My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

The drizzle outside the hall had intensified at some point, and the rain streaked obliquely across the windowpanes, casting a constantly shifting shadow on the floor inside the hall.

"When the rain started, the waves got bigger too," Fujiwara Shujin continued, his hand unconsciously clenching into a fist on his knee.

"Many small islands in the South China Sea have completely disappeared into the rising waves..."

"Later on, the water level on the islands of our major countries became quite high." His voice lowered.

"If we don't leave now, all the islands in the South China Sea will probably be submerged! We have no choice but to gather all the ships and take everyone away."

Fujiwara no Shūjin hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth: "Originally, I planned to go to the southern part of the Great Flame Kingdom to occupy a city and recuperate."

"But we encountered a storm at sea, which blew our fleet here."

The other elders also chimed in from time to time, saying that the Prime Minister was right, that was indeed the case.

The Javanese king's voice remained gruff: "That storm was enormous! I've lived most of my life and never seen such a storm. We lost nearly half our ships!"

The Great King of Yashiro nodded vigorously beside him, his thin face still showing the paleness of shock.

Ashina pondered for a moment, then gently tapped his fingers on the red agate on the armrest of the throne.

The tapping sound echoed repeatedly in the silent hall, overlapping with the dripping sound under the eaves outside, one inside and one outside, like some ancient and steady timekeeping.

The sunlight streaming in through the high windows cast interplay of light and shadow on his face, making his already angular features appear even more unfathomable.

He then spoke, his voice unhurried: "You said the torrential rain started in the southeast, gradually expanding until it engulfed the entire South China Sea?"

The people below were taken aback, wondering why he was asking this, but they still replied yes.

Ashina did not respond to him again, but turned his head to look at the person sitting in the first seat on the left.

That was his prime minister, Dashiman Kang—a thin man nearing fifty, with some gray hair and beard.

Dashiman wore a dark gray robe, and unlike the other ministers, his cuffs and collar were almost unadorned, making him seem unlike a prime minister.

But his eyes revealed a sharpness that suggested he had everything under control.

Dashiman was someone who had followed Ashina before he unified the Western Regions, and the two fought side by side in the Western Regions for many years.

He once tricked an enemy army three times the size of the Flame Eater into getting lost in the desert for three days and three nights, and was finally easily captured by the ambushed enemy.

It even led a city that had held out for half a year to surrender in a single day...

The fact that Shi Yan was able to unify the Western Regions in such a short time can be largely attributed to the contributions of Da Shi Man.

He was Ashina's strategist, and Ashina trusted him the most.

Ashina asked him, his voice now tinged with seriousness:

"According to our scouts in the Great Flame City, the city has been shrouded in torrential rain since yesterday afternoon. The Prime Minister of the Dashi Barbarian Kingdom believes—"

Is it possible that the natural disaster in the South China Sea could be repeated by the Great Flame?

A gust of wind blew through the eaves of the hall, slanting the raindrops. A few fine water droplets splashed onto the window frame of the high window, making a soft pattering sound.

Immediately afterwards, a gust of wind carrying the chill of rain squeezed in through the window cracks, causing the candlelight on the wall to droop low and then suddenly spring back up.

Da Shi Man did not answer immediately. Instead, he first pulled a scroll from his sleeve—

It was a sheepskin map depicting the entire territory of the Great Flame and the Western Regions.

He slowly traced his finger across the map, locating Mo City, then moved it gently, his fingertips rubbing against the parchment with a barely audible rustling sound. His lips moved silently.

After a moment, he raised his head, his gaze resolute: "I believe it is highly likely."

He presented the map to Ashina, pointing to the location of Mo City on the map—

It was a small town on the northwestern border of the Great Flame, bordering the Devouring Flame.

"According to the Prime Minister of Chouren, the wind and rain came from the southeast and moved northwest. Mo City is located northwest of Dayan."

Da Shiman paused, then a smile spread across his thin face: "Since it's already raining in Mo City, then other areas of Da Yan—will only be hit by torrential rain sooner!"

"Now I wonder if this rain will last as long as the rain in the South China Sea..." His eyes gleamed.

However, while they would like the rain to continue, there is a possibility that it might stop after a couple of days.

Da Shiman continued, "After all, storms at sea are usually reduced in intensity once they reach the shore. The heavy rain in the South China Sea is nothing more than a drizzle in our Western Regions."

"The Great Flame region is vast, with numerous mountain ranges. When a storm passes through, it will inevitably be blocked by the terrain, and the intensity and duration of the rain may be weakened."

Ashina nodded to indicate that he understood. He leaned back on his throne, his gaze falling on the hazy light of day outside the palace.

The rain outside the window had stopped, with only a few drops of water still dripping from the eaves, pattering on the stone steps.

However, the sky did not clear up; the clouds remained low and heavy, hanging over the capital. It looked like the rain would continue.

He hoped that the rain from the Great Flame would last longer, much longer.

Natural disasters and earthquakes are most likely to cause chaos.

A country is most vulnerable not when it is besieged by an enemy, but when it is bullied by fate.

When the enemy besieges the city, the soldiers and civilians inside can still fight together against the enemy; but when natural disasters strike, crops fail, houses collapse, and refugees are everywhere, everyone will worry about their own lives first, and who will care about the imperial court?

The Great Flame had only recently stabilized, the Six Ministries of the Imperial Court had just been rebuilt, spring planting had only just ended, and the wheat seedlings had barely sprouted. The harvest was still a long way off.

Those divine books, surely, haven't been fully understood yet. No matter how good the content in the books is, someone still needs the time to study them.

If this torrential rain disaster were to occur at this time...

Ashina revealed a cruel smile, the smile curving from one corner of his mouth and slowly extending to the corner of his eyes, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

That's really like heaven is on his side!

He was about to tell everyone to disperse.

These people from the South China Sea have endured so many days of drifting and fright at sea; they need a good rest. He also needs to discuss the follow-up arrangements with Dashiman privately.

This includes how to resettle the people in the South China Sea, how to allocate the ships, and how they will take advantage of any natural disasters that may occur after the Great Flame...

Just then, another scout arrived with news. It was a scout from Fengcheng, another town further south in the western border of the Great Flame.

The scout knelt on one knee in the center of the hall, holding up a bamboo tube sealed with wax. His robes were mostly wet, and when his knees touched the ground, they left two dark watermarks on the stone slab.

His clothes were still covered in mud and grass scraps from riding at full speed, and rainwater dripped from the hem of his clothes onto the ground, quickly forming a small puddle.

Ashina took the bamboo tube handed to him by the servant, used a dagger to pry open the seal, and pulled out the secret letter inside.

Suddenly, the clouds outside the hall parted, letting in a pale ray of light that shone onto the stone steps in front of the hall. Then, the clouds quickly closed again.

He glanced down, and his smile deepened.

Good news keeps coming!