The Prodigal Son

Zhao Luan is a greedy person!

She only wanted to expand her territory and didn't want to lose an inch of land!

She knew she was being greedy.

But as the Empress of Da Ning, she had no choice but to be greedy when it came to territorial issues!

Qin Yu did not rush to answer Zhao Luan's question, but slowly walked to the huge map in the imperial study and carefully examined the part of Shuozhou.

After a long silence, Qin Yu turned around and said ambiguously, "Perhaps it's possible, but the cost might be too high for our dynasty! Or rather, it would be a losing proposition!"

"So you mean it won't work, right?"

The light in Zhao Luan's eyes suddenly dimmed.

"Anyway, I have no confidence whatsoever."

Qin Yu did not directly answer Zhao Luan's question, but said, "I humbly believe that Shuozhou is far less important than half of the Yan Kingdom! The court should be like Lü Si, able to bend and stretch! As for the gains and losses, Your Majesty must weigh them yourself!"

Ugh!

What's there to be conflicted about?

Shuozhou was originally a remote and desolate place.

Is it really worth sacrificing the lives of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of soldiers in Shuozhou?

He could understand Zhao Luan's resentment, but she felt that Zhao Luan should weigh the pros and cons!

We can't take it back now, but that doesn't mean we can't take it back later!

We can take it back when we have the chance!

Why fight to the death with Beiqi at this critical juncture for the sake of Shuozhou?

Zhao Luan pondered for a moment, then instructed Shangguan Youyi: "Summon all officials of the third rank and above to come for a meeting immediately! Also, send someone to invite Ning Huang and Zhao Po!"

"yes!"

Shangguan Youyi immediately accepted the order and left.

"call……"

Zhao Luan exhaled a breath of stale air, slowly stood up, and walked to the front of the huge map. With her hands behind her back, she stared at the map carefully.

After pondering for a long time, Zhao Luan turned to Qin Yu and asked, "Do you think it's still necessary to reorganize the salt administration?"

Originally, she had already made up her mind to reorganize the salt administration!

The first thing to do after the court session begins tomorrow is to discuss the reform of the salt administration.

Unexpectedly, at this critical juncture, another incident occurred in Shuozhou.

Suddenly, she became hesitant again.

However, the salt administration problem has become a chronic issue in Daning.

The imperial court has its troubles every year; who can guarantee that things will be fine next year?

This year it will be postponed to next year, and next year to the year after.

The longer you delay, the more serious the illness will become!

Therefore, if the imperial court wants to cure this intractable disease, it will have to pay an even greater price!

"this……"

Qin Yu pondered for a moment, then said in a serious tone, "My judgment is inferior to that of the ministers in the court. Your Majesty should consult with them instead!"

Zhao Luan didn't speak, but slowly raised her long legs.

Qin Yu decisively retreated, grinning as he said, "Your Majesty, please be mindful of imperial decorum..."

"Don't try to fool me!"

Zhao Luan kicked Qin Yu in the air to intimidate him, saying, "Don't forget, you're also a second-rank official! I'm discussing this with you right now!"

Qin Yu sighed helplessly, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said, "Personally, I think that reforming the salt administration might lull Bei Qi and Yan into a false sense of security!"

A glint flashed in Zhao Luan's eyes. "You mean, knowing that we are vigorously reforming the salt administration, both countries will assume we won't attack Yan at this time?"

"Um!"

Qin Yu nodded slightly, "To be honest, the fall of Shuozhou and the rectification of the salt administration were not really related! In recent years, the imperial court has been plagued by war and natural and man-made disasters. If we really wanted to wait until everything was fine before rectifying the salt administration, who knows when that would be..."

Hearing Qin Yu's words, Zhao Luan couldn't help but nod slightly.

That bastard, he's thinking the same thing as me.

However, things weren't as simple as he thought!

She could foresee that if the imperial court was determined to rectify the salt administration, those salt merchants and officials who colluded with them would never sit idly by and wait for their doom!

At that time, there is a high probability that unrest will occur in places like Haizhou and Fangzhou.

Controllable unrest is not scary!

I'm afraid the unrest will get out of control and affect the overall situation of the imperial court!

Zhao Luan rubbed his head in annoyance, then waved his hand lightly at Qin Yu, "I need to calm down first. Go check on Lü Si! You can beat him up, but don't make him hurt!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Qin Yu immediately clenched his fists and walked out.

"stop!"

Zhao Luan stopped him, "If you want to fight, do it somewhere else, don't disturb me!"

