Tang Dynasty: Starting with Dimo, he was targeted by Li Shimin.

Chapter 30 It's even more useful than my Censorate.

The next day.

Day three.

——Xing Guogong Mansion.

Fang Xuanling hasn't slept much since the court session ended yesterday.

It's not insomnia—it's a mountain of official business to handle.

Li Shimin issued an imperial edict yesterday ordering "supplementary planting in all counties of the capital region," but the matter is not entirely settled after the edict is issued—

The disaster data reported by each county needs to be compiled and summarized.

The quantity of grain seeds allocated needs to be calculated on a county-by-county basis.

Which counties were most severely affected and require priority for supplies, and which counties still have the capacity to recover on their own?

All of these need to be sorted out today.

Because if this issue isn't resolved today, the seeds can't be distributed, and the people won't be able to cultivate the land.

Even if it rains, it won't matter.

In Fang Xuanling's study, the table was covered with reports from all over the country—

It was a thick stack, with more than thirty portions.

Each report was filled with densely packed numbers: affected acreage, existing grain varieties, registered population, proportion of arable land...

Fang Xuanling rubbed his temples.

He started looking at it at dawn, and after three hours, he has only dealt with less than half of it.

At this rate, it will take at least another day and a half to process everything.

But he only has today.

"Sigh..." He sighed and picked up his pen again.

Just then—

"Buzz."

The ball inside the cuff lit up.

Then--

A small, light gray figure jumped out of the ball and landed steadily on the table.

Little Spirit Face.

It stood upright, its two little paws tucked behind its back, its deep eyes gazing at the reports piled on the table.

Fang Xuanling was taken aback.

"Why did you come out on your own? Didn't the shopkeeper say that the master had to release you voluntarily?"

Little Spirit tilted its head.

Then it did something that left Fang Xuanling speechless—

It stretched out a small paw and pointed to the stack of reports on the table.

Then he shook his head.

He then pointed to one of the reports—the one on top.

Then he shook his head again.

"You mean... there's a problem with this report?" Fang Xuanling asked tentatively.

Little Spirit nodded.

Fang Xuanling picked up the report and looked at it—

It was a disaster report sent from Lantian County. It stated, "3,200 mu of farmland have been affected by the disaster, and there are less than 100 shi of grain remaining. We request the imperial court to urgently allocate grain."

The data looks normal.

It is even more standardized than the data from other counties.

"What's wrong with this...?"

Little Spirit jumped down from the table and walked to the report.

It pointed with its little paws to the figure "3,200 mu of farmland affected by the disaster" in the report.

Then he pointed to another report—from Chang'an County—which read, "Two thousand eight hundred mu of farmland were affected by the disaster."

Then Little Spirit made a gesture indicating "size"—

Lantian County is smaller than Chang'an County.

However, the disaster-affected area reported by Lantian County was larger than that of Chang'an County.

If the severity of the drought were comparable, this wouldn't make logical sense.

Unless the data from Lantian County is fabricated.

Fang Xuanling's pupils suddenly contracted.

He quickly pulled out the household registration records from Lantian County to compare—

really.

The total arable land area in Lantian County is just over 4,000 mu.

If 3,200 acres are indeed affected by the disaster, then 80% of the land has died from drought.

However, according to the verbal report from the inspector a few days ago, although the disaster situation in Lantian County is serious, it has not reached 80%.

That is to say-

The magistrate of Lantian County falsely reported the disaster situation.

There was only one goal—to obtain more disaster relief grain.

Whose pocket did the extra grain go?

No need to guess.

The magistrate of Lantian County was surnamed Cui.

A branch of the Cui clan of Boling.

"…………"

Fang Xuanling's hands were trembling slightly.

It's not fear.

It was shocking.

He looked at the little spirit face standing quietly on the table.

"How...how did you figure that out?"

Little Spirit tilted its head.

Then it made a gesture with its two little paws—

A claw pointed at the text on the report.

It pointed to its own eye with its other paw.

Then he shook his head.

