Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

When the city of Jinling reaches mid-spring, it seems to be immersed in a pool of misty celadon.

The drizzle that had lasted for several days finally stopped.

On the streets paved with bluestone slabs, the puddles reflected the white walls and black tiles on both sides.

The pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River were still recovering from last night's hangover.

A thin morning mist, like a light veil, shrouded this ancient capital of six dynasties, making it appear and disappear.

In the west of the city, there is a vast mansion called "Xichun Garden".

This garden was originally the private residence of a powerful eunuch in the previous dynasty. It was built with winding paths, stacked stones, and flowing water.

It fully embodies the elegance and extravagance of Jiangnan gardens.

Now, this garden has become the temporary residence of the Imperial Envoy, Pei Yuan, the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in Jinling.

In the main room of the inner courtyard, a soft, light red gauze curtain hangs over the canopy bed.

Pei Yuan, wearing a moon-white Hangzhou silk undergarment, leaned lazily against an embroidered brocade cushion.

"My lord, it's time for breakfast."

A maid's soft, timid voice came from outside the door.

"Bring it in."

Pei Yuan spoke in a casual tone.

Two pretty maids dressed in light green vests carefully lifted the curtain.

Holding a lacquered mahogany food box in her hands, she tiptoed to the octagonal table in the outer room.

Arrange the breakfast items one by one.

To curry favor with this ruthless man, the salt merchants and tycoons of Jinling sent over only the best chefs.

On the table sat a steaming basket of crab roe soup dumplings, their skins as thin as paper, the crab roe broth inside clear and bright yellow.

A bowl of thick, simmered rice porridge, served with several plates of exquisite Yangzhou pickles.

Another dish is a bowl of premium bird's nest stewed with rock sugar and old ginseng, emitting an enticing sweet aroma.

Pei Yuan slipped on his soft-soled cloud-patterned shoes and walked to the table to sit down.

He picked up his silver chopsticks, grabbed a crab roe soup dumpling, and bit a small hole in it.

Slowly sip the delicious broth inside.

Pei Yuan swallowed the bird's nest in his mouth, picked up a warm towel from the side and wiped his hands, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

This world is so absurd.

If you act as a loyal subject, the eyes of the world will be fixed on you; if you make even the slightest mistake, you will be ruined and disgraced.

But if you simply become a heinous villain, as long as you hold a knife in your hand...

The wealthy merchants and gentry of the city would then offer up the finest things in the world to them with both hands, like lapdogs.

I only ask that you spare their lives.

Just as they were leisurely having their breakfast, a series of steady and powerful footsteps came from the outer courtyard.

Lu Zheng, a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, with an embroidered spring knife hanging at his waist, strode into the inner courtyard and knelt on one knee outside the door.

"Your humble servant Lu Zheng greets Your Excellency."

"Come in and give your answer."

Pei Yuan picked up the teacup and brushed away the foam on the surface of the tea.

Lu Zheng lifted the curtain and entered, bowing respectfully to report.

"My lord, the three-day deadline has passed. The craftsmen who left Longjiang Shipyard, impressed by your skills on the Qinhuai River, all returned to the shipyard yesterday to await orders."

"All the skilled shipbuilders who had worked at the shipyards in the surrounding prefectures and counties of Jinling have been invited back by our people overnight. Now there are more than 3,000 people, ready to start work at any time."

Pei Yuan nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

In this world, reasoning often doesn't work.

Those craftsmen were exploited by local officials and fled to the countryside to do private work.

If we use an imperial edict to recall them, they will surely go into hiding.

But once a knife is held to their throats, they are told that if they don't come back to build the ship, they will lose their heads.

This makes the efficiency incredibly high.

"We have the craftsmen, but where's the timber?"

Pei Yuan put down his teacup and asked casually.

When the topic of timber came up, Lu Zheng's expression darkened, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes.

"Your Excellency, this is the very important matter I must report today. Timber merchants from all over Jiangnan have already begun transporting common timbers such as pine and autumn wood to the shipyard."

