Chapter 4073 The Lowly Commoner

We waited with the prince in the hall, where everyone was chattering about the sacrificial ceremony to the sacred tree that night.

It seemed that no one cared about me and the slovenly Taoist priest behind the prince.

After a while, suddenly, several maids escorted the Empress Dowager over, and the noise of the crowd immediately stopped.

All eyes were on the Empress Dowager.

From the moment the Empress Dowager entered this hall, I could smell it. She was wearing a very strong, cheap perfume, the very perfume that the slovenly Taoist priest had given her.

As soon as the Empress Dowager entered the hall, she became the focus of everyone's attention, and everyone crowded around to pay their respects.

People kept praising, "Your Majesty, you smell so good! The fragrance is wonderful even from a distance..."

"Yes, Your Majesty, why do you smell so fragrant?"

The Empress Dowager was being flattered by a group of people, and she couldn't stop smiling. Just then, the slovenly Taoist priest walked over and paid his respects to the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager took a liking to the disheveled Taoist priest at first sight and introduced him to the assembled princes and nobles: "The reason I smell so fragrant is because this attendant of Prince Lu Cheng presented it to me. This item is called 'Ten Thousand Year Perfume,' which is made by condensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and refining the essence of ten thousand years. It is a rare treasure."

Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's praise, everyone crowded around the disheveled Taoist priest, asking if he still had the "Eternal Perfume" on him, as these nobles and officials were willing to pay a high price to buy it.

The slovenly Taoist priest hurriedly said that he needed to refine the Ten Thousand Year Fragrance, but the process was very complicated and would take time. He said that after the Empress Dowager was served next time, if there was any left over, he would give it to the royal nobles and not take it.

In this way, the slovenly Taoist priest quickly gained the favor of many princes and nobles.

This conman, with his silver tongue, seems to be able to get away with anything no matter where he goes.

The crowd chatted around the Empress Dowager. Before long, the King arrived, accompanied by a group of golden-armored guards. Many experts were also hidden in the shadows. He sat in the main seat of the hall.

Apart from the Empress Dowager, everyone else stepped forward to perform the grand kowtow.

The slovenly Taoist priest and I deliberately found an inconspicuous corner, hoping not to be discovered by the king. If he took us seriously, we might be targeted.

After the king arrived, he talked about some precautions for the sacrificial ceremony, as well as the distribution plan for the leaves of the swaying tree after they were picked.

The slovenly Taoist priest and I hid in a corner and listened carefully, not daring to miss a single word.

The king spoke for about half an hour before leaving. Afterward, everyone went to a large restaurant not far away, where all sorts of delicacies were served. The king also invited the two of us to sit down at the table, and we had a big meal with him.

Putting everything else aside, this prince is so good to us that I almost feel bad about taking advantage of him.

But then I thought, this prince is of noble status, so the king wouldn't do anything to him, and he certainly wouldn't be killed by the king.

But the prince must be feeling terrible after being tricked so badly by us.

There's nothing we can do; this prince is just a sucker.

After dinner, the group of nobles and nobles chatted for a while. Around nine o'clock in the evening, the chief steward entered the hall and invited everyone to move to the swinging wood.

Upon hearing this news, both the slovenly Taoist priest and I were incredibly excited.

Finally, we can see the true face of the swaying tree.

Immediately, we followed the prince and left the hall with the group of nobles. Led by the chief steward, we walked for several hundred meters until we arrived at a large square.

By this time, the square was already packed with people, mostly guards in golden armor, who surrounded it in layers.

Continuing on, I saw the legendary swaying tree.

This sight was quite surprising; I never imagined that this swaying tree would be so huge, towering into the clouds, at least two or three hundred meters high.

For the first few dozen meters, the trunk was bare. It wasn't until fifty meters that branches and forks appeared. Looking up, I noticed that the swaying tree had quite a few leaves, but they all seemed rather tender, not yet fully unfurled.

I reckon only mature leaves will have any effect.

Mature leaves should grow at the top of this swaying tree.

A group of princes and nobles, led by the chief steward, arrived at the swaying tree.

The swaying tree is very thick; I have never seen such a tree before. It would take at least several people to encircle it.

The King stood in front, with the Prince and the Empress Dowager standing behind him. We two were just there to fill in, closely following the Prince, and we were still a little nervous.

Fortunately, the king didn't notice the two of us.

In front of that swaying wooden pole, there was a large offering table, which was filled with various offerings.

When a group of nobles arrived in front of the swaying tree, a group of people dressed as wizards, wearing gaudy masks, began to circle around the tree, jumping and chanting something, just like a disheveled Taoist priest having an epileptic seizure.

After another half hour or so of this, both the slovenly Taoist priest and I were getting impatient.

After finally waiting for the group of shamans to leave, the king, along with a group of nobles, bowed and kowtowed three times to the swaying wooden figure.

I thought that was the end of it, but a moment later, a group of golden-armored guards escorted a group of people toward the swaying tree.

The first to be brought over were people from Nie Er Kingdom; I counted, and there were twenty of them in total.

Next came the Long-legged Kingdom. There were also twenty people each from the Di People's Kingdom and the Mao People's Kingdom, and the last group brought over were from the Pierced-chest Kingdom.

Each group of people from these countries consisted of twenty people, all of whom were bound hand and foot and had their mouths gagged.

They were led to the swaying wooden tree, where the golden-armored guards pressed them onto the platforms surrounding it. With swift strokes, they severed their heads one by one, blood gushing from their necks and splashing onto the tree.

Good heavens, so this sacrifice is done with human lives, with each country contributing twenty lives.

One by one, vibrant lives were beheaded by those golden-armored guards.

"Your Highness... how can this ritual involve killing people?" the disheveled Taoist priest asked the prince in a low voice.

"To worship the sacred tree, human lives are naturally required. What else would we use? They are all lowly commoners. If they die, they die. It is their honor," the prince said indifferently.

For the first time, I felt a rebellious attitude towards this prince. In his eyes, these lowly commoners were no better than ants, and they were slaughtered like animals.

The slovenly Taoist priest was right. These nobles and royalty of the Pierced-Chest Kingdom were no good either; they were all profiting from human suffering.