On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Just as the Luo family was being turned upside down.

The Imperial Palace, Zichen Hall.

Emperor Nangong Xiong of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who was not yet fifty years old, sat on the dragon throne with a livid face. Two people were kneeling in the center of the hall.

One of them was his fourth son, Nangong Jin.

The other was his most trusted chief eunuch, Cai Ming.

Nangong Jin was in better condition, since her clothes had been changed, the footprints were no longer visible, and there were no obvious external injuries on her face.

Cai Ming is in trouble.

The finger that the fat man had broken off was slung across his chest with a white cloth, crooked and twisted like an earthworm. He was crying his heart out, with snot and tears streaming down his face, looking just like a young widow who had lost her father.

"Father! You must do justice for your son!" Nangong Jin pleaded tearfully.

He suffered a great humiliation at the Regent's Palace yesterday and wanted to come and complain immediately, but Nangong Xiong had already gone to bed and he dared not disturb him.

I finally made it to this morning, but I still have to go to court first and listen to those ministers bickering.

After the court session ended, he finally had the opportunity to see Nangong Xiong.

"Lin Yi isn't stupid at all. Last night he forced himself on Qingyu and even had that fat Wang beat me up in public! Father, look, my chest hurts so much!"

Nangong Jin pointed to her chest and cried even harder.

"And then there's Eunuch Cai, who went to visit you on your orders, but that fat Wang broke his finger too! Father, Lin Yi and Wang Chongyu don't respect you at all! They're plotting a rebellion!"

Cai Ming, standing nearby, wailed and echoed, "Your Majesty! You must do justice for this old servant! That Fatty Wang called me an old eunuch dog and said he would pluck off the remaining half of my rotten cucumber and feed it to the dogs... Waaah... I've served you my whole life, and I've never suffered such humiliation!"

As Nangong Xiong listened to their tearful complaints, he felt a throbbing pain in his temples.

This isn't just hitting the fourth prince and the eunuchs, it's clearly slapping me in the face!

Have Lin Yi and his brother gone mad?

Or is it really true, as the fourth brother said, that the two of them are planning a rebellion?

"Bang!" Enraged, Nangong Xiong slammed his hand on the dragon table, making the teacups jump. "This is outrageous!"

In fact, Nangong Xiong was afraid of such a thing happening, so he had long wanted to reduce the power of the feudal lords.

When the late emperor and the old regent were conquering the country, they agreed to split the spoils in half.

But the old regent Lin Aotian refused, saying that he was just a warrior and not up to the task, and then took on the responsibility of guarding the northern border and resisting the barbarians.

At first, the late emperor didn't think too much about it because the Lin family wasn't very large and the old regent only had one son, so he agreed to give him a regent position that could be inherited.

Over the years, the Lin family has always been dutiful and maintained a very friendly and respectful relationship with the royal family.

It wasn't until the late emperor passed away and Nangong Xiong ascended the throne that he began to target the Lin family.

The Lin family was indeed disappointing; the old regent's only son, Lin Tong, committed suicide after his wife died in childbirth.

There was only an old man and a baby left in the family, so Nangong Xiong thought of taking this opportunity to reduce the power of the princes.

As long as the old regent is alive, there will always be a sword hanging over his head.

Finally, the opportunity came.

Lin Aotian died suddenly, and Lin Yi was stunned by the fall.

What the hell are we waiting for if we don't reduce the power of the feudal lords?

In order to avoid leaving a bad reputation, Nangong Xiong began to secretly buy off the Lin family's former connections, gradually eroding the Lin family's military power. In the end, he even tried to use Luo Qingyu to trick Lin Yi out of the military seal, completely driving this branch of the Lin family to its doom.

But now the whole plan is ruined!

Lin Yi, that idiot, isn't stupid anymore! He even ordered that fatso to beat my son!

Damn it, Nangong Xiong got angrier and angrier the more he thought about it.

