Ping Zhao Lu

Su Ming bowed slightly and led Kang Shili, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, slowly into the palace.

After the two entered the hall, they saluted in unison towards Xu Zhouye, who was seated at the main seat. They bent their bodies slightly, clasped their hands together, and respectfully said, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

After completing the ceremony, Su Ming quietly stepped aside, stood with his hands hanging down and his eyes lowered.

Xu Zhouye was originally concentrating on handling the matters at hand, but after hearing the noise, he slowly put it down, raised his head, and looked at Kang Shili with a serious look.

Although Kang Shili's body showed a humble posture at this moment, the expression on his face was in sharp contrast to this, as if he did not really realize the seriousness of the situation before him.

"Manager Kang." Xu Zhouye's voice was low and filled with obvious displeasure. His face was gloomy and his brows were furrowed. He suddenly raised his right hand, grabbed the thick stack of account books on the table, and threw it at Kang Shili mercilessly. "How do you explain these?"

Kang Shili was obviously frightened by this sudden action, and his whole body couldn't help but tremble.

But he quickly came to his senses, hurriedly squatted down, used his hands and feet to pick up the account books scattered on the ground, and quickly flipped through them.

As Kang Shili flipped through the pages of his account book, his expression grew increasingly grim, until he could even be described as pale as paper. Beads of sweat slid down his forehead, dripping onto the yellowed paper.

"This..." Kang Shili's lips trembled, his face full of disbelief. It seemed like something was stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"What?" Xu Zhouye saw this and sneered, his tone becoming increasingly icy. "Are you going to tell me that you, as the head of the Imperial Household Department, know nothing about these accounts?"

Kang Shili was shocked when he heard this. He no longer cared about anything else and immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed profusely, and shouted: "Your Highness, please forgive me! I really don't know what is going on here! Most of these are bad debts left over from the previous dynasty. When I took over, the place was in such a mess! I didn't know there were so many losses here..."

"Don't use the previous dynasty as an excuse to exonerate yourself!" Xu Zhouye shouted angrily, his sharp eyes shooting straight at Kang Shili.

Kang Shili was startled by this sudden rebuke, and his body trembled involuntarily, but he still pretended to be calm and said with a stiff upper lip: "Your Highness, please calm down. I have no such intention." However, his voice was obviously trembling, revealing his inner fear.

"Look carefully, these are the accounts of the previous dynasty?" Xu Zhouye said as he slammed the account book in his hand onto the table. The crisp sound of the book hitting the table was particularly harsh at this moment.

Upon hearing this, Kang Shili glanced nervously towards the place where the date was marked in the account book.

Just one glance, and his face turned pale instantly, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he stood there as if petrified.

The account book clearly recorded the recent income and expenditure details, and was not the so-called old accounts of the previous dynasty at all.

For a moment, he felt his mouth dry and his throat felt like it was clogged with cotton. He stammered for a long time but couldn't utter a complete sentence, "Your Highness, this...this..."

He had clearly sent people to destroy these accounts, so how could they still appear here?

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Kang Shili's forehead, and his heart was filled with extreme panic.

Xu Zhouye looked at him in a panic and absent-minded state, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he felt secretly amused in his heart.

He slowly said, "What? You think you can persuade me to stop checking the accounts by just bringing up a bunch of bad accounts from the previous dynasty? And then take the opportunity to destroy all the problematic accounts in recent years, and you can rest easy from then on, right?"

Having said that, Xu Zhouye slammed the table and stood up suddenly.

His tall figure was like an insurmountable mountain in Kang Shili's eyes, giving him a heavy sense of oppression. "Do you really think I'm so easy to fool?"

Kang Shili's heart trembled, and he could no longer hold on. He fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowed repeatedly and apologized, shouting, "Your Highness, please spare me. It was all because of my momentary confusion that I accidentally took the wrong account, which led to this misunderstanding. I hope Your Highness will be magnanimous and forgive me this time!"

Seeing that he was still trying to make excuses for himself, Xu Zhouye became even more furious. "Well, since you are so unrepentant, I won't show you mercy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zhouye turned his head abruptly and shouted towards the door, "Someone, come here! Bring Xiao Liaozi up to me immediately!"

Hearing this, Kang Shili trembled all over and a look of horror appeared on his face.

Not long after, a chaotic sound of footsteps was heard coming from far away.

Immediately afterwards, two eunuchs came in dragging a thin figure.

The man was Xiao Liaozi. At this moment, he was so scared that his face turned pale and his body was shaking constantly.

The eunuchs mercilessly pressed Xiao Liaozi to his knees on the ground.

"Manager Kang, Xiao Liaozi is your apprentice. He has confessed everything. You are not going to turn around and say that this person has nothing to do with you, are you?" Xu Zhouye stared at Kang Shili with cold eyes.

Long before he began investigating these accounts, although he appeared to be indifferent to many affairs in the palace, he had secretly arranged people to closely monitor everything, not to mention the situation of Kang Shili.

Qinghe had mentioned this to him many times before.

Naturally, he would not let this person go.

At this time, Kang Shili finally realized that the situation was hopeless and that any denial would be in vain.

Faced with the solid witnesses and material evidence, as well as the detailed account records, no matter how eloquent he was, he would find it difficult to escape the punishment he deserved.

Thinking of this, Kang Shili's face was filled with bitterness and helplessness. He slammed his forehead heavily on the cold, hard ground, making a dull sound. "I plead guilty... Ever since Concubine Xian... no, Lin took over these accounts, they have been plundering them and making some money. I, a servant, was forced to do so. I have always followed Lin's orders and dared not disobey in the slightest!"

After saying this, Kang Shili's body trembled slightly, as if waiting for the next unknown fate to be judged.

Xu Zhouye couldn't help but sneer in disdain when he heard this. He thought to himself: Humph, now that Lin is dead, Kang Shili is still so arrogant and domineering. He must have the Queen Mother's support behind him to dare to act so recklessly, right?

Xu Zhouye stared at Kang Shili, who was kneeling on the ground, with a sharp gaze. He said condescendingly, "Since you have confessed your guilt, I will punish you severely. From this day forward, you will be stripped of your position as the head of the Imperial Household Department and immediately taken to the execution ground to be beaten to death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two burly guards came forward, grabbed Kang Shili's arms mercilessly, and tried to drag him out.

When Kang Shili heard the verdict, his face turned pale and he seemed to have lost all his strength. He closed his eyes in despair and regret.

Then, Xu Zhouye turned his gaze to the trembling little Liaozi and said coldly, "As for you, attempting to destroy those extremely important accounts is a heinous crime and you deserve death! However, considering your sincere confession, I can show mercy and give you a decent death. Bai Ling or poisoned wine, it's your choice!"