On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

As evening approached, a west wind began to blow, and the lanterns in the Prince's Mansion lit up one by one.

When Lin Yi came out of the study, it was already quite dark. Qiangzi was carrying a lantern and walking along the veranda towards the main house.

After walking a few steps, I ran into Zhang Ma coming from Beiyuan, carrying an empty tray with a clean medicine bowl on it.

Lin Yi called out to her, "Aunt Zhang."

Zhang Ma quickly stopped, bowed, and said, "Oh, Your Highness, how are you?"

"How is Consort Hui today? Did she go out for a walk?"

"Your Highness, the young lady went out today and walked around the garden for quite a while."

Lin Yi nodded: "Yes, is there anything that's bothering you?"

"No, no, the girl is in good spirits, it's just..." Zhang Ma hesitated for a moment.

"What is it?"

"It was when the young lady met Lady Yang in the garden that the two talked for a long time under the plum tree."

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow slightly.

He had discussed Yang Siyu's arrangement to accompany Consort Hui with Nangong Min this morning, but he thought Yang Siyu would go to Beiyuan to find Consort Hui. Unexpectedly, the two of them met in the garden.

"What did they say?"

Zhang Ma shook her head: "This servant doesn't know, and Miss Hongcui didn't tell me in detail either. I only know that the young lady cried a lot after she came back. But later she seemed to be in a much better mood, and even asked this servant to clean the table tomorrow, saying that Lady Yang was coming to deliver pear soup."

Did you have a good cry?

Lin Yi knew quite a bit about Consort Hui, not only from what she herself said, but also from the plot in the original book.

That woman had been in the palace for twenty years. She was very strong-willed, and there weren't many things that could make her cry.

But sometimes, it's good to cry.

If you keep too much stuff bottled up inside, it will cause problems sooner or later if you don't release it.

The day before yesterday, Hongcui told him that Consort Hui always had nightmares at night and would cry when she woke up, and he had been thinking about this ever since.

What good are a few doses of calming medicine prescribed by Dr. Li?

At this moment, what Consort Hui needs is not medicine, but someone to talk to.

Yang Siyu—that really is a good match.

Both of them came from the palace and had been neglected by Nangong Xiong and bullied by Zhao Shuyu.

They share so many memories, and those memories don't need explanation; they understand each other perfectly.

Lin Yi went over the matter in his mind and didn't ask any further questions.

"Okay, I understand. You can go ahead and get back to work."

"Yes." Zhang Ma bowed and stepped back.

Lin Yi continued walking towards the main house.

Upon entering, Nangong Min was looking at an account book under the lamp, while Shishi was serving her hot tea. Seeing Lin Yi enter, she quickly stood up to greet him, saying, "My husband is back."

"Mm." Lin Yi nodded, sat down on the chair next to him, and took a sip of the hot tea that Shi Shi handed him.

"You've heard about what happened in Beiyuan today, haven't you?"

Nangong Min nodded: "Yes, my mother mentioned it to me when she came back. She said she talked with Miss Su for a long time, but she didn't go into details about what they talked about. But I saw that my mother's eyes were red when she came back, so she must have cried too."

Lin Yi held his teacup without speaking. Nangong Min sat down opposite him, thought for a moment, and then said, "Husband, do you think... Miss Su and Mother can get along?"

We get along well.

"How can you be so sure, my husband? They schemed against each other quite a bit when they were in the palace."

"They schemed in the palace because they had no choice; everyone had to survive. But things are different now. The two of them have something in common: they were both neglected and schemed against, and eventually escaped from that wretched place. This commonality is more effective than anything else."

Nangong Min thought for a moment, then nodded with a radiant smile: "That's true, we're all in the same boat."

......

The next day, Lin Yi sat in his study, looking through the intelligence booklet that Su Meier had sent him.

In the past two weeks, secret envoys from the four major families of Jiangnan have entered and exited the palace no less than six times.

They all used back doors, and the time was always late at night. The person they contacted was a eunuch named Liu happy, who worked for Sun Fu.

Lin Yi closed the booklet, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes for a while.

Nangong Xiong still had the energy to cause trouble.

A few days ago, during the morning court session, he took the pretext of lax defenses in the capital region and issued three imperial edicts to the Ministry of War, demanding the rotation of the two garrisons stationed around the capital.

To put it bluntly, they wanted to bring in their own people and transfer Lin Yi's people out.

This tactic isn't particularly clever, but if he succeeds, it will create a breach in the capital's defenses. Then, troops from Jiangnan can easily pour in through that breach, creating a coordinated attack from within and without, which would make things very complicated.

Can't wait any longer.

Since Nangong Xiong wants to die, then I'll grant his wish.

"Qiangzi."

Qiangzi emerged from under the eaves: "Your Highness."

"Go and call Fatty and Yue Nan over. Tell them I have something to discuss with them."

