On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Zhao Shuyu looked at her, her beautiful hair supported by one hand.

Although half of her hair is white, her stunning beauty remains untouched by time. Her fingers are long and slender, and her nails are delicate and pink. She is truly a top-tier beauty.

To be honest, even Consort Hui, who always prided herself on her beauty, couldn't help but feel envious when she saw Zhao Shuyu.

But now things are different; she's an old woman with white hair.

"Consort Hui, why aren't you leaving yet? Yang Siyu is serving His Majesty, so let's wait for news in the palace."

Consort Hui rose and knelt beside Zhao Shuyu's phoenix chair, her posture extremely humble: "Your Majesty, aren't you worried at all?"

"What are you worried about? Didn't the imperial physician say that His Majesty was just suffering from a sudden surge of anger and would be fine after a few days of rest?"

Consort Hui sneered, "Ha, Your Majesty, stop deceiving yourself. Lin Yi stole three million taels of silver. Without funds, the loyalist army can't even enter the capital. Even if His Majesty wakes up this time, the Great Zhou dynasty will not be able to be saved."

"So? What are you trying to say?"

Consort Hui leaned closer to Zhao Shuyu in a low posture.

This attitude pleased the latter greatly.

I thought to myself, if you had done this earlier, we wouldn't have had to fight to the death all these years.

"Your Majesty, please think carefully. The eldest prince is crippled, and so is my son. The only healthy adult prince left in the palace is Yang Siyu's son, Nangong Jie."

Zhao Shuyu narrowed her eyes slightly.

Consort Hui continued, "If His Majesty truly does not survive this time, then according to ancestral rules, Nangong Jie will inherit the throne. At that time, Yang Siyu will be the rightful Empress Dowager."

"Think about it, if Yang Siyu becomes Empress Dowager, do you think she'll let us off? We humiliated her like this at Jingren Palace today; once she takes power, we'll both surely die a horrible death!"

Zhao Shuyu lowered her eyes in thought.

Consort Hui is right. In the harem, the concubines rely on their sons to gain status and power.

She used to be the mother of the eldest prince and the empress, and could bully Yang Siyu at will.

But now that the eldest prince is deposed, she has lost her greatest support. If Nangong Jie were to take power now, Yang Siyu would definitely repay her tenfold or a hundredfold for the humiliation she suffered today.

But Zhao Shuyu didn't panic.

Since Consort Hui said that, there must be a solution. So she pretended to be calm and asked, "Then what do you plan to do?"

A murderous glint flashed in Consort Hui's eyes as she gritted her teeth and spoke.

"In my opinion, we should go all the way and take advantage of His Majesty's coma and the chaos in the harem to find an opportunity to get rid of Nangong Jie! Once he's dead, Yang Siyu will be out of luck."

"Kill the prince? Sister, do you know what you're saying?"

"Your Majesty! At a time like this, what are you still hesitating about! Lin Yi has been killing people like flies outside, and the palace is already in chaos. Nangong Jie is currently residing in the Ninth Prince's residence outside the palace. We can easily send a few assassins there and eliminate him without anyone noticing. Who would suspect us?"

Zhao Shuyu hesitated.

Killing the prince was too risky; she dared not make a decision lightly.

Seeing her hesitation, Consort Hui offered an even more ruthless plan: "If Your Majesty feels that killing Nangong Jie is too risky, then we'll just eliminate Yang Siyu directly!"

Zhao Shuyu was taken aback, thinking to herself that this woman was indeed crazier than she was.

So, either Yang Siyu or Nangong Jie has to die?

But Consort Hui's eyes flashed with malice as she stared at the bronze crane incense burner behind Zhao Shuyu, and she said, "Yang Siyu is currently attending to His Majesty in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. His Majesty is weak and could pass away at any moment. If His Majesty does die, we'll say that Yang Siyu failed to take good care of him, or that she secretly poisoned him. Then we can legitimately order her to be executed and buried with His Majesty!"

Zhao Shuyu's eyes lit up.

Great idea!

By shifting the blame to Yang Siyu, they could both eliminate a major threat and clear themselves of any wrongdoing.

Moreover, Yang Siyu's daughter, Nangong Min, married Lin Yi, so it could be said that Yang Siyu conspired with Lin Yi to murder the emperor.

This reason is absolutely flawless.

Zhao Shuyu looked at Consort Hui and sighed inwardly.

As expected, this woman is the most vicious.

But it's all good. How can you survive in the harem without being ruthless?

