Chapter 237

The imperial audience meeting ended, and orders poured in like stones dropped into a still lake, raising ripples that swiftly reached every nerve ending of the Great Chen dynasty.

The entire state apparatus began operating with unprecedented efficiency after Chen Wen's return.

Han Tong and Zhang Yongde mustered troops and gathered provisions; the capital's great camp bustled day and night, filled with the tense atmosphere of an impending battle.

Qian Gui's Inspection Bureau was like a wound-up clock, all spies and hidden posts fully activated, weaving an ever-tighter dragnet within Bianliangcheng;

Zhao Lao Nian's Ministry of Works experimental workshop kept its lights burning all night, the sounds of hammering, grinding, and tuning never ceasing, attempting to turn the concept of countering the Nether Energy Crystal Ore into reality;

Meanwhile, Zhang Cheng and Wang Pu had to coordinate and support two potential military fronts, while also engaging in a subtle contest with the Southern Tang envoy Zhong Mo.

Chen Wen, standing at the eye of this storm, instead entered a strange state of busy calm intertwined.

He did not again go to the front lines personally, but held Bian Liang, like a divine needle calming the sea, processing memorials that flew in like snowflakes and deciding on great and small affairs.

Although his time on the throne was still short, relying on his governance experience accumulated earlier in Chan Prefecture and Jiao Tu Zhen, plus his extraordinary energy and focus, his speed in handling affairs was extremely fast, and he often struck at the heart of the matter.

More importantly, in the process of reviewing memorials, hearing reports, and occasionally going incognito to gauge public sentiment, he gained a clearer sense of the vast Fortune Momentum he bore.

It was no longer merely a vague, unclear vortex swirling within his body.

When he attended court and saw officials invigorated by his decisions or awed by his dignity, he could feel the flow of Fortune Momentum quicken slightly, becoming more substantial;

When he approved a people‑benefiting edict, or learned that a region's livelihood had slightly improved under the new policies, that Fortune Momentum would, as if nourished, subtly grow and emit a gentle, vigorous vitality;

Even when he stood on a high palace balcony, overlooking the gradually revitalizing capital, seeing the thin cooking smoke rise from the lanes and hearing the bustling voices of the marketplace, he could also sense a faint but ceaseless breath rising from the myriad people, thread by thread flowing into the torrent of Fortune Momentum behind him.

This was not a one‑way taking.

Chen Wen could clearly sense that this vast Fortune Momentum also invisibly nourished him and the land he ruled.

It made his thoughts sharper, his mind more focused, and even when reviewing memorials into the night, the mental fatigue from granting abilities to others recovered much faster.

It was like an invisible field that enveloped Bian Liang and the areas initially submitting to the new dynasty's rule, subtly strengthening officials' execution, soothing the people's unease, and even… faintly repelling those attempting to infiltrate with malicious and chaotic qi.

For example, the Iron Crow Army.

That day, Chen Wen inspected the Ministry of Works' top‑secret experimental workshop in the company of Zhao Lao Nian.

Inside the workshop, Zhao Lao Nian excitedly showed Chen Wen his latest research result—a rather bulky device made of many copper rings of various sizes, reed plates, and resonance boxes.

"Your Majesty, please look!"

Zhao Lao Nian signaled a craftsman to carefully pick up a small fragment of Nether Energy Crystal Ore and place it about a foot from the device's core.

Then he personally turned a handle on the device's side, driving its internal precision mechanism.

A low, rhythm‑specific humming sound emanated from the device's resonance box.

At first, the crystal fragment showed nothing unusual.

But as Zhao Lao Nian adjusted the shaking speed, changing the hum's frequency, the fragment's surface faint blue light began to exhibit extremely fine, unstable flickering!

Even when the frequency was tuned to a certain specific node, the fragment itself emitted an almost inaudible 'hiss', as if engaging in an invisible contest with the sound wave!

"Your Majesty, I am incapable; I still cannot imitate a true Fortune Momentum undulation."

Zhao Lao Nian panted, stopped shaking, yet his face glowed with excitement.

"But after countless attempts, I have found that the 'rare tone' band produced by the resonance of seven sets of copper rings of different bores most clearly interferes with the stability of the Nether Energy Crystal Ore!"

