On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

On the bluestone road of Dingxiang City, the moonlight was like crumpled silver foil scattered on the roof tiles.

Two thousand Qian army soldiers patrolled the city with swords on their waists, and the sound of their armor clashing was as light as spring silkworms spinning silk.

This was a military order issued personally by Lin Zhenxian. Horse hooves were not allowed to trample on street bricks, and sword handles were not allowed to knock against people's door frames.

Violators will be executed immediately.

In fact, to put it bluntly, Lin Zhenxian regarded Dingxiang City as Daqian's own territory. If they were from outside the Great Wall or other ethnic groups, he would not mind giving the soldiers a few days off and letting them do whatever they wanted in the city.

Outside the parade ground south of the city, 30,000 soldiers pitched their tents with Vermillion Bird patterns. Smoke mixed with night-blooming jasmine drifted into the city walls, unexpectedly giving this city, which had just changed hands, an eerie sense of tranquility.

The candlelight in the main hall of the government office flickered, casting Lin Zhenxian's shadow on the screen, like a suspended sword.

Hao Aimin knelt on the cold brick floor, the front of his official uniform soaked with cold sweat, his eyes fixed on the account book in the other person's hand.

Every time the yellowed notebook made a sound, the fat on the back of his neck trembled.

"Dingxiang County's annual tax revenue is 124,000 taels, and you embezzled 43,700 taels." Lin Zhenxian tapped on a page of the account book with his fingertips, and the candlelight made the scar at the corner of his eye glow light red.

"Of the six granaries, three are filled with moldy brown rice, two are piled high with silk and spices, and the most secluded western warehouse, on the other hand, holds two thousand jars of Shaodaozi. Haha, is Lord Hao running the county government office like a tavern?"

Hao Aimin slapped himself hard, the sound resonating loudly in the empty hall. "Your Highness, forgive me! I was blinded by greed, and I thought I was far away from the emperor... Look at this seal, it's the Yanmen Transport Envoy's seal I privately carved. And there are twenty boxes of gold in the cellar, all for... for you."

He took a half step on his knees and pulled out a jade bracelet from his sleeve. The beads shone brightly in the candlelight. "This is an old collection from the Taifu Mansion of the Former Yan Dynasty. Back then..."

"That's enough." Lin Zhenxian threw the account book on the table, his jade ring clacking against the wooden case. "The money you've embezzled is enough to feed my elite soldiers for three months. No wonder Zhen'er always says that the lower the official, the more corrupt you can be. It shows that all these years, not only have you done nothing good for the people of Dingxiang, but you've exploited them. Is that right or wrong?"

"I, I, I... Your Majesty, I..."

"But..." Lin Zhenxian changed the subject, "Since you surrendered voluntarily, you didn't kill or injure the civilians when you opened the city gates, and you didn't dare hide the grain when you counted the warehouses. You confessed everything honestly."

"Hahaha." He suddenly chuckled, his fingertips running across the page of the account book that covered "River Defense Funds." "He even recorded the details of the money he withheld for river repairs. He's quite an organized corrupt official. Not bad, quite interesting."

The fat man leaned against the pillar with his arms folded. "Your Highness, if we keep this kind of person around, it will cause trouble sooner or later. What we lack are capable officials who can govern the people, not corrupt officials."

He spat out the grass stem from the corner of his mouth and said, "Last year in Cangzhou, the chief clerk who was greedy for grain was even more crying poor than him."

Lin Zhenxian glanced at the fat man and saw that the cowhide water bag on his waist was still stained with mud from the Dingxiang River. "The Cangzhou chief clerk sold military rations to the bandits, but this Hao guy stored the grain in the western warehouse. There is a fundamental difference between them, but I am very curious..."

He turned to Hao Aimin, who was frantically wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "You knew the Yan army would be defeated, so you hid the supplies in advance and waited for the new leader, right?"

Hao Aimin rested his forehead on the ground, his voice muffled by the cracks in the bricks. "Your Highness, be wise! Ever since the news arrived from Yanmen Pass about the cost of suppressing the bandits, I knew that Northern Yan was doomed... This granary in Dingxiang City was originally prepared for a wise ruler like you."

