On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Lin Yi walked through the palace with several personal guards.

This was the first time he had seriously examined the imperial city since he had transmigrated here.

He never used to go to the palace.

It's too dangerous. In TV dramas, there are always 500 axemen who break cups as a signal. Who wouldn't be scared?

But today he came, and he has taken full control.

There's nothing to be afraid of then.

Let's start with the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The Golden Palace was where the Great Zhou Dynasty held its grand court assemblies, and it should have been the most magnificent building in the entire imperial city.

But when Lin Yi got closer, he saw that the glazed tiles on the roof were chipped, revealing the gray mud underneath.

The steps had several cracks, and weeds grew in the cracks, but no one pulled them out.

The two bronze cranes at the entrance of the hall, the one on the left is crooked, the base was bumped by someone and no one has repaired it.

After Lin Yi went inside, he found that it was even more outrageous.

The screen behind the dragon throne is embroidered with a nine-dragon design. One of the dragons has a broken whisker, which is simply wrapped around with thread a few times and that's it.

The pillars of the main hall are indeed thick, and the vermilion lacquer is still quite bright, but upon closer inspection of the bottom, the lacquer has already cracked.

"How long has it been since this hall was repaired?" Lin Yi asked a young eunuch who was following him.

The young eunuch trembled with fear, bowing his head as he replied, "Your Highness... the last major renovation of the Golden Palace was... it was twenty years ago, during the reign of the late Emperor."

Lin Yi didn't say anything, left the Golden Palace, and walked east along the imperial road.

The situation was even worse in the Eastern Six Palaces.

The doors and windows of several side halls were not properly closed, and the cold winter wind whistled in through the gaps.

The stone lantern in the courtyard had fallen over, and pebbles were scattered on the ground.

A small section of the palace wall had collapsed at its base, and it was simply rebuilt with a few bricks and left there.

Lin Yi bent down to look at the wall. The bricks were all broken, and the cement... no, only his own workshop had cement. He hadn't even applied any lime; it was just piled up dry.

"You call this repairing?"

The young eunuch following behind was almost in tears: "Your Highness, most of the palace craftsmen have left, and only a few remain. How can they possibly repair everything..."

Lin Yi straightened up and continued walking forward.

After passing through the Eastern Six Palaces, we arrived at the Imperial Garden.

The Imperial Garden is several times larger than the Prince's Garden, but now it looks like an abandoned garden.

Not only was the pool frozen over, but the ice surface was also covered with withered leaves.

The pavilion on the artificial hill was crooked, and the stone base under the pavilion pillars was only supported by a wooden plank.

Lin Yi strolled around the Imperial Garden and finally stopped at the entrance of a side hall.

The roof tiles of this side hall are broken in several rows, and the beams inside can be seen.

Two wooden buckets were placed at the entrance, with water seeping from the roof underneath.

Although it doesn't rain now in winter, the fact that ice formed inside the bucket indicates that it was leaking when it rained before.

Lin Yi pointed to the buckets: "What's going on here?"

The head eunuch ran over, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed.

"Your Highness, please forgive us! The roof of this palace has been dilapidated for two years. We servants would like to repair it, but..."

"But what?"

"But the palace is even short of money for charcoal to get through the winter, let alone money to repair the roof..."

Lin Yi didn't speak, looking down at the two broken wooden buckets.

His face was reflected on the ice in the bucket, but it was blurry and unclear.

I originally thought Nangong Xiong was stingy.

The emperor owns the whole country, how much money would it cost to repair a roof?

But now it seems that it's not that they don't want to fix it, it's that they really don't have the money.

The money of the Great Zhou Dynasty is neither in the national treasury nor in the imperial palace.

Where is it?

In the hands of powerful and influential families.

The four major families of Jiangnan, as well as powerful clans that have dominated the region for hundreds of years.

They were like mouths biting into Da Zhou's body, sucking all the blood out of him.

All that was left for the emperor was this broken shell; it looked imposing on the outside, but it was completely rotten inside.

Lin Yi stood there for a while, then turned and left.

Qiangzi followed behind, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Your Highness, many places in the palace are like this..."

"I saw it."

"Should we send someone from the Ministry of Works to take a look?"

"Spending money to build a house for the emperor? Are you out of your mind?! Let's talk about it after my son ascends the throne."

Qiangzi nodded and said no more.

Lin Yi continued walking forward.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has been poor for quite some time now.

If the fundamental problems are not solved, this country will forever remain an empty shell.

He quickened his pace; the palace gates of the inner palace were just ahead.

Several eunuchs stood at the entrance of the inner palace.

The leader was an old eunuch in his fifties, wearing a dark blue robe and holding a whisk in his hand.

Seeing Lin Yi approaching with his personal guards, the old eunuch took a step forward and blocked the doorway.

