Chapter 212: Chapter 168: That’s What Everyone Says (Part 3)

“After investigation, the so-called divine miracle at Jingnan Wutong Ridge was man-made, not a divine punishment. The public can go see for themselves to discern its authenticity.

Firstly, the Holy Prophecy on the tree trunk was clearly carved by human hands, with obvious knife marks.

Secondly, the golden light of the prophecy’s letters was painted with gold powder, which can be scraped off with bare hands, first come, first served…”

As soon as the second point was made, the previously serious and attentive crowd immediately rushed in one direction, all with a common goal: scraping off gold powder.

First come, first served, indeed~

In the end, those who managed to scrape off the gold powder from the prophetic letters cried tears of joy and delivered a 500-word acceptance speech, thanking the miscreants for their generosity.

Those who didn’t manage to scrape off any were disgruntled, wondering why they hadn’t succeeded. They came up with an idea, saying that a true Holy Prophecy should emit golden light on its own, and if the gold can be scraped off and regenerated, then it must be real!

The next day, the tree trunk indeed turned gold again.

The first person to discover it returned home with a full load.

Other people were envious. To be the first to grab the gold powder, they decided not to return home and camped by the tree, but to their surprise, the letters no longer had gold powder.

The people weren’t fools. If this really was a heavenly sign, how could it be so low-brow? Thus, any last shred of reverence for the so-called prophecy was gone.

Some curious observers even closely examined the letters on the tree trunk and concluded that the craftsman’s skills weren’t great, as the curves of the letters were not smooth enough and needed more practice.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone thought this person was a master. Coincidentally, there was an old craftsman from the palace among the onlookers who believed this person had potential and took them back with him.

Due to this event, more people began to comment on the divine tree and Holy Prophecy, hoping they might also catch the eye of some influential figure.

The divine tree became famous across the country in another way, and as for its original appearance, no one remembered its purpose anymore.

The Eldest Prince, seeing his plan fail, quietly cleaned up all traces of his involvement.

Originally thinking it would end there, they didn’t expect another miracle to appear in the Capital half a month later.

This time, the miracle seemed far more credible than the so-called divine tree.

After all, the scene of multicolored auspicious clouds appearing in broad daylight, followed by a multitude of birds, was clearly a sign of the phoenix’s emergence.

As the ancient saying goes, when a phoenix sings, there will be peace in the land.

Moreover, the birds formed a prophecy with their bodies: the phoenix emerges, and Yunyi can stabilize the world.

No one specified who this phoenix was, but a voice somehow emerged among the populace, claiming that the Princess was the auspicious sign.

The Princess had been occupied by a demon, now reborn after dying, undergoing the nirvana of the phoenix.

After the auspicious sign appeared in the Capital, similar signs also manifested in Yan Gui City and Xingyang City, all pointing towards the Princess.

Finally, even Prince Li Yan of Dongwu came forward, claiming he successfully returned to his country thanks to the Princess Yi Fen’s blessing.

As the saying goes, behind every successful rumor, there’s a devout believer with great influence.

If an ordinary citizen claimed it was a miracle, some people might hesitate.

But when the Emperor said it was a miracle, the inherent obedience of the people made them lose most of their rationality, leaving only the conviction, “The Emperor said it’s a miracle!”

The same logic applied to Xingyang City.

Fu Xuan was the first to believe the rumor that the Princess is the reincarnation of the phoenix. Once Fu Xuan believed, his admirers and subordinates also deemed the Princess as the true phoenix reincarnate and believed.

Fu Xuan had many admirers, both beauties and admirers, so his admirers’ admirers also believed. His admirers’ admirers’ admirers… they believed too.

Not far from Yan Gui City.

Xiong Da also heard about the auspicious sign in the Capital and quietly asked Xiong Er, who said he didn’t believe in such things.

Just then, Wen Ranchen happened to pass by and casually remarked, “I believe.”

Xiong Er immediately changed his mind, thinking he must have been wrong, considering how clever General Wen was! He then came up with a hundred pieces of evidence to prove the Princess truly was the auspicious one!

Such fervent actions influenced others. Once they heard it was a rumor vetted by General Wen… oh no, it was no longer a rumor; it was a fact! They excitedly clamored to tell everyone!

A proper military corps turned into an advocacy army. After taking Yan Gui City, under the influence of advocacy, Yan Gui City also became the Princess’s loyal and mindless fans.

Even Prince Bai Luo started considering that handing over power to the predestined one was the right thing to do.

Later, the rumor evolved into the Princess being a Goddess! The phoenix was the Princess’s pet in heaven! As a Goddess descending from the Ninth Heaven for tribulation, after losing her Immortal Technique and being targeted by a demon, she vanquished the demon with her fortune but was maligned by villains. The phoenix’s appearance was to inform foolish mortals that this was the phoenix’s master! Not some demon!

Of course, compared to such outrageous mythical rumors, there were more restrained ones. The most widely believed version was that the Princess survived a great ordeal and would surely have future blessings, being Yunyi’s auspicious person.

But regardless of the voice, it was universally accepted that the auspicious sign was the Princess.

As for who said it, they didn’t know; everyone was just saying it.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep