Returning after a three-year escape from death, the tyrant has turned evil.

Chapter 319 Investigation
Song Yi had just finished resting and was thinking of walking over by herself, but Jiang Lanye wanted to order someone to bring the sedan chair over.

She said helplessly, "Forget it, I'm not so badly disabled that I can't even walk."

Moreover, it's really strange that she went there alone in a sedan chair.

Jiang Lanye thought for a moment, then bent down and easily lifted her up by scooping her up behind her knees.

Song Yi: "."

The Empress Dowager glanced at it, then shook her head helplessly and looked away.

"No, won't you get tired like this? Let me down."

Jiang Lanye's arms were strong and powerful. Hearing Song Yi's words, he raised an eyebrow: "You're as light as a cat. Are you worried that you'll tire me out?"

Song Yi choked for a moment, unsure of what to say.

Jiang Lanye glanced around; no one was watching them. He immediately lowered his voice and said, "Besides, didn't I often hold you like this before? That was your favorite position. Have you forgotten?"

Song Yi immediately glared at him angrily: "Stop talking nonsense! It's clearly you who likes it the most, I was forced to do it!"

Jiang Lanye remained silent.

She gave a soft hum and fell silent.

Jiang Lanye carried her and walked quickly to the vicinity of the ruins without even panting. Song Yi looked at him and kept sighing in her heart, wondering how there could be such a big difference in physical strength between two people.

At his command, a circle of guards surrounded them, all with solemn expressions. Upon seeing the arrival of the group, they immediately knelt down and paid their respects.

Jiang Lanye glanced at it casually: "Have any suspicious people come over in the last two days?"

"Your Majesty, last night someone was sneaking around and came to see me. I tried to chase after him, but we were too far apart and I couldn't catch up. He ran very fast."

Jiang Lanye narrowed his eyes: "Is he a eunuch?"

"It doesn't look like that; it seems more like someone from the Workshop Bureau."

He nodded slightly, said nothing more, and carried Song Yi inside.

Before Jiang Lanye gave the order, many palace servants had come to move the bricks and stones from this ruin, but fortunately, not much was moved and it was not damaged much.

"Jiang Lanye, put me down."

"it is good."

Song Yi immediately walked over, bent down slightly to look at the rubble on the ground, "There are many kinds of stones used to build this pavilion. After the collapse, they are mixed together, so it is not easy to tell which stone caused the problem."

The Empress Dowager stepped forward: "Does Consort Yun mean to say that the problem lies with the stone?"

She nodded: "It should be pretty close to the truth, unless someone could hide gunpowder in here, but that would require ignition, and it's not easy to hide such things. There were so many people building the attic back then, it would be difficult to do it without being noticed."

The Empress Dowager nodded in agreement: "Indeed, but what kind of stone can generate heat and cause the pavilion to collapse?"

Jiang Lanye kept an eye on Song Yi's feet to prevent her from slipping on any loose stones, while analyzing the situation in a low voice:
"The attic was very sturdy overall, so the collapse must have been due to a problem with the foundation."

As he was about to bend over, a eunuch beside him hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, let this servant do it. Be careful not to hurt your precious body."

Immediately afterwards, he quickly lifted up a large stone that was pressing down on it. Looking at the small stones underneath, he said with some doubt, "Your Majesty, look, these stones are dark red."

The group immediately looked over.

Song Yi was taken aback and murmured, "Jiang Lanye, don't you think these dark red pebbles are a bit too fragmented?"

"Yes, although most of the bricks and stones broke after the collapse, they were all broken into large pieces. It's rare to see such small fragments."

It looked like it had exploded. Song Yi tilted her head, picked up the small pebbles, and examined them carefully for a long time, finding it very strange.

"But just looking at it like this, apart from its strange color, there's nothing else about the stone."

She sniffed carefully again, then frowned deeply: "It smells like smoke, how strange."

Jiang Lanye took it and casually twirled it a couple of times in his hand.

The workers from the workshop bureau rushed forward, puzzled, and said, "Your Majesty, we don't recall ever seeing this color of stone when we built the pavilion."

Song Yi pondered for a moment: "I think it was this thing that exploded, but it's strange. What could make it explode? Ignite it? But it's inside the wall, so even if you tried to ignite it, you couldn't."

"Yiyi, when did you feel the walls around you getting hot?"

She paused, then thought back carefully: "Well... when we first went in, I don't think we had a fever yet. Then we went up to the second floor, saw it was raining, so we went downstairs and sat on a bench to avoid the rain for a while, and then..."

"rain."

Jiang Lanye looked at her and slowly uttered this word.

Song Yi's pupils constricted: "You mean, this thing explodes when it comes into contact with water?"

Actually, it makes a lot of sense. Although Song Yi didn't know much about architecture, she did know that many things in life would generate heat when they come into contact with water. When the heat reached a certain limit, such cold stones would easily expand and crack.

Jiang Lanye said in a low voice, "We'll know once we verify it."

Song Yi's eyes lit up: "I know! There's a pond not far away. We can throw this in and see what happens."

"Walk."

They walked over quickly.

Jiang Lanye casually tossed it into the pond.

Then, "glug glug—"

Suddenly, a series of unusually rapid and tiny bubbles rose from the bottom of the water, as if the water was boiling slightly.

Wow!

A muffled thud erupted from the bottom of the water.

A faint, strange smell, similar to saltpeter mixed with the earthy odor, instantly filled the air.

Although Song Yi was mentally prepared, she was still frightened when she saw this scene and reached out to grab Jiang Lanye's arm.

Jiang Lanye immediately comforted her, saying in a low voice, "It really is its problem."

On the day it rained, the rain was quite heavy and there was water on the ground, so some water inevitably seeped into the gaps between the stone bricks. However, because the amount of water that seeped in was small, the stones did not absorb much, and the power of the explosion was not great.

If things are like they are now, even a small pebble thrown into a pond can have such a big impact. If there were so many such stones in that attic back then, the power would be unimaginable if they had exploded.

Jiang Lanye's eyes turned completely cold, as if they were covered with a layer of ice.

His gaze was sharp as a knife as he swept over the group of terrified workshop officials.

"This is the mess you've made. These stones ended up in the palace and were even mixed into the foundation, and you didn't know a thing."

Everyone knelt down in unison, their faces pale with fright at the sudden turn of events: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! We, your humble servants, will certainly investigate this matter thoroughly!"

(End of this chapter)