That night, the air was as cool as water.

A bright moon hung high in the sky, its light like white silk, softly enveloping the rolling, continuous palace complex.

Shentu Yang strolled leisurely among the quiet and grand halls. Under the cover of the night, he quietly stepped into the Emperor’s sleeping chambers.

The moonlight streamed in through the open window, dyeing the hall with a blue soaked light. Layers upon layers of gauze curtains hung in the chamber, and a gentle, cool breeze rolled the drapes, causing the plain silk curtains on the dragon bed to ripple like waves. The candle flame in the Changxin palace lamp flickered, its light interweaving with the moonlight, casting the swaying shadows of the gauze against the wall.

Shentu Yang reached out to lift the obstructive curtains and saw the Emperor, who sat with such dignity in the grand hall during the day, lying quietly on the dragon bed. His skin was as white and smooth as mutton fat jade, and his dark, ink like eyes looked at him with clear intensity. The black sleeping robe wrapped around his snow white body, revealing only a section of his delicate collarbone and a small patch of his fair chest. Under the reflection of the moonlight, it was dazzlingly, shockingly white.

Shentu Yang reached out uncontrollably, gently caressing the Emperor’s tightly pressed, crimson lips. In an instant, it felt as if an electric current shot from his fingertips, like a spiritual serpent drilling into his meridians, binding its way all the way to the depths of his soul. The desire rising wildly from the bottom of his heart trembled and clamored, causing Shentu Yang to climb onto the dragon bed out of control. Kneeling over the Emperor with one knee, he looked down at the jade like, snow white person beneath him. The pitch black, soft strands of hair spread out on the soft satin pillow like spilled ink. The black sleeping robe had been undone at some point, revealing a smooth and taut chest. Shentu Yang’s large hand wound its way down along the white jade skin, gripping tightly around the lean waist, causing the person to arch into a beautiful curve like a taut bowstring. Delicate moans spilled from his thin, tightly pressed crimson lips, repressed and winding, yet enough to make one’s blood boil.

“Big brother! Big brother!”

“Big brother, wake up!”

“Ah!” Shentu Yang roared furiously, abruptly sitting up from the bed. His expression was as fierce as a ravenous beast that had not been fed, his bloodshot eyes glaring viciously at Gao Jingde, who had disturbed his sweet dream. He barked out, “What are you doing?”

“Bi, big brother…” The nine foot tall Gao Jingde trembled with fear, stammering out, “What is wrong with you?”

“I should be asking you what is wrong! Early in the morning, instead of sleeping in your room, you run over here to ruin my beautiful dream!” Shentu Yang grew angrier as he spoke. He was just about to succeed in his dream. “Are you looking for a beating?”

“I, I, I…” Gao Jingde stammered for a long while, so shaken by Shentu Yang that he could not even utter a complete sentence.

Having followed Shentu Yang for so many years, he had never seen Shentu Yang this angry.

“My Lord?”

Yao Wenru, who had been lingering outside the door, noticed the commotion in the room and walked in while swaying his feather fan. He cast a quick glance at the submissive, bewildered Gao Jingde and bowed, saying, “The eighteen regional lords have run out of rations. They are only waiting for the imperial audience to finish before they pack up and return to their respective territories.”

Before leaving, they naturally wanted to say a solemn goodbye to Shentu Yang, who had burned their rations and beaten them all into submission.

Hearing this, Shentu Yang sneered, “With the rations of a million strong army burned to ashes, are they planning to return to their fiefdoms on empty stomachs?”

Moreover, the eighteen lords had funded their own rations to come to the aid of the king. Now, with no achievements noted and no rewards granted, could they willingly go back? It was highly likely they were using the excuse of saying farewell to actually force the Emperor’s hand. They wanted him, Shentu Yang, to step forward and pressure the imperial court into taking responsibility for supplying the million strong army’s rations.

Yao Wenru smiled understandingly and said in a low voice, “There is a severe drought this year, and many places in the Central Plains have yielded no harvest at all. Only the regions of Guanzhong and Luoyang acquired waterwheels and pressure wells to irrigate their farmlands, and the Grand Minister of Agriculture fully promoted the windrow composting method. Not only were the commoners unaffected by the drought, but this year’s harvest actually increased by thirty percent compared to last year. On top of that, they earned money by making coal briquettes and weaving cloth at the coal yards and textile mills during the slack farming season…”

Nowadays, the commoners of Guanzhong could be described as having barns full of grain and chests full of money in every household. The various armies that came to aid the king had long set their eyes on these fat sheep. If not for the sake of maintaining a good reputation as loyal subjects rescuing the king, and the fierce bravery of the people in Guanzhong and Luoyang where even women, children, and the elderly could charge into battle carrying hoes and iron pots, they would have long pretended to be rebel forces and gone on a slaughtering spree.

