Chapter 136 - 135: Water Dragon Rages, Imperial City Falls! Fortune Teller
To prove his integrity with death!
Hearing Chen Juzheng’s words, the thought flashed through Su Bai’s mind.
Then, Su Bai spoke, "Lord Chen, you’ve misunderstood. This isn’t a final meal, and there’s no poison in the food."
"I simply admire your character, Lord Chen, so I thought I’d come and have a couple of drinks with you."
Chen Juzheng looked stunned, apparently not expecting this to be the reason for Su Bai’s visit.
In the light of the wall-mounted lamp, Chen Juzheng’s gaze shifted as he sized Su Bai up and down.
Seeing that he didn’t seem to be one of the men sent by those maggots, his wariness eased somewhat.
He rose and walked closer.
"Please, stay seated, Lord Chen!"
Su Bai said with a smile, then opened the food box, taking out a roast goose, a plate of cooked beef, a roast chicken, and other dishes.
And a jug of fine wine!
"It’s ten-year-old Drunken Flower Brew. Not the best wine, I’m afraid, so you’ll have to make do, Lord Chen."
"Having wine to drink? What is there to make do with?"
Chen Juzheng said, then directly grabbed the wine jug, flipped off the lid, and began to drink heartily straight from the mouth!
This act made Su Bai, who had just taken a Jade Cup from the food box, freeze, his right hand paused in mid-air. The corner of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
’Didn’t I say I’d have a drink with you?’
’How the hell am I supposed to drink now that he’s chugging it straight from the jug?’
At that moment, Su Bai finally understood.
This Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water, Chen Juzheng, was, to put it nicely, a man of uncompromising integrity.
To put it bluntly, he was just plain stubborn!
"Whatever you want to talk about, just say it."
Chen Juzheng spoke with his mouth full, drinking wine and gnawing on a roast goose leg he’d picked up.
He was, after all, a Martial Artist of the Extraordinary Realm. His appetite was naturally large, and he had been starving these past few days.
Su Bai composed himself, then asked, "I’m just a little curious. How did you end up in this state, Lord Chen?"
At the same time, Su Bai’s interest was piqued by what Chen Juzheng had just said about the ground beneath the Imperial City.
’Could there be some great disaster brewing under the Imperial City?’
Chen Juzheng stopped eating. He raised his eyes and said with a cold laugh, "Why? Simply because I, Chen, was unwilling to stoop to their level and become one of those maggots!"
’Of all the people thrown in here, nine out of ten who claim to be framed say the exact same thing.’
’But just tell me the specifics already!’
Su Bai complained inwardly.
Fortunately, after eating Su Bai’s food and wine, Chen Juzheng had the decency not to keep playing the riddler.
He began to explain.
"This year’s rainy season has been long and quite strange. The Court has been focused on building water conservation projects."
"We officials from the Ministry of Water Affairs were ordered to monitor the water veins within a hundred-li radius of the Imperial City."
"Recently, I discovered that the water veins of the Imperial City have more than multiplied several times over compared to the past!"
Su Bai’s eyelids twitched as he spoke.
"An abundance of surrounding water veins... isn’t that a good thing for the common people?"
"Whether for aquaculture or for planting crops, more water veins mean abundant fish and lush plants. The people’s lives would improve, and even the Court’s tax revenue would increase."
"That is true in principle, but an unchecked increase in water veins—too much of a good thing—is not necessarily a blessing."
Chen Juzheng said in a low voice, "I have a special Cultivation Technique, passed down from ancient times, that allows me to survey the water veins a hundred zhang deep underground!"
"Did you know that a hundred zhang beneath the Imperial City, there is already a vast ocean?"
"What?"
Now, Su Bai was genuinely surprised.
Previously, he had killed that Soaring Demon, causing the underground water veins to grow, enriching the soil and water.
He was naturally aware that the Imperial City’s water veins were increasing.
But he hadn’t expected them to increase by this much.
However, Chen Juzheng’s Cultivation wasn’t particularly strong. Even with his so-called special Cultivation Technique, he might not have seen the true situation.
He had probably seen some signs and was half-surveying, half-guessing.
So, Su Bai deliberately said, "Aren’t your words a bit alarmist, Lord Chen?"
Chen Juzheng immediately grew agitated. He shot to his feet, the chains binding him clattering loudly!
