A torrential downpour began, and the Imperial Guard beside Song Ting held an umbrella for him, but Song Ting deflected it with his arm, saying, "No need. Let's go."

The thunder was still rumbling, and lightning bolts struck the sky one after another, even toppling Buddha statues and creating large, deep craters around where Zhang Bingzhi was buried. The bricks and stones were shattered into pieces by the lightning.

Song Ting was soaked to the bone, and rainwater clung to his thick, long eyelashes, making his vision blurry.

He casually wiped his face, squatted down, picked up a piece of gravel from the ground, rubbed it between his fingers, and brought it to his nose to sniff for a while.

“This is…” Song Ting’s face suddenly darkened. “Someone, move all these floor tiles away!”

Chu Minghuan had just spoken those impassioned words to the people watching the ceremony when this unexpected turn of events occurred. It was as if God had slapped him hard across the face.

It was almost as if he had personally pointed at his nose and said, "You are not worthy to be emperor, get off this throne!"

First, the princess.

Then came the Empress Dowager.

Then came the ninety-three people who received the eight-treasure porridge.

Now he is the Grand Secretary and a close advisor to the Emperor.

These are ordinary people who came to watch the ceremony.

Those associated with this prayer ceremony seem to be cursed, suffering misfortune one after another.

Chu Minghuan was extremely anxious, pacing back and forth in the room countless times.

After an incense stick had burned, Song Ting, soaking wet, pushed open the door and came in. Chu Minghuan hurriedly went to greet her:

"Minister Song, what's wrong?! Why did lightning strike right there out of nowhere? Has I, the emperor, truly reached the point of incurring the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people?"

If it were just the previous incidents, the emperor could tell himself that someone was manipulating things behind the scenes, but today's lightning struck right under his nose; he witnessed it with his own eyes.

No matter how capable the members of the Red Lotus Sect are, they cannot possibly direct heavenly lightning to strike a specific location.

"And what about those fires that even heavy rain couldn't extinguish..."

"Your Majesty, please don't be anxious. Let's hear what the commander has discovered." Eunuch Cheng handed Song Ting a clean handkerchief. "Please wipe yourself first, sir."

Song Ting looked like a drowned man who had just come ashore, soaked inside and out. A handkerchief was no use at all, so he just wiped his face a couple of times and ignored it, then said to the emperor:

"It's gunpowder."

"gunpowder?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have already inspected it. There is a secret passage under the Buddha statue, and it is filled with gunpowder."

The young emperor was a clever man, and upon hearing Song's explanation, he immediately understood the key point.

"The decision for me to personally preside over the ceremony was made only three days ago. How could the person behind it have buried the gunpowder without anyone noticing in such a short time?"

It's impossible during the day. If it were at night, there would be guards patrolling, and such a commotion would not go unnoticed.

"unless--"

“Unless one of those guards is one of their people!” The young emperor suddenly realized, “This also explains why the common people died from poisoning after eating the same porridge, but you were fine.”

"It's probably because the person who poisoned you had given you the antidote beforehand, perhaps... in your breakfast."

Everyone had breakfast before descending the mountain to make offerings, which was the best time.

Song Ting had already thought of this after discovering the traces of gunpowder. The emperor and his minister looked at each other, their expressions very solemn.

—If the Red Lotus Cult's influence has already infiltrated the Imperial Guards, it means they have people in the palace as well, which is a truly terrifying prospect.

"I will investigate this matter thoroughly."

"And those civilians who spontaneously combusted..."

“Those people were all sprinkled with phosphorus powder, which could spontaneously combust under the right conditions. As for why it couldn’t be extinguished,” Song Ting said with a somber expression, “it must be because some special medicine powder was mixed into the phosphorus powder.”

"Actually, it wasn't that it was truly impossible to extinguish; it just burned for a longer time than ordinary flames and was more difficult to put out. Now that the fire is out, Your Majesty can rest assured."

Song Ting knew this because Zhang Bingzhi had used similar methods to interrogate the people of the Prince Duan's mansion, forcing them to confess and confirm the fact that the Prince Duan was plotting a rebellion.

"Sigh." Chu Minghuan sighed.

The matter was still unclear, so he was naturally worried. However, he had already suffered a great deal of stress today and was completely exhausted by this point.

"Thank you for your hard work, Song Qing. But the people of the Red Lotus Sect are ruthless and vicious, so you must be very careful."

If Song Ting hadn't suddenly proposed to receive blessings on behalf of the emperor today, he would probably have been the one struck dead on the spot. Just thinking about this made Chu Minghuan feel lingering fear.

But regardless of whether the dead person was him or not, the Red Lotus Cult has at least achieved half of its goal—

After today, those surviving citizens who witnessed the ceremony will surely spread the word about what they saw and heard today, and the news that Heaven sent down lightning and punished Da Yan will become common knowledge.

"Song Qing, you should stay tonight. I need you."

The young emperor was clearly terrified; his face was still deathly pale. He had never dared to make such a request to Song Ting before, but today he couldn't care less.

Unfortunately, Song Ting was preoccupied with Chu Huaixu, and she quickly deflected the emperor's request with a few words:

"It is inconvenient for me to disturb Your Majesty's bedchamber. I am in the room opposite Your Majesty, and I have arranged for someone to guard outside. Your Majesty need not worry."

Having said all that, the emperor had no choice but to reluctantly let him leave.

...

Outside, the torrential rain continued unabated. Inside, Chu Huaixu had borrowed a zither from somewhere and sat by the window, playing it. The zither music mixed with the sound of the rain, creating an eerie feeling of impending doom, yet a faint smile played on Chu Huaixu's lips.

As Song Ting pushed open the door, he plucked a string from the zither, but the string suddenly snapped, and the music stopped abruptly.

"Tsk." Chu Huaixu's fingertip was cut by the broken string, leaving a deep wound, and two drops of blood fell onto the instrument.

"How is it?" Song Ting hurried over, grabbed his finger and looked at it. The wound was still bleeding and it looked like it wouldn't stop bleeding anytime soon.

Song Ting sucked the blood away from the finger, then took out the wound medicine from her pocket and carefully poured it on the wound.

"This medicine is priceless. Using it on such a small wound like mine would be a terrible waste," Chu Huaixu said slowly.

He used to be very pampered and loved to play and make a fuss. He would use countless bottles of this kind of wound medicine to treat a minor scrape on a tree. He would never have said such a thing.

Song felt a pang of sadness and said, "Nothing compares to you."

Chu Huaixu chuckled softly and withdrew his fingers. One of the strings had already broken, but he still sat down, stroking the instrument and looking at Song Ting: "What piece would you like to hear, my lord?"

He seemed to be in a very good mood today, with a smile on his face the whole time.