"We beg Your Majesty the Empress Dowager to investigate! Please do justice for us, your loyal servants!"
Liu's wife's poignant accusations, filled with endless "injustice," struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer, plunging the entire Cixi Palace into an eerie, suffocating silence.
Silence reigned.
You could hear a pin drop.
All eyes, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, were simultaneously and unanimously focused on the young empress who had been thrust into the spotlight.
Those gazes were incredibly complex.
There was shock, doubt, scrutiny, schadenfreude, and even more anticipation of watching the show unfold.
In their view, a new empress, whose power base was unstable, was accused by the Empress Dowager's "confidants" and family members, in front of all the civil and military officials, of "setting a trap" and "intending to murder the emperor" at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet...
This is almost certainly a doomed situation.
No matter how she tries to defend herself, if the Empress Dowager shows even the slightest favoritism, she, as the Empress, will surely be disgraced and never be able to recover, even if she is not deposed on the spot.
On the throne, a barely perceptible, cold smugness flashed in Empress Dowager Wang's eyes.
This is what she wanted.
What she wanted was for everyone to see what would happen if they went against the Wang family!
Liu's wife, kneeling on the ground, stared intently at Lin Wanwan with eyes full of malice and resentment, as if she could already see her being dragged away and executed.
However, under the spotlight and under immense pressure that seemed to solidify into reality, Lin Wanwan, at the center of the storm, made a reaction that surprised everyone.
She didn't panic.
There was no panic.
There wasn't even the slightest bit of anger or resentment.
She simply and gracefully rose from her seat.
Her stunningly beautiful face was as calm as an ancient well without a ripple.
She first glanced at Liu's wife, who was kneeling on the ground and acting like a madwoman, her eyes looking at her as if she were looking at an unreasonable and ridiculous clown.
Then, she slowly shifted her gaze to the Empress Dowager in the main seat.
She bowed respectfully and meticulously to the Empress Dowager.
Then she spoke.
Her voice was clear and melodious; though not loud, it reached the ears of everyone present with remarkable clarity.
"Reporting to Mother Empress."
"Today is your birthday, a day that should be filled with joy and peace. But instead, this wretched woman has disturbed your birthday banquet. It is truly my fault."
As soon as she opened her mouth, she adopted an extremely humble posture, admitting the "crime" of "disrupting the birthday banquet," leaving the Empress Dowager with no room for criticism regarding her manners.
Then, she changed the subject, and a faint, somewhat apologetic smile appeared on her face.
"However, it's quite a coincidence."
"As it happens, I also prepared a special congratulatory gift for the Empress Dowager. I originally intended to present it to you later as a surprise. Since this Lady Liu mentioned her husband today, it is quite appropriate to present this gift now."
A congratulatory gift?
Everyone was stunned.
In such a tense and volatile moment, Her Majesty the Empress actually... had the mood to offer congratulatory gifts.
What is she really up to?
Even the Empress Dowager, sitting in the main seat, frowned slightly, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
Lin Wanwan ignored everyone's astonishment.
She simply gave a brief instruction to Ruolan behind her.
"Ruolan, present the 'gift' I prepared for the Empress Dowager."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Ruolan responded and brought out a small, half-foot square sandalwood box that had been prepared beforehand from behind her seat.
She walked steadily to the center of the hall and, under everyone's gaze, raised the wooden box high.
Everyone's attention was drawn to the mysterious wooden box.
They were all wondering what kind of rare treasures were inside that could keep the Empress so calm and composed in such a life-or-death situation.
Liu's wife, who was kneeling on the ground, also stopped crying temporarily and looked at the wooden box with some unease.
Lin Wanwan walked to the wooden box and, personally, slowly opened it.
There was no glitter or jewels.
There were no rare or exotic treasures.
Inside the wooden box, lying quietly, lay neither gold nor silver.
Instead, it was a thick ledger with a yellowed cover!
And a stack of confessions, covered in writing and bearing bright red handprints!