"Although the effect is far inferior to Your Majesty's heavenly might and lasts only briefly, this proves the direction is correct!"

"Given time, if we could build a larger, more precise device, perhaps… perhaps we could really let those Iron Crow Army brats swallow a pot on the battlefield!"

Chen Wen carefully observed the crystal fragment that had temporarily lost its stable luster, and felt his own Fortune Momentum vortex's natural repulsion toward it, thus understanding clearly.

Zhao Lao Nian had indeed found a clever alternative approach.

Although the effect differs vastly, its significance is great.

"Well done."

Chen Wen nodded in approval.

"If you need anything, just speak up."

"If this succeeds, you shall be credited with the foremost merit."

Leaving the workshop, Chen Wen could clearly sense that when he approached the experimental device and the crystal ore, his internal Fortune Momentum produced a subtle sign of resonance and enhanced repulsion.

And when he moved away, this sign gradually subsided.

This gave him a more intuitive understanding of the essential opposition between Fortune Momentum and Nether Energy Crystal Ore.

At the same time, Qian Gui's counter‑espionage operation also achieved a breakthrough.

Leveraging the list and clues obtained from peddlers and Zhao Si, the Inspection Bureau followed the leads, successively uncovering two secret Iron Crow Army hideouts for personnel and materiel in Bianliangcheng and arresting over ten related individuals.

Although they still failed to root out the deeply hidden 'Cold Crow', this undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the Iron Crow Army's intelligence network within the city.

More importantly, from a captured mid‑level Iron Crow Army officer, Qian Gui pried out a key piece of information:

The master of the Iron Crow Army flew into a rage over the 'continuous node deviation', seemingly suffering some kind of backlash, and ordered that, no matter the cost, on the 'dark‑moon night'—the final night of this month—an ultimate plan called 'Blood Moon' be carried out.

This person did not know the plan's concrete details, only that at that time the city inside and out would rise simultaneously, aiming to 'plunge Bian Liang into a sea of fire and utterly topple the false Chen court'.

This news made Qian Gui's flesh creep; he rushed to the palace to report.

Chen Wen listened to Qian Gui's report, his countenance solemn.

He walked to the hall's window, gazing at the gradually darkening sky outside.

His internal Fortune Momentum vortex seemed to sense the approaching, ink‑thick malice, its rotation speed quietly increasing, exuding an aura as steadfast as a boulder yet hinting at thunder's might.

He could feel that, with the new dynasty's policies being steadily implemented, with military victories, and with the removal of internal corrupters, this Fortune Momentum was growing and solidifying at a slow but firm pace.

It was like a levee continually being raised, storing power, awaiting… perhaps a future moment of surge and burst.

Although he still could not actively command it, this tangible sense of existence and growth gave him considerable inner peace.

The Growth Progress Bar, after his victories in the northern borders, his return to the capital to stabilize the court, and now his feeling that Fortune Momentum is closely tied to state affairs, had quietly risen from 67% to 69%.

Though the increase is modest, it signifies that the new dynasty's foundations are being solidified inch by inch.

"Dark‑moon night…… Blood Moon plan……"

Chen Wen softly repeated those two words, a flash of icy cold light flickering in his eyes.

I am waiting for them.

He turned and ordered Qian Gui:

Step up surveillance, closely monitor any abnormal movements of palace personnel, and track the flow of all materials that could be used for arson or to create chaos.

At the same time, convey this news secretly to Han Tong and Zhang Yongde.

Tell them, I am in Bian Liang, awaiting their victorious report.

Let them not worry about the rear and act freely!

I want to see whether their 'Blood Moon' is fiercer, or my 'Fortune Momentum'... comes out on top!

Subject, I obey the edict!

Qian Gui bowed, accepted the order, and hurried away.

The hall returned to silence.

Chen Wen stood alone by the window, feeling the surging 'Fortune Momentum' within him, and the invisible storm gathering above Bianliangcheng.

The crisis was imminent, yet his heart grew ever calmer.

This calm stems from growing strength and confidence in his own path.

The initial probing of Fortune Momentum: though the road ahead is hard, its path is not lonely.