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

The following day at noon, Shen Lang had already set up a banquet in the official residence of the imperial court.

The banquet was filled with junior officers from the Dongzhou camp, the highest rank being a brigade general and the lowest a lieutenant in charge of a hundred men.

These generals were receiving an invitation from imperial relatives for the first time in their lives, and they were already extremely flustered.

Looking at the table full of rare and exotic delicacies, he had no appetite at all.

Before long, Shen Lang changed into casual clothes and walked out from behind the screen alone.

Everyone hurriedly stood up to greet him, but Shen Lang smiled and pressed his hand to stop them: "There's no need for such formalities, everyone. Please sit down and talk. Don't be shy, there aren't so many rules here."

After saying that, he walked straight to the head of the table. Seeing that they were still standing there dumbfounded, not even saying a word, he gestured with his hand again: "Sit down, don't make me say anything more."

Actually, I'm just like you all, I come from a military background, so we're practically colleagues. Please sit down, it would be disrespectful not to."

"Thank you, Duke Zhenguo."

Upon hearing this, everyone carefully sat down.

After taking their seats, Shen Lang smiled and looked everyone over. Then he looked at a nervous-looking adjutant sitting next to him, patted him on the shoulder, and asked, "Don't be afraid. I just wanted to find out what's going on. I mean no harm. What's your name?"

The adjutant bowed his head and said, "Replying to the Duke of Zhenguo, my name is Li San."

"Li San, how old are you?"

"Twenty...twenty-seven..."

Li San's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Feeling the strength of Shen Lang's hand on his shoulder, he felt his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

"Oh my, twenty-seven? I'm five or six years younger than you, so I'll call you Brother Li then."

Shen Lang's joking remark startled Li San, who immediately tried to kneel down.

"Your Excellency, I wouldn't dare."

"What do you mean by 'dare' or 'don't dare'? You're older than me, so what's wrong with calling you 'brother'? Or is it that Brother Li doesn't want me to call you that?"

Li San was completely stunned by Shen Lang's methods and didn't know what to do. He sat there with a half-smile, completely losing his ability to control his expression.

Shen Lang then looked at the others, and they all behaved much like Li San.

"What are you all doing? Why are you so tense? Relax, just make yourself at home."

He poured himself a glass of wine as he spoke.

"Come, come, drink this glass of wine and we'll talk business later. You can all relax and raise your glasses."

Seeing Shen Lang say this, everyone had no choice but to obediently raise their glasses.

"I'll go first, you can do as you please."

Shen Lang downed the drink in one gulp, then smacked his lips as he did so.

Seeing Shen Lang's unpretentious demeanor, everyone's anxiety eased a little, and they then drank the wine in their cups in one gulp.

After putting down his wine glass, seeing that they were still not relaxed, Shen Lang smiled and shook his head, putting down the chopsticks he had just picked up.

"It seems that if I don't explain things clearly to you today, we can't have this meal. Alright, since no one is going to eat, let's talk business first."

"Tell me, why did you come to cause trouble outside the capital city?"

Hearing Shen Lang say this, the tense and dull atmosphere was finally broken by themselves.

Li San mustered his courage and said, "Lord Duke, we didn't want to do this either. This matter was really not directed at you. It's just that Li Ye is really bullying us too much."

Once Li San spoke, the others immediately reacted as well.

"Lord Duke, we serve the Prince with our lives, and we do all the work that requires our lives. We don't ask for any great wealth or status, we just ask to have a full meal every day."

"Yes, Your Excellency, isn't it only natural for soldiers to receive rations? But even this basic requirement is something they want to take away completely."

Once the conversation starts, the rest becomes much easier.

After they had all finished speaking, Shen Lang turned his gaze to Li San: "Brother Li, you are the highest-ranking official here. Can you give me a detailed and concise explanation of what exactly happened?"

Li San, with a tearful face, said, "My lord, a while ago a fire broke out in the Dongzhou granary, burning down all the stored grain."

When Lord Li learned of this, he said that we didn't need to worry about the military rations, as they would arrive on time.

Little did they expect that the grain carts delivered to the army the other day weren't loaded with military rations at all, but with yellow soil!

It was only later that I learned that Lord Li had borrowed grain from Yi Wancheng, who had given him 300,000 shi of grain in one go.

But he secretly embezzled our food, trying to pass off dirt as food.

At this point, he and the soldiers present all shed tears of grievance.

"This is really unreasonable!"

After hearing this, Shen Lang pretended to be indignant and wanted to seek justice for these unfortunate soldiers.

"It is only right and proper for soldiers to receive rations. Anyone who embezzles even a single grain of rations from the army shall, according to the military law of the Great Chu, have their entire family executed!"

Upon hearing this, Li San and the others were immediately in high spirits.

This shows that the Duke was a good person, a good person who was on the side of the poor people like himself.

"Don't worry, I won't stand idly by and will investigate this matter thoroughly."

After saying that, Shen Lang changed the subject again.

"However, you can't cause trouble like this. This wage dispute has a huge impact. If something goes wrong, the money will be switched."

Upon hearing this, Li San and the others exchanged bewildered glances.

They just acted on impulse and came up with this idea.

"My lord!"

Suddenly, Deng Dajiao, who was sitting opposite, started shouting.

"We just want an explanation and justice for ourselves. We really have no intention of harming the people of the city. Please, Your Excellency, see the truth."

Shen Lang: "Of course I know you haven't made a serious mistake yet, which is why I invited you here to discuss how to resolve the issue."

"If you make even the slightest move to enter the city, you will now be facing the guns of the Great Chu Central Army."

The calmest tone conveyed a cruel threat of death.

Everyone present could sense the coldness in Shen Lang's words.

They were already short-sighted and only had a superficial understanding of Shen Lang's life.

However, the killing intent emanating from him at this moment could not be concealed at all.

Seeing the change in everyone's expressions, Shen Lang knew that his psychological offensive had worked, so he quickly changed his attitude.

"Alright, just kidding. You didn't cause any major disaster; you were just reasonably pursuing your own interests, even if the methods were a bit extreme."

That's understandable, but remember not to be so reckless in the future, understand?

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Excellency."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt as if they had been granted a pardon and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, now that the problem is solved, can we eat? Come on, let's start eating, or the food will get cold."

Shen Lang warmly invited everyone to eat, and then personally picked up a piece of fatty meat and put it into Li San's bowl.

When the Duke of the court served him food, Li San was so moved that he burst into tears, and his affection for him increased dramatically.

The others felt relieved and began to eat as well.

Under Shen Lang's warm and easygoing hospitality, everyone gradually relaxed, and even shared some interesting anecdotes from their lives with Shen Lang, making the atmosphere much more relaxed.

After a few rounds of drinks, Shen Lang suddenly asked, "By the way, how much is the monthly military pay for the officers and soldiers of your Dongzhou camp?"