Sure, the crimes of deceiving the Emperor by Yi are indeed not few.

Lin Yi still groveled and sprawled at the little Emperor's feet, explaining his plan in detail to him.

The little Emperor was stunned for a long time, staring dumbfoundedly at Lin Yi.

"You scoundrel, deceiving the Emperor, I almost believed that Princess Consort Jing really had twins, and that I could have another Prince."

"Hehe."

Lin Yi shamelessly said: "Your Majesty, wishing for another Prince is quite a simple matter, just bring a few more consorts into the Harem, and won't the Princes come?"

The consorts of the Harem, Lin Yi also had his taste of all, including those who were pregnant and sent to the Cold Palace, it really was time to add some new faces.

The little Emperor glared at Lin Yi, he had long seen through his crafty intentions.

"Tell me, are you this rascal trying to bring Niange into the Palace?"

Lin Yi, having his thoughts seen through, shamelessly sidled up again, looking pleasingly: "Only my dearest chief wife could understand me, bringing Niange into the Harem can even sing tunes for my chief wife to relieve boredom."

'Hehe, my dearest chief wife, see how considerate I am, even arranging prenatal education music for you.'

The little Emperor raised an eyebrow and, pointing at the just-settled music workshop, questioned: "Just confess to me, do you want to take Niange or Hua Yue into the Harem?"

Suddenly, without warning, the question struck right at Lin Yi's soft spot, and the joy on his face could not be concealed.

'Only children have to make choices, adults want them all. My dearest chief wife, can't you see my intentions?'

However, the little Emperor didn't want to let Lin Yi get his way, and purposefully made things difficult: "To be my consort, one must have a spotless family background, but being a Singer doesn't seem very presentable."

Indeed, in ancient times, the status of Singers was very low, often lower than that of concubines, frequently treated as gifts given to others.

Lin Yi became anxious, after all, Niange had given her innocence to him.

"My dearest chief wife, I can prove Niange's purity."

"Hmph, you philanderer!" The little Emperor lifted her foot and kicked Lin Yi away, scolding with feigned anger.

"At last you've admitted it, huh, to dare to go over my head, your audacity is growing!"

Unsure whether the little Emperor was genuinely annoyed or just pretending, Lin Yi could only obediently kneel on the ground and beg for mercy.

"I was wrong, isn't that enough? I won't take any more into the Harem, alright?"

Although he was very intimate with the little Emperor, Your Majesty is still Your Majesty, serving the Emperor is like accompanying a tiger; a slip-up, and even your head is not safe.

Throughout history, there have been many loyal and good individuals impulsively sentenced to death by Emperors in a fit of anger.

'Oh well, as she's my most beloved chief wife, I can't afford to anger her, she holds the power of life and death over me, not just me, but my children as well.'

'Children, see the hardship your father faces now, if you're not filial in the future, watch how your old man will deal with you.'

Seeing Lin Yi's good attitude in admitting his mistakes, the little Emperor's heart softened in an instant.

"Your Majesty is not saying I can never take more into the Harem, how about this, if they bear Princes, then I will grant them a proper status."

But only the little Emperor herself knew that she did not wish for the Singers to carry the Heir.

While it's true that the mother's status is elevated by her children, if the mother's background is too lowly, it's also shameful for the Prince.

Lin Yi also realized the little Emperor's concerns, and an idea formed in his mind.

"All right, it's getting late, my dear great wife, let's rest."

The next day, as soon as Lin Yi woke up, he received some distressing news.

Good Sound Music Workshop was engulfed in a massive fire last night.

Foregoing the early morning court, Lin Yi rushed over in anger.

When Lin Yi saw his Good Sound Music Workshop reduced to ruins, he gritted his teeth with fierce vindictiveness.

"Even daring to mess with this General's property, someone fetch Judge Zhong for me. This case must be thoroughly investigated. I will make the people behind this pay tenfold!"

After all, Lin Yi had spent a huge sum of 200 million Heavenly Bead Coins on the Good Sound Music Workshop, not to mention manpower and resources.

Although the guests were heartbroken, with Good Sound Music Workshop gone, they turned around and entered the Zuimeng Music Workshop.

Today, the Fourth Prince did not show up; his steward welcomed the guests at the door with nods and bows, the smug smile on his face expressing the greatest provocation towards Lin Yi.

Lin Yi didn't even need to open his eyes to guess who was responsible for burning down his Good Sound Music Workshop.

'Hmph, Fourth Prince, you dare to play such a big game, then don't blame this young master for not being polite.'

Lin Yi had originally intended to keep the discovery of crawfish near the Fourth Prince's location a secret, as the Fourth Prince had also invested manpower and resources.

Crawfish were a gift from nature, and Lin Yi had no desire to compete. He bore no grudge in letting the Fourth Prince make a profit.

But from this moment on, Lin Yi changed his mind.

On one hand, he had Judge Zhong investigate the case, and on the other hand, he scouted for a new and more spacious location to purchase equipment and rebuild.

By evening, the new Good Sound Music Workshop was resurrected and back in business, now even more spacious.

Upon hearing that the new Good Sound Music Workshop had reopened, guests from Zuimeng Music Workshop rushed over, leaving the steward dumbfounded.

The hope that Zhen Ji and the others had just kindled was cruelly extinguished again. It was not that their singing was poor, but that they had chosen the wrong master, much like scholars with unrecognized talents.

When the steward reported this to the Fourth Prince, the Fourth Prince grew even more furious, leaping up in a rage.

"Idiots! Can't even handle a single task! Ugh!"

To rebuild after one is destroyed, such relentless vitality, it simply can't be eradicated. The Fourth Prince was of course not willing to accept the loss of twenty thousand taels of silver from yesterday's debacle.

At this rate, as long as Good Sound Music Workshop exists, Zuimeng Music Workshop won't make a single coin.

Left with no choice, the Fourth Prince considered selling these singers to music halls outside the Imperial City, but those smaller music halls dared not take them in.

With Good Sound Music Workshop emerging out of nowhere, wealthy young masters from outside the Imperial City also flocked here, prompting smaller music halls to consider changing lines of business — why would anyone want to spend money on singers now?

Just when the Fourth Prince was at his wit's end, his men brought him good news.

The Fourth Prince's people had found an area teeming with crawfish, and had spent money to take control of 80% of the upstream moat for themselves, leaving only 20% in the name of the court.

"Hahaha! Heaven never seals off all exits; lost in the east corner, collected in the west corner."

"Let's put Zuimeng Music Workshop aside for now, find some talented chefs for me, create some delicious sauces, and soon, I shall make a hefty profit."

Since the last time the popularity of crawfish soared, the people's love for them has only grown.

And Lin Yi was already prepared, having Cheng Hu secretly dig hundreds of huge pits on the sparsely populated riverbanks within the Imperial City, claiming they were for military exercises, so no one dared reveal them.

...End of Chapter...

ps: Fourth update of the day!

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