Fake Eunuch: Discovering the Emperor is a Woman!

Inside Qiankun Palace, the little Emperor and Ying Yi were munching on crayfish while listening to Zhen Ji's music, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Hihi, it really is nice to have a man around who can handle things."

As they were chatting and laughing, their man walked in with a heavy heart.

"Little Lin Zi, come here, look at the crayfish I've peeled for you, come and have a taste."

Originally downcast, Lin Yi brightened up at the sight of the little Emperor's radiant smile and forced himself to smile as he walked towards them.

Men might face troubles outside, but they should never bring negative emotions home.

The little Emperor considerately handed Lin Yi a crayfish.

"Hihi, you're the only one in this world who gets to eat crayfish peeled by me."

At this moment, the little Emperor was willing to play the role of an ordinary wife, waiting for her husband's return.

Lin Yi absentmindedly ate the crayfish and suddenly asked, "Where in the great You Country can one find a large yield of jade, ideally around ten thousand tons?"

"What ten thousand tons?"

The little Emperor looked at Lin Yi with confusion; she knew it was a measure of weight from later times.

Realizing his mistake, Lin Yi quickly converted the unit, with ten thousand tons being about 170,000 picul of jade.

Then he corrected himself, "I mean jade. 170,000 picul of jade!"

The little Emperor and Ying Yi were shocked, their eyes widened in disbelief at Lin Yi.

170,000 picul, such an amount couldn't even be found in the entirety of You Country.

The little Emperor touched Lin Yi's forehead and then her own, muttering to herself.

"What's going on, Ying Yi, come here and touch as well, has our husband become muddled from being too busy, why is he talking nonsense?"

"Little Lin Zi, you must tell me, did you accept a silver note of one million taels from the Fourth Prince, did he threaten you, did he give you trouble, don't be afraid, I will stand up for you."

Ying Yi also hurried over, softly touching Lin Yi's forehead with her delicate hand.

Being suspected of illness is usually infuriating, but with both wives caressing him, Lin Yi actually found it quite enjoyable.

After a while, Lin Yi softly grasped the hands of the little Emperor and Ying Yi, a mischievous smile on his face.

"I'm not sick, I'm just fine, you don't need to worry. My dear son, in another four months, father and son will be able to meet."

Then, Lin Yi revealed his plan, needing 170,000 piculs of jade.

"The excavation of jade has never been easy since ancient times; many woodcutters encounter it only by chance," the little Emperor was not wrong.

In ancient times, it was already good if one could ensure food and warmth, only very few wealthy jade bankers could afford to have specialists mine for jade.

But the efficiency was extremely low, the work laborious, and the yield incredibly unstable.

Therefore, in ancient times, jade was very scarce and expensive; obtaining a large piece of jade was as difficult as winning a 5 million lottery in later times.

Lin Yi couldn't help worrying. If You Country had no jade, then wouldn't his Nine-Eyed Sky Bead system be unable to upgrade.

No, the upgrade was imperative!

With that thought, Lin Yi immediately bought a map in the system.

[Ding ding ding, host has successfully purchased the Qing Dynasty Mineral Resources Distribution Map, 10,000 Heavenly Bead Coins have been deducted.]

Lin Yi unfolded the map, which was of the Qing Dynasty when China's mineral resources development was quite mature.

Each region had its own representative mineral resources; the most famous, of course, was the Hetian jade of Xinjiang.

However, Xinjiang is too far away from the heartland of the You Country, even if Hetian jade is mined, bringing it back would be a huge undertaking.

At this moment, the young Emperor came over.

"Eh, this map looks somewhat familiar, but I don't quite understand it?" she said.

The Emperor immediately noticed the Giant Dragon of the Yangtze River and Yellow River and pointed with her finger, also finding the territory of the You Country.

But within the outlined map, almost five times the size of You Country's land.

The Qing Dynasty's territory was not an arrogantly standing rooster, but a begonia—it only turned into a rooster after being forced to cede Outer Mongolia later on.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi's mood grew heavy and he didn't know how to explain this issue to the young Emperor.

Since ancient times, the progress of human history has always been accompanied by territorial expansion, aggression, and dynastic changes.

"Young Lin, how dare you ignore me?" The Emperor got angry and directly grabbed Lin Yi's ear, punishing him for not listening to her.

"Lightly, it hurts, you're murdering your husband," Lin Yi couldn't help but cry out.

Don't be fooled by the Emperor's small stature—her grip was strong, nearly tearing Lin Yi's ear off.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you, just let go, okay?" Lin Yi begged pitifully.

"Give me a good explanation of what this map is all about."

Seeing the Emperor was serious, Lin Yi couldn't dodge and explained the map to her in great detail three times.

The Emperor was filled with patriotic fervor as she pointed her delicate fingers towards the Western Regions and said expectantly, "These, and these, will all be the territory of our great You Country in the future? Will they all submit to us?"

This question stumped Lin Yi.

Places like Xinjiang and Qinghai-Tibet were not easy to conquer, not to mention their remote distances from the heart of You Country, but they were also desperately poor.

Even if they were conquered, it would take over a decade of poverty alleviation—it wasn't a simple project.

'My dear great wife, let's not rush this, okay? It's too far away, waging war there would be a drain on our resources and would harm the people.'

The Emperor glared at Lin Yi, thinking he was worried about the lack of funds. After all, Fourth Prince had collected a million taels, which would suffice for two years of military expenses for the border regions.

'Hmph, if I don't give you something to do, you'll just keep thinking about the harem.'

The Emperor spoke in a tone half coquettish and half commanding.

"No way! I want to conquer here, and here too!"

Hearing this, Lin Yi immediately caved in, bending over at the waist.

"Okay, okay, whatever place my great wife fancies, however hard or tiring, I will conquer it for you!"

'Forget it, since ancient times heroes have loved empires more than beauties, for a hero, conquering lands for a beauty is a mere trifle. But can I wait a few months? I need a hundred thousand tons of jade.'

Seeing Lin Yi's good attitude, the Emperor decided not to tease him anymore.

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you. Wars have always inevitably accompanied the dynastic changes of empires. Right now, You Country has just stabilized, with both internal and external troubles somewhat alleviated, and the people have finally begun to enjoy some peace."

From the previous Qixi Festival, to Lin Yi's Good Sound Music Workshop, to today's 30 coins per jin crayfish, the happiness of the people was increasing step by step.

Of course, the Emperor didn't have the heart to disrupt such a state. If possible, she would prefer to maintain the current borders, allowing her people to live in peace and work happily forever.

But Lin Yi wasn't satisfied with that, his eyes fixed on the map, his gaze lingering on Yunnan.

Yunnan's mineral resources were rich, mainly including emerald, ruby, blue gemstone, mutton fat jade, among others—any of these fine jades could astonish the world if just one were brought out.

"Wumeng Mountain, Nan Zhao Country, good places."

Lin Yi muttered to himself, his mind already strategizing a grand plan.

...End of chapter...