Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

The next day, Zheng Luoqi and Zheng Yuxiang went to the morning court as usual.

"I have something to report," Zheng Yuxiang stepped forward and presented his memorial, which he had prepared beforehand.

"Your humble servant wishes to file a complaint against Yang Chang, the Prefect of the Imperial Household! Prefect Yang is a high-ranking official in charge of the Imperial Household, and should be in charge of the national finances and working for the benefit of the people. However, he has been corrupt, lawless, and disregarded human life. He is simply a parasite on the country!"

If such a person continues to hold a high position, it will probably not be long before he devours our country's finances! Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly and punish him severely!" Zheng Yuxiang's righteous and impassioned words echoed throughout the court.

Yang Chang's face turned ashen, his legs buckled, and he knelt on the ground with a thud. His voice was choked with sobs as he cried out, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I am innocent! I have always been loyal to Your Majesty and have never harbored any disloyal thoughts. I would never have committed any corrupt or illegal acts. Please, Your Majesty, investigate thoroughly! I do not know why the Prime Minister would slander me like this. I am truly innocent!" As he spoke, he kowtowed repeatedly.

"Hmph, I'm accusing you? As far as I know, the Minister of the Imperial Household is a respectable third-rank official! According to the court regulations, his annual salary should be a full two thousand shi (one shi equals one tael and eight qian)! But your young master recently spent a fortune at a brothel in the capital, buying a courtesan for a full ten thousand taels of silver! Where did this huge sum of money come from?" Zheng Yuxiang's voice was filled with undisguised doubt and sarcasm.

"Hmph, these are just shops from my wife's dowry, doing some small business. To accuse me of embezzlement based on that alone, Prime Minister, you're overestimating me! These shops, though part of my wife's dowry, are legal properties certified and registered by the court. I'm simply operating and managing them according to the rules, earning a meager profit. Is that wrong? If that's considered embezzlement, then wouldn't all the officials in the court be criminals?" Yang Chang retorted without backing down.

"Heh... Young Master Yang, what an imposing presence!" Zheng Yuxiang said sarcastically.

“Your Excellency, I’m afraid you don’t understand the plight of us, with hundreds of mouths to feed in the entire household!” Wen Yihong suddenly spoke up at this moment.

"Grand Tutor Wen, you are mistaken. Although our Prime Minister's Mansion only has two people, father and son, there are still several hundred people under our command. Do you think my subordinates don't need to eat? It's just that they can't be as extravagant as Young Master Yang," Zheng Yuxiang retorted bluntly.

"Your Majesty, I request an imperial decree to thoroughly investigate the matter of Yang Chang, the Minister of the Imperial Household, embezzling the national treasury and deceiving the emperor!" At this moment, a middle-aged man standing in the third row on the right suddenly stepped forward, knelt down and said.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Cui Jing, the Minister of War.

"Is this really true?" Xue Huaiyu's eyes narrowed slightly, and a hint of anger could be faintly sensed in his tone.

"Your Majesty, it was originally planned that a batch of grain and salary totaling 500,000 taels of silver would be sent to the northern frontier to reward the soldiers guarding the border."

"However, in reality they only received a mere 300,000 taels, a full 200,000 taels short! Where did this 200,000 taels of silver go? Your Majesty, I implore you to thoroughly investigate this matter and uncover the truth!" Cui Jing replied righteously and forcefully.

"Your Majesty, I dare to accuse Yang Dong, the son of Yang Taifu, today! This man is utterly lawless and ruthless, treating the lives of ordinary people like dirt! A few days ago, Yang Dong went on an outing with a group of纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy and powerful families), and what's worse, their horses wantonly trampled the farmland, causing countless crops to be destroyed."

"When the local farmers saw this, they stepped forward to reason with them, hoping that they would stop their evil deeds and compensate for their losses. But Yang Dong, relying on his father's power, was completely unreasonable. Not only did he refuse to admit his mistake and apologize, but he also ordered his men to beat the innocent farmers to death! Such heinous behavior is truly outrageous! We implore Your Majesty to take charge and severely punish the villain Yang Dong to appease the people!" Just then, another minister stepped forward and, filled with righteous indignation, reported Yang Chang's crimes to the emperor.

At that moment, Zheng Yuxiang knelt down without hesitation and loudly proclaimed, "We implore Your Majesty to investigate this matter thoroughly!" Following his action, many officials in the court followed suit, kneeling down and shouting, "We implore Your Majesty to investigate this matter thoroughly!"

Although Wen Yihong was filled with anger and resentment, he had no choice but to kneel down along with the others. However, his eyes revealed deep resentment and anger as he gritted his teeth and thought to himself, "You, Zheng Yuxiang, you dare to mess with my people? Just you wait!"

After the court session, Zheng Luoqi and Zheng Yuxiang walked together, watching Wen Yihong's angry departing figure.

“Father, this time we’ve eliminated a major asset to the Wen family. Should we arrange for one of our people to take that position?” Zheng Luoqi said in a low voice.

“Yes, but we can’t be too obvious. The position of Shaofu is a good one. It will make things much easier for us in the future. The emperor will definitely be wary of us and won’t listen to our recommendations. He probably won’t let this opportunity pass and plans to promote his own people. We just need to go along with it,” Zheng Yuxiang replied.

"Father is wise!"

...............

In a quiet and elegant courtyard of the Yang residence, Yang Dong was leisurely resting on a couch.

"Something terrible has happened, young master!" A servant rushed in to report.

"What kind of noise is this! What exactly happened?" Yang Dong replied impatiently.

However, before he could finish speaking, a group of guards rushed in and surrounded him.

"What... what exactly is going on?" Yang Dong asked, looking at the soldiers who had suddenly barged in, his face full of confusion.

Just then, a man in official robes walked in and loudly proclaimed, "Your humble servant is Zhang Zhiyuan, Commander of the Imperial Guards. I have been ordered by His Majesty to arrest Yang Chang, the Minister of the Imperial Treasury, and thoroughly investigate his crimes of embezzling state funds, his son's wanton destruction of fertile land, and disregard for human life. Guards, seize them all!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Dong panicked. "Mother, Mother, please save me!"

He hurriedly turned around to look for his mother, but found that the entire mansion had been captured and controlled by the government soldiers.

That night, under the hazy moonlight, the soldiers of the Dali Temple looted the Yang residence.

After a long while, the mountain of gold and silver left everyone speechless. Dozens of large chests were filled with heavy gold and silver; a rough estimate put the value of this treasure at over two million taels! This number was simply beyond imagination, leaving everyone present utterly astonished.

Yang Chang was imprisoned along with his entire family for embezzling state funds and was sentenced to be executed in the autumn. Shortly after entering prison, Yang Chang himself hanged himself in his cell…