Mu Xuehuang's new strategy!

Although there had only been a handful of brief scenes, Mu Xuehuang still saw it—besides the drought, other disasters had followed.

Famine and plague!

These disasters had all come one after another!

The drought had killed the crops, leaving the people with nothing to eat. Hundreds of thousands, even millions, had starved to death...

With so many dead, their corpses attracted all kinds of flies and rats, spreading disease.

The refugees in those scenes had sallow faces and wasted bodies, thin as kindling.

Their eyes were hollow, their minds unhinged. They were like walking corpses.

How could they have looked like that when the disaster had only just begun?

Only when a disaster had reached the point of no return, after watching too many people die before their eyes, would their minds collapse.

Then why hadn't the court stepped in with relief and disaster funds as soon as the disaster struck?

There had to be more to this than anyone knew.

But there was one thing Mu Xuehuang could be certain of—it had to be connected to Yue Zhenling's retirement and return home.

Her future self had been stubborn and arrogant, believing she could solve the problem when she was utterly incapable of doing so.

The disaster would only grow worse!

Mu Xuehuang remained speechless for a long time, her expression heavy with emotion.

Who could have imagined that it had all begun with the departure of a single veteran minister?

Mu Xuehuang gradually understood that nothing happened in a single leap. Everything went through a process of change and development.

Disasters brought despair, but if measures were taken at the very beginning to stop them from spreading, the situation could still be salvaged.

The same was true of those rebels.

Something must have happened to make them rebel, hadn't it?

Mu Xuehuang gradually realized that she had indiscriminately treated every rebel as nothing more than a rebel.

In her eyes, they were rebels, but in their own eyes, perhaps they were not. Perhaps they were great heroes saving the world.

Just like the refugees who ate raw human flesh and drank blood to stay alive amid the famine.

Had they done wrong?

They certainly had, yet they were not wrong either.

They only wanted to survive...

The images went black at that moment, and no new scenes appeared afterward.

The simulation had ended.

Mu Xuehuang recalled the young man who had led the rebels into the palace and stood before her.

"Did you also raise an army in rebellion because of some hardship you couldn't speak of?"

She could not help murmuring to herself.

After this simulation, she still did not know who the young man who had led the rebel army into the palace was.

But she had gained a new understanding of the rebels.

She felt that she should suspend the investigation into them and first find out why they had rebelled.

What exactly had happened?

Naturally, Mu Xuehuang did not know that all this rebellion had originally been connected to a single commoner woman.

The Dynasty's destruction was connected to that same woman.

The next day, all the civil and military officials found that the Empress seemed like a different person, her face full of authority.

She issued an order: "Effective immediately, a portion of the treasury's funds will be allocated to building flood-control dams in the north and water-management facilities in the south! Minister Yue will be placed in charge of this undertaking!"

"What?!"

Her words would not rest until they stunned everyone. Every civil and military official was shocked.

Wang Yong, Deng Shigao, and the others, in particular, exchanged speechless looks.

Only yesterday, the Empress had declared that she would focus on wiping out the rebels. Why had she suddenly changed her mind today and begun building water-management works?

"Also, the water-management works in the south are more urgent than the dams in the north. Give priority to construction in the south!"

Mu Xuehuang stressed.

Boom...

At once, Wang Yong and the others were even more astonished.

Not only were Wang Yong and his companions stunned, but Yue Zhenling himself was also visibly surprised.

He had thought the Empress no longer trusted him. Who would have expected her to entrust him with such an important task?

And flood prevention in the north and drought prevention in the south were precisely what he had always advocated.

Coming to his senses, Yue Zhenling eagerly accepted. "Yes! Your subject will not fail this mission!"

"Wait! Your subject objects!"

Seeing this, Wang Yong hurried forward to intervene and said to Mu Xuehuang, "Your Majesty, bandits are appearing everywhere, and the situation is dire. Surely eliminating them should take priority!"

Mu Xuehuang glanced at him. "You object to my decision?"

Wang Yong quickly lowered his head. "I wouldn't dare..."

"Then it is settled! This matter takes precedence over everything else!"

After court was dismissed, Yue Zhenling left the hall in high spirits, the old man suddenly fired with the boldness of youth.

Only Wang Yong, Deng Shigao, and Zhao Chengfeng remained standing there, their expressions grim.

"Why did Her Majesty suddenly change her mind?"

"If Her Majesty had kept pursuing the rebels, the Flowing Sand bandits would certainly have been dealt with too. Who could have expected her to change course at the last moment..."

Zhao Chengfeng pondered for a long while before saying darkly, "If Her Majesty shifts her focus to projects that benefit the people, that will be good news for those bandits... They can use this time to keep growing stronger!"

Deng Shigao's expression shifted. "Actually, I think we can stop concerning ourselves with this..."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you forgotten why we wanted to kill that brat Ning Que in the first place?"

Deng Shigao's reminder made everyone's expression change drastically.

Wasn't their desire to kill Ning Que, a mere soldier, all about covering up the marriage alliance?

His Majesty's holy son from the Mara Dynasty had forcibly seized a commoner woman for a marriage alliance. The Empress would never permit such a thing.

Even if it meant war, she would never allow an enemy holy son to behave so outrageously on Great Li's territory!

Mu Xuehuang understood the principle that the people came first, the state second, and the ruler last.

But that was not the outcome these nobles and ministers wanted, so they had colluded with the Mara crown prince to arrange this marriage alliance.

They had thought everything would proceed according to plan. Instead, the husband of the woman chosen for the marriage alliance had stormed the Li Royal Palace like a madman.

To bury the matter, they could only have Ning Que beheaded.

Who could have imagined that another branch would sprout from the trouble, drawing out Flowing Sand, a thorn lodged deep in the Dynasty's heart?

"Since that brat has already escaped Qingzhou with Flowing Sand's army, he's where the sky is high and the emperor far away. There's no way to catch him now. Unless Her Majesty sends troops against Flowing Sand and wipes them out completely..."

Deng Shigao's eyes flickered as he continued, "That brat can no longer return to Capital City, and the marriage alliance can no longer be exposed... Since that's the case, let him go!"

"We'll just pretend we know nothing about this and keep living our peaceful lives."

Deng Shigao believed that even if Ning Que had ties to Flowing Sand, he could not stir up any waves.

Could a mere soldier accomplish what even Ning Yuanzhou had failed to do?

In their eyes, his departure from Qingzhou was nothing more than fleeing for his life.

Bandits did not fight officials. What underground organization would be foolish enough to make an enemy of the sovereign?

So they slept soundly with their heads high on their pillows.

Yet this time, they were all wrong. Ning Que's ultimate goal was precisely to overthrow the rule of the entire Great Li Dynasty!

Flowing Sand was only his first stop.

At that moment, Ning Que had followed the main force to Flowing Sand's headquarters—a secluded paradise cut off from the world!