"Your Highness, how should we handle today's wedding?" Cai Yan, her brows furrowed and her expression strange.
Today's princess's marriage is truly baffling. She came to marry into the royal family without any prior notice, and the royal palace made no preparations whatsoever, leaving the princess at a loss for what to do.
After all, a princess married into the royal family; if the royal household didn't observe proper etiquette, they would be laughed at.
Lin Yi pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Don't worry about her for now. Just announce that Princess Shenle is here for a visit. Don't concern yourself with the marriage for now. Also, Princess Shenle is not a simple woman. Keep an eye on her until you fully trust her."
As the Prince of Xiliang, how could his marriage be settled so easily? That would be far too hasty.
This matter is not urgent; we can discuss it later!
"Does my lord mean this might be a ruse?" Cai Wenji's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but frown.
She had also heard about Princess Shenle. Although it sounded shocking, she didn't completely believe the princess. If she was doing this on purpose to gain the lord's trust, then it would be a great threat.
They're all cunning foxes, nothing's that simple.
Lin Yi naturally understood this principle; what was wrong with killing a few people to achieve his goal? It was not a problem at all.
He laughed and said, "Whether it's a self-inflicted injury or not is unimportant. Today, Princess Shenle poisoned more than thirty people in one go, even killing her personal maid. This is her way of showing me that as long as she doesn't cause trouble, my Prince of Xiliang can still tolerate her."
Does it matter whether it's a self-inflicted injury or not? It doesn't matter at all.
Once she entered the Prince of Xiliang, she could no longer cause any trouble. Her people were everywhere there, and now that Lü Qiling was in charge, she could completely control the inner court, leaving her with even less of a chance.
"Ah!"
Wang Zijin, standing to the side, was dumbfounded, and her hands slowed down.
Princess Shenle is too ruthless! To make Lin Yi believe her, she even killed the personal maid the emperor had assigned to her. That's incredibly desperate.
Grunt!
She swallowed hard. It seemed she had to stay away from this woman from now on, or she'd probably be killed by her too.
Seeing her timid and submissive demeanor, Lin Yi couldn't help but chuckle, " Wang Zijin, look at her, and then look at your own face when you came to Xiliang. You're far from being my woman. Right now, you can only be a maid. You still need to cultivate your skills properly, start by mastering foot washing, otherwise your Wang Clan family won't have an easy time!"
ah!
Wang Zijin blushed deeply, but unable to refute, she could only promise, "Your Highness, I will try my best to wash your feet!"
"Alright, you may leave now. I need to discuss the newspaper with Wenji." After seeing that Wang Zijin had finished washing her feet, Lin Yi dismissed her.
Wang Zijin's face stiffened, and she retreated dejectedly.
As she stepped outside, she muttered to herself, "What's with this 'discussing the newspaper' thing? Do they think I don't know anything? My mother taught me that's like gods fighting."
Wuning Commandery!
At this moment, Prefect Li Ke and his entourage were observing the situation in Xiliang from across the Great Ning River. Seeing that they were still struggling to unload the goods, they couldn't help but frown.
"This ocean fishing is so amazing, they caught 100,000 jin of fish all at once?" Li Ke looked on in disbelief. Did they just pick up all those fish?
A glint of greed flashed in Wang Yunze, the Prefect of Wuning, as he said in a deep voice, " Lin Yi used to fish in the Great Ning River, but he gave it up later to try ocean fishing. I used to laugh at him for being clueless, but now it seems he's struck gold!"
This batch of fish weighs over 100,000 jin (50,000 kg), and the unloading process has been ongoing since this afternoon. It's absolutely terrifying; I wonder how much money that must be worth.
" Yunze, didn't you send someone to follow Lin Yi? Did you get anything?" Li Ke glanced at him and asked curiously.
He knew perfectly well that Wang Yunze had sent several fishing boats to follow Lin Yi in order to make a quick buck; he couldn't possibly be unaware of the inside story.
Upon hearing this, Wang Yunze's face immediately darkened, and he angrily said, "Prefect, I won't lie to you, this trip was a complete waste. Although the fish at sea were indeed in large schools, Gan Ning, under Lin Yi's command, was simply a bandit. He directly threatened to sink my fishing boat if my men didn't pay protection money!"
This is fucking outrageous! I didn't ask you to protect me, I was just strolling around next to you, and you still want to hit me? This is so unreasonable!
Li Ke glanced at him and thought to himself: You've stolen their business, who else would they hit if not you? What are you pretending to be wronged for? You didn't even invite me to come along and make money in the first place, serves you right for making a wasted trip.
Thinking this to himself, he comforted her, saying, " Yunze, don't be angry. The sea is dangerous, with its storms and pirates. Without warships for protection, we'd probably lose everything. But they can use warships for escort, so why can't we?"
At first glance, Wang Yunze wanted to curse, but after hearing the rest, he was surprised to find that it actually made sense.
"That's right! We can also use warships to escort them; that would be a fortune!" Wang Yunze couldn't help but exclaim excitedly.
Li Ke glanced at him and said quietly, "I have ten warships under my command, which can be used to escort fishing expeditions at sea. However, as a member of the royal family, it is not appropriate for me to get involved in this."
Grass!
Wang Yunze's face stiffened. This bastard was trying to extort benefits and wasn't going to take the blame.
He cursed inwardly, "What kind of rubbish is this, a member of the royal family? You're a million miles away. If it weren't for the fact that you're surnamed Li, who would know if you're a member of the royal family?"
However, seeing Li Ke's ambiguous gaze, he gritted his teeth and said, "My lord, I, Wang Yunze, am willing to serve you. I'm willing to give you 30% of the profits; you definitely won't be at a disadvantage!"
"Thirty percent!"
Li Ke nodded slightly and said with a smile, "I am not very interested in money. I would like to consult His Majesty on this matter..."
"Forty percent!" Wang Yunze interrupted him, speaking in a deep voice.
"To be honest, the warships still need repairs before they can undertake long-distance voyages..."
"Fifty percent!"
Wang Yunze's face turned green, and he cried out, "Sir, I can only come up with half. The rest needs to be distributed to others. I'll lose everything!"
"Hmm, not bad!"
"I'll leave this matter to you. I'll wait for your good news." Li Ke patted him on the shoulder and praised him.
This young man has potential; the key is that he's willing to spend money.
Beside them, a young eunuch paced anxiously, interrupting them and hurriedly saying, "My lords, there's been no news of Her Highness the Princess at all, not even a ship has returned. Shouldn't you send someone to check on her?"
He wanted to kill both of them.
This is absolutely outrageous! The warship hasn't returned to report, and these two have actually set their sights on fishing. Have they no shame?
Forehead!
Li Ke blushed and chuckled dryly, " Eunuch Ran, please don't misunderstand. We were just looking at the princess's ship and taking a look at the fish!"