The woman emperor smiled faintly. "When we built Xuanwu City, this emperor and the Xuan Emperor agreed that you would run it, but the profits would be split: thirty percent each to the Great Xuan and the Wu Kingdom, and forty for Xuanwu City itself.

Now that you've fallen out with the Great Xuan, we can forget about them... We'll split Xuanwu City's profits down the middle."

Ning Chen turned his head and looked at her, full of suspicion. He had never heard the Xuan Emperor mention anything like that.

"What, you don't believe me?"

"The Xuan Emperor never said anything about it!"

"You mean this emperor is lying to you?"

Ning Chen nodded. Yes. Exactly. That's just what I suspect.

The woman emperor looked deeply hurt. "This emperor is the sovereign of a whole country. Lie to you over silver? Never!"

Ning Chen rolled his eyes. "Who says the woman emperor of the Wu Kingdom doesn't lie? You drugged me, remember?"

The woman emperor: "..."

"If I hadn't drugged you, would you have such an adorable son?"

Ning Chen looked down at Wu Sijun in his arms and nodded slightly. She had a point there!

The woman emperor said, "Besides, why would this emperor lie to you? If this emperor asked you for it outright, would you refuse? This emperor isn't going to spend the money. However much it comes to, it'll all go to our son someday."

Ning Chen thought that made a lot of sense.

"Xuanwu City is just getting off the ground. There's no real profit yet. We'll talk about it next year!"

The corners of the woman emperor's mouth curved up slightly, and she nodded.

"Hold on. When we built Xuanwu City, I paid the Wu Kingdom's half of the silver, didn't I? What the hell does it have to do with the Wu Kingdom?"

The woman emperor smiled. "But officially the silver came from the Wu Kingdom... Besides, do we really need to keep such careful accounts? This emperor has no silver. Our son will just have to live on chaff and wild greens…