running, face pale and urgent, “Stop! It must not rain!”
Li Yin frowned, “What do you mean?”
“If it rains,” Sun said gravely, “there will be plague. The drought has left corpses strewn for miles, once rain falls, the water will carry rot and filth across the land. The people are weak and dehydrate, if they drink that water, disease will spread faster than fire.”
Li Yin and Eunuch Wang both turned ashen. The little eunuch beside Wang collapsed onto the ground.
“Rain was supposed to be a blessing,” Wang choked, tears in his eyes, “But if it brings plague… His Majesty will never forgive us.”
Even if they wanted rain now, Yuan Rutan couldn’t summon it.
High above, the golden dragon twisted among the clouds, drawing down lightning.
He stretched into a ten-zhang-long dragon, roaring in a sound no human could hear.
But his power was too small. After all his effort, only a few drops of rain gathered in the clouds, hardly enough to wet the dust.
Helpless, he covered his horns with his claws, mortified.
So many people waiting for rain and he couldn’t even manage a drizzle. He was so ashamed he wished he could turn into a pink dragon and vanish.
He took a deep breath and calculated: if he saved ten people a day, maybe after half a month he could store enough power to bring proper rain.
With that thought, he scattered the lightning and hid among the clouds, sniffing the air.
No trace of phoenixes nearby, good!
Summoning lightning and rain was a dragon’s innate skill, like using four ounces to move a thousand pounds.
He didn’t need to use much dragon energy, his presence spread only within ten miles, though he could sense for a hundred.
Once he confirmed there was no danger, he disappeared from the clouds and slipped down to earth.
He meant to rest half a month before trying again but then he overheard Physician Sun’s warning.
Yuan Rutan: “???”
The little golden dragon tilted his head, utterly puzzled.
Back in his rabbit hole, he thought all night and finally came up with a brilliant plan.
If he pretended it was about to rain every day, the humans would start preparing, wouldn’t they? They’d clear corpses, plant crops early, relocate the weak.
And so, at dawn the next day, Yuan Rutan took flight again, soaring over the refugee camps to find those near death and heal them one by one.
But today, the people’s faces were gray and hollow, their eyes full of despair.
Yuan Rutan hunched his neck guiltily.
The officials were busier than ever, clearly worried that rain might come and began disposing of the corpses properly.
A mounted officer galloped off along the official road, carrying urgent letters.
By noon, Yuan Rutan had saved five people. His once-bright eyes now looked dull.
He sniffed the air and caught the faint scent of porridge.
Following the line, he received a bowl for himself.
He took one sip and immediately coughed, there was grit and sand in it.
Setting the bowl down, he sat quietly in a corner, helplessly watching soldiers rush past.
Just then, a young eunuch passed by, carrying a whisk and a kettle of hot water, one of Eunuch Wang’s attendants.
He walked briskly, but when a soldier bumped into him, a piece of dried beef tumbled from his belt.
“Ah!” the eunuch exclaimed, clutching the kettle and fumbling for the meat.
He turned and saw it had landed on the leg of a boy.
The “boy,” of course, was Yuan Rutan.
They locked eyes. The eunuch glanced at his smooth skin, his round innocent eyes and waved dismissively, “Forget it. You can have it.”
He hurried off.
Yuan Rutan hesitated, then picked up the beef jerky. It was about the size of an egg, with a neat bite mark, clearly already tasted.
He sniffed it, then took a cautious bite.
Dragons had excellent teeth, what was tough as bark to humans was soft as tofu to him.
The moment he bit down, he froze, his eyes lighting up in delight.
He sniffed it again and carefully tucked the rest into his chest pocket.
Chewing slowly, savoring the lingering flavor, Yuan Rutan sighed in regret.
If he’d known it would taste that good…
He wouldn’t have bitten such a big piece.