"Your Highness, Regent, please wait."

Lin Yi stopped and looked at him.

The old eunuch bowed, his voice respectful yet neither servile nor arrogant: "Your Highness, according to the ancestral rules of our dynasty, officials from outside the capital are not permitted to enter the inner palace without permission. Your Highness is of noble status, but the inner palace is where His Majesty's family resides. Please understand."

After he finished speaking, several eunuchs behind him mustered their courage and stepped forward to block the door.

Lin Yi didn't speak, but glanced at the group of people.

Qiangzi had already placed his hand on the hilt of the knife behind him.

"Ancestral rules?"

"Yes." The old eunuch nodded. "This rule was established when the founding emperor established his dynasty—"

"Arrest him."

Lin Yi didn't even wait for him to finish speaking.

As soon as he finished speaking, two guards stepped forward and grabbed the old eunuch from the left and right.

The old eunuch dropped his whisk on the ground, completely stunned.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, please reconsider! This old servant is merely following the rules!"

"Take those men behind him with you too."

Several eunuchs' legs went weak, and two of them immediately knelt down.

"Your Highness, spare me! Spare me!"

"Drag it away."

The guards were efficient and quickly took all the men away.

As the old eunuch was dragged out, he kept shouting "ancestral rules, ancestral rules!" His voice grew softer and softer until it disappeared at the end of the passageway.

Lin Yi stepped across the threshold of the imperial harem.

Inside the gate was a long corridor with red walls on both sides covered with yellow glazed tiles.

It was very quiet; you couldn't even hear the wind.

He took a few steps inside and suddenly heard footsteps at the end of the passageway.

A palace maid ran out from around the corner and saw Lin Yi and a group of black-armored guards. She froze on the spot as if she had been struck by a magic acupuncture point.

"Ah!!" she screamed shrilly.

Lin Yi impatiently picked at his ear. "What are you yelling for? Come here."

The palace maid walked up to her, trembling, and knelt down.

"I...I...I don't know anything..."

Lin Yi asked, "How do I get to Kunning Palace?"

The palace maid pointed in a direction with trembling fingers.

"Lead the way."

"Yes!" The palace maid quickly got up, her legs still trembling, and walked forward with uneven steps.

Lin Yi followed behind, looking around as he walked.

The inner palace was even more dilapidated than the former dynasty.

Many palace gates were not closed, and the cold, deserted courtyards could be seen from the outside.

In some courtyards, there was only one person sweeping the floor, while in others, there wasn't a soul in sight.

As Lin Yi passed by a palace courtyard, he saw a woman sitting on the veranda sewing clothes.

The woman wasn't well-dressed; she wore a faded cotton-padded jacket and had no jewelry on her head.

Seeing someone walk by outside, she looked up, then lowered her head and continued sewing.

Lin Yi asked the palace maid who was leading the way, "Who lives inside?"

"Your Highness, that is...that is Consort Zhou."

Consort Zhou.

A Noble Lady was a low-ranking concubine in the harem who was not favored and basically just loafed around in the palace until she died.

Lin Yi didn't stop and continued walking forward.

After walking for another quarter of an hour, we finally arrived at Kunning Palace.

Kunning Palace is where the Empress lived. It is much more magnificent than other palaces. There are two stone lions at the entrance and the steps are swept clean.

The red-lacquered gate was nailed with copper nails, and although it was a bit old, it still looked presentable.

Lin Yi stood outside the door and raised his head at Qiangzi.

The latter stepped forward and kicked open the gate of Kunning Palace.

Several palace maids and eunuchs were standing inside the door, and they all screamed in fright.

"what!"

"Who goes there!"

"How dare you trespass into the Empress's palace!"

Qiangzi shouted, "The Regent has arrived!"

The screams stopped abruptly.

The palace maids and eunuchs all knelt down in a rush.

Lin Yi went inside, passed through the front courtyard, and arrived at the main hall.

The hall was warm and cozy, thanks to the burning charcoal braziers, much better than those dilapidated palaces outside.

There was also a teapot and snacks on the table, as well as a plate of fresh oranges.

It seems the Empress is living a pretty good life, at least a hundred times better than that Noble Lady Zhou who sits on the veranda sewing clothes.

Lin Yi plopped down in the main seat of the main hall, crossed his legs, and said, "Go and summon all the women in the harem."

Qiangzi was taken aback.

"Your Highness, all of them?"

"Yes, the Empress, concubines, noble ladies, and lowly ladies-in-waiting, regardless of rank, all must assemble at Kunning Palace."

"yes!"

Qiangzi turned and left.

Lin Yi leaned back in his chair, picked up the teapot on the table, and poured himself a cup of tea.

The tea was warm and had a fragrance of osmanthus.

I must say, the empress is quite particular about her drinks.