Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

Inside the Taiji Hall, the intense tension that had almost set the air ablaze came to an abrupt end the moment the second hand struck noon.

The mechanical ticking of the clock echoed in the empty hall, each tick like the heartbeat of some ancient behemoth. Under everyone's gaze, Wu Zetian's long, slender finger, as smooth as mutton-fat jade, pressed heavily on the bright red execution button without the slightest tremor.

In that instant, the neurons of the Tang Empire were fully activated.

The eerie green light on the holographic screen collapsed violently in an instant. Immediately afterwards, a crimson color representing an extreme explosion spread wildly from the Taiji Hall along the optical cables and radio waves to every financial node in the world.

The scene seemed to slow down a hundred times at this moment.

In the core database of the Tang Dynasty's central bank, the previously depleted liquidity, under Wu Zetian's orders, was forcibly blasted open like a volcano that had been dormant for millennia. A torrent of scorching golden light surged into the shipping sector.

The index, which had been firmly pinned down to its daily limit by short sellers, trembled slightly at first, and then, like a long-imprisoned dragon, let out a roar that shattered the heavens in that instant.

It rises against all odds at an almost 90-degree vertical angle.

The crimson curve seemed to pierce the screen's boundaries, sweeping away the previously mountainous, gloomy sell orders like autumn leaves being swept away by the wind. Moreover, due to the stamp duty and account freeze orders previously imposed by Wu Zetian, funds that originally intended to reverse their positions and close out their trades were effectively trapped in a logical dead end.

They couldn't escape, nor could they be saved; they could only watch helplessly as the red line tore their flesh away inch by inch.

In that quiet teahouse in the eastern corner of Chang'an, the atmosphere of complete confidence shattered in that instant.

Cui Yonglin, the head of the Cui family, was leisurely sipping his hot tea, his eyes revealing an arrogant disdain for all living beings. However, when he habitually glanced at the holographic terminal in front of him, the glaring crimson line was like a resounding slap across his old face.

The purple clay teacup in his hand suddenly froze, and the emerald green tea splashed onto his trembling fingertips due to violent spasms, but he was completely unaware of the scalding sensation.

The sneer on his face froze in less than a tenth of a second, then transformed into a look of utter horror as if he had seen a ghost.

"This...this is impossible!"

Cui Yonglin's voice was hoarse and harsh, like an old duck being choked.

On the screen, the financial account representing the Cui family's century-long legacy was flashing a death warning. The once-flourishing trillions of dollars in wealth were now collapsing rapidly due to the violent backlash of leverage.

[Warning: Datang Shipping Index surges by 300%!]

[WARNING: Insufficient margin, the system is forcibly taking over your account!]

[WARNING: Forced liquidation in progress!]

These lines of cold, impersonal prompts spun wildly in Cui Yonglin's cloudy eyes, like death knells.

He watched in disbelief as the massive sequence of numbers began to scroll wildly within just three seconds.

Fifty million strings of cash... three million strings of cash... eight hundred thousand strings of cash...

In that instant, Cui Yonglin seemed to hear the endless fields outside his Chang'an City, the hundreds and thousands of cargo ships at the docks, and even the family's century-old legacy, all collapsing and turning to dust amidst the rapid fluctuations of data.

The final destination of the account balance is a cold, rigid "0" that represents nothingness.

"puff--!"

Cui Yonglin suddenly threw his head back, his chest heaving violently from extreme pressure. His withered old face instantly turned purplish-red, and his eyes bulged outward from excessive bloodshotness. A mouthful of thick, dark blood that had been accumulating in his chest, with a pungent, sweet smell, sprayed out without warning onto the expensive holographic display screen.

The blood mist, illuminated by the red light, appeared desolate and terrifying.

"Our ancestors'...family fortune..."

Cui Yonglin made a strange "gurgling" sound from his throat, like an old exhaust fan struggling desperately. He reached out his hand frantically, trying to touch the number that had already been reset to zero, only to find that his fingers had completely lost all feeling.

His breathing stopped.

The brain, overwhelmed by extreme anger and despair, completely lost its connection.

His once straight spine went limp in an instant, and due to the loss of control of his body, his leather wheelchair, along with him, tipped heavily backward due to the instability of his center of gravity.

A muffled thud.

This once powerful and influential figure in the Tang Dynasty's business world collapsed like a bag of discarded rotten meat, lifeless, amidst pools of blood and broken porcelain shards. His eyes were wide open, and he died without closing them in peace. He fainted on the spot.

Inside the main hall, Li Shimin looked at the crimson glow that had returned to its peak and let out a long sigh of pent-up anger.

That was a victory for the chairman, and also an absolute crushing of the remnants of the old era by higher-dimensional logic.

The thick clouds above Chang'an seemed to have been dispersed by the energy fluctuations brought about by the financial tsunami. The red light projected by the holographic image not only illuminated the Taiji Hall at this moment, but also left a dazzling afterglow on every inch of the Tang Dynasty Never Sleeping City through the windows.

That was the red glow of capital, and also the oppressive power of the emperor.

This radiance gave the entire ancient capital a cyberpunk aesthetic with a metallic beauty for a fleeting moment.

Outside the Eastern Palace, however, the atmosphere took a completely different turn.

The once clear sky suddenly darkened, with large clusters of dark clouds gathering from all directions and blocking out the sunlight.

A blinding flash of lightning ripped through the sky, followed by a deafening clap of thunder, as if bidding farewell to those speculators who lost everything and jumped off buildings in that instant.

The Tang Dynasty stock market witnessed an unprecedented short squeeze, with crimson light illuminating the entire city of Chang'an. Meanwhile, outside the Eastern Palace, a torrential downpour began.