He suddenly looked up, and two tears squeezed out of his fat face. "Look at that wine in the West Warehouse. It's still the same pear blossom white wine from ten years ago. I haven't even opened the wax seal on the jar!"

The fat man cursed "old fox" in a low voice, but his hand was on the hilt of the knife.

Lin Zhenxian waved his hand, his eyes falling on the wolf head relief on the screen wall outside the hall - that was the standard feature of the Northern Yan government offices, and at this moment it was half-covered by the Vermillion Bird flag used by the Qian army soldiers.

"You're a wise man. I've decided to keep you for now." He pulled a blank document from his sleeve. "Starting tomorrow, you'll continue to serve as county magistrate. Report on people's livelihoods at dawn and submit the account books at dusk. Remember, you're not only responsible for ensuring the smooth flow of grain, but also for guaranteeing the basic livelihoods of the people. You must not cause any unrest, or I'll make you experience the laws of Daqian!"

Hao Aimin kowtowed three times, his forehead red as a ripe persimmon. "Thank you, Your Highness, for not killing me! I'll go get some wine and meat right away. We have two thousand jars of Shaodaozi in the West Warehouse, more than enough to reward the troops!"

When he got up, his belt was loose, and his official uniform hung askew on his body. However, he did not forget to pick up the jade bracelet that was stepped on by the fat man. "If your Highness doesn't mind, there are also freshly slaughtered yellow sheep tonight..."

"Go get to work." Lin Zhenxian waved his hand. After Hao Aimin's plump figure disappeared behind the moon-shaped gate, he turned to the fat man and said, "Little Fatty, you're too murderous. Although this man is greedy, he's well versed in the ways of officialdom. Northern Yan just surrendered, and the veteran officials in the prefectures and counties are all watching him. Keeping him as an example of 'a man who knows the current situation is a hero' is a hundred times better than sending a novice."

The fat man scratched his head, and suddenly saw a messenger walking quickly towards him with an oil paper bag in his hand: "Your Highness, a secret report has come from the clouds."

He tore open the bag, revealing three folds of yellow silk, with the Vermillion Bird pattern printed on it with wax still retaining body temperature.

The candlelight was suddenly blown by the night wind and flickered.

Lin Zhenxian's fingertips paused as she unfolded the dense silk, and her brows suddenly furrowed in the light and shadow.

Written in tiny calligraphy on the silk were the words: "Emperor Tuoba Ke of Northern Yan ordered the 80,000 troops at Yanmen Pass to return for defense in two batches, with 50,000 going to the capital and 30,000 staying behind; the defenders of the cities in southern Yan must be withdrawn to Yunzhong, and this must be completed within three days." At the end was the seal of a Qian army scout, and the ink was not yet dry.

"Strange." Lin Zhenxian slapped the silk on the table and tapped the three words "divided into two batches" with his fingers.

"Yanmen Pass is 400 miles from the capital. It only takes ten days to mobilize 50,000 troops. The 30,000 troops left behind are not enough to resist the bandits, let alone stop our army's westward advance..."

He suddenly looked at the sheepskin map on the wall. Hequ County, west of Dingxiang City, was marked with densely packed wolf head marks.

"If I were Tuoba Ke, I would either concentrate my forces to defend Yanmen Pass or abandon the north to protect the south. What's the point of this splitting up? Could it be that he has a backup plan?"

The fat man leaned over, his nose almost touching the map. "Your Highness, is that little emperor stupid? In the Battle of Dingxiang, our eight-ox crossbows riddled the Yan heavy cavalry like a sieve. Anyone who's not stupid should have known we'd strike while the iron's hot and attack the capital. Yet, he's split his forces in half. Isn't he afraid that we'll just lay siege to the capital without attacking?"

"It's not that simple." Lin Zhenxian drew out the dragon-patterned sword from his waist and tapped the tip of the sword lightly on the clouds on the map.