"However, the most crucial part of building the thousand-ton treasure ship, the main keel, was made of the top-quality golden nanmu wood that was transported from Sichuan during the Zhengtong era, but something went wrong."

"Oh?"

Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow, picked up a walnut from the table, and slowly played with it in his hand.

Lu Zheng gritted his teeth and said:

"I followed the secret records left by Sun Youcai before his death and found that the batch of Phoebe zhennan wood had been sold in batches by Sun Youcai to several large salt merchants and silk tycoons in Nanjing as early as the beginning of the Jingtai era."

"These wealthy and powerful families not only relied on their wealth and power, but also had officials from the Six Ministries in Nanjing backing them up."

"Where's the wood?"

Pei Yuan's voice remained calm, showing no sign of anger.

"They used all that Phoebe zhennan wood in their newly built gardens and houses!"

Lu Zheng was indignant.

"Especially Qian Dafu, a wealthy silk merchant in the east of the city. He built a Listening to the Rain Pavilion in his back garden. The eight pillars of the pavilion, and even the roof beams, were all carved from that batch of golden nanmu wood! It was extremely luxurious."

"Last night, I sent someone to the Qian residence to negotiate with them to hand over the timber, but Qian Dafu made excuses and even tried to slip our captain five thousand taels of silver notes in an attempt to deceive us."

"Smack."

The walnut in Pei Yuan's hand made a soft, crisp sound.

The hard walnut shell turned into powder at my fingertips.

He brushed the crumbs off his hands and slowly stood up.

A chilling aura emanated from those deep, unfathomable eyes.

"Using the precious Phoebe zhennan wood used for royal shipbuilding to build their own Listening to the Rain Pavilion? These merchants from Jiangnan are even bolder than the Jurchens of Jianzhou."

Pei Yuan walked up to the bright red flying fish robe hanging on the sandalwood clothes rack.

He slowly draped the robe over his shoulders and straightened his collar.

"Lu Zheng, pass down the order. Assemble five hundred Imperial Guard captains, and bring axes, saws, and ropes."

"The weather is nice today. I'll go to the Qian family's back garden and listen to the rain."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Lu Zheng responded loudly, his eyes flashing with a bloodthirsty light.

He knew that his master was the master of all kinds of dissent.

At this time, the Qian family mansion was located in the east of the city.

This large mansion, covering dozens of acres, is magnificent and opulent.

The courtyard is filled with rare and exotic flowers and plants, and the artificial mountain made of Taihu stones is like a maze.

The air in the Listening to Rain Pavilion in the back garden is filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.

The Listening to the Rain Pavilion is built beside a lush green lotus pond.

The pavilion was enormous, and its eight sturdy pillars were not painted with any vermilion lacquer, but instead retained the original color of the wood.

Under the refraction of sunlight, the wood grain subtly shimmers with golden light.

It even exudes a faint, pleasant fragrance.

This is the priceless, top-grade Phoebe zhennan wood.

Qian Dafu was a fat man over fifty years old, wearing a dark gold silk robe with floral patterns.

At this moment, he was not the only one in Tingyuxuan.

Also seated were several other prominent merchants from Jinling City.

The faces of the group were not very good, and the atmosphere was somewhat somber.

"Brother Qian, what should we do about this?"

A salt merchant wiped the sweat from his brow and said with a worried expression.

"That Pei Yuan is no pushover. He kills people without blinking an eye in Liaodong, and just the other day he had Sun Youcai skinned alive on the banks of the Qinhuai River."

"Now the Embroidered Uniform Guard has its eyes on those camphor trees in our house; they're clearly targeting us!"

Another timber merchant echoed this sentiment.

"Yes! Last night, a captain from the Embroidered Uniform Guard came to deliver a message. Although you managed to get rid of him with silver, I'm afraid five thousand taels of silver won't be enough to satisfy such a ruthless person."

"If he really brings people to forcibly demolish our garden, wouldn't all of this, which we've spent a fortune building, be destroyed in an instant?"