This is my money

Because of the innate tacit understanding between men, you and Li Liushui stood to the side and watched silently for a while.

The emperor was right in the mood; it would be too inappropriate to interrupt him.

After watching until your eyes went sore, you couldn't help but speak up.

"Our emperor is already like this, and your Li family isn't going to do anything about it?"

Li Liushui, holding his sword in his arms, smiled faintly and said.

"I am only responsible for the emperor's personal safety. What the emperor does every day is not for me to criticize."

"Can't the Li family see that the affairs of the court are controlled by powerful ministers, and the emperor has no say?"

"Brother Chen, speak cautiously. If it weren't for Li Lingyue's sake, what you just said would constitute the crime of insulting the sovereign, and I could strike you down right here."

It seemed Big Brother was right. The Li family was free-ranging the emperor—they only cared about putting someone on the throne, not whether the emperor did a good or bad job, as long as the royal family's interests were not compromised.

Just as the two of you were getting tired of watching and Li Liushui coughed, preparing to ask for instructions.

The concubine who was being held in Longzhi's arms suddenly pulled the hairpin from her head and thrust it toward Longzhi's neck!

"Assassin!"

You were a step too slow. Li Liushui was, after all, in the Martial Sage realm, and was much faster than you.

Damn it! What a great opportunity to claim the merit of saving the emperor!

My reaction was still too slow. I should have tripped Li Liushui first!

"Don't kill her!"

Longzhi shouted just in time.

Li Liushui pinned the concubine to the ground with his sword scabbard.

"Speak, who sent you!"

The commotion inside couldn't be hidden from the group of martial arts bigwigs outside. Even without using their divine sense, they could hear it clearly.

"Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!!"

A crowd of people swarmed in. They completely ignored the Southern Border Empress and rushed in to snatch the credit.

Seeing that there was only one assassin, and she had already been subdued by Li Liushui, they were greatly disappointed.

There's not enough credit to go around!

Qin Rong was furious.

"Men! Drag this assassin out and execute her by a thousand cuts!!"

Longzhi put his clothes on properly and tidied up his messy hair and beard.

"Beloved Minister Qin, hold on. Let me figure out why she wanted to assassinate me."

Qin Rong was very obedient.

"I humbly defer to Your Majesty's judgment!"

Longzhi walked up to the beautiful concubine and looked down at her.

"We were having such a good time, why would you try to assassinate me? I haven't left the palace in decades, so I presume I couldn't have offended you or your family, right? Could it be that you are here to plead for the people or something?"

The concubine spat at him.

"Bah! Pleading for the people is exactly what I should do! You incompetent tyrant! You ignore state affairs, neglect the empire, and are obsessed with lust and play! You don't look like an emperor at all! If it weren't for the Dragon Protector's agility today, I would have definitely succeeded!"

Li Liushui scratched his cheek in embarrassment. Why was she praising him now?

Li Lingyue stood outside the courtyard and sneered.

"Well scolded! This woman is not to be killed. I want her alive!"

Longzhi glanced outside.

"How is it that in my own home, another sovereign pops up to give orders? Can't you give me a little face?"

Li Lingyue rolled her eyes at him.

Longzhi was rendered speechless. He lowered his head and continued to ask the concubine.

"So, you're not here to plead for the people or anything like that. You simply want to kill me, and I want to know the reason."

"My brother was a battalion commander of the Six Armies of the Northern Border. He came to the capital to demand military pay for the brothers in his battalion, but he came in alive and went back dead!

I don't know the details inside the palace.

I only know that in February I received a letter from my brother saying he came to the capital for business, and in March I received a letter my parents had someone write, saying he was dead!

You high officials! The emperor! You are so rich, so wealthy! Why won't you even pay the soldiers their wages! You even killed him for demanding it!"

The concubines in the garden knelt on the ground, while the officials stood.

Everyone fell silent.

The air was so cold it felt like it was going to freeze.

You stood to the side enjoying the spectacle, even wishing you had a bucket of popcorn.

Longzhi stood with his hands behind his back.

"How much military pay does the imperial court owe your brother and his brothers-in-arms?"

"Two hundred!"

"Two million taels. I will give you four million and pardon you of your crimes. You can go back..."

"It's two hundred! Not two million! Although we are children from poor families, we have ambition! We won't take advantage of you!"

Longzhi was so angry he laughed. He looked up at Qin Rong.

"Beloved Minister Qin, why do I remember that you reported to me a few months ago that ten million taels of military pay for the Six Armies of the Northern Border had already been allocated from the national treasury? Why is there still a battalion of soldiers who haven't even received two hundred taels of pay?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Rong immediately knelt down, let his arms hang by his sides, and looked behind him.

"Minister of War! What is going on! Did your Ministry of War not deliver the silver?!"

Upon hearing this, the Minister of War immediately knelt down, pressed his forehead to the ground, and looked behind him.

"Vice Minister Zhang, you were in charge of the transport! Where is the military pay!"

Upon hearing this, the Vice Minister of War immediately knelt down and prostrated his entire body on the ground.

He looked back.

Damn it, there was no one left!

Those with lower official ranks than him were not qualified to enter the palace for an imperial audience, so they weren't here. The ball had been passed to him, and he couldn't pass it any further!

"Reporting to Your Majesty! Chancellor! Lord Minister! When we transported it, there was only one million taels! Hearing that the nation's tax collection was difficult this year, we even subsidized some of our own money to send as military pay, but... it really wasn't quite enough..."

Minister of War: "Preposterous! Why didn't you report such a thing earlier!"

Qin Rong: "Trash! You didn't even know your subordinates failed to complete their tasks! And you deceived me into thinking the military pay was fully in place! I see no need for you to continue being the Minister!"

You watched a massive game of passing the buck from the sidelines.

How it was finally handled wasn't important.

Whoever wasn't present took the blame.

Where did the money go? Anyway, it was under investigation.

Even in the mortal world, the interests of the lower-class people couldn't be guaranteed, let alone in the martial arts world.

The concubine who attempted the assassination was not sentenced to death. Longzhi pardoned her and gifted her to Li Lingyue.

After dealing with this interlude, Longzhi walked up to you, cupped his fists, bowed, and saluted.

"Benefactor! It has been many years since we last met. I am already old and senile, yet Benefactor still looks like a youth..."

Longzhi dismissed Qin Rong and the others, and had Li Liushui raise the restrictive arrays in the Courtyard of Beauties to prevent anyone from probing.

"Beloved Minister Li, you may leave as well."

Li Liushui was uneasy.

"Your Majesty, this person has a close relationship with the Empress. I cannot leave you alone with him."

"Rest assured. When I first met my benefactor, the Empress hadn't even lost her baby teeth yet."

Although Li Liushui was reluctant, Longzhi insisted. Left with no choice, Li Liushui could only obey the order.

When only the two of you were left, Li Chengqian took off his "Longzhi" mask.

"I've made a fool of myself in front of my benefactor. I imagine these little tricks of mine couldn't deceive your discerning eyes."

"The assassination attempt was timed so perfectly. You arranged it, didn't you?"

["Indeed... if we don't put on a show for the court historians to document, securing the soldiers' wages will be exceedingly difficult.

They constantly preach that 'all land under heaven belongs to the sovereign.' It is clearly my money, yet when I decide who to give it to, I am stonewalled by these ministers who claim to 'deeply care for the nation and its people.' Tell me, isn't it utterly absurd?"]