“No way!” A cold light flashed in Shentu Yang’s eyes, and he instinctively thought of the little Emperor sitting high up in the court temple. The imperial court had worked so hard to store wealth among the people. If it were plundered by the eighteen lords, the little Emperor would surely be furious.

“Since they came here under the banner of aiding the king and rescuing the state, how can they burn, kill, and pillage near the capital? If word gets out, what will happen to our reputation?” Shentu Yang said high mindedly, “Today, His Majesty appointed me as the Grand General and gave me authority over the eighteen regional lords, so I cannot sit by and watch them harm the commoners.”

Yao Wenru deeply agreed, “My Lord has already entered Luoyang. The next step is to control the Emperor, command the lords, and plot for the entire realm. If our reputation for benevolence and righteousness is ruined by others, it will indeed hinder our grand strategy.”

However, feeding and maintaining a million strong army was also a major problem. It was impossible for the imperial court to bear the logistical costs of these troops indefinitely. Furthermore, among these eighteen regional lords, there were still many who submitted outwardly but remained defiant at heart. Yao Wenru also believed they should take this opportunity to drive back the lords with hidden, malicious intentions, and it would be best to break up the remaining troops and absorb them into the army of the State of Yan.

This was exactly what needed to be done. Moved by the idea, Shentu Yang immediately said, “I will enter the palace right away to discuss with the Emperor how to send them packing. At worst, we can just have the court hand out a few worthless noble titles. After all, they did come all this way.”

In truth, this matter should have been resolved during yesterday’s imperial audience. If Shentu Yang had not acted so wildly and lawlessly in the hall, causing the audience to end abruptly, the eighteen regional lords would likely have already received their rewards from the court.

As Shentu Yang spoke, he prepared to get up and wash. However, as if suddenly remembering something, his body stiffened abruptly. “You two go out first.”

Shentu Yang waved his hand calmly. Once Gao Jingde and Yao Wenru left, his face turned pale with frustration as he threw back the blanket and guiltily changed into new clothes.

By the time Shentu Yang finished dressing up meticulously and entered the imperial palace with an imposing aura under the escort of three thousand elite soldiers, it was already close to noon.

Food was being prepared in the palace. Arriving uninvited, Shentu Yang immediately said, “Timing is everything. I have never eaten palace food before.”

Zhuang Wuwei bowed and said, “According to the ancestral regulations of the Yin Dynasty, the Emperor eats four times a day, and the regional kings eat three times a day. The Duke of Yan is a vassal lord, so how can he eat with the Emperor? This is an act of usurpation.”

Shentu Yang said with a smile, “No matter. Just consider it as me moving my evening meal to lunchtime. I can skip dinner tonight.”

After saying that, he casually sat down in the seat below the Emperor. In reality, he wanted nothing more than to share the same table and eat with Yin Shuhuai. It was just that the palace eunuchs and maids in the hall were all watching him like hawks, clearly not intending to allow him to commit such a blatant breach of etiquette.

“I ought to have my own men take over the palace guards.” When that time came, he could do whatever he pleased, rather than being restricted by others just to have a meal like he was now, Shentu Yang thought with considerable regret.

“Is Dong Wan, who commands the Yulin Army, a trusted aide of Huo Yan?” Shentu Yang spoke up abruptly. “To what extent is he loyal to Huo Yan? Would he give up wealth and status for Huo Yan’s sake?”

Yin Shuhuai glanced at Shentu Yang, whose wild ambitions were written all over his face. “Do you want to use the Chancellor’s safety to trade for the military power guarding the palace?”

“Isn’t that exactly how it should be?” Shentu Yang looked straight into Yin Shuhuai’s eyes and asked back, “Or are you unwilling to let go?”

Thinking of how the Yulin Palace Vice General had loyally protected his master during yesterday’s audience, Shentu Yang snorted softly, “When Your Majesty employs people, you cannot just look at their loyalty; you must also ensure people make the most of their talents, talents are fully utilized, and utilization yields results. Dong Wan is a crude man with mediocre martial skills, not even worth a single blow from me. Furthermore, this man is the Chancellor’s trusted aide and follows Huo Yan’s orders blindly. I am afraid his loyalty to Your Majesty is also quite limited. Why should Your Majesty be reluctant to part with such a disloyal and incompetent fellow?”

Shentu Yang thought sourly to himself that any random person under his own command could perform their duties with far greater loyalty than Dong Wan.