It means—

I didn't figure it out from the text.

I figured it out by "seeing".

It doesn't look at data.

It is looking at the intentions of the person who wrote this report.

The wording, terminology, and selection of figures in each report—

They all bear the traces of the writer's emotions.

There are subtle differences in the wording between accurate and fabricated disaster reports.

The truth will be more specific and more chaotic because the writer is genuinely in a hurry.

The fake will be more standardized and orderly because the writer is carefully fabricating it.

The Little Spirit's characteristic of "fright" makes it inherently extremely sensitive to "reality and illusion"—

From its "perspective," each report is marked with a different "color"—

The truth is transparent.

What is false is murky.

It doesn't require knowledge of government affairs.

You don't need to understand data.

It only needs one glance to know which one is real and which one is fake.

Fang Xuanling stared at the little spirit face for a long time.

Then he slowly, one by one, pushed the more than thirty reports on the table in front of Xiaoling.

"Help me...read them all."

Little Spirit nodded.

Then it starts working.

Scanning them one by one—

After reading each report, it would push it to the left or right.

The left side is "true". The right side is "false".

Extremely fast.

In less than three breaths.

More than thirty reports—

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn—

All done.

Twenty-two copies on the left.

Eleven on the right.

Eleven of them are fake.

Fang Xuanling flipped through the stack on the right one by one—

Lantian County, Liquan County, Yunyang County, Fuping County...

These are all counties where powerful clans hold sway.

They are taking advantage of the drought to falsely report the extent of the disaster and fraudulently obtain disaster relief grain.

The nation is in peril.

They are still profiting from the national crisis.

Fang Xuanling closed his eyes.

Silent for a long time.

Then he opened his eyes and looked at the little spirit face.

"Your skill—"

"It's more effective than all thirty censors in the Censorate combined."

Little Spirit tilted its head.

I don't quite understand what the "Imperial Censorate" is.

But it sensed something in Fang Xuanling's eyes—

gratitude.

And a little bit—heartache.

I feel sorry for the people who are truly suffering from the disaster, whose suffering has been covered up by false reports.

The little spirit walked to Fang Xuanling's side and gently touched the back of his hand with its tiny paws.

"…………"

Fang Xuanling looked down at the tiny purple sprite.

Then he reached out and gently stroked its head.

"Come with me to see His Majesty."

(⊙ω⊙)

Half an hour later.

Ganlu Temple.

Li Shimin is reviewing memorials.

Fang Xuanling strode in, carrying Xiao Lingmian in his arms and clutching two stacks of memorials in his hands.

"His Majesty!!"

He slammed the two stacks of reports onto the table with a "thud".

"The stack on the left—the actual disaster situation."

"The stack on the right—fake disaster reports."

"Eleven counties are falsifying data to fraudulently obtain disaster relief grain; all of them are counties controlled by powerful clans!"

Li Shimin paused.

The calligraphy brush in his hand fell onto the memorial.

The ink had seeped into a large patch.

He didn't notice at all.

"How did you find out?"

"Little Spirit Face." Fang Xuanling placed the gray spirit in his arms on the table.

The little spirit stood upright on the table, its two tiny paws tucked behind its back.

He watched Li Shimin quietly.

Li Shimin looked at it.

It looked at Li Shimin.

They stared at each other for three seconds.

Li Shimin's lips slowly curved into a smile.

"Fang Xuanling."

"Your subject is present."

"You said the other day that this elf is worth more than gold—"

"I now feel that you have spoken too leniently."

He looked into Xiao Ling's deep eyes.

His eyes held a shrewdness unique to emperors—

"Could it... help me take a look at the memorials?"

"It's not about the content—"

"It depends on... whether the person writing the memorial is telling the truth."

Fang Xuanling's pupils contracted slightly.

He immediately understood what Li Shimin meant.

If the little spirit could distinguish the authenticity of reports—

Then it can distinguish the authenticity of all the memorials presented.

Are the ministers' suggestions sincere or just perfunctory?

Are the performance reports of local officials true or false?

