On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Su Meier ignored him and simply looked at Lin Yi quietly.

Yao Niang quickly smoothed things over: "Oh, Fatty, this Mei'er is a newly recruited courtesan. It's normal that you haven't seen her before."

"What a hypocrite! Acting like a virtuous woman while being a prostitute?" The fat man curled his lip, looked away, and patted the girl next to him. "Come on, lie down."

Lin Yi didn't look behind him, but only looked at Su Meier in front of him.

This woman was indeed extraordinary, possessing a cool and aloof air that stood out from the surrounding noise and frivolity. Especially her eyes, calm and serene, like those of a banished immortal, as if she had already seen through the vanity of the world.

Yanlai Tower, Su Meier...

Lin Yi remembered; this scene appeared in the original book.

Nangong Jin, the protagonist of the original book, once received guests at Yanlai Tower, and it was Su Meier who accompanied him on a musical performance that day.

Then, this guy's protagonist aura kicked in, and he directly won over Su Meier. Later, he learned that this woman was the real owner of Yanlai Tower, and also a master of disguise, who secretly helped Nangong Jin with many things.

Now, I've actually met her myself.

Heh, that's interesting.

"What can you play?" Lin Yi asked casually.

"Whatever Your Highness wishes to hear, I will play it." Su Meier's voice remained cold and aloof.

"Then let's play 'Ambush from Ten Sides'."

Lin Yi wanted to hear how this era's version of "Ambush from Ten Sides" differed from the one he had heard in his previous life.

A hint of surprise flashed in Su Meier's eyes, as if she hadn't expected Lin Yi to choose such a powerful and turbulent song in such a romantic setting.

But she didn't say anything. She simply sat down on the futon opposite Lin Yi, holding her pipa, and gently plucked the strings with her delicate hand.

"Zheng—"

A clear and melodious zither note rang out, like the clash of swords, instantly transporting the listener to an ancient battlefield filled with thousands of troops.

The rapid melody of the zither sounded like the beating of war drums, sometimes accompanied by the sudden charge of cavalry, swords and spears raised; at other times, ambushes sprang up, the battle cries shaking the heavens.

After finishing his work, the fat man wrapped a towel around his waist and unconsciously sat up straight to listen.

Lin Yi closed his eyes and tapped his fingers lightly on his leg to the beat.

The music was even better than he had imagined.

Su Meier's skills were superb; she not only brought out the grandeur of the piece but also its soul.

It was a tragic, desolate, resolute act of dying on the battlefield, a death without regret.

The song ended, but the lingering melody still resonated.

The room was silent; everyone was still immersed in the atmosphere of the battle, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

"Great!" Fatty Wang was the first to react, slapping his thigh. "That was really good! Damn, this little wench is quite something! Ah, it's getting my blood pumping! Come here, let me see what you think of your figure. If it's clean, there'll be a big reward!"

Su Meier still ignored him, as if the fat man was some kind of trash, not worthy of her attention.

Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes, looked at Su Meier, and a hint of approval appeared in his eyes.

"You played really well."

Holding her pipa, Su Meier bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for your praise, Your Highness."

"But I feel there is hatred in your music."

Su Meier's fingers, which were holding the pipa, suddenly tightened, but she didn't say anything.

Lin Yi smiled faintly.

Of course he knew Su Meier's story.

That's how Nangong Jin wooed her back then. Now that there's a ready-made solution, wouldn't it be stupid not to copy it?

Just as he was about to speak, the door was suddenly pulled open from the outside, and a retainer from the royal palace rushed in.

"Bang!"

"Your Highness! Fatty! This humble servant saw Luo Hongtu leading his entire family, along with several cartloads of goods, approaching from a distance. Judging from their appearance, it seems they're about to flee!"

"What the hell?" The fat man shoved aside the swaying girl beside him and rushed to his retainer. "Explain yourself! Where did you see it? How many men did it take? Which direction did it run off in?"

"Reporting to Master Pang, they're downstairs! I suspect they were heading towards the palace, but we've already stopped them."

"Well done!" The fat man spat out a mouthful of saliva. "Hahaha, boss, looks like this old bastard is planning to defect to the emperor!"

Lin Yi had expected that Luo Hongtu would seek refuge with Nangong Xiong, but he hadn't anticipated that Luo would move his entire family away.

What does that mean?

Could it be that……

"Judging from this, it seems that Nangong Xiong has taken them in," Lin Yi said in a deep voice.

The fat man nodded, not even bothering to pick up his fallen handkerchief, and sat down opposite Lin Yi with an air of nonchalance, saying, "Hmm, the Luo family really got lucky, managing to live in the palace."

Lin Yi sneered, "Ha, I don't believe Nangong Xiong would be so kind. He must have ulterior motives. But the Luo family has already fallen on hard times, what else could he possibly want... perhaps the Luo family's small amount of land?"

This was what Lin Yi couldn't understand the most. Logically speaking, after using Luo Hongtu and failing, Nangong Xiong should have discarded them. Yet now he chose to take them in.

If they don't have ulterior motives, then they're worried that the Luo family will side with the Lin family.

Ha, what a terrible move.

Nangong Xiong was ultimately not a wise ruler, and he couldn't think of any better way to deal with himself.

Lin Yi stood up: "Let's go take a look."

"Alright!"

The two brothers dressed up and left without even glancing at the beautifully dressed girls.

The poor girls looked at each other, all of them deflated like punctured balloons.

I thought that by attaching myself to the Regent today, I could rise to prominence and transform from a nobody into a phoenix.

Unexpectedly, they didn't even fancy me.

"Sigh, what a disappointment."

"That's right, the prince is too difficult to please, he won't even eat a single grape."

"You should be grateful. That fat bastard almost crushed me to death. I never want to serve him again."

"Shh! Don't talk nonsense. They haven't gone far yet. Do you want to die?"

"Alright, stop complaining and get to work." Su Meier's cool voice rang out, and all the girls nodded obediently and began to work.

......

Yanlai Tower.

The streets were in complete chaos.

Several plainly decorated carriages were forcibly blocked in the middle of the road, and more than a dozen retainers of the Prince's Palace, armed with knives and clubs, surrounded them, preventing them from moving forward even an inch.

Beside the carriage, several loyal servants of the Luo family were arguing with the retainers.

"Why are you blocking our way?"

"We are from the residence of the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and we are on our way to the palace on business!"

"Our master is an official appointed by the imperial court. How dare you obstruct his official procession? This is a grave offense!"

The retainers of the Prince's mansion didn't waste any words with them, but just stared at them coldly.

One of the retainers sneered, "Don't try to intimidate us with your official airs. In this capital, there's no one our Prince's Mansion can't stop!"

"That's right! If you know what's good for you, get back here right now, or don't blame us for being impolite!"

Just as the two sides were deadlocked, Lin Yi and Fatty Wang came out of Yanlai Tower.

The onlookers became even more excited.

They were not afraid of Lin Yi at all, because the Wangfu (Prince's Mansion) had never bullied the common people, whether in its heyday or in its current decline.

But just because the common people aren't afraid doesn't mean the Luo family isn't afraid either.

On the contrary, the moment they saw Lin Yi, they were so frightened that they almost lost their souls.

The middle-aged man who looked like a butler suddenly collapsed to his knees.

"Your Highness..."

"Hmm." Lin Yi nodded amicably, a cryptic smile on his face, then walked to the middle carriage and said, "Father-in-law, where are you going so late?"