Postlude

The main hall was dead silent.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for Emperor Luo's response to The Xiao Clan's desperate sacrifice of cutting off their own arm to save the body.

Would he accept this trick of sacrificing a pawn to save the king? Or would he continue to investigate deeply?

However, the words Emperor Luo spoke left all the civil and military officials in the hall stunned.

"Junior Preceptor Gu." Emperor Luo's voice was calm and placid.

"Granted."

This single word came completely out of nowhere.

According to the rules, he should have first given a clear stance on Xiao Jie's voluntary resignation and Xiao Song's self-imposed punishment of closing his doors.

Approved, or not approved?

This was the proper procedure for a court assembly.

But now, Emperor Luo skipped this step and directly allowed Gu Chengyin to present his memorial.

What did this mean?

Suppressed gasps immediately echoed through the hall.

Some veteran officials exchanged glances, their eyes full of confusion and unease.

They could not understand Emperor Luo's move. Did he intend to let Gu Chengyin and Xiao Jie continue their verbal sparring? Or was there a deeper meaning?

Only Xiao Song's pupils violently contracted the moment he heard the word "Granted."

The old Grand Secretary maintained his bowing posture, but his fingers, hidden within his sleeves, curled up tightly.

He understood Emperor Luo's meaning.

Emperor Luo was telling him:

You wish to use a self-imposed punishment to gag my mouth?

You wish to sacrifice a limb to preserve your core?

You wish to provide me a graceful exit to force me to quit while I am ahead?

No.

I am not falling for your tricks.

I will listen to what Gu Chengyin has to say.

Xiao Song slowly raised his head, his gaze briefly meeting Emperor Luo's on the dragon throne.

For the first time, a look of terror appeared in those old eyes.

Gu Chengyin, however, paid no mind to any of this.

The moment Emperor Luo's voice fell, he stepped forward from the ranks and bowed deeply toward the dragon throne.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

His voice was clear, neither servile nor overbearing.

Then, he turned his head, his gaze falling upon Shangguan Yunying.

Their eyes met. Shangguan Yunying gave a slight nod, then quietly took two steps back, turned, and walked out of the hall.

Her steps were light and swift; in just a few breaths, she vanished beyond the hall doors.

This action immediately caught everyone's attention.

What was Gu Chengyin going to do?

Why did he have Shangguan Yunying leave the hall?

Some perceptive officials were already beginning to feel uneasy.

They noticed that there were an unusually large number of female officials from the Imperial Household Department at today's court assembly. Furthermore, they were all standing solemnly in the corridors outside the hall, as if waiting for something.

Gu Chengyin seemed oblivious to the crowd's strange reactions. He simply cupped his hands and continued, his voice ringing clearly in every corner of the great hall.

"I, under the orders of Her Highness, acting in my capacity as a Principal of the Imperial Household Department, began a thorough investigation into the ledgers of the Ministry of Revenue seven days ago."

The Ministry of Revenue!

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of at least a third of the officials in the hall changed.

Gu Chengyin's voice continued to echo through the hall, steady and powerful.

"The purpose of this thorough investigation was to clarify the reasons behind the depletion of the state treasury, and then find corresponding strategies to replenish it."

These words sounded high-sounding and righteous; no one could find fault with them.

"However," Gu Chengyin suddenly changed the subject, his voice dropping significantly, "during this process, we discovered something."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Shangguan Yuan, then over several other officials in the hall, before speaking slowly.

"The ledgers of the Ministry of Revenue are incomplete and fragmented, seemingly having been intentionally damaged by someone."

Low gasps immediately filled the court. Although Gu Chengyin causing a massive scene at the Ministry of Revenue was already common knowledge.

But for it to be brought up so formally during the morning assembly.

The effect was still extraordinary.

Gu Chengyin took in everyone's reactions and continued.

"But fortunately."

"Your Majesty is wise and martial, and had the foresight."

"In the Inner Library under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Department, backups of the crucial data were prepared."

Gu Chengyin raised his head and looked toward Emperor Luo on the dragon throne, a tone of admiration in his voice.

"Only because of this were we able to complete the missing crucial data and discover the truth behind the empty state treasury."

The truth.

These words hit everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Gu Chengyin's voice suddenly rose, carrying irrepressible anger and sorrow.

"We would not have known without investigating, but once we did, we found out!"

"Hidden within this very court are countless corrupt officials, ceaselessly scraping the fat and marrow of the people day and night, hollowing out the state treasury, and eating away at the foundation of the Great Luo!"

As his voice fell, the sound of orderly footsteps came from the hall doors.

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw Shangguan Yunying returning, followed by twelve female officials from the Imperial Household Department.

Every two female officials carried a heavy chest. The surfaces of the chests were sealed with slips of paper, which bore the dual official seals of the Imperial Household Department and the Palace of the Crown Prince.

Six chests were neatly placed in the center of the great hall.

Shangguan Yunying personally stepped forward and opened the first chest.

Inside, hundreds of ledgers were neatly stacked, each as thick as a brick.

She did not speak, simply stepping aside.

Immediately after, the other female officials stepped forward, took ledgers from the chests, and began to distribute them one by one.

One, two, three...

Their movements were precise and swift, as if they had rehearsed this countless times.

Every official, regardless of their rank or which faction they belonged to, received a ledger.

Even the officials belonging to The Xiao Clan were not left out.

Even Xiao Song himself had one placed in front of him.

The old Grand Secretary looked down and saw written on the cover of the ledger:

"A True Record of Comparisons of the Detailed Disbursal of Military Pay by the Ministry of Revenue, from the Year 553 to 555 of the Luo Calendar."

Xiao Song's hand trembled imperceptibly.

What shocked the crowd even more was that Shangguan Yunying personally carried a ledger with a gilded cover, walked to the side of the dragon throne, and handed it to Lu Fang.

The Chief Eunuch Lu Fang bowed to receive it, presenting it with both hands to Emperor Luo.

Emperor Luo did not immediately open it. He merely brushed his fingertips lightly over the gilded characters on the cover—"Master Record of the Imperial Household Department's Audit"—his gaze profound.

Gu Chengyin waited until all the ledgers had been distributed before continuing to speak.

His voice had returned to being calm, but beneath that calm lay the suppression before a volcanic eruption:

"Such behavior is truly heinous!"

"Upon learning of this matter, Her Highness was absolutely furious and immediately issued a personal order."

He turned, faced Luo Zhao, and bowed in salute:

"The entire Palace of the Crown Prince strictly investigated day and night, without rest or sleep."

"After seven days, we have finally taken this massive interest group that has hollowed out the state treasury,"

"And completely rooted them out!"

The final words were like a blade drawn from its sheath, flashing with a chilling light!

The hall was terrifyingly dead silent.

Only the heavy breathing of some officials and the rustling sounds of paper as the pages of the ledgers were turned could be heard.

Then, they saw countless shocking figures:

In a certain year and month, the Ministry of Revenue allocated three million taels for disaster relief, but only one and a half million taels actually arrived; the rest was lost in transit.

In a certain year and month, the Ministry of Works built a river embankment with a budget of eight hundred thousand taels. The final reported cost was one million six hundred thousand taels, and the embankment collapsed the very next year.

In a certain year and month, officials under the Ministry of Personnel who received an outstanding evaluation all had to present a token of appreciation to a certain high official, ranging from a thousand taels to tens of thousands of gold.

......

Case after case, incident after incident—the times, locations, individuals involved, and monetary amounts... were all recorded with absolute clarity!

There were even supplementary pages containing the verified evidence gathered by the secret agents of the Imperial Household Department.