Film and Television Daqing: Starting with the Heaven-Covering Technique and the Devouring Demon Art

Fan Jian didn't hesitate and bowed, saying:

"Your Majesty, my Fan Ruoruo's heart belongs entirely to you. If she knew that Your Majesty was going to take her into the palace as a concubine, she would probably be too excited to sleep tonight!"

Li Chengtian nodded at the three men's attitudes, secretly pleased with himself.

"In that case, you may go and make the arrangements!" He waved for the three to leave.

Just then, Han Diaosi hurriedly entered and bowed to Li Chengtian, saying:

"Your Majesty, Chen Pingping of the Censorate requests an audience."

Li Chengtian frowned slightly, pondering the matter, which must have seen new developments regarding the embezzlement and bribery case.

He said to Han Diaosi, "Summon them!"

Lin Xiang, Fan Jian, and Mei Zhili exchanged glances, realizing that something important might be about to happen.

So they all bowed to Li Chengtian and said:

"Wei Chen retire."

Li Chengtian waved to the 21 people, indicating that they could leave.

Seeing this, the three slowly withdrew from the Imperial Study, leaving Li Chengtian alone to wait for Chen Pingping's arrival.

Just as the three of them walked out of the Imperial Study, Chen Pingping walked steadily toward it, his sharp, eagle-like eyes sending chills down one's spine.

The three exchanged glances with Chen Pingping, but did not greet him. They simply nodded slightly and passed by each other.

Chen Pingping entered the imperial study, knelt on one knee, and bowed to the emperor, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Li Chengtian's lips curled into a slight smile, and he said in a gentle voice:

"Dean Chen, please rise. How did this matter go? What were the results?"

Chen Pingping immediately stood up, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

He carefully took out a memorial from his pocket and respectfully handed it to Li Chengtian.

Li Chengtian took the memorial, gently opened it, his movements elegant and composed.

The text and data on each page of the memorial were the results of investigations into corrupt officials.

Seeing that Li Chengtian had begun to examine the memorials, Chen Pingping felt somewhat relieved and then began to report:

"Your Majesty, most of the corrupt officials obediently handed over their ill-gotten gains, which saved us a lot of trouble, but..."

Li Chengtian frowned slightly when he heard Chen Pingping pause, his eyes sharp as knives. He glanced at Chen Pingping and said with a hint of authority in his tone:

"Just what?"

Upon hearing Li Chengtian's words, Chen Pingping's heart tightened, and she quickly continued, "

Those subordinates who pledged allegiance to Your Majesty when Your Majesty was still the Prince of Qin, relying on their merit in supporting the new emperor, actually refused to hand over their embezzled gains.

Upon hearing Chen Pingping's words, Li Chengtian's eyes turned cold, as icy as a frozen pool, and he said in a chilling voice:

"These people have completely ignored what I said!"

"If that's the case, then kill them!"

After speaking, Li Chengtian stood up, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, looked at the scenery outside the window, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

When Chen Pingping heard Li Chengtian mention killing, he knew exactly what to do.

Then he said:

"Apart from those people, everyone else cooperated well. This time, the officials handed over a total of 120 million taels of silver, 11 million taels of gold, and the remaining antiques, calligraphy and paintings were worth a total of 5 million taels of gold."

Although Li Chengtian knew in his heart that Daqing had been quite decadent before, he was still surprised by the results of this confiscation.

He frowned as he looked at the memorial in his hand, which listed the enormous wealth and various precious items confiscated from the homes of various officials.

These figures shocked and angered him, and he realized that the corruption problem in Daqing was far more serious than he had imagined.

Then, Li Chengtian closed the memorial, took a deep breath, and said to Chen Pingping:

You must also seize those outside of Kyoto as soon as possible, and kill anyone who is disobedient!

As for the money and valuables handed over this time, one-third will be kept in my private treasury, and the rest will go into the national treasury.

Chen Pingping nodded after hearing this, indicating that she understood.

After receiving a signal from Li Chengtian, Chen Pingping slowly withdrew from the Imperial Study.

