On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

"Rebellion! This is outrageous!" Realizing his predicament, Nangong Xiong kicked over the imperial desk and roared, "Guards! Summon Wang Tienan to the palace immediately! I want to personally question him about his intentions!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Sun Fu immediately stopped him. "Now that things have come to this, there's no point in bringing up Wang Tienan any further."

"Why! I'm going to ambush axemen and hack Wang Tienan to death the moment he walks in! I refuse to believe that the Shenji Battalion soldiers will listen to Fatty Wang!"

"This old servant begs Your Majesty to reconsider." Sun Fu appeared very calm and thoughtful. "This old servant believes that if Wang Tienan really wanted to rebel, the Shenji Battalion would probably have already stormed in by now! The reason they are holding back is that they do not want to break ties with Your Majesty."

Nangong Xiong continued to roar, "Nonsense! I'm already a caged bird. Isn't this enough to tear off the mask of civility?"

"Your Majesty, please consider this: if Wang Tienan insists on rebelling, will he still come to the palace if you summon him?"

Damn, that's true.

Nangong Xiong gritted his teeth, sat back on the dragon throne, and said, "Then tell me what to do? I absolutely cannot be blackmailed by them!"

"Your Majesty," Sun Fu said, "This old servant feels that there must be something fishy about Wang Tienan's sudden actions. But whatever the reason, he is only the Minister of War, without the funds from the Ministry of Revenue. How will he support these five thousand men? We can tell the Ministry of Revenue not to provide any funds, and then observe the situation. Once Wang Tienan is unable to pay the soldiers, the Shenji Battalion soldiers will naturally be dissatisfied. At that time, Your Majesty can secretly bribe them. This way, we will save ourselves trouble... Haven't you always wanted the military power of the Shenji Battalion? This is a good opportunity."

Nangong Xiong stared at the scattered memorials on the ground and nodded secretly.

For many years, the Shenji Battalion has been the direct line of the Lin family, impenetrable to any influence.

Nangong Xiong tried every means to bribe those generals, but these lousy soldiers were impervious to reason and would rather follow the Lin family and live a life of hardship than betray them.

Now, Wang Tienan has personally brought this opportunity to us.

Hehehe, very well, Wang Tienan, I'd like to see how you're going to feed this group of people!

The day they become my private soldiers will be the day your whole family is beheaded!

Your unfilial son dared to hit my son! I'll skin him alive and use his skin as a mattress!

"Sun Fuyan is right. A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan. Very well, issue an order to immediately and secretly mobilize the military equipment of the other three major battalions, ready for battle at any moment. Also, send someone to keep an eye on the movements of the Shenji Battalion, and report any developments immediately."

Zhang Yong knelt on the ground, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "This humble general obeys the order."

With the imperial decree from Nangong Xiong, everyone felt a little relieved.

But before the eunuchs could even lift the dragon throne, another spy responsible for delivering intelligence rushed in.

"Your Majesty! Urgent report from the capital!"

"What is it now?" Nangong Xiong roared irritably.

"Your Majesty, Regent Lin Yi and Wang Chongyu, this morning, led dozens of men and barged into the residence of Luo Hongtu, an assistant minister in the Ministry of Personnel, saying... saying they wanted to reclaim the one million taels of betrothal gifts!"

"What?!" Nangong Xiong felt a surge of heat rush to his head.

One million taels of silver as a bride price!

He had already explained this money to Luo Hongtu.

The Luo family only took 10,000 taels from the money from selling their daughter, and sent the remaining 990,000 taels into his private treasury.

He was just about to send someone to retrieve it, but Lin Yi beat him to it and tried to snatch it back!

"You bastard!" Nangong Xiong cursed angrily, "How dare he! That's my money!!"

Sun Fu lowered his head in deep thought.

The whole affair was interconnected. Lin Yi first beat the princes and eunuchs to establish his authority, then ordered Wang Tienan to seal off the capital, cutting off the royal family's escape route, and finally robbed money to support the Shenji Battalion.

Lin Yi has not actually regained his senses at all.

This thing is fucking intelligent!

"Your Majesty, please calm down! Your health is of utmost importance!" Sun Fu, having come to his senses, quickly stepped forward to support him.

Nangong Xiong's eyes were bloodshot. He pushed him aside, rushed to the dragon's desk, grabbed a brush, and began to write furiously on a blank imperial edict.

He can't control Wang Tienan now; he has to protect his own money first!

Once this money falls into Lin Yi's hands, the Shenji Battalion will have no worries about food and drink for at least ten years!

He can't wait that long!

After finishing writing, he shoved the imperial edict into Sun Fu's hand and roared, "Sun Fu! Go to the Luo residence immediately and proclaim this edict! Tell that little bastard Lin Yi that he won't touch a single penny of the one million taels of silver! It's mine! Mine!!"

"This old servant obeys the decree."

......

"Oh my god, Auntie, we're here to collect a debt, not to do anything to you. You've been crying and whining all morning, isn't that annoying?" the fat man complained, sitting on the stone bench, his face full of impatience.

Li's chest was soaked with tears, which flowed like a burst dam.

Hearing the fat man's words, she wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and shouted, "Filthy language! Fatty Wang, you disregard the law and humiliate an official's family! His Majesty will not let you get away with this!"

Lin Yi was watching his retainers load silver onto the prepared carriage when he heard their conversation. He kicked the fat man's foot and said, "Fatty, you're something else. People lose money and you won't even let them cry a little? That's too domineering."

"No, bro, Fatty hates old women crying all the time. We didn't do anything to her, did we? She just got pinched by Er Gou. Who told her to hide such a nice jade pendant in her bosom?" Fatty said, then turned his head and suddenly saw a familiar figure.

"Hey? This chick's not bad, Fatty feels like I've seen her somewhere before, bro..."

The young woman he was referring to was hiding behind the pillars of the Luo family's corridor, dressed in a pure white dress.

Lin Yi turned around and saw that it was Xiuzhu.

Why did she come?

Lin Yi waved to her, signaling her to come over.

Unexpectedly, Xiuzhu's expression changed, and she turned and ran!

"Grab her!" Lin Yi gave the order, and several retainers carrying boxes immediately put them down and ran out.

"Ah! Let me go!! Help!"

Xiuzhu was grabbed by the servants, and two of them held her wrists and forcibly dragged her in front of Lin Yi.

In fact, Lin Yi didn't have a bad feeling about Xiuzhu, because she was just a maid with no personal freedom and no right to refuse Luo Qingyu.

Such unfortunate people are powerless to do any bad things.

Of course, unless she herself is bad.

Lin Yi, his face stern, asked, "Xiuzhu, why are you hiding? Tell me."

"I... Your Highness..."

"Speak! Or you'll die!"

Xiuzhu cried, large tears streaming down her face. "Your Highness, spare me... This servant... This servant came to deliver a message to the master..."

The fat guy was the most cheeky; he leaned over and reached his hand into Xiuzhu's collar.

Lin Yi slapped him across the face.

"Snapped!"

"What are you doing?"

The fat man withdrew his hand and grinned lewdly, "Hehehe, Fatty's helping Big Brother get the letter."

"Get out of here," Lin Yi snapped irritably.

That bastard! It's one thing to flirt with Li Shi, but Xiu Zhu is only fifteen years old. You're a grown man, yet you come up here and try to take advantage of her.

"Let her go." Lin Yi looked at Xiuzhu. "I'll do it myself."