A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

Meanwhile, inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Imperial Palace, the atmosphere of the morning court session had plummeted to freezing point.

Emperor Liang Song of the Great Liang Dynasty sat upright on the dragon throne, his gaze sweeping over the assembled officials below.

Minister of Rites Wen Ruochuan and Minister of Revenue He Changyuan knelt side by side in the center of the hall, their eyes bruised and their expressions filled with grief and indignation. He Changyuan, in particular, was deeply saddened. Last night, Li Zheng had not only smashed the stone lions at his residence but had also kicked his century-old golden nanmu gate to pieces.

"Your Majesty! This old minister demands an impeachment of General Li Zheng, the Grand General Who Protects the Nation!" Wen Ruochuan raised his imperial tablet high, his voice stern and resentful. "Last night, Li Zheng disregarded the laws of the Great Liang Dynasty, leading his troops to besiege the residences of imperial officials, damaging the stone lions bestowed by the emperor, and even threatening this old minister's grandson with a knife! Such acts of abusing his power and defying the imperial court must be severely punished; otherwise, what face will the court have? What will become of the authority of the law?!"

"I second that!" He Changyuan cried, tears streaming down his face. "Last night, Li Zheng broke into my residence like a bandit, completely destroying the gate. Such arrogance by a military general is a grave threat to the nation. I implore Your Majesty to strip him of his military power and hand him over to the Ministry of Justice for punishment!"

Upon seeing this, several officials from the Censorate stepped forward, citing classical texts and launching verbal and written attacks, filling the hall with voices criticizing Li Zheng.

"Are you done talking?"

A cold snort, like a muffled thunderclap, resounded in the hall.

Li Zheng, dressed in a purple court robe, strode out of the ranks of military officers. Although he was over fifty years old, he stood tall and straight like a pine tree, and his fierce eyes swept over the officials who had spoken out against him, causing them to involuntarily shrink back.

"I did smash your door last night, and you deserved it!" Li Zheng pointed at Wen Ruochuan and He Changyuan's noses and cursed, "You two old scoundrels, your grandsons are full of evil. You don't dare to compete fairly in the imperial examinations, so you resort to underhanded tricks behind the scenes, cutting off building materials for Xiahe Village and jeopardizing the old soldiers' livelihoods!"

"Those two hundred-odd households in Xiahe Village, which one of them wasn't a man who shed blood and risked his life for the Great Liang? They're missing limbs, and it wasn't easy for someone to be willing to pay for building schools and workshops for them, so they could finally have enough to eat. And you, with just a few words, have caused merchants to cut off their supply! When I smashed your doors, did you feel any remorse? When you were cutting off the livelihoods of my Great Liang soldiers, didn't you feel any remorse?!"

"You...you're spouting nonsense! That's just a dispute between merchants over interests, what does it have to do with us!" Wen Ruochuan argued illogically.

"Nonsense!" Minister of War Su Jingzhi strode forward and shouted angrily, "Lord Wen, without your ministerial authorization, would the eight major timber merchants in the capital dare to break their contracts even at a loss? Xiahe Village is a resettlement place for retired veterans. To touch Xiahe Village is to cross the bottom line of the Ministry of War, and to chill the hearts of the soldiers! If this matter is not thoroughly investigated, who among the border soldiers will still be willing to die for the country!"

This accusation against Su Jingzhi is extremely exaggerated, elevating it directly to the level of border security.

The civil and military officials immediately started arguing, and the hall became as noisy as a marketplace.

"That's enough!"

On the dragon throne, Liang Song slammed his hand on the dragon table, his deep voice carrying the imposing imperial authority.

The hall fell silent instantly, and all the ministers knelt down.

Liang Song coldly looked at Wen Ruochuan and He Changyuan below: "Merchant matters? Wen Ruochuan, He Changyuan, do you think I'm blind or stupid? Do you want me to recite to you every single word of the threats your two scoundrels made at Wenhua Pavilion?"

