Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"No money? Shen Lang, you'd better make yourself clear to me."

"Your Majesty, I have made myself perfectly clear: the Ministry of Revenue has no money!"

"What should we do with my Changsheng Palace?"

"This is a problem that the Empress Dowager should solve herself."

Ji Yuxi was immediately delighted.

I was amused by Shen Lang's shamelessness.

"Shen Lang, His Majesty promised me that he would build the Longevity Palace for me to live out my remaining years in peace. Why is he now going back on his word and making himself a laughingstock in the eyes of the whole world?"

Shen Lang replied calmly, "Your Majesty is too kind. His Majesty has already scrimped and saved, allocating a full year's worth of funds from the imperial treasury to repair Your Majesty's palace."

"How can you talk about going back on your word? Besides, does Her Majesty the Empress Dowager even know that this money could buy several mansions? That's a full million taels of silver; I wouldn't even dare to dream of such a thing."

Ji Yuxi's face instantly turned ashen: "You're comparing me to those commoners? Shen Lang!"

"I am nominally your mother, so please don't try to fool me, okay?"

Shen Lang immediately replied, "Your Majesty is quite right. Strictly speaking, you are indeed half a mother to me."

But Your Majesty and I have already done our duty of filial piety. Why press us further? If we're going to go by that logic, then His Highness the Prince of Shu is the Empress Dowager's blood relative.

Why not let him also fulfill his filial duty, instead of insisting on demanding money from me, his half-son, to build the palace?

"you you……"

Ji Yuxi's chest heaved violently with anger.

She never expected that Shen Lang would be so disrespectful to her.

"Fine, fine, Shen Lang, do you think that just because you've become the emperor you no longer respect me?"

"Your Majesty, I truly do not regard you with any respect."

Upon hearing this, not only did Ji Yuxi's eyes widen, but the eunuchs and maids beside her, as well as Rong Mama standing next to the Empress Dowager, were also filled with disbelief.

"Can you say that again!"

"Your Majesty, I truly do not regard you with any special regard, but rather with the utmost respect in my heart."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yuxi's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed: "What a glib-tongued emperor."

Shen Lang smiled slightly: "Your Majesty flatters me."

Ji Yuxi slammed her hand on the table: "Shen Lang, I'm not joking. You must give me an answer today: are you going to pay for the Changsheng Palace or not?"

Shen Lang calmly replied, "Your Majesty, even if you sold me, I still couldn't raise that much silver."

"Stop trying to fool me. Didn't the Ministry of Revenue promise to build the Longevity Palace for me? It's been almost three months, and they still haven't started construction."

"The Ministry of Revenue only said it was to show filial piety to the Empress Dowager, but it didn't say that the Hall of Longevity had to be built. I suppose the Empress Dowager is getting old and has forgotten about it."

When it comes to verbal sparring, Shen Lang has never been afraid of anyone. He's just playing a game of nitpicking. Ji Yuxi, you think you can compete with me? You're really too green.

Ji Yuxi took a deep breath and tried to convince herself not to get angry.

After a long silence, she softened her tone and said to Shen Lang, "Shen Lang, I know you and I have some conflicts."

But I no longer blame you, so why do you have to play tricks on me in this matter?

I have no extravagant desires in this life, I just want to have my own palace to live out my peaceful old age, what's wrong with that?

Now that you're in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, you can freely allocate the nation's funds and grain. It wouldn't be unreasonable for you to take a portion to build a garden for me.

If you're worried about people gossiping behind your back, you don't need to worry at all. After all, you're doing this to show filial piety to your mother.

Our Great Chu governs with benevolence and filial piety; when the world knows this, they will only say that the Duke of Zhenguo is filial.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang couldn't help but sneer inwardly. So you're trying to play the emotional card with me? Fine, I'll play along with you old fool.

So he immediately put on an expression that was both troubled and slightly aggrieved: "Your Majesty, I'd like to tell you the truth as well..."

Whenever there is a surplus of silver in the Ministry of Revenue's account, I will not hesitate to take it out and present it to you.

However, the Ministry of Revenue is now just an empty shell. As you know, I only took over the Ministry of Revenue last month.

