With a warehouse full of supplies, I stood alone as king in this chaotic world, gun in hand.

"Your Majesty..." An old man began to speak, but tears streamed down his face, and he was too choked to utter a word.

"Let me speak," a middle-aged man in a blue robe said, seeing the old man's state.

"Your Majesty, five years ago, Mingcheng's brother-in-law took a fancy to one of my ancestral homes so that he could support one of his mistresses. My father disagreed, so his brother-in-law broke my father's legs, gave him only one hundred taels of silver, and threw my father out of the house."

By the time I received the news and rushed back from out of town, my father had already succumbed to his injuries and died. For the past few years, I have tirelessly sought justice for my father, but the Ming family is too powerful; they can cover up everything, and officials protect each other…”

The man in blue choked up as he spoke, “My father died unjustly. I beg Your Majesty to do justice for me and give my father the peace he deserves, so that his spirit in heaven may be comforted.”

Next, the other four people also spoke out about their grievances, all of which were the evil deeds committed by Liu Xiu and Ming Tianheng. They claimed that the Ming family had bribed officials to suppress the matter.

"Good, very good, you are all my good ministers." Emperor Mingde was truly enraged this time, his eyes surging with overwhelming anger.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent! I beg you to investigate!"

Liu Zhizhen and Mingcheng both cried out for justice.

"Uncle Emperor, I have something to report." Nangong Wu handed the entire bundle to Eunuch Hu.

Upon hearing this, the Ming family father and son, as well as Liu Zhizhen, who were already trembling with fear, all jumped up, afraid that she would produce some more fatal evidence.

The emperor has been bewitched these past few days, I don't know what evil spirit he's been under.

They used to ignore Nangong Wu, but suddenly they started to care about her and even listened to her blindly, catching them off guard.

"What is this now?" Emperor Mingde asked.

"Account books and IOUs," Nangong Wu said.

"Account books and IOUs?" Emperor Mingde was somewhat disappointed, thinking they were banknotes.

"Yes, these are all the money that the Duke of Wei's Mansion, the Marquis of Wu'an's Mansion, Minister Liu Bing, and other officials borrowed from my Shangtong Company this year, totaling 521,800 taels of silver."

Nangong Wu pointed to the officials of Prince Rui's faction, "They're the ones who borrowed it."

"More than 520,000 taels of silver?" Emperor Mingde first looked at the IOUs. There was a large stack of them, each with a large amount of money on it. They were signed by individuals and stamped with personal seals or fingerprints.

These people are all supporters of Prince Rui. At yesterday's court meeting, they submitted a memorial requesting that Nangong Xun be made crown prince, citing the importance of the country's foundation.

"Zhou Zheng, Mingcheng, Liu Zhizhen, you are the ones who borrowed the most silver. Tell me, where did you spend all of this silver?" Emperor Mingde had now calmed down.

The ministers who were named were all sweating profusely. More than 500,000 taels of silver was a huge sum, and no explanation seemed convincing.

The silver naturally flowed into Prince Rui's mansion, but they couldn't say anything! If they did, they would all die.

Nangong Xun was secretly anxious. He hadn't expected Nangong Wu to bring this matter to his father's attention. He had truly underestimated her.

"Nangong Wu, the money that the lords borrowed from you is a private matter. The Zichen Hall is a place for discussing important national affairs. How can you bring these private matters here?"

Besides, the gentlemen didn't say they wouldn't repay your money. What exactly are you trying to achieve by bringing these IOUs and account books here to cause trouble?"

"You're wrong! This money is of great importance to the country!" Nangong Wu sneered inwardly.

You bastards, I'm going to make you regret this today!

"Uncle Emperor, I promised you that I would donate 300,000 taels of silver to the court, but now they have borrowed all the silver!" Nangong Wu pretended to be in a difficult position.

Her meaning was quite clear: all the money had been borrowed by these people, and there was no money left to donate.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Mingde became anxious. "Zhou Zheng, Mingcheng, Liu Zhizhen, I don't care what methods you use, you have five days to return all the silver to Shangtong Company."