"Yes."

Qiangzi turned and left.

Lin Yi took out a defense map of the palace from the drawer and spread it on the table.

This map was sent by Sun Fu last month. It shows the locations of the Imperial Guards' sentry posts, shift changes, and the entrances and exits of secret passages.

Lin Yi took a pen and drew three circles behind the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

......

The Prince's Palace had its own guard camp, which was where the retainers lived, trained, and rested.

The fat guy likes to come here whenever he has nothing to do, to spar with those rough guys, drink some wine, and enjoy the comfort of the backyard.

He was squatting on the ground, gnawing on a roast chicken.

The specially made mule was tied to a nearby post, chewing on hay and occasionally swishing its tail.

The fat man, his mouth greasy, gnawed and cursed, "Damn it, this chicken leg is too small, not even enough to fill my teeth."

Qiangzi ran over: "Master Fatty, the Prince wants to see you in the study."

The fat man tossed the chicken bone on the ground and wiped his mouth with his sleeve: "Big brother wanted to see me? What's up?"

"I don't know, His Highness didn't say."

"Okay, let's go take a look." The fat man stood up, his 300-pound frame swaying, and patted the dirt off his buttocks.

He took two steps, then turned back and stuffed the remaining half of the roast chicken into his arms.

When I arrived at the study door, Yue Nan was already there.

The two exchanged a glance.

Yue Nan nodded to him, and then the fat man pushed the door open and went in. He immediately saw the palace defense map on the table.

His eyes lit up, and he leaned closer to take a look.

"Big brother, what are you doing?"

Lin Yi pointed to the chair opposite him: "Sit."

Fatty and Yue Nan sat down respectively.

Lin Yi didn't waste any words and got straight to the point: "Nangong Xiong has recently been colluding with people in Jiangnan, trying to switch the troops stationed in the capital region and give the troops in Jiangnan an opening."

The fat man cursed, "Damn it, won't this old bastard shut up?"

"There's no peace and quiet here, so I've decided to take direct control of the palace's defenses."

Upon hearing this, both the fat man and Yue Nan were taken aback.

Taking over the defenses of the imperial palace is no small matter.

Lin Yi's previous actions of sealing off the palace's supplies and intercepting tributes could only be considered as besieging without attacking.

But taking over the city's defenses would be tantamount to stripping away Nangong Xiong's last fig leaf.

The fat man reacted quickly, grinning, "Big brother, whatever you say, I'll do it your way."

Yue Nan, on the other hand, is more composed.

"Your Highness, what should we do with the Imperial Guards? Zhang Yong still has three thousand men under his command."

Lin Yi said, "Most of the three thousand Imperial Guards are scions of aristocratic families who have gained seniority; they would be no match for us in a real fight. But I don't want too many people to die, so this time we'll split into two groups."

He traced a line on the defense map with his finger: "The Shenji Battalion will advance from the front of Xuanwu Gate with great fanfare, drawing the attention of the Imperial Guards to the front. The Special Forces Battalion will scale the wall from the west corner tower and advance along the flank, with the objective of controlling all escape routes and secret passage exits of Yangxin Hall. Once the front is breached, the flanks will be closed, and Nangong Xiong will be trapped like a turtle in a jar."

The fat man laughed loudly: "Brilliant, brother! I'll handle the front, and let Dongqing and his gang handle the flanks."

"Yes, take 1,000 Shenji Battalion soldiers to the front, and push forward with the Eight-Ox Crossbows and catapults. Don't actually fight, just scare them first. Those Imperial Guards saw the battle at Xuanwu Gate last time, they're traumatized, they'll scatter if you scare them."

"What if we don't break up?"

"If we don't break up, we'll fight, but I don't think we'll need to."

Yue Nan asked, "How many men does His Highness plan to send to the Special Forces?"

"Fifty will do. Let Zhao Dongqing pick the best ones to wear full uniforms."

Yue Nan nodded: "Yes, I will go and pass on the order immediately."

"Wait a minute." Lin Yi called out to him, "Before we take action, have Zhao Dongqing bring the people to me. I'll personally give them instructions."

"Yes."

Yue Nan got up to say goodbye.

The fat man remained seated, pulling out the half-eaten roast chicken from his pocket and continuing to gnaw on it.

Lin Yi glanced at him: "Still eating?"

The fat man mumbled, "You definitely have to eat your fill before a battle. How can you fight on an empty stomach?"

Lin Yi shook his head and said nothing more.

After finishing his chicken leg, the fat man put the bone on the corner of the table and said seriously, "Brother, if I may ask, should we inform the palace in advance?"

"No need. Even if we tell Nangong Xiong, he won't agree. We might as well just do it."

"Alright." The fat man stood up, wiped the oil from his hands on his clothes, and grinned, "I'm going to muster the troops now. When do we move out?"

"Tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM)."

"OK!"