I started as an exile, and I relied on space to support my family of loyal heroes.

The empress frowned and stared at Wang Dadao, "How did you get into Chiyan City?"

She had not thought about this question before, but Shi Jian's question made her mind clearer.

According to what Wang Dadao said, he must have entered Chiyan City and strolled around inside.

How could the enemy allow Wang Dadao to roam around Chiyan City?

Now that Chiyan City has been occupied by enemy forces, the defense must be very strict.

Shi Jian listened to the empress's words and looked at Wang Dadao with a flickering look in his eyes. He felt a pang in his heart and stepped forward to grab Wang Dadao's collar.

"Tell me, how did you get into Chiyan City?"

At that time, he was shocked by what Wang Dadao said and didn't think about this problem.

Wang Dadao was so scared when he saw Shi Jian's ferocious face magnified in front of him that he almost wet his pants.

He had a sad face and trembling voice said,

"I...I changed into civilian clothes outside the city and sneaked into Chiyan City."

"The gate of Chiyan City is not closed at all. If you don't believe me, General, you can send someone to check."

"It rained heavily in Chiyan City, causing ice to form on the roads. There were also ice blocks on the houses throughout the city."

"When my subordinates went to Chiyan City, all the soldiers in the city were de-icing the official roads."

"There were also many civilians helping to remove the ice, so I pretended to be a civilian and went in, and no one stopped me."

Wang Dadao thought about the situation in Chiyan City when he was out of the city, and made some arrangements, extending the ice removal work to outside the city.

In fact, when he was caught, the soldiers were removing ice inside Chiyan City and had not yet been taken out of the city.

However, no matter what, he would never admit that he was captured by the enemy.

If he said it now, he would have no way out.

Shi Jian narrowed his eyes and stared at Wang Dadao, "Are you serious?!"

"Really...really, it's absolutely true." Wang Dadao said quickly, "If I tell a lie, I will be struck by lightning and die miserably!!"

Bah, bah, bah, it doesn’t count, God bless you!!

I was forced into this, so my oath doesn't count.

If he wanted to chop something, he would chop the hardest rock. He killed more people.

Wang Dadao looked at Shi Jian pitifully with his watery eyes, and kept withdrawing the oath he had made in his heart.

"It's raining in Chiyan City!?" The empress accurately grasped the key point of what Wang Dadao said.

Chiyan City and Huanlian City are adjacent to each other, and both are suffering from severe drought. It has been almost a year since it rained.

If Chiyan City was not located at a high altitude and there was some snow on several high mountains, it would have collapsed long ago.

However, she has received many reports from Chiyan City in the past two months, and they all talk about the water shortage problem.

What can she do if it doesn't rain?

It hadn't rained in Chiyan City for such a long time, but it started raining as soon as the enemy entered. Isn't this too much of a coincidence?

Could it be that even God is on the side of the enemy?

Is the Wu Ma family so blessed by God?

The empress trembled and couldn't help feeling a little disheartened.

Shi Jian gave Wang Dadao a sharp look, loosened his collar, and turned to look at the empress.

"Your Majesty, it rained in Chiyan City on the morning of New Year's Eve."

The empress sat up straight, her phoenix eyes falling on Shi Jian.

On New Year’s Eve...?

She did hear faint thunder that day, but it wasn't very loud, so she didn't take it seriously.

Thunder in winter is not a good sign. If you can't hear it clearly, you will naturally treat it as nothing.

No one in the capital mentioned this matter and it was just passed over.

It turned out that after all the commotion, it was raining in Chiyan City and there was indeed thunder.

The empress asked, "How long has it been raining?"

Shi Jian turned and looked at Wang Dadao.

He didn't know how long it rained, but the thunder started in the morning.

Wang Dadao took a breath and replied in a trembling voice,

"Your Majesty, the rain in Chiyan City continued until the sun set."

When he encountered rain halfway through his journey, he waited at the place where the dry and wet areas were separated until the rain stopped before continuing on his way to Chiyan City.

Fortunately, he continued on his way as soon as the rain stopped, otherwise the road would have been really difficult to walk on if all the rain water had frozen.

On the way back, God knows how many times he fell, and he was almost crippled.

The road was so frozen that it was hard and slippery.

The empress looked at Wang Dadao in shock and murmured, "It took so long."

Shi Jian looked at the empress impatiently, feeling extremely anxious.

How can you still care about whether it will rain or not? Now we should quickly solve the problems of the Wu Ma family.

Shi Jian frowned and looked towards the empress.

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task right now is to immediately arrest all the direct descendants of the Wu Ma family."

"The Wu Ma family doesn't know they have been exposed yet, so this is a good time to strike."

“If all the direct descendants of the Wu Ma family run away, and then the Wu Ma family members come to the imperial city, there will be nothing we can do.”

With the hostage in hand, the Wu Ma family dared not act rashly.

The empress frowned, feeling extremely conflicted.

What if... What if Wang Dadao made a mistake and she touched the direct descendants of the Wu Ma family, would that cause the Wu Ma family to become angry?

But if Wang Dadao was correct, she had no hostages in her hands, so she could only let the Wu Ma family control her.

The empress couldn't help but grip the chair tightly with both hands, staring straight at Shi Jian.

Shi Jian looked at the empress with great determination, "Your Majesty, time waits for no one."

The longer you delay, the greater the danger.

The people of the Wu Ma family must have known the news of his departure from Huanlian City.

Who knows what the Wu Ma family will do.

The empress took a deep breath and pursed her lips.

"Shi Jian!!"

"...I'm here!" Shi Jian was stunned and responded loudly.

The empress looked at Shi Jian seriously.

"I order you to bring fifty imperial guards to bring the direct descendants of the Wu Ma family to the palace immediately."

"Notice!"

The empress stared at Shi Jian and warned,

"Don't tell anyone that they are being arrested. Just tell them that I want to meet the direct descendants of the Wu Ma family and give those children a New Year reward."

"Go quietly, invite people here respectfully, and don't cause unnecessary panic."

"Otherwise, you may not be able to bring those people back from the Wu Ma family's assassins."

If she had known that the Wu Ma family was rebelling, she would have kept the direct descendants of the Wu Ma family at the New Year’s Eve banquet.

Alas, it’s a pity that she realized it too late.

However, the adult descendants of the Wu Ma family are all in Lingxiao City, and those who remain in the imperial city are all underage children.

This is a good thing. Adults will be more vigilant and children won’t have so many thoughts.

Moreover, she has always been very fond of the children of the Wu Ma family and would often invite them to visit her in the palace.

It was just the Chinese New Year, so there were good reasons to invite those children into the palace.

The empress suppressed her nervousness and stared at Shi Jian.