He Was the One Behind the Disaster Relief Grain!

At noon, Di Qingyu had returned to Yaohua Hall and was eating lunch when urgent news arrived.

"Master, we found the hijacked disaster relief grain and supplies! They're in an abandoned temple twenty li east of the royal city." Xialin hurried in, her face alight with delight.

After all, they had spent nearly half a month searching without finding a trace. Only when Di Qingyu had suddenly shifted their focus to the royal city had they made a breakthrough.

The moment Di Qingyu heard this, her chopsticks loosened around the food she had picked up.

The food fell onto the table with a clatter.

Di Qingyu narrowed her eyes, a faint glint inevitably rising in their depths. She turned to Xialin. "Were soldiers guarding it?"

"Not soldiers." Xialin stepped forward and shook her head. "They looked more like the Imperial Guard. Although they were simply dressed, their movements and the way they gave orders were extremely similar to the Imperial Guard's. I also saw someone enter the imperial palace."

Selection for the Imperial Guard was more stringent than for ordinary soldiers.

Hearing this, Di Qingyu became eighty percent certain of her suspicions. She lost her appetite, tossed aside her chopsticks, and frowned in thought.

After a long while, she gave a soft snort.

"Heh, so that's how it is. No wonder we couldn't find anything after searching for so long."

Chunzhi heard the implication and could not help widening her eyes.

"Master, could the person behind it be that one..."

"Someone who had the nerve to hijack the imperial court's grain and supplies, who could pull the wool over everyone's eyes and transport so much grain back to the royal city along the Xi Canal, unhindered and unnoticed all the way, and who could deploy the Imperial Guard to guard it in disguise."

Di Qingyu leaned back in her rattan chair, a mocking look on her face.

"Who do you think it could be, other than the emperor?"

That good imperial father of hers had truly played everyone for fools. Thinking of how he had scolded her four imperial brothers that day and seriously asked what she suspected, Di Qingyu could only find it laughable.

The emperor had staged the whole affair himself, even sending out his four princes as a smokescreen. He had led people to believe that mountain bandits or certain corrupt ministers, guilty and fearful, had defied the imperial court and hijacked the grain and supplies. Then he had openly sent that entire stockpile back, while making those corrupt ministers scrape together another batch, forced to swallow their bitterness in silence.

What a fine scheme.

Xialin was puzzled. "But the disaster in Yulu City is severe. Why would His Majesty do this?"

Di Qingyu took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes.

"Because..."

It seemed her next move would have to be a risky one.

Half an hour later, inside Xuanzheng Hall.

After Di Qingyu paid her respects, she spoke directly, without waiting for Di Yunqian to open his mouth.

"Imperial Father, I have an important matter to report."

Seeing how serious she was, Di Yunqian waved the palace maids and eunuchs out.

"What is it?"

"Imperial Father, have you delayed executing Du Chengji because of the moat's collapse?"

Di Yunqian said nothing from his place on the dragon throne. He only narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at her, his expression inscrutable, a trace of darkness in his gaze.

Di Qingyu went straight to the point. "I have also heard people describe the scene that night. The force that shattered the earth and broke the bridge was indeed beyond human capability, but I am even less inclined to believe it was a divine manifestation. Although I did not witness that thunderous phenomenon myself, I have seen something similar before, something capable of blowing apart a thatched hut."

Only then did Di Yunqian finally speak, a hint of urgency in his eyes.

"You've seen it? Where?"

"In a book."

"You... Qingyu, even jokes have their limits." The hope in Di Yunqian's heart was extinguished at once, and a hint of displeasure entered his gaze as he looked at Di Qingyu.

"Imperial Father, I am not joking."

Di Qingyu unhurriedly took out a yellowed, tattered book. "I really did read about it in this book. It is a book on alchemy that I found among the common folk. Though only fragments remain, it mentions 'fire-based alchemy.' In the past, mistakes in refining medicines from metals and minerals caused 'the furnace to split and fire to explode, the earth to break and stones to fly.' Those circumstances are extremely similar to what happened on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Seeing that Di Yunqian was interested, Di Qingyu stepped forward and handed him the book. "Unfortunately, it was already incomplete when it came into my hands. Even after several attempts, I have only begun to find some clues. But if it were given to the Ministry of War to study as well, it would surely yield results."

Di Yunqian's expression shifted. With a trace of hope hidden in his eyes, he took the ancient book, carefully leafed through it, and asked in a low voice,

"Why did you seek out this kind of book to read?"

Di Qingyu explained, neither servile nor overbearing, "Imperial Father knows I like reading all kinds of books, especially rare and ancient texts. Besides, I have always been frail, so I sometimes look through old texts to see whether there are any unusual methods of treatment. If not for the strange event at the moat this time, I might never have connected it to the alchemy described in this book."

Di Yunqian did not speak. He lowered his eyes and studied the yellowed pages in his hands, damaged here and there. The more closely he read, the more vividly the explosion at the moat that people had described to him appeared in his mind.

It seemed that what the book described really could be used to make that weapon.

"..." Could it truly be that heaven is helping me?

The calm heart in his chest could not help leaping and trembling with excitement, only for a bucket of cold water to douse it when he reached the missing pages at the back.

This was an incomplete volume!

But recalling what Di Qingyu had just said, Di Yunqian raised his eyes, excitement showing plainly on his face.

"Qingyu, you said you tried it and found some clues. What were they?"

"Imperial Father, after several attempts, I suspect there are at least two important ingredients: charcoal and sulfur."

Di Yunqian, who had been testing her, recalled that the minister of war had indeed said there was charcoal among the fragments from that night. But his doubts had not diminished. He composed his expression, his tone turning slightly cold.

"Why have you only brought this out now, after researching these things in private?"

The emperor's authority had not diminished even as he faced his own daughter, for this concerned the fate of the Xiling Dynasty.