On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

At the entrance of the Ministry of Revenue's residence.

A gilded statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, over three meters tall, stood upright in the center of the gate, completely blocking the way and forcing visiting officials to detour around it.

The Bodhisattva statue is exquisitely carved, but its face exudes an indescribable eeriness, a smile that is neither truly smiling nor truly sad. It reflects a cold, chilling light in the morning sunlight, sending shivers down one's spine.

The passersby dared not approach, and could only stand at a distance, pointing and whispering.

"Hey, look, isn't that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva? Why has it been moved to the entrance of the Minister's residence?"

"Who knows? It looks really creepy. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is in charge of hell. Placing this at someone's doorstep is like cursing their whole family to hell! That's so mean!"

"I've heard! Yesterday, Young Master Wang led his troops and smashed up all the gambling dens on Qinglong Street. I heard that the powerful figure behind those gambling dens is none other than Minister Linghu of the Ministry of Revenue!"

"My God! Is this for real? Smashing the casino wasn't enough, he even brought a Buddha statue to block the entrance? Young Master Wang's style is just too domineering!"

"Overbearing? I think being overbearing is a good thing! Those casinos have ruined so many families, they should have been smashed long ago! Linghu Lan, that corrupt official, as the Minister of Revenue, doesn't think about how to manage the country's finances, all he knows is running casinos to make dirty money, he deserves it!"

Although the people's discussions were not loud, they couldn't stop them from talking about it every day. The gatekeepers were all furious, but they couldn't do anything to these poor folks.

Inside the mansion, in the east room of the main hall.

Linghu Lan, the Minister of Revenue, was a pampered old man in his fifties who was used to a life of luxury. At this moment, he lay on a soft couch with his eyes closed and his face pale. A damp towel was covering his forehead, and he occasionally murmured a few words.

This was clearly caused by extreme anger, which led to his illness.

The legal wife, Liu, a woman dressed in flamboyant attire, was kneeling beside him, wiping away tears with a handkerchief, wailing and cursing.

"You damned Fatty Wang! You fat pig who deserves to die a horrible death! It wasn't enough that you smashed up our casino, you had to bring in this broken Buddha statue to disgust us! Are you trying to curse our whole family to perish?! I'll fight you to the death! Waaaaah..."

Besides her, several other court officials were also standing in the hall, the leader of whom was none other than the current prime minister, Liu Wentao.

Standing next to him was Qian Deguang, the Vice Minister of Revenue, who had just been slapped twenty times in public by Fatty Wang at Yanlai Tower a few days ago.

His face was still swollen, and his speech was somewhat slurred: "Your Excellency, you must do us justice! Lin Yi and Fatty Wang are going too far! They're trying to drive us to our deaths!"

On the other side, Duke Xun, Zhang Zenan, also looked resentful.

His beloved son, Zhang Chuang, was kicked into eunuch status by Lin Yi, a grudge he could never forgive.

"Prime Minister, we can't tolerate this any longer! This brat Lin Yi clearly intends to wipe out all of us powerful families one by one. Yesterday it was us, today it's Lord Linghu, and tomorrow it might be your turn! If we don't join forces, we can only wait to be defeated one by one!"

Liu Wentao was well aware of this principle.

The problem is that Lin Yi now has soldiers, money, and even food.

What can these scholars, who are powerless even to kill a chicken, do besides talking?

"My lords, please calm down!" Liu Wentao was agitated, feeling that he had never been so frustrated in his entire life as an official. "I understand what you are saying. However, Lin Yi is now very powerful. If we confront him head-on, we will only be courting death."

Qian Deguang covered his face, indignantly saying, "Are we just going to let this go? Lord Linghu is the Minister of Revenue, and concurrently the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue! Lin Yi dares to touch even him, what are we going to do in the future?"

A sinister glint flashed in Liu Wentao's eyes, revealing a do-or-die attitude: "We may not be able to defeat Lin Yi militarily, but we are not entirely without a chance! You must know that no matter how ruthless Lin Yi is, he is ultimately just a warrior who doesn't understand the principles of governing a country! This Great Zhou Dynasty cannot function without scholars like us!"

