On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

Murong Yan stood up, extended her hand to Lin Zhen, her face showing a hint of weariness, but even more so an unwavering determination: "Husband, let's go back, I'm a little tired."

Lin Zhen immediately stepped forward, held her hand tightly, and said softly, "Okay, let's go back. Yan'er did the right thing. This matter concerns the foundation of the nation and cannot be taken lightly."

Murong Yan leaned against him and softly hummed in agreement. The two walked out hand in hand. As they passed the kneeling cook, Murong Yan didn't stop, only coldly uttering a single sentence:

"I'm giving you one day to make changes. If I don't see any decent food by this time tomorrow, you won't need to cook anymore."

The cook was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.

Stepping out of the dining hall and into the school courtyard, the afternoon sun was rather dazzling. Murong Yan felt heavy-hearted and had no intention of lingering.

Just as she was about to get into the car and turned around—

His movements were swift and decisive, conveying both lingering anger and a resolute determination!

The five-foot-long, dark gold train, which had been dragging along the rough floor of the dining hall and the dust of the courtyard, stained with the grime of everyday life, was suddenly lifted up! The magnificent brocade brushed against the soil, and with a whoosh, it raised a fine cloud of dust!

As the train suddenly billowed up, it revealed the "Golden Embroidery" lining, which was densely woven with gold threads and shimmered with a dazzling and awe-inspiring light like the wrath of thunder under the blazing midday sun!

The pattern of a hundred phoenixes facing the sun burst forth with a golden light as intense and majestic as the scorching sun. The light was filled with an inviolable bottom line, an absolute protection of the future, and a deep expectation contained under an iron fist. It was noble, magnificent, and carried a decisive and unquestionable force!

This fleeting glimpse was her most direct declaration as a ruler and protector.

The hem of her skirt fell, concealing both the awe-inspiring golden light and the unwavering promise.

Murong Yan and Lin Zhen boarded the car.

The carriage curtain was drawn, shutting out the outside world. Murong Yan rested her head on Lin Zhen's shoulder, closed her eyes, and whispered, "Husband, was I too fierce?"

Lin Zhen embraced her and gently stroked her back: "No, Yan'er is a true benevolent ruler. Only with swift and decisive measures can one show the compassion of a bodhisattva. What you did today is to fight for a future for thousands of children, and your merit is immeasurable."

Murong Yan snuggled against him, finding a familiar sense of security.

The carriage slowly started moving and returned to the palace.

night.

The daytime hustle and bustle and imperial majesty have faded away, and Anzhou City has fallen into slumber, with only the sound of the night watchman's clapper echoing in the silent streets.

The "Qiming Academy," which is usually filled with the sound of students reading aloud during the day, is now pitch black, with only a faint, flickering candlelight shining from a small storage room next to the kitchen in the backyard.

Inside the storage room, the air was stuffy, filled with the smells of firewood, cooking oil, and a faint musty odor.

A small oil lamp, about the size of a bean, was placed on an overturned wooden barrel, its dim yellow light barely illuminating the three people sitting around it.

The man in the center was none other than Li San, the fat cook who had been terrified of Murong Yan during the day.

His face was still deathly pale, his inner shirt was soaked with cold sweat, his obese body trembled slightly, and his eyes were unfocused, as if he had not yet recovered from the Empress's thunderous rage.

Sitting opposite him were two men dressed in coarse cloth shorts and short coats, like ordinary people.

The leader was about forty years old, with a tough face, dark skin, a deep scar at the corner of his eye, and eyes as sharp as a hawk's, exuding a fierce and resolute aura from years of battle.

His name was Park Ji-woong. He was a captain in the Goguryeo army. After the fall of Anju, he escaped by chance. Unlike many of his comrades who died in battle or surrendered, he went underground and became a minor leader of the resistance organization "Restoration Banner" in the Anju area.

The other man was younger and was his deputy, named Kim Soon-cheol. He looked alert and kept listening to the sounds outside the door.

"Li San!" Park Ji-woong's deep, hoarse voice, carrying an undeniable air of authority, broke the suffocating silence. "We've all heard about what happened during the day. That vixen Murong Yan came in person?"

Li San shuddered as if he had been whipped, his face contorted with grief, and he cried out in a choked voice, "Chief Pu Pu, yes, yes! He was terrifying! His eyes were like knives! He almost chopped me off!"

He gestured with his hand as if he were slitting his throat.

Jin Shunzhe sneered, "Look at your pathetic self! If we hadn't gotten wind of this beforehand and had you tamper with the food, would that vixen have come in person? This is exactly the effect we wanted!"

Park Ji-woong raised his hand to stop Kim Soon-cheol, his gaze fixed intently on Lee San:

"The effect? ​​The effect is that she's now ordering that the food be supplied according to the standards of the Imperial Guards, with direct allocation from the treasury and special personnel supervising the process! Li San, we had you secretly withhold rations and let the children eat worse to incite public resentment, to let the parents who sent their children to school see what kind of life their children were living under the so-called 'imperial rule' and 'grace'! It was to make these children resent the Imperial Guards from a young age! Not to have you bring it to the forefront and attract Murong Yan's attention and strict orders! Now look what's happened, one sentence from her and all our previous efforts have been wasted! From now on, the school will have to eat even better!"