"As you command!"

Qin Yu spoke with great confidence and quickly left the imperial study.

Seeing Qin Yu's impatient look, Zhao Luan couldn't help but shake her head in exasperation.

asshole!

Every day, you just keep creating trouble for yourself!

Soon, Qin Yu arrived outside the Imperial Study.

Lu Si was still kneeling properly outside, occasionally peeking into the door of the Imperial Study.

Upon seeing Qin Yu emerge, Lü Si immediately waved enthusiastically to him.

"Tell me, how do you want to die?"

Qin Yu approached Lü Si and glared fiercely at the bastard.

"No, no!"

Lu Si waved his hands repeatedly, looking at him pitifully, "Ancestor, I know I was wrong! As long as you help me get through this difficult time, we can talk about anything in the future!"

"It's too late to admit your mistake now!"

Qin Yu grabbed Lü Si, covered Lü Si's mouth, and dragged him to the side.

Lu Si struggled desperately, but could not break free. His legs twitched like a dying antelope.

Finally, Qin Yu dragged Lü Si to a pavilion far away from the imperial study.

Seeing that Qin Yu was about to get serious, Lü Si was terrified and hurriedly begged, "Can't I apologize to you? If that's not possible, let's put it on record first. I'll give you ten thousand... no, thirty thousand taels of silver, okay?"

As he spoke, Lü Si pitifully tugged at Qin Yu's sleeve.

Qin Yu was stunned for a moment, then slapped Lü Si's hand away. "Why didn't you think of this when you were stabbing me in the back?"

"I……"

Lu Si's face stiffened, and he said with a wronged expression, "I really didn't mean to implicate you! Who told you to keep using that shit to disgust me? I just wanted to trick you, I never expected it would enrage His Majesty so much!"

"nonsense!"

Qin Yu lightly kicked Lü Si, "Did His Majesty tell you about the importance of the marriage alliance between your two families?"

"I mentioned it earlier in the Imperial Study."

Lu Si nodded slightly, looking aggrieved, and said, "It's not entirely my fault! You all kept everything from me. How was I supposed to know that my marriage to that piece of shit would be so important..."

As Lü Si spoke, he became increasingly aggrieved, and he was almost in tears.

I'm a victim too!

但凡他们不瞒着自己，就算自己不想娶那屎玩意儿，也不至于去狠揍她啊！

"I'm not even upset, and you're acting like you're upset?"

Qin Yu glared at Lü Si with wide eyes and asked, "How badly did you beat Shi Lian'er?"

"this……"

Lu Si grunted for a while before slowly raising his fist to show Qin Yu.

Lu Si's fist was covered in several scrapes.

Holy crap!

Qin Yu stared in astonishment at Lü Si's injured fist. "Your fist is in this state? How badly must Shi Lian'er be in?"

Lu Si lowered his head and said softly, "Two teeth were knocked out, my mouth was full of blood, my face was swollen, and I could barely cry..."

After knocking Shi Lian'er down with one punch, he straddled her and began to thrust into her from both sides.

He was injured because his fist accidentally hit Shi Lian'er's teeth.

"..."

Qin Yu was speechless. "Are you an idiot?! Couldn't you have let Shi Lian'er leave some scratches on you? That way, at least it would be a fight between you, and it would be easier to explain to His Majesty and the Empress Dowager..."

Lu Si lowered his head. "One punch from me and she was completely disoriented, she had no chance to fight back..."

"You fucking...you're a real talent!"

Qin Yuchong gave Lü Si a thumbs up. "Fine, for the sake of the 30,000 taels of silver, I won't bother beating you up! Anyway, no matter how your marriage with Shi Lian'er goes, you're definitely going to get a beating!"

"what?"

Lu Si felt a chill run down his spine and looked at Qin Yu with a worried expression. "Do I have to endure this again?"

"nonsense!"

Qin Yu snorted, "You beat Shi Lian'er like that, do you think His Majesty and the Empress Dowager don't need to give an explanation to the Shi family?"

"no……"

Lu Si was displeased and muttered, "Then why didn't anyone explain to the Lu family when you beat me before?"

Qin Yu rolled her eyes at him. "Ask yourself honestly, when have I ever hit you not because you deserved it?"

"I……"

Lu Si's face stiffened, and he asked with a wry smile, "Is there any way to avoid getting this beating?"

Qin Yu thought for a moment, then held up two fingers: "Add another twenty thousand taels!"

Lu Si gritted his teeth and nodded emphatically...