With legs weak, the sickly stable boy became a mad regent.

On the other side, Shen Run was counting the silver in the courtyard, sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Quick! Load it onto the truck! Not a single box can be missing!"

"Young Master!" the butler rushed over. "Miss Qiu is here!"

Shen Run didn't even look up: "Tell her to wait, I'm busy."

"Wait for what? You dare make me wait?! This is outrageous!"

Qiu Tong's voice came from the courtyard gate. Shen Run looked up and saw her stride in, followed by two servants carrying a large box.

"What is this?" Shen Run was stunned.

Qiu Tong slapped the lid of the box and lifted it open—it was full of silver, so white it made one's eyes dizzy.

"My dowry," she said, her voice crisp and clear.

"Take it and use it first."

Shen Run stared at the box of silver, then looked at her, opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

"What are you spacing out for?"

Qiu Tong kicked the box.

"If that's not enough, there's more. I've already spoken to my father, and he's agreed to raise another 200,000 taels."

Shen Run's nose suddenly felt sore.

He turned his face away and blinked hard.

"Why are you, a grown man, crying?" Qiu Tong frowned.

"Who's crying!" he said in a muffled voice. "It's windy."

"Where did the wind come from in the yard?"

"If I say it's there, then it's there!"

Qiu Tong looked at his red eyes and suddenly smiled.

She reached out and slapped him on the back of the head.

"Alright, stop being so sentimental. Hurry up and get the provisions ready; your father is waiting."

Shen Run stumbled forward after being slapped, her voice tinged with a hint of coquetry.

"You keep hitting me!"

"So what if I hit you?" Qiu Tong said, hands on her hips. "You're not happy about it?"

Shen Run stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly reached out, wrapped his arms around her waist, lowered his head, and kissed her on the cheek.

Qiu Tong froze.

"Shen Run, you..." Qiu Tong's face flushed red, and she raised her hand to slap him.

Shen Run took two blows, but instead of dodging, he laughed.

"Go ahead and hit me, then give me a kiss after you're done."

"You're asking for it!"

Qiu Tong chased after him and hit him, while Shen Run ran all over the yard, laughing as he ran.

"Go ahead and hit me, go ahead and hit me. Anyway, you're my fiancée, what's wrong with a kiss! I'll kiss you again, I'll kiss you again."

The servants lowered their heads, wanting to laugh but not daring to.

"Young Master! Great news! Incredibly great news!"

The servant boy ran in from outside, shouting excitedly.

"Ministry of Revenue! The grain rations from the Ministry of Revenue have been distributed!"

The two of them were both taken aback. "What?"

"Ministry of Revenue! The Ministry of Revenue has begun inventorying the grain supplies; they will be dispatched to the border soon!"

Qiu Tong was stunned: "It's been issued? Wasn't it said that the national treasury was empty and we had to wait?"

Shen Run's eyes widened. "That bastard Qian Mingyuan, he's actually willing to release grain?"

"It's the Third Prince!" the servant's eyes lit up.

"The Third Prince, Xiao Yunting, requested permission early this morning and personally went to the Ministry of Revenue to urge them! The Ministry of Revenue dared not delay any longer and allocated the grain on the spot!"

Shen Run frowned.

The Third Prince. Xiao Yunting.

That carefree and unrestrained prince only knew that he was the emperor's younger brother, and spent his days frequenting taverns and theaters, ignoring state affairs.

But why would he suddenly help the Shen family?

However, having food is a good thing!

"There's always a way out! I have to tell my sister!"

-------

The capital city, the residence of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Qian Mingyuan slumped to the ground, his face pale and his forehead covered in sweat.

A seductive figure reclined on the couch, wearing a brightly colored brocade robe, holding a grape in her hand and slowly putting it into her mouth.

"Lord Qian, have you made up your mind?"

Yun Jin chewed on a grape, toying with a silver needle in her hand, and said slowly,

"Are you going to issue the rations or not?"

Qian Mingyuan's lips trembled as he said, "Young master, it's not that I'm unwilling to do it, it's... it's that I've been ordered to delay..."

"High?" Yun Jin raised an eyebrow.

"Which one is on top? The Crown Prince? Or Prime Minister Su?"

Qian Mingyuan dared not speak.

Yun Jin sighed, took out a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve, placed it on the table, and spun it around twice. The bottle was as white as jade and gleamed coldly in the candlelight.

