Xiao Jingyan took out a realistic painting of the Chidong Dam after the flood drawn by the painters from Ruyi Gallery, and explained in detail to Xiao Jingheng:
"Your Majesty, take a closer look. The broken section of the great dam has ragged and steep ruins. If it was broken by the impact of the flood, the cross section should be a straight line. The fact that it is shattered in many places indicates that a large amount of explosives were likely buried to deliberately blast the dam."
"Blasted?" Xiao Jingheng's expression was slightly shocked. "It takes a lot of explosives to blast the dam, it must have caused a big commotion to set it up. Moreover, the flooding caused by the blasted dam brought disaster to living beings. What was the purpose of the people who did this?"
Xiao Jingyan said, "Chidong Dam is located in a remote area, usually with few visitors. Coupled with the continuous thunderstorms in the days preceding the incident, even fewer people would have passed through that area. If someone really buried explosives with sinister intentions, they only need to act secretly and it would not have been difficult.
Moreover, after the incident, the floodwaters submerged the dam, leaving no trace of the remaining explosives. As for whether it was actually blasted, I can only speculate based on the condition of the broken dam surface, and have no evidence."
On the day the Chidong Dam collapsed, the surging floodwaters quickly submerged the dam, making it impossible to investigate many matters.
Now that Xiao Jingyan brought back such news, it would inevitably make Xiao Jingheng think more and worry more.
"If it really happened as you speculated, then the purpose of the people who did this was not to watch Qi fall into chaos and profit from it."
Xiao Jingyan self-deprecatingly admitted his stupidity, and was unable to continue analyzing with Xiao Jingheng.
The next day was the day when the Imperial Astronomical Bureau entered Pure Palace to give the imperial heir in Consort Hui's belly a fortune.
Ever since Tan Yuezhi's predictions of the assassination attempt on Xiao Jingheng and the flooding in Jiangnan came true, he has been favored by Xiao Jingheng.
Therefore, the person giving fortunes to Consort Hui today was naturally him.
Fortune-telling requires no outside disturbances, so Consort Hui dismissed all the palace maids.
When only Tan Yuezhi and her were left in the hall, Tan Yuezhi did not give fortunes to her unborn child. Instead, he whispered to her,
"Yesterday, His Majesty asked me to divine whether there are foreign tribes who do not submit to Qi and make trouble in secret."
Consort Hui narrowed her eyes and pondered for a moment, "Why ask this for no reason?"
"There were problems with the investigation of the Chidong Dam." Tan Yuezhi moved closer to Consort Hui and lowered his voice even more, "The Prince of An returned to the capital and reported to His Majesty that the Chidong Dam was blasted."
"Impossible!" Consort Hui was excited for a moment, then quickly asked in a low voice,
"You and I both know clearly what happened with the Chidong Dam. It was arranged by our master for people to sneak into the construction team and sabotage the dam during reinforcement. By the end of summer, the increased water volume would inevitably collapse the dam, leaving no trace afterwards. Since this is the case, where did the Prince of An's claim that the dam was blasted come from?"
Tan Yuezhi was also puzzled about the crux of the matter,
"Maybe the Prince of An made it up to gain credit?"
Consort Hui anxiously fiddled with her kerchief, murmuring, "In any case, His Majesty must not suspect the motherland."
Tan Yuezhi said, "His Majesty trusts me. As long as I divert the disaster elsewhere, the motherland will not be implicated for the time being."
"For how long can His Majesty trust you? I have been by his side for more than ten years, I know his temperament too well! Other than himself, he trusts no one."
Consort Hui lowered her eyes and pondered for a while, then suddenly stopped her restless movements, and said firmly,
"It has been too peaceful in the palace recently. I will think of ways to stir up some more troubles. You still need to go before His Majesty like before to predict those so-called disasters in advance. Only when you can always get it right will His Majesty trust you for longer."
Seeing that Tan Yuezhi did not respond for a long time, Consort Hui suddenly looked up at him.
She saw through the unease hidden in Tan Yuezhi's expression, so she slowly said,
"You have already committed capital offenses, whether you do more or less, there is no way back. I have been lurking by His Majesty's side for so many years. Now that I am pregnant, we are only a few steps away from fulfilling our master's plan. No matter what, I will complete what our master expects of me. As for you..."
Consort Hui's sinister eyes met Tan Yuezhi's flustered ones. She slowly got up with one hand on her belly, and paced beside him, speaking lightly,
"You know better than anyone that your wife's illness can only be treated by the witch doctors of our homeland using sorcery to keep her alive. Without the homeland, she cannot survive another day. Things have come to this, you can only wholeheartedly assist our master, and accomplish this task. When it is done, there will come a day for you and your wife to reunite. If you fail..."
She tiptoed and whispered beside Tan Yuezhi's ear, giggling,
"Hehe~ You've seen your wife suffering from the illness, with every inch of her skin ulcerated and bleeding, in unbearable pain. You don't want her to suffer like that again, do you?"
Her words seemed to touch the incurable wounds in Tan Yuezhi's heart.
It made Tan Yuezhi shudder for a moment, gritting his teeth with temples pulsating,
"Rest assured, I will do my utmost to serve our master loyally!"
That day, after leaving the palace, Tan Yuezhi did not go home as usual, but went to Tianxiang Building like he always did.
He had to come here five times a month.
Every time, it was to catch Mr. Hehuan, Tianxiang Building's top courtesan, performing.
Hehuan was as beautiful as a flower, and whenever she performed, Tianxiang Building would be packed without an empty seat. Most people came to see her beauty, but Tan Yuezhi's state of mind was different.
He came only because Hehuan looked seven parts similar to his wife.
When he was tipsy, he could even mistake Hehuan for his wife,
and take comfort in watching her from afar.
However, today, when Hehuan had just finished her dance and was about to leave the stage, she was harassed by several drunk rogues who surrounded her in a corner, groping her and speaking vulgar words.
"Pretending what? You come out to sell yourself anyway!"
One of them took out a stack of cash and threw it at Hehuan's frightened face,
"I have money! What's the difference between performing and selling your body? Aren't you just selling to men?"
