On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Yang Siyu reached out to stroke his daughter, whom he had carefully raised.

Over the years, she knew that her son, Nangong Jie, was beyond saving, so she poured almost all her energy into her daughter.

She taught her etiquette and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and made her familiar with "Instructions for Women" and "Admonitions for Women," hoping that she could marry into a good family and be respected by her husband's family in the future.

But who knew... that the emperor would actually want my outstanding daughter to marry a rebel!

Especially since my daughter is so sensible!

The more sensible Min'er became, the more heartbroken her mother felt.

"Min'er, tell your mother, did you already know all along?"

Nangong Min nodded, not hiding anything: "Yes, I heard it from the palace maids while I was taking a walk in the Imperial Garden just now."

"and you……"

"Mother," Nangong Min interrupted her, "Since ancient times, the marriage of children has been decided by their parents and arranged by matchmakers. Moreover, this is the Emperor's decree, and as a princess of the Great Zhou, I should obey it."

"But..." Yang Siyu was still unwilling to give up, hoping her daughter could talk to Nangong Xiong, "Lin Yi isn't a good match!"

"What does it matter whether he's a good match or not?" Nangong Min smiled, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "It's all the same who you marry. At least he's still a subject of the Great Zhou, so my daughter doesn't have to marry far away and can still come back to visit her mother often. That's already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune."

Yang Siyu listened to his daughter's words and for a moment did not know how to refute them.

Yes, compared to her sisters who were sent to the grasslands to marry barbarian khans who were older than their fathers, Min'er's fate did not seem to be the worst.

Oh well, never mind.

Since his daughter had chosen to comply, what else could he say?

"Min'er, since you've made up your mind, your mother won't try to persuade you anymore." Yang Siyu held her daughter's hand tightly. "Go ahead and marry him. After all, we're both members of the royal family. Fortunately, you are a princess, a golden branch and jade leaf, so it's a marriage of convenience. Even if Lin Yi is only concerned about his reputation, he won't really mistreat you. Your mother is just worried that one day he might become a rebel, and then you would be a rebel's woman. What will history say about you then... Sigh..."

"Confucius said, 'The husband is the head of the household.' Since our daughter is a member of the Lin family, she should naturally bear the stigma of being a traitor. This is our daughter's fate."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Min regretted it even more.

If she hadn't been taught these things back then, perhaps she would have her own ideas now, instead of just knowing the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues.

Sin ah.

Learning it is wrong, not learning it is wrong, damn Confucius.

"Enough, what's the use of crying?" Yang Siyu wiped away her tears, forcing a smile through her sobs. "A daughter's marriage should be a joyous occasion. If you suffer any injustice in the Prince's residence, just send someone back to tell your mother. Your mother will risk her life to stand up for you!"

"Yes, daughter understands."

"Huanhuan," Yang Siyu called to his personal maid.

"Your Majesty."

"Go, take inventory of my private treasury, make a list, and add to the princess's dowry."

"Yes." Huanhuan accepted the order and left.

Yang Siyu looked at her daughter with affection again: "Min'er, your mother has saved up quite a bit of money over the years. Take it all. When you get to the Prince's mansion, you'll need it to make arrangements for everyone. Don't deprive yourself."

Nangong Min shook her head: "Mother, you also need money to bribe officials in the palace. I can't accept it. You should keep it for yourself."

"Silly child, what expenses could your mother possibly have in the palace? Take this. I don't know how His Majesty will arrange this marriage. If he doesn't give you a dowry, wouldn't Lin Yi be looking down on you for no reason? My daughter will never marry into the palace in such a wretched state. Be good."

Nangong Min knew this, and her eyes reddened again.

"Yes, I will obey my mother."

"Good girl." Yang Siyu nodded, tidying her daughter's hair, her eyes full of love and reluctance. "Come, let your mother comb your hair one more time. In a few days, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it anymore."

"Um."

......

three days later.

The chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department walked into the Zichen Palace with trepidation.

His Majesty has been in a bad mood lately and has already executed more than a dozen eunuchs under various pretexts. Anyone with eyes to see knows that His Majesty is annoyed by their waste of food; if we don't prepare properly today, we might be in trouble too.