"Lord Qian, do you know what this is?"

Qian Mingyuan stared at the porcelain bottle, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Seven-Day Heartbreak Powder." Yun Jin smiled, as if she were talking about something amusing.

"After taking it, I didn't feel anything for the first three days, then my stomach started to hurt on the fourth day, the pain was unbearable on the fifth day, my intestines started to rot on the sixth day, and on the seventh day..." He paused, blinked,

"The person is gone."

Qian Mingyuan's face was as white as paper.

"You...you can't..."

"I can't?" Yun Jin tilted her head. "Lord Qian, you can withhold the border soldiers' rations and let them go hungry on the front lines, so why can't I?"

Yun Jin stood up, walked to him, squatted down, and looked at him with a smile.

That smile was incredibly gentle, but Qian Mingyuan found it more terrifying than the King of Hell.

"General Shen has been kind to me." Yun Jin patted his face, not too hard, not too soft, like patting a dog. "If you dare to withhold his rations for even one more day—"

He waved the silver needle in front of Qian Mingyuan's eyes, the tip of the needle only an inch away from his eyeball.

"I'll let you taste this needle first."

Qian Mingyuan was so frightened that he shrank back, his back hitting the table leg. He winced in pain, but didn't dare to cry out.

"I...I..."

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" Yun Jin tilted her head, her face innocent and naive. "Lord Qian, do you want grain or your life?"

Qian Mingyuan opened his mouth, about to say something—

"My lord! My lord!"

The servant's voice came from outside the door, urgent and loud, as if something important had happened.

Qian Mingyuan grasped at a straw and tried to get up, but Yun Jin's sharp glare froze him in place.

All he could do was shout towards the door, "W-what is it? Speak quickly!"

The servant announced from the doorway, "Sir, news has arrived from the Ministry of Revenue!"

"What news?"

"The Minister is cured! This morning, the Third Prince personally went to the Ministry of Revenue to request the imperial decree, and the Emperor approved it on the spot! The grain supplies have already begun to be loaded onto carts and sent to the border!"

Qian Mingyuan was stunned.

Yun Jin was also stunned, the silver needle in her hand stopped in mid-air.

"It's been sent?" Yun Jin narrowed her eyes. "The Third Prince?"

The servant said from outside,

"It's the Third Prince! I heard that the Third Prince knelt in the Imperial Study for an hour before His Majesty finally relented."

"You should have said so earlier." Yun Jin stood up, patted off imaginary dust from her robe, and grinned. "You made me come all this way for nothing."

Qian Mingyuan lay sprawled on the ground, like a lump of mud, gasping for breath.

Yun Jin walked to the door, then suddenly turned back and looked at him with a smile: "Lord Qian."

Qian Mingyuan shuddered.

"You got lucky this time." Yun Jin blinked. "If I find out you've withheld the Shen family's grain again, I'll let you taste this needle—starting from your eyeballs."

He made a poking gesture and smiled very gently.

Qian Mingyuan almost fainted from fright.

Then, Yun Jin flicked her finger, and a medicine bowl accurately shot into Qian Mingyuan's throat.

Qian Mingyuan shuddered.

Yun Jin smiled and said, "By the way, Lord Qian, the poison in your body won't take effect for seven days. But if you talk nonsense..."

He didn't continue, but just smiled, pushed the door open, and went out.

----

In the shadows, Yun Jin landed on a large tree and whistled into the darkness.

Mo Bai appeared silently.

Yun Jin crossed her arms, smiling alluringly.

"Mo Bai, I've taken care of things, but your master will be quite busy."

Mo Bai glanced at him coldly, "I'm done talking. I'm going back to report now."

"Hey, don't go!" Yun Jin grinned mischievously.

"Think about it..." he lowered his voice, a smile on his face that seemed to say he was enjoying the drama.

"A dashing and carefree prince personally stepped forward to protect the grain... and everyone flocked to Miss Shen."

He patted Mo Bai on the shoulder, gloating:

"Our partner seems calm most of the time, but when she gets jealous, she can be deadly."

Mo Bai remained silent for a moment, then coldly uttered three words: "Mind your own business."

Yun Jin shrugged and gracefully leaped away.

"Sigh, my master always assigns me dirty and tiring work. My poison is very expensive... Never mind, watching the show is more important."

Mo Bai looked up, gazing in the direction of the General's Mansion, feeling a little tired...

A vinegar jar?

It's already been flipped over.