"Alright!" After weighing the pros and cons, Zhao Shuyu nodded. "We'll do as you say. We'll keep an eye on things at the Hall of Mental Cultivation. If His Majesty doesn't wake up, we'll act immediately and pin the regicide on Yang Siyu. We'll make her pay with her life!"

It's said that women have simple minds. If Lin Yi were here, he would definitely say: "Sisters, have you forgotten what Cai Ming just said? He said His Majesty is fine! He won't pass away!"

......

The street in front of the Regent's Palace is now completely blocked.

Starting yesterday evening, soldiers from the Shenji Battalion led dozens of carriages into the mansion. The carriages were loaded with large wooden boxes, and the wheels swayed as they pressed against the bluestone slabs.

Lin Yi stepped into the Prince's Mansion and sat down in the center of the front courtyard.

Lu Dehao and Wang Pangzi were both sweating profusely from the heat, especially Pangzi, who took off his helmet as soon as he entered the courtyard and started yelling at the soldiers to unload the truck.

"Handle these things with care, Fatty! If you chip a single piece, I'll make you pay with your heads!"

Lu Dehao held an account book in his hand, grinning foolishly as he checked the accounts.

"Brother, we've really struck it rich this time! We have three million three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver alone! And we haven't even calculated the value of the jewelry and paintings yet; I estimate they're worth at least a million or two hundred thousand taels. That old scoundrel Liu Wentao, he always acts like a beggar, but his house is richer than a palace!"

Yifei handed over the tea at just the right moment. Lin Yi took it, drank a sip, and didn't take the account book.

For someone in his position, money is just a number, so what he values ​​more is the meaning behind it.

Without this money, Nangong Xiong's 200,000 loyalist troops are a joke. If the four major families of Jiangnan dare to fund their own armies, Lin Yi wouldn't mind leading his troops down to Jiangnan and ransacking them.

However, on the other hand, the four great families are merchants, and they are shrewd. They know that if the situation changes, they will no longer be able to oppose them.

"Alright, stop grinning like an idiot." Lin Yi put down his teacup and turned to Lin An beside him, saying, "Old An, the brothers have all worked hard today. Pass down my order: everyone in the Prince's mansion will receive three months' wages. The brothers in the Divine Machine Battalion who contributed today will each receive an extra fifty taels of silver!"

"Whoosh! Take off!"

"Thank you for your generous gift, Your Highness!"

"Long live the Prince!"

The maids and servants of the Prince's mansion were so excited that they knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Three months' worth of monthly pay!

Even when the old prince was alive, he never made such a grand gesture.

Although the regent was ruthless and merciless towards outsiders, often confiscating property and exterminating entire families, he was truly exceptional towards his own people.

Fatty Wang was so happy he was practically shaking his cheeks: "Brother, you're so generous! Brothers, hurry up and thank the Prince!"

The Shenji Battalion soldiers all knelt on one knee.

Soldiers are paid to serve, isn't the goal just to get promoted and make money? Following the regent means meat to eat and money to be made, who cares who the emperor is?

"This humble general thanks Your Highness for the reward!"

"Okay, get up! Hahahaha." Lin Yi laughed heartily.

Lin An, standing to the side, couldn't help but chuckle.

With this reward from the prince, tens of thousands of taels of silver were spent.

However, compared to the income of more than three million, this amount of money is not even a drop in the ocean.

Most importantly, the prince's tactic of winning people's hearts was brilliant. Now the entire prince's mansion and the Divine Machine Battalion are an impenetrable wall, and no one can get a foothold in.

"Your Highness is wise. This old servant will go and arrange for the money to be distributed immediately." Lin An turned to leave.

But after taking only a couple of steps, he turned back, looking troubled: "Your Highness, there is something this old servant must report to you."

"explain."

"We don't have enough accountants in our manor again. There's so much gold and silver, plus all those land deeds, house deeds, and shop deeds that were found in Liu Wentao's house. The few accountants we have now simply can't manage it all. And all this money has to be categorized and put into the treasury. We need to keep a clear account of which money goes to military expenses and which money is kept for the daily expenses of the manor."

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow.

This is indeed a problem.

Although I understand modern financial management, I, as a regent, can't just sit in my room doing abacus all day.

That would be utterly disgraceful.

"Then let's go outside and recruit a few knowledgeable people. The capital is so big, surely we can find a few who can do accounting?"

Lin An sighed: "Your Highness, the ordinary accountants outside can manage to keep track of the turnover of small shops. But we're dealing with millions of taels of silver coming in and out, and there are all sorts of intricacies involved. It's something that most people can't handle."

Lin Yi pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered an old man surnamed Chen who was very good at settling accounts. He left in a huff after having a small argument with Mi Mi.