He left with a heavy heart, knowing full well the difficulty and complexity of the task.

Meanwhile, after leaving the palace, Prime Minister Lin took a carriage directly to the royal villa.

He was eager to see his daughter, Lin Wan'er, and tell her that she was going to be taken into the palace.

Lin Xiang hurriedly entered the royal villa. Upon seeing Lin Xiang's arrival, the maids and guards on both sides quickly knelt and bowed.

Greetings, Your Excellency the Prime Minister.

Lin Xiang waved his hand, signaling them to rise, and then asked the two maids:

Where is the princess now?

Upon hearing Prime Minister Lin's question, the maids quickly replied:

The princess is in her room now!

They pointed to Lin Wan'er's room and told Prime Minister Lin that Lin Wan'er was resting there.

Upon hearing that Lin Wan'er was in the room, Lin Xiang was excited and hurried towards the room.

He walked with the speed of the wind, eager to share the good news with his daughter.

Soon, Lin Xiang arrived outside the room and immediately saw Lin Wan'er standing by the window, deep in thought.

He called out to Lin Wan'er with a beaming smile:

"Wan'er, come out quickly, I have some good news to tell you."

Hearing her father's call, Lin Wan'er immediately snapped out of her daze, turned around, and showed a hint of surprise and curiosity on her face.

She walked quickly to the door and said to Lin Xiang:

"Father, please wait a moment, I'll be right out."

With a series of light footsteps, Lin Wan'er quickly opened the door and came out.

She asked eagerly:

"Father, what is the good news? You look so happy."

Lin Xiang smiled, reached out and stroked his beard, his eyes sparkling with joy.

He said slowly, "His Majesty just told me that he plans to bring you into the palace today and make you a concubine."

Upon hearing these words, Lin Wan'er's cheeks instantly flushed with a shy blush.

She lowered her head and said softly:

"Did His Majesty really say that?" The voice revealed a hint of anticipation and nervousness.

Seeing his daughter's shy expression, Lin Xiang couldn't help but burst into laughter.

He patted Lin Wan'er on the shoulder and comforted her:

"How could I, as a father, joke about something like this?"

"You stay home today and I will immediately begin arranging your entry into the palace."

Upon hearing this, Lin Wan'er lowered her head shyly, nodded with a slight blush, and said softly:

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Father."

After saying that, she turned and ran back to her room, closing the door behind her.

Leaning against the door, hands covering her chest, she thought to herself, "Finally, I can become my cousin's concubine. I'm so happy!"

Lin Xiang looked at Lin Wan'er running into the room and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

He had known for a long time that Lin Wan'er liked Li Chengtian, but the girl had never dared to express it.

Meanwhile, besides the royal villa, Fan Ruoruo of the Fan family and Ye Ling'er of the Ye family were both extremely excited when they learned that they were about to enter the palace.

They admired Li Chengtian greatly because he was not only handsome and dashing, but also highly skilled in martial arts and had ascended the throne at a young age. Such a young man was truly rare in the world.

Princess Guangxin Palace was overjoyed to learn that her daughter was about to become Li Chengtian's concubine.

She knew what this marriage meant to her and was incredibly proud that her daughter had received such an honor.

After all, Li Chengtian is surrounded by so many capable people these days, such as Prime Minister Lin, Fan Jian, and Emperor Qing. It is easy to imagine how difficult it would be for a woman like her to gain a position by Li Chengtian's side.

Now that she has Lin Wan'er as a concubine, her position in Daqing is considered secure.

Just as the three families were happy about Li Chengtian's intention to take their daughters as concubines.

Chen Pingping, accompanied by his black-clad cavalry, arrived at the residence of Cui Yong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, like a black whirlwind.

At this moment, Cui Yong was in high spirits!

He invested in Prince Li Chengtian early on, and now that Li Chengtian has successfully ascended the throne, he can be considered a loyal subject who helped him rise to power!

He had previously been dismissive of the Control Yuan's demand that he hand over his embezzled funds.