On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

The beaded curtain swayed, making a crisp sound, and then quickly came to a stop.

Only Lin Yi and Zhao Shuyu remained in the warm pavilion.

The latter had been standing by watching, but now she came over and sat back on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Your Highness, Liu Jing is the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion, a well-known lady from a prominent family in the capital. She has the best looks and figure, and she's practically a piece of meat delivered right to your mouth... Why don't you want her? Besides, are you really going to send her brother to a godforsaken place like Wuyuan?" As she spoke, she rubbed against something, trying to get Lin Yi's attention.

Lin Yi didn't look at her; his gaze was fixed on the open booklet.

"It's not that we don't want it, but we can't push the Liu family to their doom. Liu Wentao's booklet is very important; it's enough for me to purge a large number of those parasites in the court. But we can't go too far; we have to leave some room for maneuver. If his brother stays in the capital, how many eyes are watching him? At the slightest sign of trouble, he'll become a target. Throw him far away, to a remote and difficult place, out of sight, out of mind. If he's really capable, he can establish himself within five years, and perhaps then we can use him. If he can't, that's his fate, and the Liu family can't blame anyone else."

This is being said as if it were a business deal, not as if it were a decision about the fate of a young person or even an entire family.

After listening, Zhao Shuyu didn't reply, but quietly looked at Lin Yi's sharply defined face.

In the candlelight, his face was sharply defined by black and white, making him appear unfathomable.

She suddenly leaned over and gently licked Lin Yi's earlobe again.

"Your Highness is indeed very thoughtful." Zhao Shuyu's voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of stickiness. "I knew that Your Highness was not the kind of brute who only knew how to use force. Killing someone by destroying their spirit... Your Highness is better than anyone else at that."

Lin Yi turned his head and pinched her chin: "That's right, to kill someone, you have to destroy their spirit. I'm even prepared to destroy all the foundations of your Zhao family in the capital."

Zhao Shuyu's expression changed, but she quickly returned to normal.

She thought Lin Yi was lying to her.

So she leaned half her body against Lin Yi's arm, tracing circles on his chest with her fingers: "It's all like what Your Highness does~~ I know very well that Your Highness is good to me. Those people from the Zhao family only care about their own interests. They've never cared about me, their mistress. They didn't hold back when they wanted to sell me off. Your Highness is just... striking first."

It was easy to say, but Lin Yi could feel her body trembling slightly against his.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the warm pavilion.

The palace maid guarding the gate came in again and announced in a low voice, "Your Highness, Lord Lin Qiang requests an audience."

Lin Yi released Zhao Shuyu's chin and sat up straight: "Come in."

The beaded curtain was lifted again, and Qiangzi strode in, holding a stack of Xuan paper in his hand.

He glanced at Zhao Shuyu first, then knelt on one knee and held the stack of papers high.

"Your Highness, everything you ordered us to investigate has been thoroughly investigated. All of the Zhao family's open and covert operations in the capital, the list of officials who have dealings with them, as well as their possible contact methods and information transmission routes, are all here. No one was alerted; we uncovered everything through normal channels, one by one, and verified the information without any torture or forced confessions."

Zhao Shuyu panicked.

She didn't expect Lin Yi to actually do it.

At that moment, Zhao Shuyu watched as Lin Yi took the stack of papers and began to turn the pages one by one.

Qiangzi was very meticulous in his work. Every page listed the location, such as a certain street, a certain shop or residence, the associated personnel, and possible cover identities.

The following pages contain a list of officials, arranged by rank, with notes indicating possible connections between the individuals and the Zhao family, such as in-laws, fellow townsmen, or teachers and students.

The sound of pages turning was particularly clear in the quiet, warm room.

Zhao Shuyu's body stiffened, her fingernails unconsciously digging into the carvings on the chair armrests.

From her angle, she could glimpse some of the contents of the paper: familiar shop names, house addresses, and several people she had personally arranged to go in—all were clearly listed.

Lin Yi read it quickly. After finishing, he glanced at Zhao Shuyu, whose face was getting paler and paler, and then slammed the stack of papers onto the small rosewood table.

Snapped--

"No more waiting, let's close the net."

"Your Highness!" Zhao Shuyu stood up abruptly, grabbed his arm, and all the feigned charm and gentleness on her face disappeared, leaving only panic and urgency.

