Chapter 468 Lantern Festival Banquet 6

The Imperial Palace.

Tang Yu, Wu Shen, and the others were all taken to a side hall. The officials in charge of investigating the case acted quickly, even bringing all the shop owners related to the matter before the Emperor.

Xie Shang, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, exuded an aura of majesty and coldness. The people in the hall knelt down in unison, trembling with fear.

Empress Dowager Cheng and Jiang Fenghua were also invited to sit to the side, while Tang Qianran and Minister Tang obediently knelt on the ground.

Minister You of the Ministry of Rites was also invited to wait on the side. Minister You had been in charge of various important banquets for many years. Today, the Empress Dowager suddenly issued an order to let Consort Tang give instructions on how to write the script, which made him unhappy. Now that something had happened, Minister You naturally wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Minister You said, “The expenses for this banquet far exceeded the budget. I applied for another allocation of funds according to Consort Tang’s instructions. The money in the account is all budgeted, so I am sure that this accident was not caused by insufficient funds, unless someone embezzled it.”

Xie Shang looked coldly at Tang Qianran and said sarcastically, "I didn't expect that I had only been on the throne for a few days, and the year had just begun, that the concubines in the harem would start to embezzle and accept bribes, lining their own pockets. How much does the Noble Consort plan to embezzle from the beginning to the end of the year?"

Tang Qianran was terrified. "Your Majesty, I did not embezzle anything! I am innocent! Someone must be trying to harm me. I really only wanted to prepare the banquet well."

The Empress Dowager was also furious. She had given her the task for the first time, hoping she would make a good impression on the Emperor, and she had boasted about it so much that she had managed to do it so poorly.

Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I believe that Consort Tang truly wants to ensure the success of this banquet. The Empress Dowager has placed high hopes on her by entrusting such an important matter to her. She certainly wouldn't do something like embezzlement. It's not too late for Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly before punishing her." Tang Qianran certainly wouldn't dare, but the Tang family would!

Tang Qianran hadn't expected the Empress to speak up for her. She said, "Your Majesty, I really wouldn't dare. Please believe me."

She then turned to Tang Yu and Wu Shen and said, "Speak up! How could this happen? Are you trying to kill me?"

Before they could speak, the merchant said, "It's none of my business, Your Majesty. I brought the account book with me and ask Your Majesty to investigate. I was going to sell lanterns in bulk for fifty coins each, but Lord Tang only gave me ten coins, which wasn't even enough to cover the cost. Lanterns are inherently difficult to make, especially those with shapes. Lord Tang said that they would only be used for one night and burned the next day, so there was no need to make them too intricate. I didn't embezzle any money; I really had no other choice."

Upon hearing this, Minister You said coldly, "Ten coins each, Consort Tang's budget for me was seventy coins each, and there's also the double lanterns that cost one hundred coins each. Tens of thousands of lanterns will burn overnight. Consort Tang really knows how to plan. If a fire burns, will all this silver also be burned? And the money for fireworks and firecrackers, I'm afraid they submitted false accounts to have so many duds."

"Because of the disaster in the southwest, I have been cutting back on expenses, hoping to save more money to help more people affected by the disaster. The Imperial Concubine really burned all that money like fireworks." Minister You was furious. "Alas, it's true that when big devils are in power, little devils are hard to deal with."

Xie Shang directly targeted Minister Tang, "Tang Jinrong, how much silver has your Tang family pocketed? Tell me."

Minister Tang hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I had no idea that these two unfilial sons would do such a thing. If I had known, I certainly would not have let them do it." He was astounded by their greed; they were truly courting death.

He then pointed at his son and said, "Tell me, why did you do this? Aren't you ruining my reputation, Tang Jinrong's reputation?"

Tang Yu and Wu Shen were just minor officials. It was only because Tang Jinrong was promoted that the entire Tang family rose to prominence. In addition, Tang Qianran gave birth to a prince and was made a concubine, which made the Tang family even more arrogant. That's why they dared to do such a thing.

The two men quickly confessed, "We were wrong, Your Majesty, please spare our lives! We haven't touched a single penny of the silver, we'll hand it all over." In reality, they hadn't had a chance to spend it yet, and they would make up for any money they had spent.

Wu Shen was terrified. They had spent a lot of money buying gifts for the Empress Dowager, and how could they possibly cover such a huge deficit?

Empress Dowager Cheng was so frightened by what she saw that her face turned pale. Could the jade Guanyin statue that Tang Qianran gave her also be money embezzled by the Tang family?

Jiang Fenghua sat steadily in her seat, only to find Empress Dowager Cheng's expression amusing. How could the dignified Empress Dowager accept bribes?

She winked at Granny Xi, then sat back and waited to see what would happen.

Granny Xi quickly helped the Empress Dowager to the side and whispered a reminder, "Empress Dowager, you should quickly ask the Emperor to hand over the Tang family's tribute. If it is found out, it will damage your reputation! This matter is so serious that it has caused the Emperor to lose face in front of the envoys. The Emperor cannot possibly not investigate."

Empress Dowager Cheng thought to herself, "Yes, the emperor is still her son, and she didn't know the Tang family would dare to do such a corrupt thing."

Therefore, Empress Dowager Cheng hurriedly sent Granny Xi to Cining Palace to fetch the items.

Granny Xi left quietly, but she deliberately didn't hide her figure, and Xie Shang saw her leave.

Xie Shang then secretly had someone follow Granny Xi.

A short while later, Granny Xi was caught by the guards as she came out of Cining Palace. "What is Granny Xi doing, sneaking around like that?"

Granny Xi stammered, "This servant has come back on the Empress Dowager's orders to fetch her a cloak. I really have come to get a cloak." She deliberately hid, which aroused the guards' suspicion even more.

"Since it's a cloak, please open it and take a look, Granny," the guard said.

Granny Xi dared not give them the cloak and deliberately started running. The guards immediately drew their knives, scaring Granny Xi into immobility. The brocade box in her hand was also revealed.

The guard stepped forward to inspect the contents and saw a priceless jade Guanyin statue inside. He said in a deep voice, "Please trouble you, Granny, to come with us!"

Upon arriving before the Emperor, the guards quietly informed him of Granny Xi's actions. Upon hearing this, the Emperor felt a surge of anger rising in his chest. It seemed that his mother was trying to dispose of the stolen goods!

No wonder she valued Tang Qianran so much, even wanting to make her a Noble Consort and handing her over the power to manage the harem.

Empress Dowager, you have embezzled your own son's empire, and the people of the Great Zhou are still suffering. I am busy with all the work every day, yet you have colluded with your concubines to betray your own son.

Xie Shang naturally wouldn't reveal such a shameful matter to anyone's face, nor did he want to investigate any further. If the investigation eventually uncovered the Empress Dowager, what would become of the royal family's reputation? How could he explain this to the people of the world?

The emperor said in a deep voice, "I order you to immediately return the embezzled silver. Tang Yu and Wu Shen are dismissed from their posts and demoted to commoners, never to return to officialdom. Minister Tang is punished with a year's salary for failing to discipline his son."