It's only been a month since I took over the Ministry of Revenue. On my very first day, I checked the account books.

"Even a poor rat would weep upon seeing this; I truly have no money to offer as a tribute to Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."

Ji Yuxi narrowed her eyes: "Is the Ministry of Revenue really that poor?"

Shen Lang sighed: "If it weren't for His Majesty's request, I would never have become the Minister of Revenue under any circumstances."

As soon as he sits there, official documents from all directions rush to his front.

No matter how you explain it, it all boils down to one word: money!

"The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War—they all surround me every day, demanding money."

But the national treasury's annual harvest is only so-so, and I can't conjure up any more money. These past few years, we've had some good weather, so we've barely managed to get by.

But if we were to encounter a drought or flood, I fear I would be so worried that I wouldn't be able to close my eyes for days and nights. Your Majesty, please understand my predicament.

It's not that I'm unwilling to allocate funds to the Ministry of Works to build the Longevity Palace for you, but I genuinely can't afford it. What do you think?

"I'll use my own money to repair a model for you to play with for now, and I'll pay for the rest when I've raised enough money."

These words left Ji Yuxi speechless, and even Rong Momo, who was standing nearby, was somewhat moved and felt a little sad for Shen Lang's current situation.

But soon, Ji Yuxi found a breakthrough.

"I understand your difficulties. After all, there are so many prefectures and counties in the Chu Kingdom that need to be taken care of, it is indeed very difficult."

"But that's a matter of state. I'm in the inner palace and there's nothing I can do to help you. I just want to enjoy a few years of peace and quiet, and be buried with the late emperor after I pass away. Is that too much to ask?"

Shen Lang replied, "The Empress Dowager's intentions are reasonable and not excessive at all. However, the Ministry of Revenue really does not have any extra silver at the moment. You can check for yourself if you don't believe me."

The impatience in Ji Yuxi's eyes vanished in an instant.

She realized that Shen Lang was as cunning as a fox, constantly talking about how difficult things were for the Ministry of Revenue, but never mentioning the Empress's treasury.

It's possible that the Ministry of Revenue is short of money, but it's absolutely impossible that Jiang Mengxuan's treasury is empty.

She had already secretly found out that, given the scale of the factories run by the Empress, their annual income was no less than 1.5 million taels of gold, and that was a very conservative estimate.

In addition to the money and provisions that Shen Lang obtained upon his return from the expedition, he must have secretly kept some of it and handed it over to the Empress.

Jiang Mengxuan now possesses considerable wealth, as evidenced by the fact that she readily spent 37 taels of silver to build her new wedding palace.

However, no matter how envious Ji Yuxi was, there was nothing she could do. Since you were unwilling to use the treasury, then she would work on another source of wealth.

"Shen Lang, I've heard that your purge of the officialdom in Jiangnan has caused quite a stir throughout the Great Chu?"

"Your Majesty, are you perhaps going to plead for those convicted officials?"

"You misunderstand me. These parasites embezzle the imperial tax revenue and deserve to die. How could I possibly speak up for them?"

"What I mean is, haven't the assets of those convicted officials already been seized?"

Shen Lang narrowed his eyes: "Does Your Majesty intend to misappropriate the wealth of those disgraced officials to build the garden?"

Ji Yuxi did not deny it: "Look, as long as we confiscate the property of these criminal officials' families, won't the Ministry of Revenue's finances be much better?"

"This……"

Shen Lang deliberately feigned a troubled expression.

Ji Yuxi hurriedly said, "Go back and talk to His Majesty. I imagine the combined assets of these disgraced officials amount to hundreds of millions."

"I only want money to repair the garden; that's not unreasonable, is it? You wouldn't refuse even that, would you?"

Shen Lang sighed: "Never mind, I will go back and talk to His Majesty. After the confiscation and accounting, any surplus property will be sent to the Ministry of Works to help the Empress Dowager build a garden."

Ji Yuxi immediately beamed with joy: "That's right, I've been waiting for your good news."

Shen Lang verbally agreed with "Yes, yes, yes," but in his heart he thought, "If you, that old woman, get even a single penny, I, Shen Lang, will change my name."