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator promises nothing except gratitude and possibly more chapters.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Little DragonChapter 2 · Selling FishChapter 3 · DraughtChapter 4 · Giving LifeChapter 5 · MeritsChapter 6 · Dragon can summon Rain?!Chapter 7 · Wicked Dragon?Chapter 8 · Dragon likes sweetChapter 9 · Dragon WineChapter 10 · Snow Mountain ElixirChapter 11 · The official forced the dragon to rebelChapter 12 · Ministers kneel down and confess their sinsChapter 13 · Court struggle, faith is the dragonChapter 14 · Why do others have auspicious signs, but I don’t?Chapter 15 · Corrupt officialsChapter 16 · The dark side of officialdomChapter 17 Part 1 · Transforming into a golden dragon in full view of all!Chapter 17 Part 2 · Transforming into a golden dragon in full view of all!Chapter 18 · Wrath of the True DragonChapter 19 · Give him a ninth-rank official position!Chapter 20 · The days of being loved by Longlong have begunChapter 21 · Pamper the little dragon, finally full!Chapter 22 · It’s perfectly normal for humans to like dragonsChapter 23 · Avenge Longlong against corrupt officialsChapter 24 · Is being an official like the Dragon King difficult?Chapter 25 · Dragon-shaped woodChapter 26 · Emperor felt the vibrancy of lifeChapter 27 · Do you like the obedient and affectionate little dragon?Chapter 28 · Your Majesty’s PastChapter 29 · A ray of light in a noisy worldChapter 30 · Let’s give the dragon a lake!Chapter 31 · Dragon, don’t run aroundChapter 32 · YaunBaoChapter 33 · Recruiting soldiers and buying horsesChapter 34 · Expand Dragon armyChapter 35 · Longlong is in a dilemmaChapter 36 · Being a king is difficultChapter 37 · Attended the morning court session.Chapter 38 · Secretly feeding the dragonChapter 39 · The restless little golden dragonChapter 40 · Your Majesty foreshadowed thisChapter 41 · Fostering teacher student bondsChapter 42 · Now that the dragon has an official positionChapter 43 · If a dragon wants to become an official, why not touch it?Chapter 44 · Longlong enters officialdomChapter 45 · The Emperor’s disciple?Chapter 46 · Long day’s laborChapter 47 · Being a dragon is comfortableChapter 48 · Thank you, YuanbaoChapter 49 · Very sleepyChapter 50 · The Dragon Who Saves the WorldChapter 51 · Strange storiesChapter 52 · Dragon God saying it wanted to eat peach crystal cakesChapter 53 · The tree is aliveChapter 54 · We can just hold a family feastChapter 55 · What kind of worship?Chapter 56 · Don’t be naughtyChapter 57 · Why does Teacher always avoid my human formChapter 58 · I will be an indifferent learning machineChapter 59 · Jinlong made a fortuneChapter 60 · Ten thousand taelsChapter 61 · FamilyChapter 62 · Will you accompany the dragon?Chapter 63 · What did you hunt, sir?Chapter 64 · From fifth rank to proper fourth rankChapter 65 · Orange PeelChapter 66 · Great Xuan may have enough to eatChapter 67 · Poisoned GrainsChapter 68 · The balance of the mortal world is about to changeChapter 69 · Teacher’s lap truly was very comfortable.Chapter 70 · Caught the little dragonChapter 71 · Only he alone could see that golden lightChapter 72 · Great King must not declineChapter 73 · The top scholarChapter 74 · I do not like other defying meChapter 75 · Great Xuan truly has quite a number of martial expertsChapter 76 · What was there to fear?Chapter 77 · Then Teacher can raise the dragonChapter 78 · Little Dragon Steals Peaches.Chapter 79 · Resentment and Poison.Chapter 80 · Male PartnerChapter 81 · How about choosing a human?Chapter 82 · Young Lord Zhen has a friendChapter 83 · Morning DewChapter 84 · Earth DragonsChapter 85 · Greetings, Your MajestyChapter 86 · Then what am I allowed to do?Chapter 87 · What exactly Happened?Chapter 88 · Praise The golden Dragon!Chapter 89 · ComplexionChapter 90 · Gift is almost readyChapter 91 · Surely Sir would no longer refuse himChapter 92 · Seven YearsChapter 93 · She is really just a childChapter 94 · Good YuanbaoChapter 95 · Ten Thousand year old JadeChapter 96 · They were overwhelmed with griefChapter 97 · Villain: So what if I use magic?Chapter 98 · The Dragon Clan MeetingChapter 99 · The Big reveal!Chapter 100 · The prototype of His MajestyChapter 101 · Autumn HuntChapter 102 · This painting was created by the Emperor’s consortChapter 103 · They gave themselves away and caught the plush rabbit doctor.Chapter 104 · The Rabbit gangChapter 105 · The scars on the fox spirit’s handsChapter 106 · Wang JinzhongChapter 107 · I don’t believe the White Tiger doesn’t protect its foodChapter 108 · Karmic SinChapter 109 · Yuanbao, would you take me a thousand li away?Chapter 110 · Pear FrostChapter 111 · If Yuanbao ever loses sight of the road ahead, then come find meChapter 112 · Let’s take a step at a time..Chapter 113 · The imperial marriage was announced to the public.Chapter 114 · The army, navy, and air force are preparing to attack the Yujing River.Chapter 115 · The attack on Yujing River-humans should not spread rumors!Chapter 116 · King Golden Dragon ascends the throneChapter 117 · Sir, would you like a bowl of dragon soup?Chapter 118 · Wedding celebrationChapter 119 · Establish the Demon RealmChapter 120 · Lord of the Demon RealmChapter 121 · Flourishing and decliningChapter 122 · The Ling Dynasty was defeated, and father and son fought amongst themselvesChapter 123 · The gentleman’s is dragon-themedChapter 124 · People from HeavenChapter 125 · The truth behind the White TigerChapter 126 · Azure Dragon, WarChapter 127 · A great war is about to break outChapter 128 · Victory in the great battleChapter 129 · Side Story (1)Chapter 130 · Side Story (2)Chapter 131 · Side Story (3)Chapter 132 · Side Story (4)Chapter 133 · Side Story (4)Chapter 134 · Side Story (5)Chapter 135 · Side Story (6)Chapter 136 · Side story (7)Chapter 137 · Side Story (8)Chapter 138 · Side Story (9)Chapter 139 · Side Story (10)Chapter 140 · Side Story (11)Chapter 141 · Side Story (12)Chapter 142 · Side Story (13)Chapter 143 · Side Story (14)Chapter 144 · Side Story (15)Chapter 145 · Side Story (16)Chapter 146 · Side Story (17)Chapter 147 · Side Story (18)Chapter 148 · Side Story (19)Chapter 149 · Side Story (20)Chapter 150 · Side Story (21)Chapter 151 · Side Story (22)