On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Sun Fu, standing to the side, remained silent, like an old monk in meditation, his eyes fixed on his nose and his mouth, offering no words of advice or attempt to dissuade the enraged Nangong Xiong.

There's really not much to say. Over the years, he's long been utterly disappointed with the Nangong family.

The princes were either cockfighting, dog racing, or indulging in drinking, gambling, and whoring; the emperor had no real abilities either. Besides being impotent and furious, smashing things, and cursing, what else could he do?

A qualified emperor, when faced with difficulties, should first think about how to break the deadlock, rather than venting his emotions.

With such limited cunning, you think you can be emperor? It's more appropriate for us to be emperor.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the hall.

He was a lowly eunuch who delivered messages.

"Your Majesty! Eunuch Suo Dahai from the Ninth Prince's residence requests an audience, saying he has important matters to report!"

Nangong Xiong took a bite of the pickled vegetables, then frowned: "Let him in."

"As you command."

The eunuch withdrew, and a moment later, Suo Dahai hunched over like a turtle and shuffled in with small steps. When he reached the center of the hall, he knelt down with a thud and burst into tears.

"Your Majesty! You must do justice for the Fourth Prince! Waaaaah..."

The sudden wail startled Nangong Xiong, and he almost dropped the millet porridge in his hand.

"How dare you! What are you howling about? Explain yourself clearly!"

"Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince... he's been deposed!" Suo Dahai cried miserably, completely lacking his usual tact.

Nangong Xiong was slightly taken aback.

Is it useless? What does "useless" mean?

Suo Dahai continued, "Your Majesty, today at the Regent's Palace, Lin Yi unleashed his dog to commit atrocities, biting the Fourth Prince and turning him into a eunuch!"

pat-

Nangong Xiong dropped his chopsticks on the ground, his mind going completely blank.

Did it bite him into becoming a eunuch?

My son!

"Lin Yi!!" Nangong Xiongqi almost ground his back teeth to powder.

He has many sons, but Nangong Jin is his most beloved son!

In fact, in his heart, Nangong Jin was destined to inherit the throne!

Now he's actually been crippled by Lin Yi!

Ah!

"Ah!! Lin Yi, I will never forgive you!" With that, Nangong Xiong kicked the dragon table.

But it didn't knock it down; it just made the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on it wobble back and forth.

Upon hearing this, Sun Fu gave a cold smile to himself.

Serves him right!

That idiot Nangong Jin, he does whatever he wants just because he's a little bit clever.

Little did he know, his little bit of cleverness was nothing compared to Lin Yi's!

Lin Yi now has a silver ingot in his left hand and a gun barrel in his right.

You not only didn't avoid them, but you also went out of your way to provoke them. Isn't that like lighting a lantern in the toilet—you're asking for trouble?

I used to think of him as the biggest obstacle to my rise to the top, but now it seems he's nothing but a fart.

A prince who cannot have children is not worthy of competing for the throne.

Without you, the other princes are no threat at all.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Sun Fu finally spoke up to persuade him, then looked at Suo Dahai: "Dahai, let me ask you, why did the Fourth Prince go to the Prince's residence for no reason?"

"This..." Suo Dahai's heart skipped a beat when he was asked this question.

He certainly knew what Nangong Jin had been doing, but could he say it in front of the emperor?

To everyone's surprise, when asked this question, Nangong Xiong also angrily retorted, "Hurry up and answer!"

"Yes!" Suo Dahai kowtowed again. "Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince is... is..."

"Speak up!!"

"This afternoon, the Fourth Prince disguised himself as a guard of the Prince's residence and sneaked into the manor to have a secret rendezvous with... with Miss Luo..."

Sun Fu sneered, thinking to himself: Heh heh heh, just as I thought.

I knew you, Nangong Jin, couldn't possibly be up to anything good.

He stole someone else's wife, and ended up getting bitten by that person's dog. Heaven really does have eyes, and retribution is swift.

"You scoundrel!" Nangong Xiong roared in fury. "For a mere woman, he disguised himself and had an affair! And he even had his manhood bitten off! If word gets out, what will become of the royal family's reputation!"

Nangong Xiong was angry that Lin Yi had rebelled, but he was even angrier that his sons were all so disappointing.

These words were less an insult to Nangong Xiong and more an insult to all his children.

"Your Majesty," Sun Fu said, "we can no longer afford to worry about the royal family's reputation. If the blockade is not lifted and the Lin family continues to grow powerful, you will lose more than just one prince."

"What do you mean?"

Nangong Xiong was still immersed in the pain of his son being crippled, and had not thought about the deeper implications.

Sun Fu explained, "Your Majesty, if Lin Yi continues to refuse to lift the blockade of the palace, then he is determined to rebel! With our current military strength, we simply cannot hold it. Once he breaches the walls... Your Majesty, how many of your nine children will be left?"

Only after being reminded by Sun Fu did Nangong Xiong realize what was happening.

What's the point of getting angry? The most urgent thing right now is to think of a solution. We can't let one person and one chicken make us lose our composure.

The fourth brother is crippled, but he's still alive.

However, if the palace blockade cannot be lifted as soon as possible, and the food supplies in the palace are completely exhausted and morale is low, then Lin Yi's next move will probably be to rush into the Zichen Palace with a knife and force him to write an abdication edict.

At that time, not only Nangong Jin, but all his sons, princesses, and the entire Nangong family's empire will cease to exist.

Nangong Xiong wasn't a fool; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to emerge victorious from the struggle for the throne among the nine princes. He had simply been blinded by imperial dignity for too long and was unwilling to admit that he had fallen so low as to have to bow down to a mere subject.

But reality is cruel.

He looked down at the bowl of thin, watery millet porridge on the dragon table, then at the two wilted pickled vegetables beside it, and an unprecedented sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart.

After a lifetime of military service, fighting his way through countless brothers to reach the highest position, is it all for nothing but drinking pig swill today, watching his sons be crippled one by one, and finally having his empire usurped by a mere child?

No.

I am absolutely not reconciled.

Nangong Xiong took a deep breath, hope rekindling in his eyes. He waved to Suo Dahai and said, "Dahai, you may leave now. I will personally visit the Fourth Prince later."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Having received the answer he expected, Suo Dahai kowtowed profusely and retreated with his back to the door.

"Sun Fu." Nangong Xiong sat up straight, wanting to look at Sun Fu beside him. "Tell me, what should I do now?"

Seeing that Nangong Xiong had regained his confidence, Sun Fu also breathed a sigh of relief.

This is the only person he can rely on right now. If he falls, Lin Yi will be completely invincible.

Fortunately, it's alright.

"Your Majesty, the one who tied the knot must untie it. At present, only Lin Yi can lift the siege of the capital and make the Lin family stop."

"Are you still going to advise me to sue for peace with him?"

"Your Majesty, times have changed," Sun Fu said calmly. "A ruler must be able to bend and stretch. As long as you are still on this throne, as long as the Great Zhou dynasty still belongs to the Nangong family, you have a chance to turn the tide. Besides, we are only giving Lin Yi a way out, not seeking peace."

Nangong Xiong raised an eyebrow.

If it's just about giving them a way out... that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's better than going over to apologize to them in person, right?

"Your Highness, I thank you for tearing up my imperial edict, I thank you for crippling my son, I thank your ancestors for eight generations..."

How could Nangong Xiong possibly say such a thing?

Nangong Xiong asked, "How can you offer him a way out? As long as he doesn't apologize in person, I can give him that face."

Sun Fu sneered.

Even at a time like this, you're still acting like an emperor.

He replied, "A marriage alliance."