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

Wu Meiniang's words, "There's something dirty," made Li Chengqian stop stretching mid-air. He immediately sat up and looked at the stream of data that Wu Meiniang was pointing at, which was flashing wildly.

The sun on the beach was still shining brightly, with fine golden fragments undulating on the calm waves, casting large swaths of warmth over the parasols. However, in the center of this tranquil natural landscape, the abruptly bright, eerie blue fluorescent light on the holographic screen seemed completely out of place with everything around it.

It was a long chain of data with a bizarre spiral structure. It did not follow the established binary compilation rules of the Datang Tian Shu system. Instead, it seemed to be alive, writhing wildly in the gaps between the densely packed system source code. With each flash, this ghostly blue streak penetrated deeper into the network core, while simultaneously polluting the surrounding once healthy green system logs like ink into water, turning them into a deathly, gloomy color.

The hidden devouring power, magnified in slow motion by the holographic projection, exudes an indescribable chill and deathly stillness, making viewers feel a chill run down their spines and their scalps tingle.

"Your Highness, something's wrong with this thing. It's actively avoiding the regular checks of the security firewall."

Wu Meiniang's face was tense. The tenderness in her beautiful phoenix eyes had faded, replaced by a sharpness befitting a financial queen and even a digital ruler.

Her ten slender hands left afterimages in the air, and the holographic keyboard made a dense, crisp sound as she frantically typed.

"Follow the network cable and catch it."

Li Chengqian's voice deepened, and his flip-flops left a small dent in the sand.

"I am performing reverse tracing, but it is very clever. Whenever a flood of computing power is about to surround it, it will automatically cut off three of the fake nodes."

A fine layer of sweat seeped from Wu Zetian's nose, and her expression showed the tension one would feel when facing a nemesis.

The cold light from the screen shone on her fair cheeks, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly from her intense focus.

This silent battle deep within the internet, though lacking the carnage of cold weapons, is filled with an even more thrilling and deadly intent.

Although the maids beside her couldn't understand the complex code diagrams, they could still sense the impending storm through Wu Zetian's serious micro-expressions.

They even unconsciously held their breath, afraid of disturbing the deduction that was being performed for just one second.

"We've caught its tail; its coordinates are at the Level 2 Supercomputing Center of the Royal Academy of Sciences in the Tang Dynasty, but that's impossible."

Wu Zetian's movements suddenly froze. In that instant, her pupils contracted sharply, and her fingertips hovered firmly above the Enter key.

"External hackers absolutely cannot obtain the physical IP address of that network segment unless..."

She turned her head to look at Li Chengqian, not saying the rest of her words, but the look of horror in her eyes said it all.

This is not a barbaric invasion by external forces, but a self-mutation deep within the system, or in other words, a traitor within the upper echelons of the Tang Dynasty.

Someone abused their power to secretly create a breach in the technological foundation that Li Chengqian used to lie low and build his digital empire.

Upon hearing the words "Academy of Sciences," Li Chengqian's previously relaxed facial muscles tensed instantly, and his eyes gradually turned cold.

Those eyes, which usually carried a lazy and indifferent air, now resembled two ice spikes poisoned in the abyss, radiating a sharp, cold light that dared not be looked at directly.

"I worked so hard to build the harvester for the old man so that these old bones wouldn't bother me and I could bask in the sun in peace."

Li Chengqian sneered and tapped his fingers lightly on his thigh.

"So now someone's digging up my ancestral graves, trying to sever my foundation for a peaceful life? That's going too far."

Unlike Li Shimin, who vented his anger through roars, he transformed his anger into a cold and rational calculation.

He didn't care if anyone in this world wanted to disrupt the balance of the Tang Dynasty, but if anyone wanted to smash his vacation lounge chair, that would be forcing a salted fish to turn over and kill someone.

The backlash caused by his own interests being threatened sent dangerous signals through every cell in Li Chengqian's body.

"Your Highness, should we inform the Great Snow Dragon Riders to take those old guys with authority at the Academy of Sciences under control?"

Wu Meiniang took a deep breath, a bloodthirsty resolve flashing in her eyes, and made a throat-slitting gesture.

"The old man is busy right now. If he finds out that someone is messing with his 'Digital Treasure,' he might hang all the scientists in Chang'an on crooked trees."

Li Chengqian waved his hand and leaned back in the beach chair, relaxing once again.

"We caught a few small shrimp, which scared away the big fish that was really trying to turn the tables."

On the holographic screen, Old Lu was still waiting for the final disconnection command. His small eyes blinked, completely unaware that the other end of the transoceanic call had discovered a specter powerful enough to overthrow the empire.

"Old Lu, implement the reserve ratio I just mentioned immediately, and don't give yourself away."

Li Chengqian picked up the straw again, and his sunglasses slid down, concealing the unfathomable darkness in his eyes.

"Don't those powerful families think they can negotiate with me in the real world just because they have gold? Well, I'll show them that in the face of an absolute technological gap, material wealth is nothing more than a meaningless numbers game."

He stared at the lurking blue code, his fingertips tracing a cold parabola in the void.

"Since they want to test the bottom line of the Tang Dynasty's central bank with gold, then I will grant their wish."

"Meiniang, spread the word that the Academy of Sciences has made a breakthrough in the field of heavy element decay, and that we can now... synthesize pure gold in batches."

Li Chengqian's smile was sunny, but in Wu Meiniang's eyes, it revealed a chilling cunning and cruelty.

Once this Midas touch trick is exposed in the market, the scarcity of gold will drop to zero in a second due to the collapse of trust.

The more those powerful families hoard now, the more miserable their fate will be in the digital deluge in a few days.

This is not just about harvesting韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting people); it's about uprooting those millennia-old powerful families and turning them into nourishment for the new era.

Li Chengqian drew his finger in the air, cutting off the tracking: "Don't alert them yet. Since the aristocratic families want to play with gold, let's first help the Tian Shu system get rid of its viruses, and incidentally give them a 'Midas touch' gift."