On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Lin Yi laughed, a cruel laugh, and asked again, "Then do you know how to find him?"

"I don't even know anyone here, how am I supposed to find them..."

"Do you know what a representative does?"

"I don't know..."

Did you raise your hand to vote?

The man hesitated for a moment at this question, secretly glancing at Muramasa, but didn't dare to speak!

Lin Yi's face immediately darkened.

"Speak! If you don't, you're dead!"

"Your Highness, spare me! I... I didn't have any..."

"Hehehe..."

Lin Yi smiled and said, "Your fate is uncertain."

The fat man was so angry that his eyes turned red, and he swung his big hand and slapped Ma Youcai hard across the face.

Snapped--

"The villagers know nothing, so who the hell are you representing?"

Upon hearing this, Muramasa knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"Your Highness, spare me! I was confused for a moment, I know I was wrong!"

Ma Youcai's face was half collapsed, and he was barely breathing; he was clearly not going to survive.

Upon seeing his son's gruesome death, the village head was so terrified that he wet himself: "Your Highness! Please, Your Highness, have mercy! This humble subject will never dare to do it again!"

He's not afraid of losing one son; he has three other sons living in other places.

But I can't die!

Just then, a girl dressed in a plaid linen dress lifted the curtain and came in. Seeing Ma Youcai lying on the ground, she immediately shouted, "Fourth Brother!!"

The fat man grabbed her.

"Cuihua, don't get involved in this. Your fourth brother deserves to die."

"Waaaah... Fatty... You promised to protect my family... Why is this happening...?"

Lin Yi immediately realized something was amiss.

He asked, "Fatty, you didn't do anything to that girl, did you?"

The fat man didn't expect Cuihua to say it so directly, and his face immediately turned red.

"Um...bro, Fatty was drunk back then..."

Lin Yi gritted his teeth: "You're really something."

"Um... Oh dear, Cuihua, you go out first. I'll pick you up tomorrow and take you home to enjoy your life, sweetie."

The fat man was quite gentle with her.

Cuihua wiped away her tears and left very reluctantly.

When the county magistrate saw that there was something to eat, he sat there calmly and composedly.

The fat man came over: "Big brother..."

Lin Yi waved his hand.

"Forget about pleading for me."

"No, what Fatty means is... for Cuihua's sake, how about we kill that old bastard Deng the day after tomorrow? Fatty will take him home first tomorrow."

Lin Yi's lips twitched.

"Are you afraid that the girl will be heartbroken if she sees her father being attacked?"

"yes."

"Fatty, you've really disappointed me." Lin Yi stood up. "I'll give you a chance. Handle things well in Ping'an County and let the villagers elect a respected village head."

After saying that, Lin Yi got up and left.

"Your Highness!" Muramasa crawled over to pull down Lin Yi's pants. "Your Highness, spare me! This humble subject will not dare to do it again!"

"You son of a bitch!" The fat man didn't care about his father-in-law or anything like that. He kicked him in the stomach, then squatted down and grabbed his hair.

"Old man, I told you long ago you couldn't do these things, but you wouldn't listen! You even said that no official doesn't like to enjoy life, well, now you've shot yourself in the foot, haven't you? Just wait to die!"

"Waaaah... Fatty, please spare me! I've given you my daughter..."

"If it weren't for Cuihua's sake, do you think you'd still be breathing? Guards!"

"Yes, sir." The retainer walked in.

"Arrest this old bastard, lock him in the pigsty, and hold a proper meeting with the villagers tomorrow."

"yes!"

......

After dealing with the matter in Martin Village, Lin Yi rushed back to Beijing overnight.

Although he had caught a corrupt official, Lin Yi was not at ease.

The bureaucratic system of the Great Zhou Dynasty was rotten to the core from top to bottom.

Formalism, deception, and corruption—it would be abnormal for officials not to engage in these things. If these practices aren't fundamentally changed, even executing numerous corrupt officials will be futile.

It was already late at night when they returned to the Prince's residence.

As soon as Lin Yi entered the backyard, he saw that the main hall was brightly lit.

Nangong Min, dressed in a dignified princess's everyday attire, was directing several maids, including Yifei, Mimi, and Shuying, as they busied themselves in the room.

"Move the chair a little to the left. Yes, just according to the distance measured with the ruler."

"The handle of the teacup must be facing to the right, and the angle must be consistent!"