Nangong Wu smiled, stepped up the stairs, and whispered to Emperor Mingde:

"Uncle, if you help me issue an edict today to divorce Zhou Shaorong, I will donate the extra 200,000 taels of silver to the court."

As long as Emperor Mingde issues an edict for her to divorce Zhou Shaorong, she will have a reason to move back her dowry.

"Good." Emperor Mingde was overjoyed.

The next imperial decree for divorce, exchanged for more than 200,000 taels of silver, truly solved his urgent problem.

The army's winter provisions are still unsettled, and the northern border is suffering from a severe drought with no harvest. A lot of money will be needed for disaster relief.

Now that we have these 500,000 taels of silver, these two major problems have been solved immediately.

"Eunuch Hu, draft an imperial edict immediately." As soon as Emperor Mingde uttered these words, the officials of Prince Rui's faction immediately tensed up.

"I thought it would be a wonderful thing to marry Princess Runing to Zhou Shaorong! However, Zhou Shaorong has someone else in his heart. Two years after Princess Runing married into the Duke of Wei's mansion, the two have not consummated their marriage."

Zhou Shaorong even caused Runing to lose her chastity for Liu Yue'er's sake, and then imprisoned her and demoted her from wife to concubine. This is simply showing no respect for me.

"Your Majesty, this is just a misunderstanding." Zhou Zheng was anxious and kowtowed heavily. "Rong'er now knows she was wrong and will treat Runing well in the future. I beg Your Majesty not to let them divorce!"

"Misunderstanding?" Emperor Mingde sneered. "You did things to harm Runing, first by having someone defile her, then by locking her up, intending to seize her dowry, and you still want her to go back?"

"Damn it! Runing is a royal princess, someone I watched grow up, someone I cherished like a precious jewel. She was married into your Zhou family, yet you treat her so cruelly. If I don't avenge her, I'll be letting down her mother who died fighting for the country!"

When Nangong Wu heard Emperor Mingde mention her mother, her eyes actually reddened.

I know this is the lingering emotion of the original owner.

Emperor Mingde said slowly, "Runing, today I grant you permission to divorce Zhou Shaorong. The Zhou family withheld your dowry, and they will return every single piece to you."

Divorce! Zhou Zheng collapsed to his knees.

His son was not only beyond saving, but he was also divorced, which was an absolute disgrace.

"Your Majesty, the manor was robbed that night. All the storerooms were ransacked, including Princess Runing's dowry. I simply cannot afford to compensate for it!"

"Hmph! Don't use thieves as a shield." Emperor Mingde didn't believe him. "You should return Runing's dowry exactly as you took it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Nangong Wu hurriedly expressed her gratitude.

Emperor Mingde continued, "Duke of Wei, Runing's mother sacrificed herself for the country. I entrusted her only daughter to you, yet you have bullied and humiliated her! If it weren't for her good fortune, she would have died at Liu Yue'er's hands long ago."

The hall fell silent, deathly still; you could hear a pin drop.

Emperor Mingde pondered for a while before saying, "Considering the past achievements of the old Duke of Wei, I will grant him special favor and remove Zhou Zheng from his title of Duke of Wei, demoting him to a marquis with a fief of 10,000 households reduced to 1,000 households. From now on, his title will not be hereditary."

Zhou Shaorong was no longer the heir apparent; all his official titles and honors were revoked, and he was forbidden from serving as an official in the court for the rest of his life.

"I will deduct another year's salary from your pay, and the deducted salary will be given to Runing as compensation. Zhou Zheng, do you accept my decision?"

"Your humble servant submits, thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!" Zhou Zheng dared not disobey, and felt as if he were about to die.

His family's valuables were stolen, his son was dying, and now he had been demoted, his fief was reduced to a thousand households, and the title would only last until his generation!

To make matters worse, being fined a year's salary not only means having to repay Nangong Wu's exorbitant dowry, but also the more than 80,000 taels of silver owed to Shangtong Company, which will likely drain the Zhou family's coffers.

This time, the son has really dragged the entire family down with him because of Liu Yue'er.