Chapter 1641: True yet False, False yet True

He produced a bottle of solution from somewhere and splashed it onto the door latch. If the cave entrance had been protected by a magical formation, it would have been sealed off, preventing contact with these corrosive chemicals.

But now, the hardwood door, encased in metal, began to smoke and hissed a few times.

He looked left and right. Fortunately, the sound was not loud and didn't attract unwanted attention.

A hole was quickly dissolved in the latch, and the brass lock fell to the ground.

The shadowy figure carefully pushed open the door and slipped inside in a flash.

Inside the cave, beyond the door, several glowing spores were embedded in the walls, illuminating every detail.

The cave was not large, about one hundred square meters. It contained a bed, two chairs, and four or five stone tables.

Bottles and jars were everywhere, with herbs, insects, and snakes floating in some of them.

The shadowy figure casually opened one jar. It contained a greenish paste that emitted a pungent odor.

He then opened a wine jar. The contents nearly made him drop it—

Scorpions—dozens of black, green, and brown ones.

He didn't have time to see what other colors there might be and quickly sealed the jar with a snap.

Then, he began to explore the space.

"Mr. Wei's Grotto" was never open to outsiders; even the palace guards were curious about what it might contain. However, upon entering today, the shadowy figure was greatly disappointed.

It was too empty, too boring. It wasn't what he had imagined.

There was nothing useful here. So, was Mr. Wei a pharmacist?

Then he remembered his mission and quickly lit a spore lamp to illuminate the surroundings.

He searched every corner of the cave. There were no hidden doors, at least none he could find.

He also crawled under the tables to search and knocked on the ground, finding it solid.

There were no tunnels beneath the tables either.

It seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary cave dwelling, with no special modifications.

Unwilling to give up, he searched again. Indeed, there were no formations, mechanisms, or secret passages.

So he extinguished the spore lamp, carefully pushed the door open, closed the cave entrance behind him, and then left under the moonlight.

The person did not notice a tiny spider hidden in the jujube tree opposite the cave dwelling.

He did not leave Yongquan Villa quickly. Instead, he walked towards the main road, no longer trying to conceal himself.

On the way, he encountered two patrolling palace guards. They exchanged glances and continued on their way.

About fifteen minutes later, he stopped at a row of detached residences and asked the palace guard at the entrance, "Is the chief still awake?"

"He's been asleep for a while. Is there anything I can tell him?"

"No, it's fine." Just as the man was about to turn and leave, the door creaked open, and Zhao Song emerged, yawning. "Han Zheng? Come in and talk."

The person who had broken into the cave dwelling that night was actually one of Zhao Song's subordinates. Han Zheng followed him inside and whispered, "I just explored Wei Yishan's cave dwelling. It's a dead end, with no external passages."

"No formations either?"

"I checked. None."

Zhao Song then asked, "What about the ponds in front and back?"

"One pond has flowing water. It connects to the main river within the villa, but the opening is very small, likely impassable for a person."

Zhao Song nodded. "Are you sure there are no other paths inside the cave dwelling?"

"Positive. I tapped every wall, including the floor."

"Alright, you can go." Zhao Song wanted to go back to sleep, so he dismissed him.

Tianshui City was preparing for the impending descent of the Imperial Nectar.

In recent years, the Imperial Nectar had appeared frequently. Tianshui City had its own set of rules for receiving the spiritual rain, similar to those of Panlong City back then. Each household was to guard its own territory. Any resident of Tianshui City stepping outside their property to receive the spiritual rain would be considered trespassing and would be penalized.

Even though it was a widespread blessing from the heavens, the privileged families received more because their gardens were larger. All Imperial Nectar falling within their property boundaries was considered theirs. Furthermore, they possessed more sophisticated methods for collecting the Imperial Nectar than mere pots and pans.

He Lingchuan owned Yongquan Villa. Although it was neither new nor old, its grounds were sufficiently vast.

Of course, he didn't need anyone to remind him. He prepared even earlier than Tianshui City's nobility.

Even though he had other plans in secret, he still had to outwardly make full preparations for collecting the Imperial Nectar; otherwise, it would arouse unnecessary suspicion. Not a single facility to be built, formation to be laid, or material to be used could be omitted.

These preparations would naturally be reported to King Yao. His preparations were so thorough and meticulous that if King Yao hadn't already known about his secret plot to send Yang Shan away, he would truly believe that He Lingchuan had gone to great lengths to prepare for the Imperial Nectar.

After the announcement of the impending Imperial Nectar outburst, Tianshui City became even more tense. This timing was particularly delicate:

The refugee riots in Tianshui City had indeed been suppressed by heavy troops, and Tianshui City had a moment of respite.

But everyone knew, the fundamental problem remained unsolved:

The refugees had no food and no means to earn money.

How could living people simply wait for death, especially with over ninety thousand refugees in Tianshui City!

Although the Yao Kingdom had urgently purchased grain from abroad, Tianshui City was centrally located within Great Yao, not close to any border. Grain transported from abroad would take at least seven or eight days to reach the city, even at the fastest pace.

Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

The simplest strategy the Yao Court could adopt immediately was a two-pronged approach:

First, forcefully suppress the refugees, then distribute the relief grain once it arrived.

After all, ninety percent of Tianshui City's refugees were not Yao people. Regardless of the losses incurred during this process, Tianshui City, from top to bottom, did not truly care. Foreigners streamed into Tianshui City in wave after wave, and in the blink of an eye, any losses seemed to vanish without a trace.

Of course, King Yao also suspected that someone might be instigating the refugee riots.

The timing was simply too coincidental.

The arrival of the Imperial Nectar at this critical juncture would truly add fuel to the fire.

The spiritual nectar could incite greed in all living creatures. Even ordinarily good-tempered people might go mad because of it, let alone the refugees, who were starving, thirsty, and desperate.

The arrival of the Imperial Nectar would be like a bloodlust potion for them, likely making them even more violent.

Would the next major refugee riot be imminent? And at that time, would suppressing one issue only cause another to erupt, leading to escalating chaos?

To prevent future problems, Tianshui City needed to deploy more troops in advance.

To prevent a riot of a hundred thousand people, Tianshui City's existing constabulary was far from sufficient. Moreover, there were too many dilapidated houses, and the refugees were too dispersed. Therefore, at Bailan's suggestion, the Yao Imperial Court mobilized garrison troops to preemptively drive the refugees from the dilapidated houses to several designated open areas, gather them, and keep them under strict surveillance.

Moving a hundred thousand people, especially a hundred thousand disobedient ones, was no small feat.

On the very day the announcement was made, several disturbances broke out.

Some refugees were unwilling to be rounded up, while others knew clearly in their hearts that if they had participated in the previous riots, they would face severe consequences if identified and caught. Thus, they joined the rioting groups, engaging in looting, smashing, burning, killing, and kidnapping without any restraint.

Fires broke out everywhere, leaving the city's residents in a state of panic. Two fires caused all the shops along a street to catch fire, and several small temples behind the street were burned to the ground.

Tianshui City was overwhelmed. Despite the refugees being relatively subdued after the recent heavy-handed suppression, all thirteen thousand garrison troops dispatched by the Yao Court from nearby areas were deployed, and only then were they barely able to quell the disturbances and gather the refugees into designated open areas.

If it's this difficult now, what will happen when the Imperial Nectar erupts!

There simply aren't enough people.

A minister suggested that the palace guard could also be temporarily dispatched to maintain order at that time.

The palace guard of King Yao's imperial city totaled five thousand six hundred men. Nine hundred had previously been assigned to protect (monitor) He Lingchuan and were now permanently stationed at Yongquan Villa, leaving just over four thousand men.

In extraordinary times, these thousands of well-trained guards could be of great use in Tianshui City.

Upon hearing this, Bailan was the first to object, stating emphatically:

"Absolutely not! The Imperial Guards are responsible for the King's safety. How can they be deployed to suppress rioters!"

That minister responded, "The Imperial City has always been secure. Once the palace gates are closed, where would four thousand elite soldiers be needed for defense? Tianshui City, on the other hand, is severely short-staffed. If a major disturbance breaks out when the Imperial Nectar descends, allowing the rebellion to gain momentum, it will be difficult to contain later."

Both sides argued their points, and other ministers continuously joined in, leading to a stalemate in the debate.

Even You Rongzhi stepped forward to oppose the temporary deployment of the Imperial Guards.

King Yao grew irritated and slapped the armrest of his chair forcefully, saying, "Enough! Stop arguing!"

Both sides finally quieted down, listening as King Yao spoke:

"On the day the Imperial Nectar descends, three hundred men will remain with He Xiao, one thousand men will guard the palace, and the rest will be allocated to suppress the riots!"

The ministers, who had been fiercely debating, hadn't yet fully processed this. "Your Majesty, with He Xiao... why keep three hundred men there?"

King Yao was too weary to argue with them: "My decision is final."

Everyone else fell silent. Only a few, including You Rongzhi, understood the King's true intention: He Xiao must not be allowed to escape during the chaos. At least some men must remain to watch him.

Bailan lowered his gaze, but secretly sneered to himself:

At this critical moment, King Yao was still thinking about the millions of taels of gold in He Xiao's possession.

By then, he would realize what it meant to lose big by holding onto something small.

After the meeting, You Rongzhi privately approached King Yao and suggested, "Your Majesty, on the night of the Imperial Nectar's descent, why not summon He Xiao to the palace? That way, the palace's defensive strength could be increased to thirteen hundred men."

King Yao pressed his Jingming acupoint.

On the day of the Imperial Nectar, he would, of course, summon He Xiao to the palace! All the personnel assignments mentioned were deliberately stated for Qingyang's ears. How could they truly be implemented?

To make the real seem fake and the fake seem real. The allocations would be changed at the last minute. Qingyang must be caught off guard!

Meanwhile, Bai Hengbo privately sought out Bailan and whispered, "Uncle, the King has ordered me to lead three hundred men to guard the Jade Spring Palace and the Imperial Study in four days! Previously, this guard duty was always assigned to Zheng Da!"

"On the night of the Imperial Nectar?" Bailan was overjoyed and also let out a long breath. "Excellent, excellent! I knew this duty should be yours! Our efforts were not in vain."

Back then, he had gone to He Xiao overnight, bought a prime residence in Youhu Villa with a large sum of money, and declared his loyalty to King Yao. King Yao was indeed moved and promoted his nephew, Bai Hengbo, to the position of Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

The Court of Judicial Review was responsible for managing the security of the inner palace and handled the deployment and arrangement of the Imperial Guards.