My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

Wang Meng couldn't hold back his tears and they immediately welled up in his eyes.

He is not a crybaby. Ever since he was rescued by Lord Ye when he was twelve years old, he has been fighting in the army until now.

He had lived a life of constant danger for so many years, with dozens of scars of varying sizes on his body. The deepest one had cut straight from his collarbone to his ribs. When the military doctor treated him, he gritted his teeth and didn't shed a single tear.

The last time I cried was in the Northern Border, when I learned of Lord Ye's death from Lord Lin.

The wind in the North was unusually strong that day, whipping up sand that stung his face. After Lord Lin's canopy disappeared, he hid alone in the stable.

The stable was dimly lit, the smell of hay mixed with the warm breath of the horses, and the lamp under the eaves swayed in the wind, its light dappling the ground.

He cried like a fool over the old horse that had once followed Lord Ye into battle and was later entrusted to him by Lord Ye.

As he cried, the old horse seemed to sense something, lowered its neck, nuzzled his shoulder with its nose, and breathed warmly on the back of his neck, as if clumsily comforting him.

That was the only time he ever cried.

But Lin Ye's words, "Leave it to me," were like a key, releasing all the emotions that had been locked in his chest for more than half a month.

Only he knows how he got through those short days.

From the day the first urgent memorial was sent to the capital, Wang Meng hadn't had a full night's sleep.

The candles in the imperial study burned all night long. One candle after another was replaced, and candle wax piled up into small mountains on the candlesticks, layer upon layer, with the old wax not yet completely dry before new wax began to flow.

The palace servants on night duty changed batch after batch, but he remained seated behind that table, his eye sockets growing deeper and deeper each day.

The South China Sea was the first to suffer. The sea god caused trouble, coastal villages were flooded, and people moved their families to the inland areas.

He allocated grain and fodder overnight, arranged disaster relief funds, and urgently dispatched an imperial envoy to oversee the work.

But before the imperial envoy's carriage had even left the capital region, bad news came flying in like snowflakes.

The Wei River breached its banks, affecting all eleven counties in its middle and lower reaches, and soon the neighboring Xiang River basin also began to flood...

Every day there are new disaster reports, and the numbers in each report are more alarming than the last.

The number of missing persons and dead jumped from double digits to triple digits, then to quad digits. Each number felt like a branding iron, burning his eyes.

Lord Lin trusted him, which is why he entrusted the Great Flame to him. As a result, the originally promising situation completely collapsed in just over half a month.

It's even worse than when Shu Jingwei was in power.

Wang Meng felt ashamed to face Lord Lin, but he had no other choice but to contact Lord Lin.

Unexpectedly, after hearing about the disaster, Lin Ye remained silent for a few moments before saying in that familiar, reassuring tone, "Leave it to me."

Tears rolled down Wang Meng's dark, rough cheeks, quickly covering his face and flowing freely along the lines etched by wind, sand, and time.

Drop by drop, the ink splattered onto the table before him, onto the memorials filled with accounts of the disaster, making the already messy ink even more illegible.

Tears fell onto the paper with a very faint pattering sound, mingling with the sound of rain outside the window, making it impossible to distinguish which sound was rain and which was tears.

Wang Meng didn't cry out loud, but his shoulders trembled slightly. He used all his strength to suppress the soreness in his throat, so as not to make a sound and make a fool of himself in front of Lord Lin.

Lord Lin is just as good as Lord Ye.

They are all the same; when something goes wrong, they never first try to find out who is responsible, but instead try to find a way to solve the problem.

Wang Meng still remembers when he was first promoted to Lord Ye's command. He was young and arrogant, and when leading troops to suppress bandits, he was greedy for merit and rushed into the enemy's ambush.

If Lord Ye hadn't noticed something was wrong and personally led troops to rescue him, he would have died in that unknown ravine long ago.

At that time, he knelt before Lord Ye to beg for forgiveness, thinking that even if he didn't die, he would be skinned alive.

The wind in the ravine whipped his hair into a mess, and his knees ached from kneeling on the gravel, but he dared not move an inch.

But Lord Ye simply pulled him up from the ground, patted the dust off his shoulders, and said, "It's alright, it's good that you're alive. After all, I can't save you every time. I'll teach you some military strategy later, and you also need to improve your mindset."

Lord Lin saved him once again, and from then on began to teach him military strategy, which is why he was able to become a powerful general.

Moreover, they are all people who are truly responsible for the people of Da Yan.

How could anyone not do their utmost to be loyal to such a person?

Lin Ye looked at Wang Meng in the mirror, who was clearly tall, strong, and fierce-looking, but was now crying like a child, and felt somewhat helpless.

Wang Meng's face would definitely make him look like a modern-day gangster boss.

His face was dark, his brow bones were high, and his two thick eyebrows, like two brushes, stretched across his eyes. Yet, he also had a pair of round and fierce eyes like a bear, which looked like he was glaring at people.

With his nearly 1.9-meter height and broad shoulders, he could scare children to tears and make dogs tuck their tails between their legs and walk away as soon as he stood on the street, without even saying a word.

But this very person, at this moment, had tears streaming down their face, looking as aggrieved as a child.

Lin Ye sighed inwardly. A man doesn't easily shed tears, but for someone like him to be so helpless as to cry, the disaster situation over there must be dire. Wang Meng must have truly run out of options.

However, to save face for him, Lin Ye didn't mention it, pretending he hadn't seen anything, and continued calmly, "As for Shu Jingwei, you don't need to worry about her anymore."

"The Western Regions went to great lengths to cure her; their intentions must be far-reaching. They will definitely return. Then, we'll settle the score with them."

Wang Meng then realized that he had lost his composure.

He didn't know if Lin Ye could see him now, but he quickly wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve and nodded vigorously.

"This subordinate understands." His voice was still a little hoarse, but his tone had regained its previous firmness.

Lin Ye's mind raced, and in the blink of an eye, he had already formed a general plan for disaster relief.

His tone became serious.

"Disaster relief should be done sooner rather than later. I'll make preparations here; I need to go there personally."

"Wang Meng, go and muster nine thousand elite troops now. There is only one requirement: they must obey orders without question and be absolutely obedient to me. Have them stand by in the camp, ready to set off to rescue people at any time."

Wang Meng immediately jumped up from his chair and stood up straight.

"Wang Meng obeys!"

His voice was full of energy, the previous hoarseness and sobs were gone, replaced by a full, suppressed fighting spirit.

Lord Lin is coming in person!

With Lord Lin here, nothing is a problem, no matter how big.

"Okay, you go ahead. Call me if anything happens; I can hear you."

"Yes!" Wang Meng replied solemnly, then turned and strode out of the imperial study.

The footsteps were heavy and solid on the paving stones, each step exuding an increasingly confident air.