Are the accusations in the impeachment memorial true or false?

even--

At every morning assembly, are the words spoken by everyone sincere or just an act?

This elf—

It's a living, walking, portable lie detector.

Placed in the Tang Dynasty court—

Its value cannot be measured in gold.

It is priceless.

"Your Majesty... will discuss it with Xiao Lingmian." Fang Xuanling quickly hugged Xiao Lingmian back into his arms.

"After all, he's socially awkward, so we can't push him too hard."

"Yes." Li Shimin nodded.

Then I glanced at Little Spirit Face again.

His eyes clearly said—

Xuanling, don't hide it too well.

I will need to borrow it sooner or later.

Fang Xuanling hugged the little spirit even tighter.

—At the same time.

Magical Object Shop.

Lin Luo stood on the courtyard wall, looking at the scene outside.

His breathing stopped for a moment.

Outside the wall—

It's no longer just a few water-type Pokémon scattered around.

There are twelve.

A total of twelve water-type spirits quietly gathered within a radius of a hundred paces around the Magic Treasure Shop.

Three water bubble shells, four small otters, two double-lantern fish, two plate-shelled fish, and one he had never seen before—

A jellyfish-like sprite, its entire body shimmering, its tentacles glowing faintly in the morning light—

Emerald jellyfish.

They remained quietly in their respective positions.

In puddles, in shady places, and in the corners of walls—

Like a group of soldiers waiting for orders.

And on the system panel—

[Shelter Status: Aquatic Clan - Active]

[Currently, there are 12 Water-type Pokémon in the area]

Surface moisture content: continues to rise.

Atmospheric water vapor concentration: has reached 87% of the critical value for precipitation.

87%.

Another 13% increase —

It will rain.

Real rain.

It wasn't just a drop or two of drizzle.

It is a continuous downpour that can thoroughly irrigate parched farmland.

Lin Luo looked at that number.

Then he looked at the sky.

Today's sky—

It's completely different from the previous few days.

Thick clouds are gathering from all directions.

Not a tiny, paper-thin piece.

It was a thick, grayish-white cloud cover that covered the entire sky and was heavy with moisture.

It's a rain cloud.

A real rain cloud.

Lin Luo took a deep breath.

Nowadays.

It's today.

He jumped off the wall and walked up to the twelve water-type spirits.

They all looked up at him at the same time.

The bubble-shell tilted its head. "Bubble?"

The little otters stopped picking up pebbles.

The two-lampfish's barbels lit up briefly.

The tentacles of the jade jellyfish curled up slightly.

Lin Luo squatted down and looked at them.

"I need your help today."

The twelve water-type spirits listened quietly.

Although they don't understand human language.

But they sensed it—

The aura of the human in front of them carried something familiar.

The aura of water-based magic.

The atmosphere of a shelter.

The feeling of home.

They tilted their heads and looked at Lin Luo.

Let him continue.

Shui Lanlan peeked her head out from over the wall, her bow bow askew at a 180-degree angle—she had completely flipped over.

Its eyes shone with a light it had never seen before.

Because it knows—

Today, it is no longer the only water-type Pokémon.

It has companions now.

Many, many companions.

"blue!!"

It jumped off the wall and landed among the twelve water-type spirits.

The ribbon fluttered in the wind.

The boss lady has arrived.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

at the same time.

Above Chang'an City.

The clouds are getting thicker and thicker.

lower and lower.

The moisture in the air was so concentrated that—

You can feel the slight dampness by extending your finger.

It's been two months.

Sixty days.

The people of Chang'an looked up at the increasingly dark sky.

unbelievable.

And yet I desperately try to believe.

Is it...is it going to rain?

"Are those clouds real? Or am I dreaming?"

"It's true... Look over there! The clouds over there are even thicker!"

The entire city held its breath.

Waiting.

Praying.

And in the backyard of the Magical Artifact Shop—

Lin Luo stood up.

Looking at the rain clouds overhead, which seemed almost within reach.

Then he said softly:

"Let's go."

……