He entered and knelt in the center of the hall: "Your Majesty, the list of the Princess's dowry has been prepared. Please review it."

At this moment, Nangong Xiong was sitting behind the dragon desk reviewing memorials.

Although the capital was sealed off, it's unclear what Lin Yi was thinking, but he only withheld grain and gold and silver jewelry, without withholding official documents.

This resulted in Nangong Xiong having to work on an empty stomach.

Upon hearing the head eunuch's words, he put down his vermilion brush and rubbed his sore eyes: "Bring it here."

The eunuch hurriedly and respectfully handed over the account books.

Sun Fu took the item from the side and presented it to Nangong Xiong.

Nangong Xiong sighed deeply and took a look.

With just one glance, his pupils contracted sharply.

"Ten luminous pearls from the South China Sea? How many do I have in total?"

Sun Fu replied, "Your Majesty, eleven."

"What!?" Nangong Xiong's beard stood on end.

Each of these South China Sea luminous pearls is priceless. They were presented as tribute by a small southern country back then, and can be described as the finest of the finest. Even he himself only has eleven of them, and now he actually wants to give ten to Lin Yi!

Isn't this cutting off his flesh?

"You scoundrel!" Nangong Xiong slammed his hand on the dragon throne and roared at the chief eunuch below, "I only have eleven, why should that traitor have ten? I think you're plotting a rebellion too! Guards, drag him out and behead him!"

"Ah!? No, Your Majesty! I'm innocent! This was all ordered to be done by Eunuch Sun!" The eunuch already had a problem with urinating, and after being frightened by Nangong Xiong, he urinated all over the floor.

Nangong Xiong looked at Sun Fu: "Sun Fu, what do you mean?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Sun Fu was not afraid at all. "This list was indeed prepared by the Imperial Household Department at my request."

"You..." Nangong Xiong was so angry he almost choked. "How dare you! Are you planning a rebellion too?"

"Your Majesty, this old servant is doing this for Your Majesty's sake, for the sake of our Great Zhou's empire and its people."

"That sounds nice! I only have eleven of these luminous pearls, why did you give Lin Yi ten! Am I not as good as him?"

Sun Fu explained calmly, "Your Majesty, Lin Yi is like a wolf that can never be satisfied. If we don't give him enough, will he be content? If he's not content, will he lift the blockade of the palace?"

"What we're giving away now are just material possessions. Once we recover, won't we get them back with interest? If we lose sight of the bigger picture and anger him for a few coins, pushing him to the brink and leading his troops to storm the palace... then His Majesty will have to pay much more than just these few beads!"

Nangong Xiong naturally understood the deeper meaning behind Sun Fu's words. If Lin Yi did not lift the blockade, or directly led troops to besiege the area, then his losses would be far more than just a few beads.

Well, now is not the time to feel sorry for these precious things.

You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub.

Even if you're reluctant to part with your dowry, you can't tame Lin Yi, that mad dog.

He slumped back onto the dragon throne, forcing himself to continue reading despite the heartache.

"Three pairs of fire jade ruyi from the Western Regions, a genuine copy of the 'Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion' by Wang Xizhi of the previous dynasty, a Guanyin statue made of Hetian white jade, a phoenix crown made of red gold, fifty cat's-eye stones, one hundred and eight pearls from the East, ten thousand taels of gold, five hundred thousand taels of silver, and one thousand bolts of silk of various colors..."

There's much more to come.

With each item Nangong Xiong looked at, his face paled a little more.

This isn't a dowry list, it's clearly a list of things that have been confiscated!

"That little bastard!" Nangong Xiong cursed, "He's trying to empty my private treasury!"

"Your Majesty, please rest..."

Sun Fu was about to offer some advice when Nangong Xiong impatiently interrupted him: "I know that a small act of impatience can ruin a great plan! Fine, proceed with this list and send it to that traitor. Tell him that the Princess is getting married in three days, and that he should prepare well. If he dares to neglect the Princess, I will not forgive him!"

This last sentence is all bark and no bite; it shows a complete lack of confidence.

Sun Fu secretly curled his lip.

At a time like this, who are you trying to impress?

"Your Majesty is wise!"