On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

"Steward Sun, you are mistaken!" Liu Wentao glared at Sun Fu and said loudly, "With His Majesty taking the lead in donating, the officials below will surely follow suit! The officials of Great Zhou still have loyalty to the emperor and love for their country! Besides, we previously blocked all the pawnshops, and those merchants were worried about not having enough to eat. Now that we've opened them up, we can pawn all the treasures in the treasury and surely get a lot of money! This money is enough to support the loyalist army!"

Sun Fu sneered inwardly at his confident demeanor.

Loyalty to the emperor and love for the country? You, Liu Wentao, are not clean yourself, yet you expect others to be loyal to the emperor and love the country?

Those merchants are almost bankrupted by you officials. Now that you've opened up pawnshops, do you think they'll dare to put up money to buy your dead pawns?

Who isn't afraid of Lin Yi settling scores later?

But Sun Fu didn't want to argue with him; it was pointless.

The stability of the country ultimately depends on the emperor and his ministers; what does it have to do with a eunuch like him?

Don't mention Lin Yi or the loyalist army.

Even if everyone stormed into the palace, they would only kill the emperor and defile the concubines and palace maids. Why would they bother with the eunuchs?

Since he wouldn't die, Sun Fu decided to ignore it.

"The Prime Minister is right. This old servant is foolish and should ask Your Majesty to make the decision."

Nangong Xiong nodded, repeatedly weighing Liu Wentao's and Sun Fu's words in his mind.

He thought to himself that Sun Fu's concerns were not unfounded; this was indeed a high-stakes gamble.

But I had no other choice.

His reputation is ruined; if we don't bribe him, the loyalist army definitely won't come.

Even if he doesn't come, he's still going to die.

"Then let's do as the Prime Minister says!" Nangong Xiong closed his eyes, steeled his resolve, and declared, "I will bring out my entire private treasury! Not only that, but all the concubines in the harem and the princes of the Ninth Prince's residence must also donate all their useless possessions! At this time, anyone who dares to conceal anything will be severely punished!"

Nangong Xiong is now completely blinded by greed, and he's even willing to sell his wife and children's savings for their funerals.

That wasn't all. He continued, "And then there are the four great families of Jiangnan! Liu Wentao, send someone to tell them they must fully support me! They've made so much ill-gotten wealth by relying on the court's protection. If they dare not contribute now that the court is in trouble, their homes will be the first to be confiscated after I quell the rebellion!"

Liu Wentao quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "This old minister obeys the decree! I will go and carry it out immediately, ensuring the loyalist army is satisfied and serves His Majesty!"

......

Wangfu.

Lin Yi was lying on the armchair, holding a purple bamboo fishing rod in his hand, staring at the float on the lake.

He's been in a pretty good mood these past few days.

First, the Luo family caused trouble at the Prince's Mansion, then he devised a plan to divert the disaster eastward. Through these maneuvers, he directly reversed the public's opinion of him, praising himself as a living bodhisattva who repays evil with kindness.

Ah, how unpredictable life is, like a large intestine encasing a small intestine.

I bet Nangong Xiong is smashing things in a fit of rage right now. Let's see what other tricks he comes up with next.

However, no matter what moves he makes, he can never be a match for me.

Two hundred thousand troops to defend the emperor?

Ha, just a bunch of rabble.

"Your Highness, please have some tea."

Yifei carried the freshly brewed hot tea and tiptoed to the armchair, placing it on the small wooden table.

Lin Yi turned and glanced at her.

This girl is always so steady and dutiful, never fighting or grabbing, which is truly endearing. Especially today, wearing a light green silk dress and a gold and jade butterfly and flower hairpin in her hair, she is breathtakingly beautiful.

I need to find a chance to try something salty; I can't let the beauty down.

"Okay, put it there."

Upon hearing this, Yifei obediently stepped aside.

Just then, a complaint came from near Lin Yi's feet.

"Your Highness, is your bait any good? It's been all afternoon, and we haven't even seen a single fish scale!"

It was Yang Mi who spoke.

She was squatting in front of a wooden basin, her hands covered in fish bait, kneading it vigorously like dough.

They had planned it all out, thinking that the prince rarely had time to play with them, so they dressed up specially and looked quite flamboyant.

She wondered, what if the prince was in a good mood and took her to do something by the lake? The erotic pictures that Fatty had sent mentioned that some positions could be done in the water or outdoors.

Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the destination, Lin Yi directly handed her a bowl of fish food and told her to mix it with fish bait.

She was a hundred times unwilling.

The bait smelled fishy and was sticky, making my hands filthy. But I didn't dare disobey Lin Yi's orders, so I could only pout and rub it hard while thinking to myself.

