The tyrannical father was so intimidated when his own daughter was found during the raid.

The evidence is irrefutable, leaving no room for doubt.

The upright civil officials who had just been crying and pleading for the Left Censor-in-Chief were now like sick chickens with their necks being choked.

With 800,000 taels of silver right in front of them, who would dare to utter a single word of dissent?

Since the founding of the Great Yuan Kingdom, we have never seen such a blatant and outrageous traitor!

"Guards! Remove this old scoundrel's official hat and plume!"

Su Zhen sat steadily on the dragon throne, waved his hand, and his voice was like that of a demon from hell, ready to take lives.

"Throw him into the imperial prison, interrogate him severely, confiscate all his property, and leave him not a single copper coin!"

"Bring that good-for-nothing son of his back to me, break both his legs, and throw him in jail!"

The Imperial Guards rushed forward.

The Left Censor-in-Chief was too exhausted to beg for mercy and was dragged out of the Golden Palace like a dead dog.

A glaring water stain was left on the gold brick, and the old scoundrel was so frightened that he wet himself on the spot.

The palace was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.

Su Zhen's deep gaze swept over the kneeling officials below, a cold smile curving his lips.

"My beloved ministers, who just mentioned wanting to depose the Crown Princess?"

"Step forward and let me see your noble character."

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

The entire court wished they could bury their heads in the cracks between the gold bricks; who would dare to offend the tyrant at this time?

Even if they had ten times the courage, no one would dare to utter another word about the deposed crown princess.

"Since no one has any objections, then the court may adjourn!"

Su Zhen suddenly stood up, in a great mood.

This morning court session removed the most disgusting fang, tore off the mask of the virtuous, and also gained a mountain of gold for nothing.

It’s really great!

After the court session ended, in a side hall of the Panlong Hall.

Looking at the mountain of wooden crates, Su Zhen waved his hand, fulfilling his promise to his daughter.

"Daughter, you deserve the most credit for what happened today!"

Su Zhen smiled so hard his wrinkles appeared, his eyes full of doting affection.

After the Minister of Revenue counted the cash and land deeds actually seized from the Left Censor-in-Chief's house, excluding the half that his son had gambled away.

The amount of silver that can be immediately deposited into the treasury is exactly 250,000 taels.

"My word is my bond. If I say I'll share the profits with you, I will never go back on my word!"

Su Zhen pointed to several large mahogany chests, "This 250,000 taels of silver, you get 30%!"

"Seventy-five thousand taels, consider it your intelligence fee!"

"Take it back and spend it as you please. If you need more, just tell Father, and Father will confiscate the property of a few more ministers for you!"

Seventy-five thousand taels!

Su Yaoyao looked at the gleaming white silver ingots, her beautiful peach blossom eyes curving into two bright moons.

[The tyrant father is mighty! The tyrant father is magnanimous!]

[This is such a great deal to have latched onto! They're like a walking, talking money-printing machine!]

Hearing his daughter's heartfelt praise, Su Zhen straightened his back.

The father's vanity was satisfied like never before.

He felt that in order to hear more of these heartfelt words, he could thoroughly investigate and expose all the corrupt officials in the capital.

"Thank you, Father! Long live the Emperor!"

Su Yaoyao called out sweetly and directed the Imperial Guards to move her share of the money to Zhaoyang Palace.

A grand convoy, carrying several large carts laden with heavy silver.

Amidst the insanely jealous gazes of the concubines in the harem, it was swaggered back to the Crown Princess's palace.

Inside Zhaoyang Palace, the doors were tightly shut.

Su Yaoyao sent all the palace maids and eunuchs outside the hall, leaving herself alone inside.

She poured all the silver notes and gold and silver ingots, totaling 75,000 taels of silver, onto the huge golden nanmu canopy bed.

The bed was covered in gold and silver, shimmering with a dazzling luster that was almost blinding.

Su Yaoyao cheered and pounced on the bed.

She rolled around in a sea of ​​money, getting covered in the stench of money, and thought it was the best smell in the world.

"We're rich! We're rich!"

"With this seed funding, my Royal Arsenal can finally officially begin operations!"

Su Yaoyao sat cross-legged on the bed, holding a golden abacus in her hand, her little face tense.

As a fully-level interstellar poison doctor and mechanic, she knew very well that in this ancient world, no matter how high one's martial arts skills were, one was still afraid of a kitchen knife.

To truly secure a place for oneself, one must master firepower suppression!

Manufacturing a Gatling gun requires a large amount of refined iron, as well as the raw materials for smokeless gunpowder.

Sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal were all controlled substances in ancient times, and had to be purchased at great expense from the black market.

[And my upgraded bio-chemical gas bomb also requires a lot of rare medicinal herbs...]

Su Yaoyao meticulously calculated every expense, conceiving a grand blueprint for military industry in her mind.

Just as she was considering whether to take another stroll through the Golden Palace tomorrow to see which minister had the words "Golden Treasury" above his head.

With a "bang".

The main gate of Zhaoyang Palace was forced open from the outside.

A young palace maid dressed in a bright green palace gown tumbled and crawled in from outside the door.

She was running so fast that she tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her face.