His tone grew increasingly harsh, and the anger in his eyes was almost bursting forth.

This school is a thorn in their side.

Murong Yan's promotion of Chinese language education was aimed at fundamentally severing the cultural and bloodline inheritance of Goguryeo, so that the next generation would completely forget their homeland and become obedient subjects of the Holy Emperor.

This is a more ruthless and far-reaching "extermination plan" than massacring cities with swords and spears.

Powerless to stop the establishment of the school, they could only try to sabotage it, making the children hate the place and disappointing the parents about the "grace" of the emblem.

Li San was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly:

"Chief Park, please calm down! Please calm down! I had no choice! Who could have imagined that His Majesty, no, that vixen, would suddenly come to inspect us, and right at mealtime! I tried my best to be discreet. Coco and those children are eating coarse food every day, they are pale and thin, anyone with eyes can see that there is something wrong."

"Useless!" Kim Soon-cheol couldn't help but curse, "You can't even handle such a small matter!"

Park Ji-woong took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to strangle this idiot.

He knew that Li San was a cowardly and timid character, more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything, but right now, the position in the school kitchen was crucial, and he couldn't do without him for the time being.

"Get up!" Park Ji-woong hissed. "It's no use saying all this now. Since Murong Yan has given a strict order, tomorrow's meals must be improved. That's the bottom line. You can't tamper with them anymore, or you'll be the first to lose your head!"

Li San felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and he shakily got up: "Yes, yes, I understand. I will definitely make sure the children eat well tomorrow."

"Eat well?" Park Ji-woong's lips curled into a sinister smile. "Who said they should eat well all the time? Murong Yan can come once, but can she come every day to keep an eye on things? Once the heat dies down, the money and provisions allocated by the treasury will still be withheld if necessary! However, the methods will be more subtle."

He leaned closer to Li San, lowered his voice, and hissed like a viper: "Listen, from now on, when you make purchases, you can inflate prices and pass off inferior goods as superior ones. Mix a small amount of sand and old rice into the delivered rice; it won't be noticeable. For meat, vegetables, and fruits, use more that are about to spoil or of poor quality, as long as they don't kill anyone. Make sure the accounts balance out to pass audits. The most important thing is..."

A wicked glint flashed in Park Ji-woong's eyes: "You can occasionally add a little bit of 'ingredients' to the food."

Li San trembled and looked up in horror: "'Poison'? Chief Park, you mean poison? That's a capital offense! It can kill people!"

"Fool!" Jin Shunzhe scolded, "Who told you to use poison? Find some croton seeds, neem bark, or similar things, mix a small amount in, and make the children have diarrhea, vomit, or a bitter taste in their mouths and loss of appetite. Don't do it often, just every few days, so that there are always children sick in the school, making the parents think that the feng shui here is bad, or that the food at Sheng Hui is unclean and brings bad luck! Understand? Make them dislike this place from the bottom of their hearts!"

Li San's face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his back. This was far riskier than simply embezzling rations; he dared not imagine the consequences if he were discovered.

Park Ji-woong saw his fear and softened his tone, but with a deeper threat: "Li San, don't forget, your wife and children are still in our hands. If you obey us, after the mission is accomplished and the country is restored, you will be a hero, enjoying endless wealth and honor. If you dare to betray us or utter a single word, you should know the consequences."

When Li San thought of his family members who were being held captive by the Yizhi, his face turned ashen, and his last thought of resistance vanished.

He collapsed to the ground, weakly replying, "I understand, I will follow the leader's orders."

“Very good.” Park Ji-woong stood up, his shadow looming over Lee San. “Remember, we do this not for personal gain, but for Goguryeo! To prevent our descendants from forgetting their ancestors and becoming dogs of the Holy Emblem! Murong Yan wants to corrupt our roots with sugar-coated bullets, but we will deliberately mix sand into her sugar! We will make her great cause of ‘Tongwen’ (a unified script) fraught with thorns!”

He then gave a few more details, such as how to contact the outside world and how to pass on messages, before signaling Kim Soon-cheol to blow out the oil lamp.

The two men, like ghosts, silently opened the door and disappeared into the night, leaving Li San alone in the darkness, his body ice-cold, as if he had just walked through the gates of hell.

The storage room returned to darkness and deathly silence, with only Li San's heavy, fearful breathing.

Outside the window, the cold moonlight illuminated the seemingly peaceful school, where undercurrents were surging beneath the surface. Murong Yan's thunderous decree of "children must not suffer, education must not be impoverished" had, in the deep darkness of the night, been quietly torn open by stubborn resistance, creating a sinister crack.

The conquest and counter-conquest of cultures are taking place in this seemingly inconspicuous school kitchen in a more covert and cruel way.