Even emperors have it tough, so don't be too picky about the entries.

......

The Zhao residence, a secret room.

Zhao Dehou was attentively pouring tea for the woman dressed as a man across from him.

His face was full of flattery.

The person drinking tea was none other than Wu Xingyun.

"How about that? I told you, there wouldn't be a single trace left. Even Bai Bingbing, the world's number one detective, was helpless."

"Lord Zhao, if you can accomplish this great task, the day when Northern Mang breaches the city will be your day to rise to prominence."

Zhao Dehou rubbed his hands together and chuckled.

"Sir, you are indeed a man of great wisdom and resourcefulness, to have come up with such a method."

"But His Majesty himself arrived today, declaring that the case would be solved within two days..."

"Hahaha!"

Wu Xingyun laughed heartily and said disdainfully:

"Unless Chen Shao was spying on us, his skills are not enough."

Zhao Dehou immediately patted his chest and guaranteed it.

"Rest assured, sir. This secret room is heavily guarded, with multiple layers of security. Chen Shao would have to force his way in."

Wu Xingyun pointed to the ground below:

"Or underground."

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

After laughing for a while, Zhao Dehou changed the subject.

"My lord, shouldn't we reconsider the matter of burning down the granary? That grain was painstakingly brought back by Yu Qi'an; it's a vital supply of military provisions for the imperial court. If even the slightest word gets out, it's a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family."

"Lord Zhao."

Wu Xingyun's expression was somewhat displeased:

"Isn't the Huang family's situation enough to put your mind at ease?"

"Once the Northern Barbarians establish their rule over the Central Plains, the wine and liquor industry in the Central Plains will belong to your Zhao family. Furthermore, the position of Minister of Revenue will be vacant, to be in charge of the nation's finances."

"A tiny bit of risk in exchange for a hereditary, thousand-year-old family fortune—where else can you find a deal like this?"

"Lord Zhao, have you forgotten the humiliation of that slap so quickly?"

As a businessman, Zhao Dehou didn't care about shame at all.

Whether to cooperate or not depends entirely on the interests and risks.

The character for "profit" (利) carries the radical for "knife" (刀), and the character for "benefit" (益) carries the radical for "blood" (血).

There's no such thing as a risk-free journey.

This deal seems quite worthwhile.

He chuckled and bowed deeply to Wu Xingyun:

"With your words, sir, what is there that I dare not do? I will continue to purchase white phosphorus."

"Minister Zhao, it's a pleasure to work with you."

"Sir, are you happy with Miki?"

...

Below the secret chamber, Chen Shao's eyes suddenly lit up.

white phosphorus!

All the unsolvable mysteries were solved in that instant.

White phosphorus, with the chemical formula P₄.

It has an extremely low ignition point and can spontaneously combust in humid air; it is not extinguished by water.

It leaves no residue after burning completely.

The Huang family's house was on fire on all four sides at the same time, yet there was not a trace of it.

It is obvious that they placed the white phosphorus in the Huang family's residence in advance.

Once the temperature is reached, the white phosphorus will spontaneously combust.

As for how to store it... the Zhao family is a major ice storer... they hid the white phosphorus in ice blocks in advance, threw it into the Huang family compound, and waited for the sun to shine directly on it when it was high in the sky... the white phosphorus would naturally...

call!

Chen Shao let out a long sigh of relief.

It turned out to be the case.

But why are these Northern Barbarians so clever that they could come up with such a vicious plan?

If this were actually carried out on her, the grain supplies in the capital might truly be destroyed.

When no clues are found, the natural consequence will be... a ruler who has acted immorally will be punished by Heaven!

"Dig upwards and arrest them!" Chen Shao made a decisive decision.

Bai Bingbing was startled.

"If we investigate further but still find no evidence, we might as well just storm in and arrest them."

"White phosphorus is the evidence! There's no time to explain, get to work!"

......

Wu Xingyun declined Meiji's invitation.

In the secret room, only Zhao Dehou remained, sitting with his legs crossed, sipping tea.

The person in charge came over.

"Master, this man is not lustful at all, that's truly remarkable."

"You don't know anything! Beauty is a rare commodity among the lower classes, but it's just commonplace among the upper class. Big shots don't lack it."

The butler, having learned his lesson, whispered again:

"My lord, should we inform the Prime Minister about this? After all, this is a matter of utmost importance, and if it involves the execution of nine generations of a family, even the Prime Minister himself could be implicated."

Stop jinxing!

Zhao Dehou glared at him. "I don't know what's wrong with the Prime Minister lately. He's avoided me even after I've been there three times."

"However, he will do everything in his power to protect me if I can implicate him."

"Sir, you're truly a shrewd strategist of our time. Could word of this matter leak out? And at what point might things go wrong?"

"You really are a jinx. Can't you be a little more apprehensive? What's wrong with you? Unless Chen Shao pops up out of the ground."

As soon as he finished speaking, the stone slab beneath his feet suddenly began to move.

Zhao Dehou was shocked and before he could react, the entire armchair, along with his obese body, suddenly plummeted downwards.

With a deafening roar, smoke and dust billowed into the air.

Zhao Dehou crashed into the tunnel along with his chair. As soon as he looked up, he saw Chen Shaozheng leading a group of Imperial Guards wielding steel knives, glaring down at him menacingly.

Damn it, you're such a jinx!

Zhao Dehou was terrified.

Bai Bingbing had already flipped over and leaped into the secret room. After searching around the room, she poked her head out and shook her head at Chen Shao.

"The person is gone."

Chen Shao stepped on Zhao Dehou's chest.

Where are they?

"Who goes there... This humble subject has no idea what Your Majesty is talking about. This humble subject was merely drinking tea in my private room. Is that a crime...?"

Bai Bingbing leaped and landed beside Zhao Dehou.

He plunged a knife into Zhao Dehou's inner thigh.

"Although the incision is shallow, the knife fits perfectly between your femur and the muscle."

"With each breath, the muscle contraction causes the blade to scrape against the periosteum by a fraction of an inch."

"Two hours later, you will be in excruciating pain and die right before your eyes."

Zhao Dehou had already wet his pants.

Caught red-handed and firmly in custody, there was no point in resisting any longer.

"Say it... I'll say it..."

Soon, he spilled everything.

The man was from the Northern Barbarians, but he didn't recognize him; he only knew that he was someone of great importance.

The details of the case were largely consistent with what Chen Shao had imagined.

The Northern Barbarian assassins disguised themselves as plum juice vendors and secretly dropped ice blocks wrapped in white phosphorus into various locations within the Huang family compound.

The ice melted, and the white phosphorus spontaneously combusted, beyond any means of extinguishing.

That's what created the scene that resembled a strange fire falling from the sky.

After hearing this, Bai Bingbing cursed: "How despicable, shameless, vile, and utterly disgusting!"

The following day, Chen Shao personally adjudicated the case at the Huang family's fire site.

The details of the white phosphorus arson were omitted, and a different story was fabricated instead:

Zhao Dehou hired a sorcerer to perform a ritual, which used ghost fire to burn down the Huang family's house.

Chen Shao, on the other hand, is a man of righteousness, a great man sent from heaven, and even possesses strange things like double pupils.

He saw through the illusion at a glance and destroyed the evil magic.

More important than solving the problem is how to perform the problem-solving process, and Chen Shao succeeded in this regard.

The people were stunned.

The name of the Great Sage True Lord resounded once again.

After dealing with the entire Zhao family, Chen Shao raised his right fist and shouted:

Good will never prevail over evil!

After this battle, the emperor's power and prestige were once again greatly enhanced.