What is this...?!
Everyone was completely baffled.
Only the Empress Dowager, sitting on the throne, had her pupils suddenly shrink the moment she saw the account book!
An ominous premonition instantly enveloped her heart!
Lin Wanwan took the account book out of the wooden box and said loudly to everyone:
"This item is the complete procurement record of the Imperial Kitchen for the past three years during the tenure of Liu Fu, the former head of the Imperial Kitchen!"
Her voice echoed endlessly in the silent hall.
"His Majesty is benevolent and does not wish to implicate too many people because of Liu Fu's mistake alone. However, as the Empress, in charge of the six palaces, I cannot turn a blind eye to this!"
"I have discovered," her gaze, like a sharp knife, shot straight at Liu's wife, who was now deathly pale on the ground, "that during his tenure, Liu Fu abused his position to collude with unscrupulous merchants outside the palace, year after year selling inferior goods as superior ones, inflating prices, lining his own pockets, and embezzling palace funds!"
"Not only that!" Her voice suddenly rose, filled with authority, "He also sold large quantities of precious ingredients that should have been supplied to the masters of the palace, such as bird's nest, snow frog, pearls from the East China Sea, etc., and made huge profits from it!"
"According to incomplete statistics, the amount of silver he embezzled has reached as high as... 30,000 taels of silver!"
"boom--!"
Thirty thousand taels!
This astonishing number exploded like a thunderclap in everyone's ears!
Everyone gasped in shock at the number!
A mere head of the imperial kitchen could embezzle such a huge sum of money?! This is utterly outrageous!
"You...you're slandering me!" Liu's wife shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "This is defamation! My husband is upright and honest, how could he do such a thing! What evidence do you have?!"
"evidence?"
Lin Wanwan gave a cold laugh.
"Of course I have it."
She called out loudly towards the outside of the hall, "Summon—witnesses!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than several imperial guards led in a group of people dressed as cooks and eunuchs.
As soon as those people entered the main hall, they immediately knelt down on the ground, their bodies trembling like leaves.
They were the cooks and purchasing eunuchs who had been suppressed and ostracized by Liu Fu for many years.
Lin Wanwan looked at them and asked in a stern voice, "Raise your heads and tell us everything you know in front of the Empress Dowager and all the civil and military officials!"
The group exchanged glances, and finally mustered their courage.
"Reporting to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, Your Majesty the Emperor, and Her Majesty the Empress!" The head chef, his voice trembling, pulled a small booklet from his robes. "This is...this is a secret ledger I've kept for years...of Liu Fu's shady dealings in ingredients! Every transaction, its date, quantity, and buyer are recorded in detail!"
"And there's another servant!" another purchasing eunuch shouted, "Here I have a confession personally signed by the owner of the largest general store in the capital who colluded with Liu Fu back then!"
Witness testimony! Physical evidence!
The evidence is irrefutable!
Liu's wife, who had been arrogant and domineering, crying and wailing, suddenly collapsed to the ground, her face ashen, as if all her strength and voice had been drained away the moment she saw the black ledger and the confession.
She knew that everything... was over.
Inside the main hall, an uproar erupted.
The civil and military officials whispered amongst themselves, their eyes filled with disdain and contempt as they looked at the muddy puddle on the ground.
But Lin Wanwan did not give up.
She slowly, step by step, walked up to Liu's wife, whose face had turned ashen.
She looked down at her, a faint, compassionate smile on her face.
But her voice was icy cold, like ice laced with deadly poison, each word piercing the ears of everyone present.
"So, Madam Liu."
Are you now pleading for justice for a notorious embezzler who has irrefutable evidence of wrongdoing, who embezzled even the rations of the palace's masters?
She paused slightly, then slowly and meaningfully turned her gaze to the Empress Dowager, who had remained silent throughout, her face now extremely pale.
"Or perhaps..."
"These huge sums of money embezzled, Your Majesty..."
"...You also had a share?"
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