"The calligraphy and paintings on the wall are no good. What's with this 'Heaven rewards diligence' nonsense? Change them immediately! Replace them with 'Diligent Governance and Love for the People,' and hang it in the most prominent place! Do you hear me?!"

Several maids answered in unison, "We heard you."

Lin Yi stood at the door for a while, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

The entire room was decorated like a model funeral parlor, with every chair, every teacup, and even the footprints on the floor wiped clean.

What are you doing? Holding a funeral?

Lin Yi stepped inside: "What are you all doing?"

Upon hearing the voice, Nangong Min quickly turned around, curtsied, and said, "My husband is back."

Several maids quickly put down their work and greeted them in unison.

"This servant greets Your Highness."

Lin Yi pointed to the furnishings in the room: "I'm asking you, what are you doing up in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Nangong Min smiled slightly, her tone carrying a hint of seeking credit.

"My lord, I heard from Steward Lin that you will be summoning generals and staff to the manor tomorrow for a meeting. The manor has not held a formal meeting for many years. I thought that since it is a meeting, there should be some rules. So I, along with the maids, rearranged the main hall. We must follow the rules to show the majesty of the manor."

Nangong Min pointed to the tea set on the table: "My lord, look, the arrangement of the teacups and the spacing between the chairs were all measured by me with a ruler, ensuring they were perfectly aligned!"

Lin Yi's head buzzed after hearing this.

I witnessed a farce of formalism in Ping'an County during the day, and then encountered another one when I returned home at night.

Has Nangong Min been brainwashed by the rules of the palace?

It's just a meeting, why all the formalities!

Why use a ruler to measure?

"Lin An!" Lin Yi shouted, barely suppressing his anger.

Lin An quickly ran in from outside the door.

"Your Highness?"

Lin Yi pointed to the center of the field: "Was this your idea?"

Lin An's heart skipped a beat when he saw Lin Yi's expression turn sour.

"Um... Your Highness, this old servant only mentioned the meeting tomorrow to the Princess. This arrangement... was requested by the Princess, and this old servant thinks it's quite good, it makes it look solemn."

"Solemn my ass!" Lin Yi suddenly exploded, kicking over a chair.

A loud bang startled everyone in the room.

Yifei, Mimi, Shuying and other maids all knelt down.

"Your Highness, please calm down."

Nangong Min's face paled, and she quickly knelt on the ground: "Your Highness, please calm your anger. Have I... done something wrong?"

Lin Yi pointed to the chair on the ground and looked at Nangong Min.

"I ask you, tomorrow's meeting is to discuss how to deal with Nangong Xiong's 200,000-strong army, how to fight and kill! What use are these empty platitudes you're giving me?"

Nangong Min's voice trembled slightly: "This concubine... this concubine only wanted to maintain the dignity of the Prince's Mansion. Without rules, there can be no order. These are the etiquette rules passed down from our ancestors."

"To hell with etiquette!" Lin Yi cursed. "The Great Zhou Dynasty was killed by this bullshit of etiquette and formalism! All the officials in the court spend their days studying how to bow, how to write memorials, and how to set out teacups, but they don't do a single proper job!"

"Get rid of all these ridiculous rules! Tomorrow at the meeting, everyone can sit wherever they want, and get their own water! Anyone who dares to impose these formalities on me will have their head chopped off!"

"Yes, I know I was wrong. I'll have someone clean it up right away." Nangong Min pursed her lips.

Growing up in the palace, he was taught to adhere to etiquette and to be dignified.

She thought this would please Lin Yi, but instead she touched a nerve with him.

Lin Yi took a deep breath and, seeing Nangong Min's aggrieved expression, his anger subsided somewhat.

After all, she didn't do it on purpose; she was just too deeply poisoned by the corrupt system.

"Get up," Lin Yi said, his tone softening slightly. "I'm not angry with you. I'm just fed up with these useless rules. Remember, in this palace, my word is law. What I want is efficiency and results. As for the process, I don't care."

"Yes, I will remember your teachings and will never do such empty formalities again."

"Madam, please get up." Nangong Min was helped to her feet by Yifei.

Lin Yi nodded and glanced at Mimi and Shuying, who were trembling with fear beside him.

"Alright, everyone disperse. Tomorrow morning, Lao An, summon Fatty, Lu Dehao, and a few of your trusted confidants in Beijing to the study. We'll have the meeting there!"

"Yes, this old servant obeys."

Lin Yi added, "Remember, don't do this kind of 'carving flowers on shit' stuff again!"

"Yes."