I am the prince's woman, how can you make me do such rough work!

Really!

Hearing the complaint, Lin Yi turned around and saw her pitiful look, finding it somewhat amusing.

"You silly girl, why are you babbling so much when I'm just asking you to mix bait? Fishing is all about patience. If you're so impatient, how can you expect the fish to bite?"

Mimi pouted, held up her hands covered in bait, and leaned close to Lin Yi: "Your Highness, look! My hands are all red from rubbing them! Are the fish in this lake some kind of spirit, deliberately hiding and not coming out?"

Lin Yi stepped back in disgust and pointed at Nangong Min not far away.

"Don't blame the fish or the bait. Blame your queen."

Nangong Min was sitting on a stone bench not far away, holding an ancient book in her hand. She was wearing an elegant long dress and her hair was neatly tied up, making her look dignified and poised.

Hearing Lin Yi suddenly turn his attention to her, she smiled helplessly, put down her book, and said, "Your Highness is making fun of me. Fish can't get enough to eat, what does that have to do with me feeding them?"

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean it's okay? You're always scattering fish food into the lake. You've practically bloated all the fish in this lake to death. Their bellies are so round, do you think they'll even look at my bait?"

Upon hearing this, Mimi immediately found a way to back down and quickly echoed her sentiment.

"That's right, that's right. The princess is too kind-hearted and has spoiled the fish. No matter how well I mix the bait, they won't eat it."

Seeing Mi Mi's opportunistic attitude, Nangong Min wasn't angry. She knew Mi Mi was a cunning maid who couldn't cause any real trouble.

As the mistress of the house, there's no need for me to argue with a mere maid.

"Your Highness's words are unreasonable." Nangong Min stood up and walked towards Lin Yi. "I saw the fish swimming happily in the lake, so I threw in some food. If they weren't hungry, they naturally wouldn't eat. The fact that you couldn't catch any fish is clearly due to Your Highness's poor fishing skills, yet you blame me."

"Hahahaha." Lin Yi laughed heartily, "Your tongue is getting sharper and sharper! Sure enough, no one who enters the Prince's mansion is a good person! Sooner or later, they'll all turn bad!"

Nangong Min was extremely embarrassed: "It was clearly Your Highness who told me not to be so formal, but now that I've lowered myself, Your Highness is laughing again."

Lin Yi looked at the calm lake surface, smiled without saying a word, and finally sighed.

"Ah, yes, fish can never be full, just like the human heart."

Nangong Min felt a slight stirring in her heart upon hearing these words.

She was a smart woman who had grown up in the palace and was used to the deceit and treachery. She naturally understood the meaning behind Lin Yi's words.

"Is Your Highness referring to those people in the imperial court?"

Lin Yi nodded, loosened the fishing rod, and placed it on the wooden frame.

"Indeed, look at the fish in this lake. As soon as you throw food into the water, they swarm to it. No matter how full they are, they'll still open their mouths as soon as they see food. What's the difference between those officials in the court and your father, the emperor, and the fish in this lake?"

Upon hearing the words "Father Emperor," Nangong Min's eyes dimmed noticeably as she recalled how her father had forced her to poison her husband.

The two already lacked sufficient father-daughter affection, and now that man, in order to protect his throne, forced her to poison her husband.

On the other hand, her husband was not angry or upset. Instead, he forgave her mistake and handed over the power of managing the household to her again.

The difference between the two is immediately apparent.

From that moment on, Nangong Min felt that she was going down a dead-end path with Lin Yi.

If we disagree, then we'll go along with it!

Lin Yi gazed at the lake and continued, "Nangong Xiong is determined to weaken the power of the regional warlords, and from a personal perspective, that's understandable. But from a political standpoint, he's too petty. You know, if it weren't for our Lin family holding the line, those barbarians from the northern deserts would have already stormed the capital. And yet, he thinks the world is at peace and starts discarding us after we've served our purpose. Min'er, don't you think he's being too greedy?"

"Sigh..." Nangong Min sighed and didn't say anything.

Lin Yi is right; half of the Great Zhou empire was conquered by the Lin family.

The Emperor's actions were truly disheartening.

"And then there's Liu Wentao and his gang. They're always spouting righteousness and morality, claiming they've read the classics, but behind the scenes they've done so many despicable things. They control the government, seize land, run casinos, and lend money at exorbitant interest rates. The common people can't even afford to eat, while they're rolling in gold and silver. I shut down their casinos and cut off their source of income, and they got furious. They went on strike and even wrote a 'Declaration of Punishment' to curse me."

"Ha, I think these people's hearts are even greedier than the fish in this lake; they can never be satisfied."