The following day, Hongzhou went to the Ministry of Revenue. "Lord Li, do you know where the money recently allocated to disaster victims has gone?"

Hongzhou looked serious. Now that Hongli was away, the people in the Ministry of Revenue were becoming increasingly audacious, even daring to openly embezzle.

Lord Li, speaking with confidence and without the slightest panic, said, "Fifth Prince, what do you mean by that? The silver has been distributed to the various provinces according to your instructions!"

Hongzhou slammed the ledger on the table. "Lord Li, take a good look. Is this what you call 'distributed to various provinces'?" Lord Li looked astonished and picked up the ledger. "This...this is..."

"This is evidence of your corruption and abuse of power!" Hongzhou ignored the glances from the ministers around him. He wanted to make an example of them and let them know that even if Hongli was not around, he could still manage the Ministry of Revenue.

Lord Li was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, "Your Highness, I didn't do it, please forgive me this time, okay? I promise I won't do it again..." Lord Li thought that with Hongli gone, he could finally benefit from the situation, but who knew that this Hongzhou was also a ruthless character.

The ministers beside him also stepped forward to persuade him, "Your Highness, please forgive him this time! After all, he is a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue..." The two sides remained deadlocked for a long time. "Lord Li, I will let you off this time, but if you commit the same offense again, I will not let you off lightly!" Hongzhou thought that if he dismissed Lord Li from his post now, he probably wouldn't be able to find a replacement in a short time. It wouldn't be too late to remove him from his post after a suitable candidate was found.

Lord Li hurriedly kowtowed to thank Hongzhou, "Thank you, Your Highness, for sparing my life, thank you, Your Highness, for sparing my life..." After finishing his business at the Ministry of Revenue, Hongzhou went to Lanqin's Changchun Palace.

"Hongzhou, come quickly! I have had many of your favorite dishes prepared!" Lanqin said.

Hongzhou was served to wash his face and hands, and after that, he sat at the table to eat.

"You child! Why are you so late?" Lanqin scolded. She said she would come in the morning, but she only arrived now, which was lunchtime.

"I just happened to come here for a free meal!" Hongzhou didn't tell Lanqin about the Ministry of Revenue, afraid she would worry. Lanqin smiled, "You silly child, always teasing me! You're welcome to come and freeload anytime!"

After the food was served, the two began to eat.

"Your Majesty, what is the purpose of summoning Hongzhou here today?" Hongzhou asked anxiously, thinking it was related to the Fourth Prince or Hongli.

"You silly child! We'll talk about this later. You've lost a lot of weight lately!" Lanqin wanted to find out about Hongzhou's recent situation first.

This was the first time Lanqin had dined alone with Hongzhou, and she was actually a little nervous. After all, she had given him to Gengshi when he was young, and she felt very guilty.

Hongzhou laughed loudly, "Your Majesty, it's because you haven't seen Hongzhou for a long time. You don't know, these days, Mother and Fujin have been urging me to eat every day, and I've gained quite a bit of weight!"

Lanqin sighed upon hearing Geng's name. She had entrusted her child to her care, and now that Hongzhou had grown up, she knew she couldn't bring him back. Yet, every time she saw Hongzhou, her heart was stirred with emotion.

Seeing that the Empress was staring at him, Hongzhou teased, "Your Majesty, is there something on Hongzhou's face? Why are you always looking at Hongzhou?"

Lanqin then came to her senses and looked away, saying, "When I look at you, I feel as if Hongli is in front of me."