166: Chapter 166 One Man's Poison, Another Man's Honey

"It's late. Have a bowl of soup to warm your body."

After she finished speaking, she made a move to step back.

Su Chen did not turn his head, nor did he look at the bowl of soup.

His gaze remained fixed on some invisible point in the distant darkness.

After a long while, he finally asked softly in a raspy voice.

"Beloved Consort, tell me."

"At this moment, do the commoners of the Zheng Zheng Territory still have a single grain of surplus food in their homes?"

"In their pots, is there even a speck of rice foam floating?"

Su Daji's entire body jolted violently. She jerked her head up to look at Su Chen's profile.

The moonlight outlined his handsome features. Those deep, unpredictable eyes now reflected the scattered lights in the distance, and for a fleeting moment, a faint glimmer of moisture seemed to flash through them.

It was as if he wasn't asking her, but was instead questioning this heavy night, questioning the silent Heavens.

Why... must you treat my Great Yin this way?

The two remained silent.

Su Daji did not answer the question; her delicate body turned slightly.

The hem of her skirt happened to sweep across the low tea table.

The chicken soup in that bowl, along with the colorless and odorless poison within it...

...went down with the ceramic bowl that held them.

They shattered into powder.

At the same moment the bowl's walls cracked apart...

Su Daji seemed to hear...

...something inside her heart, along with that cold vessel...

...crack open a fissure.

...

Several days later.

The people sent to investigate the disaster in the Zheng Zheng Territory had returned.

Currently, two men were kneeling before Su Chen.

"Your Majesty, there is indeed something suspicious about the situation in the Zheng Zheng Territory."

"Several important water diversion nodes around the Zheng Zheng Territory have been destroyed by some unknown forces."

"As Your Majesty knows, those nodes were established by the late King when he founded the Yin Dynasty, inviting Immortals to set them up. The purpose was to ensure that every part of Great Yin had water available so the commoners would have no worries."

"Those nodes—let alone ordinary people or those of the martial world—even Immortals unfamiliar with the water veins would likely find it difficult to accomplish such a feat."

The other person took up the conversation.

"It's true, Your Majesty."

"The records of our Yin Dynasty also mention that some Immortals indeed possess techniques like 'Commanding Mountains and Rivers' or 'Shifting Earthly Qi'."

"The two of us discovered similar traces at the destroyed nodes near the Zheng Zheng Territory."

"Furthermore, judging by the traces, it seems it wasn't just one group that destroyed the nodes, but at least two or even more..."

"Even the start of the drought coincides with the timing of those destruction marks."

Su Chen listened quietly.

Immortals taking action, gods giving silent consent...

Heh, what a fine 'Mandate of Heaven lies with Western Zhou', what a grand play of 'being deserted by all'.

They didn't just want the Yin Dynasty to fall and him to die.

They also wanted to nail him to the pillar of shame as 'one whose lack of virtue invited disaster', to be cursed by future generations for a thousand years.

Even though Su Chen was merely a transmigrator...

...and this was just an investment world...

...he still found this insult hard to swallow.

"I understand."

"You two have worked hard. I will send your rewards later."

"Remember, do not speak a word of what you told me today to anyone else."

"Yes!"

The two bowed and withdrew.

Silence returned to the secret chamber.

Su Chen sat alone for a long time, only rising slowly when the horizon began to turn the color of a fish's belly.

He walked to the window and gazed at the brightening eastern sky.

The clouds there rolled and unfurled, appearing peaceful, yet they seemed to hide countless pairs of cold eyes looking down upon the mortal realm.

"Immortals... Gods..."

"Originally, in this round of investment, my only investment target was Su Daji."

"But since you want to play this game..."

"Then I shall have a good play with you all..."

...

Three days later, the city of Zhaoge was shaken.

King Zhou, Di Xin, who had not attended court for a long time, suddenly issued an imperial decree to personally travel to the Zheng Zheng Territory.

"To inspect the disaster and comfort the commoners."

The decree made no mention of disaster relief, only of "experiencing the people's suffering."

In the imperial court, the surviving officials looked at each other, wondering what madness had gripped this tyrant now.

But after the previous experience where countless ministers' blood stained the court...

...although everyone was confused...

...no one dared to remonstrate.

Su Daji also received a decree.

"Accompany the expedition."

After Su Chen announced his personal expedition...

...her first thought was surprisingly not that she would finally be free for a few days from this tyrant who struck so hard (on her buttocks).

Instead, she felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Why could so many people accompany him, but she couldn't?

If she didn't go with him, how would she find the opportunity to... assassinate him?

Thus, when Su Chen's decree reached the Star-Plucking Tower, she directly snapped the ivory comb in her hand.

It was hard to say whether she was happy or angry.

"He's going to the Zheng Zheng Territory personally? What does he want to do?"

After all, in the messages her Master sent her, it was never mentioned that Su Chen would leave Zhaoge.

Otherwise, they would have certainly set up defenses outside Zhaoge in advance to try and assassinate him.

Although they had never mentioned it...

...Su Daji guessed...

...that some kind of restriction seemed to be set within Zhaoge.

As long as Su Chen did not leave Zhaoge, those Immortals could not directly attack him.

Su Daji hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose not to report the news of Su Chen leaving Zhaoge to her Master, who was in secluded cultivation and unaware of outside news.

"This is my own mission..."

"On this trip, I will see what kind of person you, this 'tyrant', are in front of those starving commoners."

"If you are truly hypocritical, it will be the perfect time for the world to see your true face, and I will no longer need to hesitate."

...

Banners fluttered and carriages rumbled.

Su Chen's imperial procession was not ostentatious; he only took a few hundred elite guards and necessary attendants, traveling light and heading straight for the Zheng Zheng Territory.

Su Daji shared the same carriage, which was spacious.

Along the way, Su Chen intentionally teased her.

However, she acted contrary to her usual self and gave Su Chen no chance to swat her shapely rear.

She simply huddled in the corner, deliberately maintaining distance from Su Chen, remaining silent throughout the journey.

All along the way, she was thinking.

As long as Su Chen exposed his nature as a tyrant, she would take his head in front of the Zheng Zheng Territory disaster victims.

At this moment, having too much entanglement with him...

...she was afraid... she wouldn't be able to bring herself to do it when the time came.

The closer they got to the Zheng Zheng Territory, the more shocking the sights became.

On both sides of the road, the scorched earth stretched for a thousand miles.

Not a speck of green could be seen in the cracked fields, only withered seedlings and stalks making a rustling lament in the hot wind.

Occasionally, one could see emaciated, ragged disaster victims dragging their families along, their gazes dull as they stumbled by the official road.

Seeing the royal carriage pass, they only gave it a numb glance before continuing to move, as if even the strength to kneel and bow had been exhausted.

Although Su Chen was a 'tyrant' and might take their lives if they didn't bow...

...if they knelt now, their fragile bodies would likely give out on the spot.

These starving people could still distinguish which was more important.

Seeing this, Su Chen ordered the convoy to slow down and commanded that some of the dry rations and water carried with the carriages be distributed to the victims encountered along the way.

Furthermore...

...he personally got out of the carriage, walked up to an old woman holding an infant and kneeling to beg, crouched down, and handed her a piece of flatbread and a bowl of fresh water.

(Everyone, because the data has dropped so much recently, the author hasn't had much heart to write.)

(I don't even know what the situation is now. Did I write a major plot hole? Or did the new arc fail?)

(In eight days, the reminders dropped from 1600 to over 300, and the bookstore ranking was slashed from 21,000 to less than 1,000. This is crazy.)