Wen Ruochuan and He Changyuan trembled, cold sweat instantly soaking their court robes. They kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! We have failed in our duty of instruction; we deserve to die!"

"Incompetent in education?" Liang Song sneered. "Xiahe Village is a crucial place for the imperial court to care for wounded soldiers. The Wang family contributed funds and effort, sharing the burden of the court. Not only do your descendants not think of serving the country, but they also abuse their power to bully others and suppress meritorious officials. It's simply outrageous!"

Liang Song turned to Li Zheng: "Li Zheng, you rode recklessly through the streets of the capital, damaging the residence of a high-ranking official. Although there was a reason for it, your actions were reckless. You are to be fined half a year's salary to compensate the Wen and He families for the cost of repairing their residences. Do you accept this?"

A six-month salary deduction? Does the Li family really need that little bit of money?

Li Zheng knew the emperor was only giving a lenient punishment, so he immediately replied loudly, "Your subject accepts the punishment! Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty!"

"As for the Wen and He families..." Liang Song's gaze was like a knife, "They failed to properly educate their children, allowing their descendants to bully others. Wen Ruochuan and He Changyuan are each fined one year's salary and confined to their homes for half a month to reflect on their actions. Wen Zixuan and He Peng are disqualified from taking the imperial examinations for three years, effective immediately, as a warning to others!"

Upon hearing this, Wen Ruochuan and He Changyuan were struck dumb, collapsing to the ground. Being stripped of their eligibility for the imperial examinations for three years was undoubtedly a devastating blow to scions of prominent families.

"Court adjourned!"

Liang Song flicked his sleeves and turned to leave the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The civil and military officials were left looking at each other in bewilderment. Everyone knew perfectly well that His Majesty was using Li Zheng to give the powerful families a severe warning.

More importantly, this decision sent a very clear signal to the court and the public—Xiahe Village and the Wang family behind it had caught His Majesty's eye and were being watched and protected by the Holy Heart.

From now on, anyone who wants to cause trouble for the Wang family and Xiahe Village should think twice before trying to withstand the emperor's wrath.

------

The afternoon sunlight streamed through the carved windows into the main hall of the Prince's Mansion, and a faint aroma of tea lingered in the air.

Li Zheng, accompanied by Meng An, the chief steward of the General's Mansion, strode into the gate of the Prince's Mansion.

"Jinzhu girl!" Before Li Zhengren even reached the main hall, her booming voice rang out.

Wang Jinzhu had just finished processing the accounts sent by Zhiji Pavilion when she hurriedly went out to greet him: "Uncle Li, why did you come in person? Please take a seat."

Li Zheng sat down imposingly in the grand chair, picked up his teacup, took a big gulp, and laughed loudly, "I've come to see if you're frightened, girl. You heard about what happened at the morning court, right? Those two old scoundrels, Wen Ruochuan and He Changyuan, got a severe beating from the Emperor, and that good-for-nothing son of yours was also stripped of his eligibility for the imperial examinations. Go ahead and do whatever you want in Xiahe Village, the sky won't fall! I'll hold it up for you!"

Wang Jinzhu smiled slightly and personally refilled Li Zheng's teacup: "With your words, Uncle, I feel at ease. However, Uncle Li, the scale of the Xiahe Village Veterans Industrial Park will continue to grow, and more and more people will be envious of Xiahe Village."

Li Zheng snorted coldly, slamming his teacup heavily on the table: "Envious? If anyone dares to lay a finger on us, they'll see if the swords in my Zhenwei Army will allow it! If my swords can't subdue them, there's still the Emperor! The Emperor knows perfectly well that anyone who dares to take away the soldiers' livelihood is courting death!"

Wang Jinzhu straightened her expression and said earnestly, "Uncle Li, I also have something I'd like to discuss with you. For all the workshops in Xiahe Village that need expansion, I plan to recruit workers from the families of soldiers from Daliang, or from disabled veterans. Uncle Li, you have a high reputation in the army. If there are any veterans or their families who need work and are struggling financially, you can arrange for them to come to Xiahe Village."