Zhang Zenan's eyes lit up: "What does the Prime Minister mean?"

"His Majesty has already issued an edict banning gambling, so there's no point in us making a fuss about it. While Fatty Wang's smashing up of the casino was domineering, legally speaking, there's nothing seriously wrong with it. What we need to do now is something else!"

Liu Wentao walked up to Linghu Lan, looked at his colleague who was half-dead with anger, and said in a deep voice, "Lord Linghu, I think your illness needs to get a little worse."

Linghu Lan was so confused that he couldn't hear what he was saying.

The latter offered no explanation, turning to everyone and announcing, "I believe that we, as officials of the court, should share the emperor's burdens. But now, treacherous officials are in power, and we are powerless to help, only to suffer repeated humiliations. In that case, we might as well resign from our posts!"

"Starting tomorrow, I hereby declare myself ill and will no longer attend court!"

These words shocked everyone in the room.

Qian Deguang and Zhang Zenan exchanged a glance, both dumbfounded.

Thinking to himself, it really has to be the Prime Minister. He's really ruthless, actually leading all the officials on a collective strike!

Isn't Lin Yi a good fighter? Doesn't he have soldiers?

But how can the government's administration, the operation of finances, and the enforcement of laws be separated from these civil officials?

Once they go on strike, the entire machinery of the Great Zhou court will come to an instant halt, and even if Lin Yi has great abilities, he will be powerless to do anything about it!

"The Prime Minister is wise!" Qian Deguang was the first to react, excitedly cupping his hands in a gesture of respect. "This humble official seconds it! My face is so swollen I can barely speak; I should go home and recuperate!"

"Yes! My son is seriously injured and bedridden. As his father, I am extremely worried and have no heart for politics!" Zhang Zenan immediately expressed his opinion.

Upon hearing this, Linghu Lan, who was lying in bed, understood Liu Wentao's intention. He struggled to sit up and said weakly, "I...I have been framed by treacherous people and am exhausted. I'm afraid...I'm afraid my days are numbered. I should ask His Majesty for leave and go home to await my death..."

Seeing everyone's reaction, Liu Wentao's lips curled into a smug, wicked smile.

Ha, Lin Yi, let's see how you manage to jump around this time!

You absolutely mustn't beg us to attend court, or I'll laugh my head off.

Hahahaha.

This world ultimately belongs to us scholars!

......

Liu Wentao's plan is progressing smoothly.

Those officials who were already dissatisfied with Lin Yi immediately joined the strike when they heard that the Prime Minister was leading the way. Some were genuinely indignant, some were afraid of being isolated, and others simply wanted to join in the fun and see Lin Yi make a fool of himself.

Early the next morning.

It should have been the time for the morning court session, but the Golden Palace was empty and deserted.

The usual large gathering of civil and military officials was reduced to less than a third today. Moreover, most of those present were military officers and insignificant minor officials; none of the high-ranking officials from the Six Ministries, who truly controlled the operation of the court, were present, except for Wang Tienan.

Emperor Nangong Xiong sat on the dragon throne, looking at the large empty space below him, his eyes turning red with anger.

Where are they?

Sun Fu, the chief eunuch standing beside the Dragon Platform, bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, a messenger from the Prime Minister's residence has come to report that the Prime Minister caught a cold last night and is bedridden today. He has requested leave from Your Majesty."

Nangong Xiong sneered, "Heh, where's Linghu Lan? Qian Deguang, Zhang Zenan, and the others? Why didn't any of them come?"

"Your Majesty, Minister Linghu is critically ill. Vice Minister Qian's facial injury has not yet healed, and he is ashamed to face Your Majesty. Duke Xun is also at home attending to his ailing son due to his serious injury."

"Slap!" Nangong Xiong slapped the armrest of the dragon throne and stood up.

Even the most foolish emperor could see that this wasn't an illness at all; it was clearly a collective strike, a united effort to put pressure on him, the emperor!

These bastards!

It's one thing for me to be bullied by Lin Yi, after all, he's the Regent, with money and troops. But you ministers, whom I personally promoted, actually dare to play tricks on me!

Inverted!

It's the other way around!