The big guy travels through the book and becomes the female supporting role, torturing the scumbag a

Queen Mother Zhao was so angry that she was shaking all over: "You... who are you doing this for?"

"Of course I know, Queen Mother is doing this for the Zhao family."

Emperor Taihe said this, and took the initiative to sit next to Queen Mother Zhao, helping her to calm down, and then continued in a neither light nor heavy tone, "The Zhao family is my mother's family, and also my mother's family. How could I treat them unfairly?

Mother has worked so hard for so many years, now it’s time for her to enjoy herself. Why should she worry about these mundane matters?

What's more, Yao'er and Gao'er are still young now. Their mother has arranged marriages for them so early, but they may not be willing when they grow up.

It would be better to wait until they grow up and then choose a woman they like."

Queen Mother Zhao was persuaded.

What else can she do now?

Situ Yuan has taken a fancy to the girl from the Xie family. Can she force a marriage on him and give the girl to the Zhao family?

Seeing that she was depressed, Emperor Taihe suddenly had a thought in his mind: Could it be that Situ Yuan guessed that Queen Dowager Zhao would make such a fuss and that’s why he said that to him on purpose?

He must be overthinking it!

That kid is so young, how could he possibly think of these things!

Emperor Taihe shook his head and soon stopped thinking about it.

At this time, Xie Ying, who was staying at home in the capital, gritted her teeth in dissatisfaction.

Because she was worried that Queen Dowager Zhao would cause trouble, she specially left a small seedling to watch when she entered the palace to deliver gifts. Naturally, she heard the plans of Queen Dowager Zhao and her trusted nanny, as well as the arguments between Queen Dowager Zhao and Emperor Taihe.

Xie Ying was of course very unhappy.

She is so young, but Queen Mother Zhao actually wants to plot her marriage!

Do you have to be so cruel!

Although Emperor Taihe stopped Queen Mother Zhao's wishful thinking, Xie Ying didn't want to let it go.

But she is the empress dowager after all. If she is really made sick, Emperor Taihe will probably be wary of her, the so-called lucky star.

Someone else needs to take action.

Xie Ying set her sights on the Zhao family.

Queen Mother Zhao's brother from her maiden name is Zhao De, and he is the current head of the Zhao family.

That night, Xie Ying gave Zhao De some medicine, which made him sleep uneasily and have nightmares.

Then he stayed in the capital and kept an eye on the Zhao family for more than half a month, digging up a lot of negative information.

Zhao De is already fifty-six years old. How is it possible that he has never done anything wrong in his life?

Those things in the past were buried deep in his memory, and only occasionally gave him nightmares.

Now that Xie Ying had tormented him, he had nightmares all the time, and all those memories came flooding back.

Zhao De soon fell ill from the nightmares.

But it's not over yet.

Xie Ying specifically chose a rainy night and stuck an iron sword into the roof of the Zhao family ancestral hall.

"Crack-"

The blinding lightning struck the iron sword and soon struck the Zhao family ancestral hall.

When the lightning disappeared, Xie Ying decisively put away the iron sword and slipped away.

All the servants who were on night watch saw the lightning strike the ancestral hall. They were so frightened that they screamed in panic and hurried to find Zhao De.

Zhao De was having a nightmare when he was awakened by huge lightning and thunder. He was so scared that he broke out in cold sweat.

He was wiping the sweat off his trembling hands when he heard someone outside shouting in panic: "Master—Master, something bad has happened—the ancestral hall has been struck by lightning—"

Zhao De was so frightened that he shuddered violently and the handkerchief in his hand fell to the ground.

His eyes widened, his whole body trembling, and he felt extremely guilty and terrified: How could the ancestral hall be struck by lightning? Could it be that even the heavens could not tolerate what he had done?

"Hurry... help me go to the ancestral hall—"

Zhao De, trembling all over, was supported to the ancestral hall.

Because it was raining heavily outside, the ancestral hall did not catch fire even though it was struck by lightning.

This is a blessing in misfortune.

Although the ancestral hall was not on fire, there were many charred marks inside. The roof was also broken, and many tiles fell down, making the room a mess.

"what--"

Zhao De looked at the mess in the room and fell to his knees in grief: "I am so unfilial..."

The servants nearby looked at each other, all frightened by the changes in the ancestral hall, and no one dared to say anything.

Zhao De cried for a while, and then he started sneezing because of the cold wind.

When the servants saw that the situation was not good, they quickly helped him back to his room, fearing that he would fall seriously ill.

But Zhao De still fell ill because he was scared.

He had been having nightmares these days, and now that the ancestral hall had been struck by lightning, he felt that it was retribution for his many sins.

So as soon as the sun rose, he couldn't wait to get in his car and go to the palace to cry and confess to Emperor Taihe.

He exposed all the things he did, such as secretly accepting bribes and beauties and doing favors for others.

Emperor Taihe actually knew what he had done.

Zhao De was not smart and did not have the courage to do anything evil, so Emperor Taihe turned a blind eye and let it go.

Who knew that Zhao De came to him to apologize and said that the Zhao family's ancestral hall was struck by lightning last night.

Emperor Taihe looked at his uncle who was kneeling and crying bitterly, and the expression on his face became a little weird.

The Zhao Family Ancestral Hall was actually struck by lightning?

Could it be because of Xie Ying?

Not long ago, my mother wanted to arrange a marriage for Xie Ying to a member of the Zhao family. Less than a month later, the Zhao family's ancestral hall was struck by lightning.

He said, "The Queen Mother shouldn't match people up randomly, right?"

How could the Zhao family afford such a blessing!

Emperor Taihe felt a surge of resentment in his heart, but when he saw that Zhao De was so frightened and yet he took the blame on his own initiative, he couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for this useless uncle.

So he comforted him, "As the saying goes, admitting one's mistakes and correcting them is the greatest virtue. Uncle, since you have admitted your mistakes, please don't make the same mistake again."

Zhao De cried bitterly, repeatedly assuring, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will never dare to do that again!"

He held up the box he had brought with him and said, "The money I've collected over the years, along with the account books, are all here. There are also some jade and antiques. I've had them counted and they'll be sent to the palace shortly. Your Majesty, please punish me, or I'll be haunted by my conscience!"

Emperor Taihe asked Wang Zhi to bring the box over, flipped through it casually, and then his face turned dark.

The bribes Zhao De had received over the years, in gold and silver alone, amounted to over 200,000 taels of silver. Furthermore, the account book also recorded numerous jade artifacts and curios.

Emperor Taihe suddenly felt a little regretful.

In the past, he thought his uncle was a waste. Although he accepted bribes, they were not much each time, so he could turn a blind eye.

Only now did I realize that although the amount Zhao De collected each time was not large, after accumulating over the years, it had become a considerable sum!

Fortunately, the Zhao family ancestral hall was struck by lightning, otherwise Zhao De would definitely not be scared enough to run to him and confess.

If he continues to act like this, how much more money will we have to collect from him in the future?

When Emperor Taihe thought of this, he suddenly had an idea.

He personally walked down, extended his hand to help Zhao De up, looked him in the eye and said, "Since your uncle has sincerely repented, I will forgive the past. If someone gives you something in the future, you should still accept it and tell me."

Zhao De opened his eyes wide in surprise: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty... You mean..."

Emperor Taihe smiled meaningfully and said, "Uncle, please help me remember all these people."

Zhao De couldn't help but shiver: Did he...did he fall into a pit?