Empress, please have some self-respect. I am not your husband.

"How about it?"

Watching Lu Feng drink the medicinal soup, Ye Bingyun asked him somewhat nervously.

While it's true that the first blood sample does have an effect, the idea that the blood of someone who takes Yulongdan carries the medicinal properties of Yulongdan remains just a rumor.

She was afraid that the second bloodletting would not be effective.

After all, this was the only bargaining chip she could offer Lu Feng.

Lu Feng gently circulated his internal energy, looked at the beautiful eyes filled with worry, and nodded: "Effective."

"That's good." Ye Bingyun breathed a sigh of relief.

Perhaps due to the bloodletting, her face was not only sickly pale, but also had fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

Lu Feng couldn't help but look at the other person's wrist. Although the bleeding had stopped, the bright red mark that looked like a red line still made him feel uneasy. "What about you? Loss of qi and blood is a big taboo for martial artists."

Ye Bingyun forced a smile and shook her head: "I'm fine."

Although Lu Feng had previously opened up the meridians leading to the third rank for her, Ye Bingyun later realized that...

It's estimated that she won't be able to reach that level for the next year or so.

Because she also had to bleed Lu Feng, and each time the amount was quite large.

Loss of qi and blood is not something that can be resolved simply by replenishing qi and blood; it concerns the foundation of a martial artist's own body, and damage to the foundation can be a serious injury.

Lu Feng finally couldn't help but say, "I'll write you a prescription. After each bloodletting, just boil this medicine and drink it for three days to make up for the loss of qi and blood. Although it will still delay your cultivation progress, it's better than doing nothing."

Ye Bingyun asked in surprise, "There's such a prescription?"

Since realizing the problem of blood and qi loss, she has tried to remedy it, but it is not an easy task.

Lu Feng nodded: "Yes."

"That's great, I'll go get some paper and pen."

Watching Ye Bingyun happily reach for paper and pen, Lu Feng's expression was somewhat strange. Why did this empress seem like a little girl?

However, she does look a bit younger than me.

In my past life, someone this age would have been still in college.

Ye Bingyun quickly brought paper and pen, and Lu Feng wrote down the prescription and handed it to her.

Then he saw Her Majesty the Empress holding the prescription, her expression extremely worried. Lu Feng subconsciously asked, "What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

"This prescription...this prescription..."

Lu Feng: "What's wrong with this prescription? This prescription was developed by Hu Bujiu, the number one doctor in the world, and it's very effective."

Ye Bingyun gave a wry smile: "Of course I can see that this prescription is not simple, but this prescription is not something I can afford."

"How could this be?" Lu Feng asked in surprise.

Ye Bingyun said quietly, "One dose of medicine requires three Dragon Blood Grass plants, and each Dragon Blood Grass plant is worth three thousand taels of silver. Even the Imperial Hospital only has two plants now. In addition, the most expensive Blood Jade Lingzhi is worth five thousand taels of silver. One dose of medicine will cost thirty thousand taels of silver!"

"Does that mean I have to spend 600,000 taels of silver a year just on medicine? Where would I get that much money!"

Can't you even come up with 600,000 taels of silver?

Lu Feng almost blurted out the question, but seeing the other person's worried expression, he felt it was better not to be so direct, so he tentatively asked, "Is Qian Kingdom so poor? His Majesty can't even bear to spend 600,000 taels on you?"

Ye Bingyun glared at him angrily, wanting to say something about how he couldn't even part with 600,000 taels of silver.

But when she thought about how Lu Feng's medicine would cost over 100,000 taels, she fell silent. Her words, though helpless, revealed a lot of information: "Qian Kingdom only has four provinces. Even in the best-off state of Jiangzhou, the annual tax revenue is only 1.5 million taels. As for the impoverished Liangzhou, it is usually around 600,000 taels."

"I consume the taxes of all the people of Liangzhou every year, how can I possibly drink that much?"

Lu Feng truly hadn't expected that the Qian Kingdom would be so poor, probably only generating around five million in tax revenue a year at most.

Even so, they still had to pay the salaries of court officials and support an army of two to three hundred thousand.

In this situation, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it militarism.

Her Majesty the Empress chuckled self-deprecatingly, "So you're right, the Qian Kingdom is indeed very poor."

Lu Feng paused for a moment, then said, "That's not quite right."

Ye Bingyun looked up: "What?"

Lu Feng said, "The poor are the people of Qian Kingdom, but not the officials or people of Qian Kingdom."

Ye Bingyun immediately understood what Lu Feng meant.

Although the Qian Kingdom is small, it has been established for nearly three hundred years. Over such a long period of time, the aristocratic families of the Qian Kingdom must have accumulated an unknown amount of money.

Take Zhang Tianyuan, the Minister of Personnel, for example. In less than a month, he had already paid 70,000 taels of silver in compensation to Prince Ye and Lu Feng.

That's one-tenth of Liangzhou's tax revenue. And you still dare to say that Qianguo officials are poor?

This is no joke.

"Yes, it's only the Qian Kingdom that's poor." Ye Bingyun's self-deprecation was even stronger.

She is twenty years old this year. In her early years, when the late emperor was young, he personally led an expedition to protect the country. Although he defeated the powerful enemy, he was also injured and suffered a hidden ailment.

She was over thirty when she finally gave birth to her child, and it just so happens to be a daughter.

After learning that she had no hope of having children, the late emperor raised Ye Bingyun as a boy. After she became sensible, he always instructed her never to reveal that she was a girl.

She was made crown prince at the age of twelve and worked with the late emperor to handle state affairs.

However, the fact that the Qian Kingdom was weak, the ministers were powerful, and the imperial power was declining was something that even the late emperor, who had been on the throne for more than 30 years, could not reverse, let alone her, the new emperor who had only been on the throne for two years.

Did she really want to seize power from the ministers on her own?

It's almost impossible.

Putting aside everything else, Chu Hongyan's father, King Chu Fangming, commands the troops of two states and controls half of the Qian Kingdom's military force, a full 150,000 troops!

Firstly, the Qian Kingdom truly needs this King Zhen, and secondly, Ye Bingyun has no way of regaining half of the military power right now.

She often wondered if things would be better if she had an older brother, or if the late emperor were still alive.

But fantasy is just fantasy. Now, Ye Bingyun is the true ruler of the Qian Kingdom!

As long as she lives for even a minute, she will protect this peace, even if the sky falls, the earth collapses, and her soul is scattered!

Her bright eyes dimmed and her head drooped slightly, but only for a moment. Ye Bingyun raised her head and her pupils brightened.

But at this moment, in Lu Feng's eyes, she was like a helpless weed, left to fend for herself against the wind and rain.

While it remains resilient in the face of wind and rain, it also seems as if it could be broken at any moment and eventually disappear into the world.

He resisted the urge to speak several times, but ultimately cursed under his breath.

That damned emperor!

He said, "Perhaps we can find a way to extract money from these officials to fill the national treasury. With money, it will be easier to do other things."