He then laughed in anger. "Even you think I’m being alarmist!?"
"Heh! You ignorant fool! Do you have any idea what kind of disaster it will cause if these underground water veins continue to grow?"
"Please elaborate, Lord Chen."
"When the time comes, the water dragons will overturn the heavens! The Imperial City will be overthrown!"
Chen Juzheng’s expression was incredibly grim as he said, "The Great Xia Imperial City will likely turn into a kingdom of endless water!"
Su Bai was lost in thought.
’I’ll use my Divine Sense to investigate this thoroughly in a moment,’ he decided.
Chen Juzheng let out a long sigh, then lowered his head and said resentfully, "This humble official has always been loyal to the throne, and my heart has always been with the common people."
"For this reason, I submitted twenty consecutive death-remonstrance memorials to the Holy Emperor, but every single one was intercepted by that damned Minister of the Ministry of Water!"
"For the sake of so-called ’merit’ in water management, he wouldn’t even listen to the advice of me, his own Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water! Instead, he chose to believe some charlatan Fortune Teller from the Jianghu off the street!"
"He even resorted to petty tricks, slandering and framing me, and had me thrown in prison without a trial."
"Those maggots! Truly despicable!"
Su Bai frowned and couldn’t help but ask, "A charlatan Fortune Teller from the Jianghu?"
"Who might that be?"
Chen Juzheng’s chest heaved as he sneered, "Just some Fortune-Telling Warlock from the Imperial City’s East Gate, who claims to have heaven-defying abilities!"
"In reality, he just uses a few superficial tricks of cold reading to fool the common people!"
"It’s laughable that he’s actually treated like some kind of Immortal God!"
"A Fortune Teller from the east side of the city..."
Su Bai murmured to himself.
It seemed he had heard his colleagues talk about it before.
There was indeed such a figure at the Imperial City’s East Gate.
His predictions were said to be incredibly accurate, and the stories about him were legendary.
After his chat with Chen Juzheng ended, Su Bai got up and left.
As he walked down the corridor, Chen Juzheng’s words echoed in his mind.
’The entire Imperial City will turn into a vast ocean?’
Su Bai was clearly skeptical.
The Great Xia Imperial City had no ocean currents or seas nearby. Where would all this water come from to drown the entire city?
Unless... a demon was at work!
At this thought, Su Bai immediately unleashed his vast Divine Sense, sending it penetrating deep beneath the Imperial City!
ROAR!!
The endless sound of flowing and surging water filled his senses!
A moment later, Su Bai withdrew his Divine Sense, astonished.
’There really are a lot more water veins!’
Compared to before, there were about three to four times as many.
This was far greater than the effect he had previously detected from the Soaring Demon.
But it wasn’t as bad as Chen Juzheng had claimed, with a vast ocean forming underground!
In fact, if it were really as serious as Chen Juzheng said...
...the people from Great Xia’s Fate Peeping Pavilion would have reported it to Emperor Xia long ago. Would there have been any need for him to submit twenty death-remonstrances?
Still, the man’s character wasn’t bad.
He was just a bit of a worrywart.
The matter did, however, serve as a reminder for Su Bai, and he began to pay attention to it in secret.
At the same time, he also grew curious about that Fortune Teller.
He subconsciously guessed that this person might be related to the increase in water veins.
After all, just as Vice Minister Chen had sensed trouble underground, this fortune teller had bewitched the Minister of the Ministry of Water.
’Where in the world could you find such a coincidence?’
Back in the rest hall, Su Bai casually asked a few colleagues about the fortune teller, and to his surprise, every one of them said he was divine!
Except for Zhang Wei!
"Divine my ass!"
Zhang Wei cursed, "If that old geezer wasn’t so old and skinny as a dry twig, I would’ve smashed his stall to bits long ago!"
Seeing Zhang Wei so furious, Su Bai was about to ask what was wrong when a colleague from the Prison Suppression Bureau who knew the story immediately laughed and scolded him.
"You’re being so unreasonable!"
"The old master just said you wouldn’t find a wife before you turn forty, and you lost your temper!"
"And you want to smash his stall?"
Zhang Wei’s face flushed red, and he yelled in a fit of pique!
"I’ll get a matchmaker tomorrow!"
"I’ll have the wedding banquet next month!"
As soon as he said it, the room erupted in roaring laughter, filled with a cheerful atmosphere.