Royal Ancestral Temple

The members of the royal court, the officials, the court's ladies-in-waiting, the imperial princes and the king were all gathered, it was obvious that this was an important event. It was the selection for the master of rain ritual to determine which prince was going to substitute in the place of the Crown Prince who was still away from the capital and could not take his rightful place as a substitute for the current King, as was his right as a future King.

In the crowd of officials, many of them who were against the Crown Prince were praying for the selection of the prince that they supported the most. The obvious choice if left to most of them was the 3rd prince Wang Yo who was the eldest after the Crown Prince, and both his mother's clan as well as his in-laws were influential, to many of the noble court officials of Goryeo court, Wang Yo was the rightful successor to the throne not Wang Mu.

If for some reason, the 3rd prince was not selected, the 8th prince would still be acceptable to the court officials as Wang Wook had his own supporters in court. All the other princes were just a stand-in, that if they did not support the nobles like the 9th prince Wang Won does, there were not of concern to the nobles. Though many wishes that the 4th prince Wang So will once again leave Songak as he was the unknown card in the politics. But based on his reputation and his adoption to the Shinju Kang, there was a slight possibility that he could be a useful ally, but he was a cursed being. It was best for the 4th prince to leave the capital and not to be seen ever again.

The princes standing on their steps all of them did wish for the rain ritual to happen for their own reason. Like the 9th prince who did not wish to be the master of the ritual, but rather his 3rd brother be chosen as with him, he knew that his future would be secure. The 3rd prince was silently staring at the jar in Ji Mong's hand, just waiting for the heavens to prove that it was his seat to lead the nation out of the drought, just as his mother and he believed.

The 8th prince Wook was perhaps the most conflicted. He did wish for the rain so that the drought will end, not because of the happiness of the citizens, rather it will allow him to have less of a burden from the constant pleas of support from the people. If he were to be chosen for the master, and he succeeds Wook did not know what he plans on asking as his reward. But if he could truly wish for anything, it will be for Hae Soo to come back to his side. He did love his departed wife, but more than her ghost, he wishes for the relief and happiness that Hae Soo brings him when she is by his side. And to not have see her status as a married woman in front of his eyes constantly. Which was difficult as every time he saw the 4th prince, and his hair in sangtu, he was reminded that Soo was his wife. In the most hidden part of his mind, that perhaps even the 8th prince himself did not even know, he was wishing to obtain a way for the two to divorce so that Hae Soo could be free, and he could have her with him again.

On the contrary, the other prince's minds were not on the political implications of this selection, rather it was on the people. The three young princes were all too aware after their travel of what the people were going through. While they did not have the power to change the people's lives or their status, they could wish for the rain to fall, so at least some of the suffering of the people will diminish. Plus, they were all overjoyed at the news that they were soon to be Uncles. Sure technically they were already uncles through their other siblings. However these unborn children, children that were a true surprise that they will gain not only one niece or nephew but two of them. They were already planning on making sure that Hae Soo will be well taken care of, not to mention completely carefree during her pregnancy. They could not wait till they could see their twin nieces or nephews, one thing for sure, their favorite Uncle was only going to be them.

The 4th prince Wang So was perhaps the most absent from the situation he was in. He had been through this selection before, so it was not as nerve-wrecking, besides he knew that rain will pour soon, if this world will be anything like the past world with its weather. No, while his body was in the temple, his mind was only thinking about his wife. His pregnant wife. Hae Soo, his Soo was pregnant. She was with him, and this time, he will be able to experience her pregnancy with her.

Not to mention twins. TWINS. He did not know what blessing it was that the heavens had granted him, but he will have two children with his Soo. Children who will call him Aboeji, Soo as their Eomoni, they would raise their children together. But first, it was Soo's pregnancy. Soo was healthy but last time pregnancy had caused Soo's condition to decline rapidly. No he will never lose her again. His mind was thinking of details and making plans in order to make sure that Soo will have a stress-free pregnancy as possible. If the palace prove to be too much, he was already making plans to leave the palace for a while. He knew that the King cared about Soo like she was his own daughter, he will grant her permission to leave the palace if it was better for health, but that was only if it was necessary. Goryeo Palace had the best physician in the nation, Doctor Hong, and he will rather have him attend to Soo.

A quick side glance at his father, also remind him of the conspirators who still have not been found, and Soo was their target. The security around Soo had to be perfect, but it could not be too obvious either. Soon Deok was always with Soo, and now Woo Hee will also be with her so at least there will be someone to always help her. But there was a need for a hidden guard, not to mention a food and tea tester. He did not forget anything about the poisoned tea that Queen Yoo had sent Court Lady Oh, and how Yeon Hwa also tried to poison the Crown Prince in their past lives. Now who to be the tester, and who to be assigned as a guard?

He knew that Eun, Baek Ah, and Jung will also be constantly by Soo's side so he also had to factor that in as well, not to mention how to deal with the spies in his household, Chae Ryung, that girl especially. That girl was the only known spy, and one of the most likely to be used to poison Soo if Won took part, so that girl will be one of the testers. He knows that the girl would not kill herself through poison, no not when she still held hope that she could be with the 9th prince. The guards will be best to be on a rotation detail with those five that he already knew to be loyal. Now all he had to do was to inform Soo about these measures, so she will not try to escape the guards. Also to form the protection detail.

He truly wishes that the selection will end soon enough so that he could go back to Soo. Soo who had been still been in bed lying down and had forced him to go to the temple before going back to sleep. He know it was partially his fault that his wife was exhausted due to how he had kept her awake through the night. Though who could blame him, the words 'your wife is pregnant' had never felt as empowering as it did when he knew that it was Soo, Soo that was pregnant with his child, not one child, but with two babies. She truly was a heavenly given treasure, and he had no plans of letting her out of his sight ever again.

Creeek, splash

The vase that held the names of the princes suddenly split down the middle and all the wooden plaques fell on the floor, right in front of the King's foot. Ji Mong moves to read the verdict based on the wooden plaques then quietly whispers the heaven's decision to the King. As the Astronomer withdraws back to his place, the King announces the selection.

"The 4th Prince Wang So. The 3rd Prince Wang Yo. The 8th Prince Wang Wook. You three have all been chosen as the master of the rain ritual. We will have three consecutive ceremonies in this order with the different princes as the master of the ritual as the heavens wishes. The first ritual will be tomorrow, the princes be ready."

"I will follow your command." The 4th prince was the first to reply, truly he was shocked at this turn of events but now was not the time to contemplate it. It was more important to hurry back to his wife, his Soo to make sure that she was alright.

"I will follow your command." The 3rd prince and the 8th princes replies, both of them while not surprised by each other's selection, the fact that the 4th prince's name was called out first, like he was the original choice of the heavens to lead the ceremony was shocking to both of them.

The rest of the princes and the court officials were just confused. A rain ritual with multiple masters of ceremony. That means that the master of the ceremony when the rain arrived will be celebrated by the citizens, but the other two master will lose some support from the citizens. It was like this ceremony was being used by the heavens to show the people who they could actually trust. Whether that fact will register in the mind of the court officials or the people of Goryeo was another matter.