"Your Highness, no! Those shops, houses, and the people inside represent decades of hard work by the Zhao family. They are the foundation my father and brothers built over half their lives! If you wipe them all out now, the Zhao family will be blind and deaf in the capital. I... I beg you, please wait a little longer, give me some time to handle things. I'll have them withdraw gradually, cutting off all the necessary connections. That... that would be more beneficial for Your Highness, wouldn't it?"

She spoke quickly, her voice trembling slightly with excitement.

Lin Yi didn't move, letting her hold him, and laughed, "Baby, once you've hurt someone, there's no forgiveness."

"Harm? How did I hurt you?"

"Do you think I don't know you're secretly sending messages to the Zhao family through Liu Jing?"

"Ah..." Zhao Shuyu collapsed to the ground, her pupils dilating in shock. "No, how did you know?"

"Heh heh heh, you think you can outsmart me with your paltry palace intrigue skills? I crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. You think you can touch me?"

"No! Lin Yi! Please, for the sake of how much I've served you, spare those people from the Zhao family. Otherwise, I'll be nothing but an empty shell of an empress, and even the palace maids will bully me... Can you bear to watch me be ravaged to death by them?"

"Oh dear, it's truly shameful to hear such words from Her Majesty the Empress."

A woman walked in from outside.

Lin Yi looked over with a faint smile and saw Consort Zhou standing there elegantly.

The queen turned around, and upon seeing her, her entire expression turned ferocious. She shrieked, "It's you, you vile woman!!!"

Zhao Shuyu's scream echoed in Kunning Palace for several seconds, and even Lin Yi, who was used to the roar of cannons, couldn't help but cover his ears.

Consort Zhou stood at the door, not in a hurry to come in, but first straightened her clothes before stepping over the threshold.

Today she was wearing a light purple long-sleeved shirt with a front opening. The material wasn't very good; it had been washed many times, and the collar and cuffs were somewhat faded.

She wore no jewelry, only a silver hairpin to hold her hair up.

But if someone is good-looking, they can pull off any outfit.

When Lin Yi first met Consort Zhou, he felt that this woman was quite different from the other concubines in the harem.

Because those people are either delicate and have a mean-spirited look, or they have a bitter look on their faces as they endure life.

Consort Zhou is different.

She has a face that makes people feel comfortable just looking at her.

It's not the kind of beauty that's stunning at first glance, but the kind that grows on you the more you look at it.

Her eyebrows were neither too thick nor too thin, her eyes were neither too big nor too small, her nose was straight and delicate, her lips were slightly thin, and her chin was slightly tucked in. Overall, she gave off a very clean and tidy impression.

Clean and tidy, without a trace of aggression.

A woman like this who has survived to this day in the imperial harem is either lucky or truly capable.

Lin Yi now knows that she belongs to the latter category.

When Consort Zhou entered the warm pavilion, she first bowed to Lin Yi before turning to look at Zhao Shuyu with a calm expression, as if she were just visiting.

But Zhao Shuyu was far from calm.

"How did you get in!" Zhao Shuyu pointed at her, her finger trembling. "Who opened the door to Kunning Palace for you?"

Consort Zhou said casually, "The people from the Shenji Battalion at the gate know me."

Zhao Shuyu was stunned.

Lin Yi watched the show from the sidelines without saying a word.

In fact, the reason why Consort Zhou was able to enter was certainly not as simple as the Shenji Battalion soldiers at the gate recognizing her.

Lin Yi had already given instructions that there was no need to stop Consort Zhou from coming to Kunning Palace.

Zhao Shuyu had obviously thought of this as well. She shifted her gaze from Consort Zhou to Lin Yi's face, and opened her mouth twice, as if she wanted to curse.

But in the end, he didn't say anything.

Consort Zhou spoke first, saying, "Your Majesty, it's been a long time."

This statement was made neither servile nor arrogant; there was neither flattery nor provocation in the tone—it was just an ordinary sentence.

But to Zhao Shuyu, every word sounded like a needle pricking her ears.

"What are you doing here?"

"This humble servant has come to see Your Highness."

"To see the Prince?" Zhao Shuyu sneered. "Ha, you, a mere noblewoman, dare to come to Kunning Palace to see the Prince? What do you take me for?"