Yin Shuhuai could not be bothered to pay attention to Shentu Yang, who seemed to lose his mind every time they met. “What important matter brings the Duke of Yan to the palace this time?” The unspoken meaning was: if there is nothing, then get out, stop hanging around here and making trouble.

Shentu Yang stared fixedly at Yin Shuhuai, who was wearing only an everyday black robe. The beauty sat perfectly upright, his jet black hair completely bound up inside his crown, revealing a full forehead and a sharp widow’s peak, which made his face look even more like white jade.

Shentu Yang’s head grew hot, and he suddenly blurted out, “You look really beautiful in black.”

Yin Shuhuai froze upon hearing this, slightly doubting his own ears. He looked at Shentu Yang in disbelief, “What did you say?”

“I said you look really beautiful in black!” As Shentu Yang spoke, his gaze involuntarily stuck to Yin Shuhuai’s collar. The scene from his dream last night suddenly surged into his mind, and Shentu Yang instantly felt his throat go dry.

Yin Shuhuai’s face darkened, and he barked out in anger, “Presumptuous!”

According to the etiquette system of the Yin Dynasty, when vassal lords and officials had an audience with His Majesty, they had to strictly adhere to the rules of decorum. That meant maintaining a heavy and deliberate posture, keeping the hands respectful, keeping the eyes upright, keeping the mouth still, keeping the voice quiet, keeping the head straight, keeping the breath solemn, standing with virtue, displaying a grave expression, and sitting as still as a statue. The Emperor was not to be looked at higher than the collar or lower than the belt. This meant that when ministers looked at the Emperor, their gaze could not go higher than the Emperor’s clothing collar, nor lower than the Emperor’s waist belt. They could not let their eyes wander around, let alone look directly into the Emperor’s eyes.

Yet Shentu Yang’s eyes looked as if they wanted to glue themselves to Yin Shuhuai’s collar and belt, lingering back and forth, and the look he cast toward Yin Shuhuai was light and wicked—it was truly an act of great disrespect.

Stirred by Yin Shuhuai’s ice cold, furious reprimand, Shentu Yang felt his mind sway, as if his very soul were about to float away. “Why must Your Majesty be angry?”

Shentu Yang’s gaze instinctively fell upon the Emperor’s crimson lips, which were tightly pressed into a single line. Feeling a rush of heat surge straight from his pubic region to the crown of his head, he teased in a dazed manner, “If Your Majesty must blame someone, you can only blame yourself for being too beautiful. This subject simply cannot control his own eyes.” Nor did he want to.

“You are presumptuous!” Yin Shuhuai’s face turned red with rage. The eunuchs and palace maids serving on both sides stood in front of the Emperor with a tragic and furious indignation born of the sentiment that a master’s humiliation demands a servant’s life, attempting to drive this lawless madman out of the Chongde Hall.

Having provoked the man to anger, Shentu Yang immediately bowed to apologize and said with a serious face, “I came to the palace this time because I have proper business to discuss with Your Majesty… The million strong army lacks rations, and the eighteen regional lords have decided to disguise themselves as bandits to rob the commoners of Guanzhong…”

“Stop right there!” Yin Shuhuai barked in a deep voice, halting Shentu Yang, who was being pushed back step by step by the eunuchs and palace maids. “You came here uninvited, and now you want to harm my commoners?”

“It is not us, it is them,” Shentu Yang corrected him with absolute seriousness. “Your Majesty and I are on the same side. I also oppose the army plundering the commoners… We are the lords of the Yin Dynasty, not the Xiongnu. Your Majesty ought to know me; I share an absolute, irreconcilable hatred with the Xiongnu. How could I copy those barbarians and plunder the commoners?”

Shentu Yang spoke with absolute certainty, stating that the Yan army maintained strict military discipline and never harmed a single hair of the commoners wherever they went.

“But then again, those eighteen regional lords do not belong to my Yan army. Once the tigers are released back to the mountains, if they really want to pose as bandits and plunder the commoners, we will be far away in Luoyang and completely out of reach.”

Yin Shuhuai looked at Shentu Yang with cold eyes; he did not believe a single word of Shentu Yang’s nonsense. If Shentu Yang were truly powerless to handle this matter, he would not have rushed into the palace in such a hurry.

“What do you want?”

Shentu Yang drew out his words slowly, “I want you—”

Yin Shuhuai’s gaze turned sharp.

Shentu Yang immediately added, “I want you to promote Gao Jingde to Palace Vice General, to command the Yulin Army and guard the imperial palace.”

Yin Shuhuai took a deep breath, “I cannot make the decision on this matter. The Chancellor will not agree to it.”