"Your Majesty, please calm down." At this moment, Sun Fu, another old eunuch standing next to Nangong Xiong, bowed and advised.

He was older than Cai Ming and more composed. In his early years, he was a confidant of the late emperor.

"Your Majesty, this old servant feels there is something fishy about this matter."

Nangong Xiong looked at him: "What's the strange thing?"

"Your Majesty, think about it. If Lin Yi has been pretending to be stupid all along, what is he after? When the old Regent was alive, he was both a scholar and a warrior, the most outstanding young master in the capital, enjoying immense prestige. After the old Regent died, he fell and became stupid, becoming the laughing stock of the entire capital. If he were cunning, why would he use such a self-destructive method to pretend to be stupid? This doesn't make sense."

Cai Ming was displeased upon hearing this.

Thinking to herself, "Aren't you trying to poison my mind, you old bastard?" she immediately stopped crying and retorted in a shrill voice.

"Chief Steward Sun! What do you mean by that? Do you think the Fourth Prince and I would lie to His Majesty? The look in Lin Yi's eyes yesterday was definitely not something a fool could have! He was just pretending! He's been holding back for two years, just to give everyone a taste of his power today!"

Sun Fu shook his head, ignoring Cai Ming's clamor, and continued to say to Nangong Xiong, "Your Majesty, this old servant believes that Lin Yi may not be pretending to be stupid, but rather that he suddenly regained his senses due to some unexpected event. For example... what kind of stimulation did he experience on his wedding night yesterday?"

Nangong Xiong frowned, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the armrest.

Sun Fu's words are not without reason.

What's the point of pretending to be stupid for two years? Absolutely nothing.

But if he suddenly regained his senses due to a stimulus, then that makes sense.

The problem is, Lin Yi isn't stupid anymore, which means he can see that the royal family wants to reduce the power of the princes. Will he agree to this? What if he disagrees and impulsively decides to oppose the royal family?

After all, with the current military strength of the royal family, they simply cannot defeat the Lin family.

This is really a headache.

Just as Nangong Xiong was deep in thought, Zhang Yong, the commander of the Imperial Guards, entered from outside the hall and knelt down with a thud.

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened!"

Nangong Xiong's heart skipped a beat.

Unless something particularly important happens, Zhang Yong will not enter the palace.

"What's the matter? Speak quickly."

"Your Majesty! Just now, Minister of War Wang Tienan, citing the vulnerability of the capital's defenses and the fear of troublemakers, mobilized the Shenji Battalion to take full control of the defenses of all twelve city gates of the capital!"

"The soldiers guarding the city believed it was His Majesty's order and dared not disobey, so they were disarmed! Now, the entire capital is under the control of the Divine Machine Battalion!"

"What?!" Nangong Xiong suddenly stood up from the dragon throne, his eyes wide open and all color drained from his face.

Take over the city's defenses?

Did they disarm the soldiers guarding the city?

What the hell is this if not a rebellion?!

"You damned Wang Tienan! I've been praising you so much these past few days, and even sent you palace maids! You old bastard, you actually stabbed me in the back! You...you..." Nangong Xiong was so angry that his vision blurred and his body swayed.

Sun Fu immediately reached out to support you: "Your Majesty! Please take care of your health!"

"Father!"

"His Majesty!"

Everyone was stunned.

Wang Tienan's move was a complete disaster!

The Shenji Battalion was the strongest military force protecting the capital, with 5,000 men. More importantly, they were also equipped with heavy weapons such as the Eight-Ox Crossbow, the Ballista, and the Catapult.

Back then, the old regent led this army to withstand a month of relentless attacks from the Qin army of 200,000 men, finally holding out until reinforcements arrived.

My God!

With such an army stationed there, even if the emperor mobilized the other three battalions and all local garrison troops, it would be impossible for them to break into the capital and purge the court of corrupt officials.

He, Nangong Xiong, has become a caged bird!