Upon hearing this, Lin Yi’s eyes suddenly sparkled, and the beautiful visage of the Empress instantly emerged in his mind.
Feeling the hands on his shoulders come to a sudden halt, and almost hearing the man’s thoughts, the young Emperor felt a surge of irritation.
Annoyed, he brushed off the other’s hands from his shoulder:
"Hmph, truly useless. The last time I assisted you, the Empress was fully filled by me, yet you still failed to succeed. It’s beyond me what use you are."
The words were clearly filled with dissatisfaction.
Of course, this discontent was not because Lin Yi truly lacked the ability, but rather it was due to what Lin Yi was thinking.
Discontented with Lin Yi’s incessant preoccupation with the Empress.
After all, she’s just a woman, and how could a woman not feel jealous?
It’s just that she can’t openly show jealousy, after all, her external identity is that of the Emperor, a man’s physique.
"Heh, it’s not my fault, Your Majesty.
As you have seen, last time I truly put in my utmost effort, draining every resource at my disposal.
But the failure might also be on the Empress’s side.
How about this, Your Majesty, let’s try one more time. This time, I guarantee to complete the mission!"
Hearing this, the young Emperor gave him an irritated look:
"Do you realize how much effort and toil I’ve put in for that last time?
You want to try again just like that? Just wait, let’s discuss it once everything is properly arranged."
Hearing the young Emperor’s complaint, mentioning how much she had invested, Lin Yi scornfully curled his lip in his heart.
"You think you’ve put in a lot, but have you put in more than me?
I’ve truly wracked my brain to the utmost, expending both mental and physical effort."
Of course, such thoughts were dared to be entertained only in his mind and naturally could not be outspokenly acknowledged to the young Emperor.
But he didn’t realize that every single thought and movement in his heart was heard clearly by the young Emperor.
And the young Emperor couldn’t help but secretly scoff at his contemplation; that scoundrel really dared to think anything.
"Ah, right, Your Majesty, do you think the Empress might have used her Inner Strength to expel it?"
Hearing this, the young Emperor shook her head definitively:
"That’s impossible. Last time it was a complete coverage.
Even if the Empress did use some Inner Strength, it’s not possible to expel all the poison from the body. This only means you are useless."
However, no sooner had these words left her mouth than the young Emperor suddenly frowned and then abruptly retched.
This caused Lin Yi to be startled and look towards the young Emperor with some confusion:
"Your Majesty, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?
Do you need me to summon an Imperial Physician for you?"
The young Emperor waved her hand in response:
"No need, these past few days I may have eaten something wrong. I frequently have no appetite.
Don’t bother calling for an Imperial Physician. My identity is rather special, and being in contact with too many Imperial Physicians could lead to certain slips being revealed.
Moreover, I don’t feel particularly unwell."
The topic was quickly changed and neither paid much further attention, after all, it’s not uncommon to have a stomach upset.
Especially in this ancient society, where the likelihood of various items being problematic was quite high.
Take, for instance, peoples’ drinking water wasn’t boiled before consumption, nor did they generally take the trouble to boil it specifically.
When thirsty, people would simply draw well water and drink it, even the nobility or the Emperor himself would do the same.
Because they had no idea that the water contained trace elements, let alone the existence of parasites.
To them, as long as the water was visually clear without any dirty substances, it was considered clean water.
Furthermore, as long as the water didn’t stink, they believed it to be clean.
As a result, it was inevitable that some would suffer from nonstop retching after drinking the water.
"Enough, stop dawdling here. Do what needs to be done and step up the military training for me.
Now, after those barbarians return home, they will certainly try every possible means to retaliate.
At most, we only have half a year left. If we cannot become stronger during this half-year period, when the enemy truly invades, we will have a tough time ahead.
If it comes to that point, there will definitely be no one coming forward to help us.
Especially the Eighth Imperial Uncle, he will definitely kick us when we’re down. Only if we are strong enough can we stand a chance."
Lin Yi nodded in agreement, taking the young Emperor’s words to heart. Indeed, just as the Emperor had said, the Eighth Prince would only pile on the misery and certainly wouldn’t lend a hand.
In short, time was running out for him, but Lin Yi also believed that even if those Lake People truly came, he would have ways to defend.
After all, he wielded a heaven-defying weapon in his hand. As long as he had firearms at his disposal, it would be an absolute crushing blow to those people of the present.
Of course, it wasn’t an absolute certainty.
A large-scale firearms force was also essential; otherwise, what good would it do to fight ten thousand people with just a hundred or even a thousand armed with firearms?
Even if those people stood still as targets, how many could you actually kill?
In a nutshell, Lin Yi’s current goal was to have a force of at least thirty thousand men.
Once this force was established, it would hold absolute sway for the entire You Country and for the young Emperor, both domestically and internationally.
At that time, no matter how formidable the Eighth Imperial Uncle was, or how many troops he controlled, he would not dare challenge the Emperor nor could he, perhaps, the adversaries might even be taken into service.
But what’s most pressing now isn’t the production of firearms, but the manpower.
After all, the factories have already started mass production, turning out a fixed number of guns daily.
But it’s difficult to find soldiers, especially loyal ones, a point that has been mentioned before.
If the Imperial Guards surrounding the Emperor were to be drawn away, it would leave the Emperor in a vulnerable position.
All in all, although the Emperor has fifty thousand soldiers at his disposal, these men are absolutely vital and cannot be deployed elsewhere, which is quite frustrating.
"Your Majesty, I plan to take a stroll down to the impoverished counties and recruit some soldiers."
At this, the young Emperor frowned:
"Your idea is indeed good, but implementing it is difficult.
The local authorities may not have any people from the central government obstructing you, but don’t forget that the Aristocratic Families currently hold significant power.
These families have a firm grip over everything locally.
Even if you did recruit some soldiers, it’s probable they’d belong to them and could cause trouble."
Lin Yi nodded earnestly in response to these words. The only truly reliable recruits he could employ now were refugees.
But in this Dynasty, although many couldn’t afford food — almost ninety-nine percent of the population — it wasn’t guaranteed that there would always be refugees to choose from.
"Ah, it is indeed a tricky situation."
"This is an urgent matter. Let’s do this: I’ll send the Shadow Guard to scout around.
If they find suitable people, bring them to Nanshan Base.
Then you can allocate a separate area, keep them under control, and thoroughly screen them. Only keep those without issues for our use."