“He will agree to it.” Shentu Yang smiled proudly. That old guy who refused to die was being held by him at Sishui Pass, his life completely in his hands, so how could he oppose him over such a trivial matter?

Yin Shuhuai’s face filled with sorrow. Ever since he traveled to this world, although he held the noble status of Emperor, his own life had never been his to command. He had merely fallen from the hands of one powerful official into the hands of another.

“Since the Duke of Yan is determined to get it, you might as well discuss it directly with the Chancellor.” Yin Shuhuai’s face looked displeased as he said coldly, “As the Grand General, the Duke of Yan holds the responsibility of controlling the eighteen regional lords. If the eighteen lords bring chaos to the commoners, the Grand General will also be hard pressed to escape the blame.”

Shentu Yang picked at his ear, acting as if it were highly difficult, “While the Grand General certainly holds the power to control the troops and horses of the eighteen regional lords, I stand alone and do not possess the ability to face a hundred men by myself. If the eighteen lords insist on plundering the commoners, I cannot stop them either. After all, the sheer size of a million strong army is right there, and just feeding the men and horses for a single day costs an enormous amount. I cannot exactly let a million strong army walk all the way back home on empty stomachs, can I? It is truly a case of a clever housewife being unable to cook without rice.”

Shentu Yang paused slightly here, then added with a sigh, “Furthermore, the commoners of Guanzhong are wealthy in every household. Standing before a million strong army, they are just like a three year old child walking down the street cradling pure gold—”

Without waiting for Shentu Yang to finish his sentence, Yin Shuhuai said directly, “The imperial court can bear the rations for the return journey of the various lords. Will that do?”

“Still not enough.” Shentu Yang shook his head. After going through this, he clearly knew how to manipulate the little Emperor. “The eighteen regional lords are envious of the abundant food and clothing of the Guanzhong commoners. If they are allowed to cross the various counties of Guanzhong without any restrictions, it is hard to guarantee that some people won’t see the wealth and turn to burning, killing, and looting. It would be better for me, as the Grand General, to step forward and recruit a portion of their forces. Firstly, this will break up and dilute the million strong army, and secondly, it will allow me to supervise the eighteen lords to make sure they return to their fiefdoms properly. This will also guarantee the peace of the commoners. I wonder if Your Majesty agrees?”

Yin Shuhuai was practically driven to laughter by Shentu Yang’s shameless behavior, “You step forward to recruit soldiers and win over people’s hearts, while making the imperial court responsible for the rations and logistics. The Duke of Yan’s calculations are truly brilliant.”

Shentu Yang waved his hands with a face full of innocence, “Not at all, not at all. It is all for the sake of the country and the stability of the imperial court.”

Seeing how rogue Shentu Yang was acting, Yin Shuhuai grew so angry that he smiled, “Since the Grand General cannot control the eighteen regional lords, it would be better for the imperial court to step forward and appease them ourselves—”

“Hey!” Shentu Yang cut Yin Shuhuai off before he could finish his sentence, saying righteously, “As the saying goes, one should not meddle in affairs outside one’s position. I, the Grand General personally appointed by His Majesty, am still standing right here, so why should the court send someone else to overstep their authority?”

“It is not that I am afraid of someone stealing my power. It is just that those eighteen regional lords are unruly and arrogant. The court cannot even wipe out a rebel force composed mostly of displaced citizens, so how do you expect to subdue these proud soldiers and fierce generals?”

Yin Shuhuai took a deep breath, “Listening to the Grand General’s words, it sounds as though those eighteen regional lords did not come to aid the king and rescue the state, but rather to commit treason and usurp the throne?”

“You cannot put it that way.” Shentu Yang waved his hand good naturedly. “I know that the court’s military and political power rests entirely in the hands of the Chancellor alone. Your Majesty does not need to be put in a difficult position. As for this matter of rations and logistics, I will handle it and negotiate with the Chancellor myself.”

Yin Shuhuai said coldly, “How many more things does the Duke of Yan want to trade for using the Chancellor’s life?”

Shentu Yang smiled warmly, “Who told the Chancellor’s life to be so valuable!”

Since they could not see eye to eye, Yin Shuhuai immediately said, “This matter is concluded. The Duke of Yan may take his leave.”

“I still have one more thing,” Shentu Yang said up to this point, then suddenly looked at Yin Shuhuai solemnly. He lowered his voice and leaned forward. “I wish to become Your Majesty’s intimate guest”

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Yin Shuhuai, “I do not like men.”

“You are lying!” Shentu Yang, who had been pressing forward step by step, approached Yin Shuhuai slowly upon hearing this phrase. “Every single generation of emperors in your Yin Dynasty liked men, so how could you not like them?”