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

"Help!!"

Inside the Yi residence, Yi Wancheng shouted and suddenly woke up from his sleep.

"Someone, light the lanterns!"

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking like he was still in shock.

"Master, what's wrong with you?"

A seductive voice rang out from beside the bed.

Then they saw a fair-skinned young woman wearing a bodice, her sleepy peach blossom eyes wide open, getting up to put on her clothes while asking Yi Wancheng about his condition with concern.

This is Ruyan, the top courtesan whom Yi Wancheng redeemed from the brothel for 30,000 taels of silver. She is now his twelfth concubine.

The maidservant quickly lit the lamp, and Ruyan pressed herself against Yi Wancheng's back, gently comforting him, "Master, what's wrong? Why do you seem so restless these past few days? Is it because I haven't been serving you well enough?"

"roll!"

Yi Wancheng had no interest in flirting with Ruyan at the moment and yelled at her to get off the bed.

Ru Yan pouted, wanting to say something, but seeing Yi Wancheng's gloomy face, she immediately swallowed her words, got up, wrapped her clothes tightly, and left the room.

Before leaving, she didn't forget to take the box of Zhu Yu jewelry that she had been promised to give her the night before.

Yi Wancheng rubbed his face with both hands for a while, trying to keep himself calm.

But everything that happened in my dream just now felt so real: I was standing on the beach, watching the blue sea surge, when suddenly a giant wave came and swallowed me up, and finally turned into a pile of flesh and blood on the rocks.

The dream was so real that even now, after waking up, the suffocating sense of despair still haunts him.

"Master, something terrible has happened!"

Yi Wancheng was still in shock when he heard a servant calling from outside the door.

"What happened that made you so flustered?"

"Sir, there are many soldiers knocking on the door. Please go and see."

Yi Wancheng was taken aback: "Soldiers, could it be Li Ye?"

Thinking of this, he decisively got out of bed, put on a coat, and walked towards the gate of the mansion.

bang bang bang-

The heavy knocking continued, sounding particularly eerie in the silent night.

"who!"

Standing behind the door latch, Yi Wancheng mustered his courage and asked.

The response was, as always, a heavy, aggressive knocking on the door.

"master……"

The servant glanced at the gate, then looked at Yi Wancheng.

It means, should we open the door or not?

Yi Wancheng gave the butler a wink.

The next moment, hundreds of servants and guards from the mansion, holding weapons of varying lengths, as well as military-made weapons such as bows and crossbows, stood behind the gate and faced the direction of the main entrance.

Looking at the fully armed "private soldiers" in front of him, Yi Wancheng seemed to have gained immense courage and immediately ordered someone to open the door.

The moment he opened the door, what greeted Yi Wancheng's eyes was a vast blue ocean.

"What are you doing? Do you know where you are? Knocking..."

Snapped--

Before the servant could finish speaking, an officer slapped him to the ground without hesitation.

He then stepped forward, looked at the servants holding weapons in front of him, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Very well, now we've added another charge: unauthorized maintenance of a private army!"

"Yi Wancheng, you dare to transport loess as military rations to the army camp? Do you think you're too stubborn? Hmm?"

After being threatened by the young blue-clad general, Yi Wancheng couldn't help but swallow.

"Who are you?"

"Wu Jie, acting commander of the 11th Division of the Central Army, has been ordered by the Commander-in-Chief to search the Yi residence."

If you know what's good for you, put down your weapons, put your hands on your heads, and squat on the ground. If you are stubborn and refuse to listen...

Don't blame me for not being able to control my killing intent.

Upon hearing this, Yi Wancheng said coldly, "Ha! What a boastful tone. I've never even heard of any division commander or army commander."

All I know is that anyone who dares to touch my money, Yi Wancheng, will have to pay with their life!

"Young ones!"

At a shout, the hundreds of servants and guards who had been arranged in formation all perked up.

"You've been raising an army for a thousand days to use it for one. Now answer me one question: how have I treated you all this time?"

"Your kindness is as heavy as a mountain!"

"Very well, now someone wants to seize your patriarch's legacy. Do you agree or not?"

"No!"

The hundreds of servants answered questions and roared, displaying an air of determination to fight to the death.

Seeing this, Wu Jie turned around and walked towards the gate of the mansion.

As he left, he muttered to himself, "Idiot."

Then he walked to the corner, took out a pack of cigarettes, lit a match, and took a deep drag.

In that short time, a group of soldiers carrying newly developed Thompson submachine guns from the military factory led the charge into the courtyard.

"Whoo~"

Da da da da——

The moment the smoke rings were exhaled, the pleasant sound of submachine guns firing rapidly filled the mansion.

At the same time, there were also continuous wails of agony.

When Wu Jie finished his cigarette and stomped out the sparks by throwing the butt on the ground, the gunfire inside the mansion stopped, and there was no more movement.

"Reporting to the commander, the resistance forces in the Yi family have been completely eliminated. We await further instructions."

"Walk."

Wu Jie turned around and stepped back into the Yi family compound.

This time, he saw the corpses of the servants lying all over the ground.

As for Yi Wancheng and the others, they were already paralyzed on the ground from the shock of what they had just witnessed, unable to utter a single word.

"Catch them!"

"Move it all! Don't leave a single thing behind!"

At Wu Jie's command, more soldiers outside the door immediately sprang into action.

Yi Wancheng's eyes were dazed, and all he saw was a giant blue wave crashing mercilessly towards him, a scene that highly overlapped with the one in his previous dream.

Meanwhile, at the window of a three-story restaurant not far from the Yi residence, Li San and his companions, who had witnessed the entire scene, were filled with shock and excitement.

Sitting at the table, Shen Lang already knew through the communication jade tablet that the Yi family had been dealt with, so he smiled and said to the others.

"Brothers, are you satisfied? The Yi residence has been raided and confiscated; your anger should have subsided by now, right?"

Upon hearing this, Li San and the others immediately knelt before Shen Lang.

"Your Excellency, you are truly a living bodhisattva!"

"No one has ever done this for us."

"Lord Duke, we will follow you from now on."

Seeing their tearful faces, Shen Lang felt a pang of pity.

He really wanted to tell these clueless soldiers that he was targeting Yi Wancheng because he knew Li Ye was also going to make a move against him.

Rather than letting the Yi family's assets fall into Jiang Chong's hands, it's better to keep them in our own.

This grain purchase operation was extremely costly. Although the grain merchants all said they wouldn't have to pay anything and that they could handle it, is it really possible to do so without paying a single penny?

This loss must be made up for with Yi Wancheng's family business.

"Alright, now that things are resolved, everyone can go home, right?"

Shen Lang helped them up one by one and spoke to them warmly.

"Don't worry, the food problem has been solved. The military rations will be delivered to the Dongzhou camp in a few days."

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

"No need to thank me. You are soldiers of my Great Chu, and no one can harm you. By the way, I see you are living a hard life."

They specially prepared some military pay to take with them on the way back; it wasn't much, just enough for tea and wine.

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a warm current flow through their hearts.

Following the Duke of Zhenguo, I finally felt like a real person!