Fourth Prince was struck dumb, his expression looked as if he had swallowed something utterly distasteful.
The young Emperor had gone so far as to invoke the late Emperor to pressure him. If he refused, it would be like slapping the late Emperor’s face, something he wouldn’t dare to do even with a hundred times the courage.
"I will obey the decree!"
Constructing a mansion fitting for a Great General would cost at least 20,000 Silver Tael; the young Emperor only had a little more than 10,000 Silver Tael, meaning Fourth Prince would have to cover a shortfall of 10,000 Silver Tael.
This was truly a predicament too grievous to voice.
"Then we will have to trouble the Fourth Imperial Uncle."
The young Emperor was inwardly delighted, despite the National Treasury spending 10,000 Silver Tael, they also saved the same amount.
Sixth Prince, not sitting idly by, directly pointed out that too few beauties had been selected for the Harem, not even filling the positions for consorts, entirely dominated by the Empress’ faction.
Clearly, Sixth Prince was dissatisfied that there was no one in the Harem who could whisper into the young Emperor’s ears.
When the young Emperor mentioned a month-long evaluation period, Sixth Prince dismissed it outright.
He resorted to the old ancestral way, stating that since ancient times, the Civil and Military Officials have labored for promotions and honors in hopes that their descendants might inherit their glory and prestige; how could this be discontinued under Your Majesty’s rule?
This would surely dishearten the Civil and Military Officials.
Hearing Fourth Imperial Uncle’s remarks, the young Emperor was deeply moved, sitting upon the Dragon Chair by inheriting his father’s legacy and authority.
Well, although he commanded the alliance of a significant number of officials, it was questionable if their loyalty could waver again during such times.
Considering this, the young Emperor couldn’t help but glare at Lin Yi, admitting that his decision was somewhat influenced by considering Lin Yi.
I am the Emperor, not to be entangled in emotional trivialities.
"Sixth Imperial Uncle speaks correctly; we must not dishearten the officials. Spread my decree, Han Pin is to be named Consort Hui, Dou Pin Consort Yi, Chu Jieyu and Sun Jieyu elevated to Concubine."
That finally stifled the myriad of dissenting voices.
But to prevent the officials from using the Harem situation for further intrigues, the young Emperor then announced another selection of beauties to be held in a month.
Since it’s about being fair and equitable, then let them see it being done.
Lin Yi naturally didn’t understand the young Emperor’s tactics, thinking it was a whim, but it was not his place to question too much at court.
A week later, the National Treasury allocated 10,000 Silver Tael, and Fourth Prince contributed another 10,000 Silver Tael for the construction of the General Mansion.
Lin Yi suggested that the funds should be managed by a dedicated individual, with each transaction meticulously recorded. Seeing Lin Yi willing to handle this thorny issue, Fourth Prince immediately decided to entrust the 20,000 Silver Tael to Lin Yi’s management.
After all, with a budget of 20,000 Silver Tael, if Lin Yi built the palace and added luxurious furniture, jewelry, etc., wouldn’t Fourth Prince be footing the bill again? Why not take the opportunity to curry favor and cut losses in time?
Lin Yi happily accepted the 20,000 Silver Tael and immediately returned 10,000 Silver Tael to the young Emperor.
"You scoundrel, do you intend to use this 10,000 Silver Tael to trade for something else?"
The young Emperor didn’t believe Lin Yi had good intentions.
But learning that Lin Yi planned to use only the 10,000 Silver Tael from Fourth Prince to build the General Mansion and return the National Treasury’s 10,000 Silver Tael to its original owner, the young Emperor did not agree.
Returning it to the National Treasury would have to go through the Ministry of Revenue, possibly alerting Fourth Prince if a noise was made, and the young Emperor might find himself somewhat unreasonable.
A sovereign of a nation, how can he improperly use his subject’s money.
"Let my personal treasury be temporarily managed by you, you scoundrel, do you dare take on this task?"
Lin Yi fully understood the small Emperor’s painstaking intentions and immediately expressed his willingness to expand the Emperor’s private treasury.
Once the funds were available, the design plans for the General Mansion were ready. Lin Yi looked at the design plans and always felt something was missing, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint it.
[Ding ding ding, the Nine-Eyed Mall system has unlocked level one for the host, a mysterious gift has been sent.][Ah, another mysterious gift, receiving.]
With the experience from last time, Lin Yi did not hesitate to accept.
[The system sends a modern palace design drawing, please go to the eighth shelf on the second level of the Imperial Study Room to collect it.]
Design drawings? Lin Yi was thrilled, the system really understood him well.
Upon arriving at the Imperial Study Room, the small Emperor was already drowsily lying on the Dragon Couch resting. Following the system’s directions, Lin Yi indeed got the design drawings.
This indeed solved the urgent dilemma; ancient architectural appearance with a strong modern interior design, Lin Yi was very satisfied.
Lin Yi cherished the treasure, the design was ready, next was the building material.
To save costs, Lin Yi personally designed cost-saving honeycomb bricks.
At first, many opposed, especially Mo Ziyang, subordinate of Fourth Prince. He was sent by Fourth Prince to cause trouble for Lin Yi.
Swindled out of ten thousand taels of silver, Fourth Prince wanted Lin Yi to suffer to relieve his anger.
However, Lin Yi directly conducted an on-site experiment, comparing the load-bearing capacity between a column made of fifty honeycomb bricks and one made with the same number of regular bricks.
The result, honeycomb bricks proved superior, and Fourth Prince was thoroughly humiliated.
The small Emperor, delighted, immediately decreed the nationwide implementation, and Lin Yi inadvertently achieved another great merit.
That evening, returning to the palace, the small Emperor and the Empress were drinking, Lin Yi was startled and quickly approached. Seeing the familiar Nine-Curves Mandarinfish Pot in the Emperor’s hand, he was reassured.
At that moment, the Empress with blurry drunken eyes, her cheeks flushed like ripened peaches, exuded a tempting aroma.
Lin Yi swallowed, having returned from defeating the enemy and being titled Great General, it was time to properly train his own troops.
"Little Lin, fill up my cup, these days I have neglected the Empress, tonight I must make it up to her."
[My precious finally knows how to cherish me, it seems my efforts today were not in vain, if I had known, I would have achieved merits earlier.]
Upon hearing the small Emperor’s words, the Empress immediately burst into tears and buried her head in the Emperor’s embrace, the moment of being cherished by her "man" was the happiest.
Fortunately, the Empress was virtuous and dignified, she did not act coyly with little fists on the Emperor.
Then, Lin Yi refilled the Empress’s cup again, the small Emperor watching Lin Yi’s anxious demeanor, handed out his own cup.
"I remember you made great contributions to You Country, I specially reward you with a cup of wine."
Lin Yi picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp.
[Beautiful wine with a beautiful person, unexpectedly my precious is quite romantic, tonight I can finally show my heroics, my beauty, why haven’t you gotten drunk yet?]
The Empress was already quite tipsy, but just to be safe, Lin Yi kept pouring wine, with the small Emperor coaxing her along.
After a few more cups, the Empress, overwhelmed by alcohol, finally collapsed onto the table.
"The Empress has been looking for me for several days now, tonight you handle it yourself."
The small Emperor dropped these words and, without showing any annoyance, he got up and sat down at the desk. While not particularly upset, he still felt a bit moody from the applause heard.
However, Lin Yi couldn’t care less about the small Emperor’s mood; seeing the Emperor leaving discretely, he quickly blew out the candles and carried the Empress straight to the Dragon Couch.