You cause trouble and I collect your body, the little emperor’s aunt abuses the scumbag again

With that loud bang, the music in Zhaoyang Palace stopped.

The dancers huddled together in fear, and screams filled the air.

"Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!"

The guards in the palace immediately drew their swords and surrounded the emperor and empress dowager.

The civil and military officials were in chaos; some crawled under the tables, while others looked out of the hall in fear.

"What's going on? Is it an assassin?"

"Is the sky falling down?"

Shangguan Yun'er was startled at first, then a twisted look of pleasure appeared on her face.

Did Night Owl's men make their move? Excellent, let's take care of that mother and child in the chaos!

The emperor's face was ashen as he sat on the dragon throne.

"What's the panic!"

The emperor roared, silencing all the noise in the hall.

"Li Dequan! Go see what's happening outside!"

"Yes!"

Li Dequan scrambled and stumbled as he ran out of the hall.

But before he could reach the door, several loud noises rang out from outside the hall.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The entire night sky was illuminated by a strange light.

It wasn't firelight or ordinary fireworks; it was an orange-yellow light.

Everyone was drawn to the commotion and unconsciously walked towards the outside of the hall.

When they saw the scene in the night sky, they all gasped in astonishment.

Hundreds of enormous lanterns are slowly rising into the air from all parts of the palace.

They illuminated the entire night sky of the capital.

"Sky lanterns... they're Kongming lanterns!"

An old minister shouted in a trembling voice.

"Auspicious signs have descended from the heavens! This is Heaven protecting our Great Xia!"

Panic quickly turned into awe and ecstasy.

All the officials knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the lamp in the sky.

The smug look on Shangguan Yun'er's face disappeared.

No, this wasn't her arrangement; these things weren't in her plan.

She turned to look at Meng Siya and found that the woman was still standing there, her face expressionless and frighteningly calm.

Shangguan Yun'er suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Father, Mother, the scenery is so beautiful, why don't we go outside the palace and enjoy it together?"

Ji Yongyan's voice rang out just then, breaking the strange atmosphere.

The emperor and empress dowager exchanged a glance and nodded.

The crowd surrounded the Emperor and Empress Dowager and walked to the high platform outside Zhaoyang Palace.

The scene is even more breathtaking from here.

Hundreds of Kongming lanterns hung in the sky, slowly and steadily floating upwards, creating a spectacular scene.

Just as everyone was immersed in joy, an accident suddenly occurred.

A main lantern, several times larger than the other Kongming lanterns, slowly drifted over from the southern sky.

It flew very low, getting closer and closer to the high platform.

Everyone could see the four large characters written in cinnabar on the lamp.

May the country be prosperous and the people at peace.

"Excellent! What a peaceful and prosperous nation!"

The emperor was delighted and clapped his hands, laughing heartily.

Prime Minister Shangguan Hong also breathed a sigh of relief, a fawning smile appearing on his face.

"Your Majesty's blessings are boundless, causing the heavens to bestow such auspicious omens. This is truly a fortunate event for our Great Xia!"

However, when the main lamp floated above Zhaoyang Palace, it suddenly flipped over.

The other side of the lamp was revealed, and words were written on it as well.

It wasn't cinnabar, it was blood.

It's eight large characters written in blood; it looks terrifying.

"Corruption during disaster relief is an outrage against humanity!"

The wind blew, and the eight blood-red characters flickered in the firelight, filled with resentment.

Everyone was stunned.

The smiles on the faces of the civil and military officials, who had just been very happy, froze.

Even the emperor could no longer laugh.

Embezzlement of disaster relief funds?

Everyone's mind went blank.

They all looked at Prime Minister Shangguan Hong, who was standing at the very front.

At the beginning of this year, the Jiangnan region experienced severe flooding, which caused many people to starve to death.

The 300,000 taels of silver allocated by the imperial court for disaster relief was under the responsibility of Prime Minister Shangguan.

Shangguan Hong's face turned completely white in an instant.

He swayed and almost lost his balance.

"This...this is slander! Someone is spreading rumors and has ulterior motives!"

He pointed to the blood-red words in the sky and tried his best to explain.

But his voice didn't sound convincing at all.

Before everyone could recover from their shock, another change occurred in the sky.

Those Kongming lanterns floating in the air looked like something underneath had been burned through.

Immediately afterwards, countless sheets of paper fell from the sky and flew everywhere.

That's not snow, that's a death warrant.

A nearby eunuch instinctively reached out and caught one of the cards.

He was so startled by just one glance that his hand trembled and the paper fell to the ground.

"Accounts...accounts..."

His voice was trembling.

More people picked up the papers from the ground.

For a moment, the only sounds on the platform were the rustling of papers and everyone's increasingly heavy breathing.

The document clearly records, in black and white, where every penny of the disaster relief funds for Jiangnan went.

The 300,000 taels of silver were embezzled at each level.

Less than 30,000 taels actually reached the disaster victims.

The rest all went into the pockets of the Shangguan family and his accomplices.

The accounts were extremely detailed, and the evidence was so conclusive it was frightening.

"No...no...this isn't real!"

Shangguan Hong collapsed to the ground, muttering the same phrase over and over.

He knew he was finished.

He watched these ledgers being burned with his own eyes, how could they possibly have reappeared?

Shangguan Yun'er also picked up a piece of paper.

She saw clearly that the gold hairpin on her head, worth three thousand taels, was obtained by exchanging the money that disaster victims had given her to save their lives.

Her mind went blank.

She screamed and frantically ripped off the hair ornament from her head, slamming it to the ground.

"Fake! It's all fake!"

The emperor stood on the high platform, his face extremely grim.

He looked at the evidence of the crime scattered on the ground, and then at the Shangguan father and daughter kneeling on the ground, making a fool of themselves.

He didn't say anything.

But the veins on his hands, which were gripping the armrests of the dragon throne, were bulging.

The entire hall was quiet.

There was only the sound of the wind and the paper fluttering in the sky.

Amid the chaos, Meng Siya stood in the corner of the high platform, coldly watching the scene unfold.

Ji Yongyan appeared behind her without her noticing and tightly grasped her cold hand.

"This is just the beginning."

His voice was low, yet it possessed a reassuring power.

Meng Siya did not turn around.

Her gaze cut through the chaotic crowd and landed on the pale-faced woman.

Shangguan Yun'er, your most prized and cherished family, the family you thought would ensure you would never lose.

Now, it has fallen.

Just then, the emperor's voice, suppressing his anger, echoed throughout the entire palace.

"Where are the Imperial Guards?!"

"exist!"

The Imperial Guards, clad in heavy armor, responded in unison, the clanging of their armor sending shivers down one's spine.

"Take down the traitor Shangguan Hong and his family!"

"Immediately search the Prime Minister's residence and imprison all those involved in the case in the Imperial Jail to await their fate!"

"According to the order!"

The Imperial Guards rushed forward and pinned the still-crying Shangguan father and daughter to the ground.

Screams, cries, and pleas for mercy were heard everywhere.

While everyone's attention was focused on the sinner being dragged away.

A seemingly inconspicuous eunuch who had been keeping his head down suddenly made his move!

He moved very quickly.