But she didn't care about the pain at all, crawling on the gold bricks with both hands and feet, her face as pale as paper.

"Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!"

The young palace maid's voice was trembling with sobs, like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.

Su Yaoyao paused in her abacus and frowned.

What's going on? Did that old hag escape from prison and come after me?

"What's the panic? Even if the sky falls, Father will hold it up."

Su Yaoyao slowly stuffed several large silver notes into her bosom and casually picked up a pure gold teapot next to her.

"Tell me slowly, who is trying to steal my money?"

In Su Yaoyao's eyes, the most important thing in the world right now is that someone wants to take her money.

"No, it's not about robbing money..."

The young palace maid knelt on the ground, her teeth chattering, as if she were mentioning some terrifying taboo.

"It's the Crown Prince...it's that living Yama from the Crown Prince's palace!"

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has returned to the capital!"

Su Yaoyao was stunned for a moment.

Prince?

Her legendary, ruthless, psychopathic older brother who enjoys torturing people?

As far as she knew, the Crown Prince Su Jin of the Great Abyss Kingdom had perfectly inherited his tyrannical father's ruthlessness, even surpassing his father in this respect.

He was sent to the border military camp at the age of ten, and at the age of sixteen, he led troops to massacre three cities of the enemy country, earning him the reputation of a god of war that shook the world.

Rumors say he was capricious and bloodthirsty.

His favorite thing to do was to peel off the skin of living people completely and make them into human skin lanterns to hang under the eaves of the East Palace.

"So what if I go back to Beijing? What does it have to do with me?"

Su Yaoyao pouted.

【At worst, I'll just stay away from the East Palace and avoid provoking him. Let's keep to ourselves.】

In this palace, all I need to do is cling to my tyrant father's coattails and quietly focus on military production.

"But...but when I went to the imperial kitchen to get some snacks, I overheard the guards talking amongst themselves..."

The young palace maid was so frightened that tears streamed down her face. She lowered her voice as if afraid of being overheard by a ghost.

"The Crown Prince returned to the capital in secret this time; even His Majesty did not inform him beforehand!"

"And...and as soon as he entered the city, he inquired about you!"

Su Yaoyao touched her chin.

Are you trying to find out about me?

[Could it be that she heard there was a new younger sister in the harem and rushed back to give me a gift?]

[Is this creepy brother going to come looking for me carrying a box full of human heads?]

"Your Highness, how can you still be laughing!"

The young palace maid nodded anxiously, "The Crown Prince is inherently suspicious and hates nothing more than others sharing His Majesty's favor!"

"He heard that you were not only made Crown Princess, but also put Consort Jing under house arrest, and he thought you were very scheming."

"It's being said throughout the palace that the Crown Prince will come to Zhaoyang Palace tonight to personally establish the rules for you!"

Establish rules?

Su Yaoyao sneered, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes.

[Trying to set rules for me? Don't you even know what I, Su Yaoyao, did in the interstellar era?]

[Don't even mention the Crown Prince; even if the Heavenly King himself came and dared to touch my money, I'd make him walk in standing and leave lying down!]

"Alright, stop crying, you're giving me a headache."

Su Yaoyao waved her hand, "Go down, eat and sleep as usual. Make sure to close all the doors and windows of Zhaoyang Palace tightly tonight."

Seeing that Her Highness the Crown Princess didn't take it seriously at all, the young palace maid could only wipe away her tears and retreat in despair.

The Zhaoyang Palace fell silent once more, a chilling, somber atmosphere settling in.

Night fell, and dark clouds loomed over the city.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the clear night sky.

The howling north wind was like the wailing of ghosts and wolves, causing the shadows of the trees outside Zhaoyang Palace to sway wildly, like countless fierce ghosts baring their fangs and claws.

The palace was shrouded in a stifling, deathly silence. The imperial guards on night patrol hunched their shoulders and quickened their pace.

Midnight.

A slight, unusual sound came from the black glazed tiles on the roof of Zhaoyang Palace.

The sound was so soft it was like a leaf hitting something.

After the strange noise, a ghostly black shadow appeared silently on the roof ridge.

The strong wind whipped the man's large, dark night clothes, making them flutter loudly.

The dark clouds dispersed, and a pale ray of moonlight poured down, illuminating the person's face.

It was a face wearing a monastic mask with blue faces and fangs, resembling a ferocious demon!

Within the two empty eye sockets of the mask, two cold, cruel, and bloodthirsty eyes gleamed.

The shadowy figure moved nimbly, sliding silently down the roof tiles like an upside-down bat.

It hangs upside down outside the carved window frame of Su Yaoyao's bedroom.

In the shadowy figure's hand, a strangely shaped poisoned blade, gleaming with a ghostly blue light, was held upside down.

A few drops of viscous, poisonous blood with a pungent, sweet-smelling odor dripped from the blade.

One drop, two drops, fell onto the steps outside the window, corroding the stone slab and leaving several small pits.

Through the thin Goryeo window paper, the shadowy figure could hear the steady breathing inside the hall.

The corners of her mouth, hidden beneath the Prajna mask, curled into a cruel arc.

A chilling, cold laugh drifted away in the howling wind...