Liu, the Vice Minister, shall be beheaded, executed immediately!

Liu Mingxuan will be beheaded, executed immediately!

The Liu family's property was confiscated; male members aged fifteen and above were exiled to Yazhou, and the rest were sold off.

The Yuan family, merchants of Jingxi Prefecture, have been selling grain to hostile foreign forces. Their crime is unforgivable. The Yuan father and son shall be executed immediately.

The Yuan family's entire fortune was confiscated.

...

The people are going crazy!

How wise Your Majesty is!

Those damned corrupt officials! Three million six hundred thousand taels of silver—that's enough to fill several rooms! It would probably suffocate you!

The frontier soldiers were extremely grateful to the imperial court, and their diet was immediately improved. Ten taels of silver were given to each frontier soldier as compensation for the silver confiscated from the two prefectures.

Letters of gratitude from people all over the country poured into the newspaper's mailbox like snowflakes.

Many students' comments on current affairs and their confidence in the future of Yulong Kingdom were also very moving.

Based on everyone's letters, Xie Yu selected some representative ones and published them in the next issue of the "Yulong Daily".

We also pay royalties according to the standards for submissions.

By the time this issue of the newspaper was published, the Crown Prince of Chu, Minister Liu, and Liu Mingxuan had all been executed. Hanging was considered to leave their bodies intact, while beheading meant their heads were separated from their bodies.

The day after Zhang Yanyan's divorce, Xie Zhaozhao bestowed upon her a mansion and granted her permission to establish a female household.

Besides the murdered Vice Minister Liu and Liu Mingxuan, the male members of the Liu family were exiled, and the rest were sold by official brokers.

Zhang Yanyan went to the Liu residence.

Also present was Lady Liu Yiyi, wife of the Marquis of Zhenguo. The two of them stood at the gate of the Liu residence, watching as the male members of the Liu family were shackled and exiled, while the female members and young males were sold off.

Zhang Yanyan was not a mean-spirited person. Looking at the once fierce and aggressive Madam Liu, who was now down and out, she didn't bother with any sarcastic remarks and asked, "Where are Yun'er and Fu'er?"

Yun'er, Liu Qingyun, Prince Ning.

Fu'er, Liu Yingfu, is Zhang Yanyan's youngest daughter.

Madam Liu gritted her teeth: "I don't know."

"Where is their nanny?"

Madam Liu remained silent.

"Jiao, I'm asking you, where is your wet nurse?"

Madam Liu hated her and remained silent. Chenxiang slapped her several times, yelling, "The Princess is asking you a question!"

Now, Madam Liu has no connection with Zhang Yanyan anymore. After being slapped a few times, she could only say, "Madam Yuan knows."

"Then let's beat up the Yuan family," Zhang Yanyan said, not wanting to say another word to her.

Yuan said in a madmanish voice, "They're all dead, all of them are dead."

Zhang Yanyan was shocked. Yun'er and Fu'er were dead?

Order the guards to beat them to death, every single one present, until they tell the truth.

If you kill her, you'll have to pay compensation.

"You are sinful slaves, you deserve to be beaten to death. Speak up, and I might just grant you a good future."

Immediately, a maidservant from Madam Yuan's household said that Madam Yuan originally intended to beat Liu Qingyun and Liu Yingfu to death, but the two old women didn't know where they had hidden the two children, so Madam Yuan beat the two old women to death instead.

Zhang Yanyan was filled with hatred. Pointing at Madam Liu, she said, "The child is, after all, a member of your Liu family. You wouldn't let me take him away, but insisted on keeping him, and then you treated him badly. You deserve to die!"

She and Chenxiang went into the mansion to look for them, just as the Imperial City Guards came out and said that they had found two children in the cellar when they searched the house.

Zhang Yanyan looked and saw that it was indeed her two children.

Fortunately, the two children were in the cellar, and the wet nurse left them plenty of food. Although they were frightened, they didn't starve to death thanks to the food the wet nurse left for them.

The child was young but very sensible; he didn't cry or scream and escaped unharmed in the cellar.

Zhang Yanyan burst into tears, holding her two children, feeling both heartbroken and relieved.

"You are all brave and intelligent children. You have survived this ordeal and are sure to have good fortune in the future."

Liu Qingyun was only four years old, yet he managed to comfort and coax his two-year-old sister for so many days, thus escaping the clutches of the Yuan family.

Liu Qingyun's face turned pale, and when she saw Zhang Yanyan, she burst into tears: "Mother, I'm so scared..."

Liu Yingfu also burst into tears.

Hearing the children recount their suffering, Zhang Yanyan could no longer hold back. Pointing at the tattletale, she said, "Tell me, who were the ones who participated in beating the wet nurse to death?"

The little girl then pointed out two old women and three servants.

The three servants all cursed at her, but the little girl, in order to save her life, spilled everything.

Zhang Yanyan gave the money earned from selling Yuan Shi, the two old women, the three servants, and the little maid to the broker.

The broker gave their indentures to Zhang Yanyan.

Zhang Yanyan handed the little girl her indenture and said, "Take the indenture and go."

The little girl was extremely excited. Holding her contract, she cried loudly. She never thought she would regain her freedom one day.

Zhang Yanyan pointed to the others and said to the guards, "Take them all away."

Once out of the official's sight, Zhang Yanyan said, "Find a place, kill them all, and dump them in a mass grave."

As for Madam Liu, she wouldn't buy them or beat them to death; she would just send them to other people's homes to be servants and humiliate them to vent her anger.

A lady of good family is kind only to the right people; how could she possibly be merciful to such a petty person?

The punishment of the largest corruption case since the founding of the People's Republic of China, as reported by the Yulong Daily, served as a powerful deterrent to corrupt officials.

Severe penalties are imposed to combat corruption.

Does he have the backing of the King of Chu?

Is his neck as thick as that of Vice Minister Liu?

If the answer is "no," then just be an honest person.

By the time the first major corruption case in Yulong was solved, it was already the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Two years after their expedition, the ocean-going expedition team returned, and Zhou Lingyin, Yunyang, and Yunhe requested an audience with Xie Zhaozhao.

Xie Zhaozhao: "Summon!"

The three hurriedly entered Xie Zhaozhao's study. Their first words were not about their travels around the world, but rather, "Your Majesty, a civil war has broken out in Pyu Kingdom. The Grand Preceptor led a rebellion of monks, joined forces with Dongli Kingdom, and massacred the Pyu royal family."