TFWYH – Chapter 876 The Gu Family Suffers

Aunt Lianqiao lowered her eyes, a trace of hatred flashing through them, but she kept begging for forgiveness.

“Your Ladyship, please forgive me. Give this servant a little time. This time, I will think carefully about how to make the Noble Consort suffer a loss while trying to gain an advantage.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Go!” the Empress shrieked, her face twisted with rage.

“I’m going. This servant is going right now.”

Aunt Lianqiao was secretly alarmed and hurriedly got up and left.

She truly couldn’t understand why the Empress had become like this.

Unlike Tang Wan, she had never been to the modern era, nor had she been exposed to as much as Tang Wan.

If Tang Wan were here, she would probably be able to tell that the Empress might have developed some kind of mental disorder—what modern people would simply call mental illness.

But then again, it was understandable.

The Empress’s only wish in this life had been for the First Prince to ascend the throne while she became Empress Dowager, making her the most noble woman in the entire realm.

She had dwelled on this wish for so long that it had already become an obsession.

But now Ling Yu had appeared, and the throne that had once seemed securely within their grasp was about to fall into someone else’s hands.

On top of that, there were the matters concerning Gu Xiyan and Gu Hengcang.

One thing after another, each became another straw placed upon the camel’s back.

The Empress had been pushed to the brink of collapse.

In the past, no matter how foolish she was, she would never have offended her “strategist.”

But now…

She could only blame herself.

After being slapped, Aunt Lianqiao walked out of the palace hall with resentment written all over her face.

She cast a cold glance at the tightly closed doors and quickly began thinking about how she could extricate herself.

Yes, how to escape.

The Empress was already like the setting sun, with only that last faint yet stubborn ray of light remaining.

Now that the First Prince had no hope of becoming Crown Prince—and given his particular identity—

Once the Emperor found out, exterminating the entire clan would be considered a light punishment.

At that thought, the hesitation in Aunt Lianqiao’s eyes gradually hardened into resolve.

I’m sorry, Your Ladyship.

People naturally strive upward, while water flows downward.

I have served you faithfully my entire life. Surely I can’t allow myself to die without even leaving behind an intact corpse, can I?

Your Ladyship, you’d better fend for yourself.

The Empress knew nothing of this.

She only knew that she had waited a long time for Lianqiao, yet Lianqiao never returned.

That wretched woman really was useless.

It was better to rely on oneself than beg others for help.

The Empress’s expression darkened. She immediately summoned a loyal palace maid.

No one knew what she whispered to the maid, but shortly afterward, the maid hurriedly left.

…

As the saying went, when a wall falls, everyone pushes it down.

When Gu Hengcang had been Prime Minister, countless people had fawned over and flattered him.

Naturally, he had also accumulated plenty of political enemies.

For all these years, he had been like a great mountain standing over the Prime Minister’s Residence, shielding everyone there from wind and rain.

But now, that mountain had collapsed.

Grand Tutor Yi immediately led officials from his faction and presented the Emperor with the countless pieces of evidence they had collected over the years.

There was evidence of forming political factions, corruption and bribery, and even buying and selling official positions.

And it wasn’t just Gu Hengcang.

His son, Gu Qitian, had kept mistresses and seized farmland and property.

His grandson, Gu Chengwen, had forcibly taken commoner women and driven people to their deaths.

All sorts of sordid deeds were exposed one after another.

The Emperor was furious and immediately ordered Ji Wushuang and Ling Yu to conduct a thorough investigation together with the Three Judicial Offices.

Once they started investigating, the results were truly shocking!

Gu Hengcang had been in office for many years, and the amount of money he had embezzled actually exceeded four hundred million taels of silver.

When that figure was revealed, it wasn’t just the officials who were stunned—even the Emperor nearly had his eyes pop out.

His entire imperial treasury contained only a little over six hundred million taels of silver!

Yet Gu Hengcang alone possessed more than four hundred million?

Was this what they meant by being rich enough to rival a nation?

And that wasn’t even counting the countless houses, farmlands, estates, and manors…

Poor old Emperor!

Hearing these figures nearly made him roll right off his throne.

What the hell?!

What the actual hell?!

The Emperor’s hands trembled as he flipped through the investigation report submitted by Ling Yu and Ji Wushuang.

Ling Yu was extremely worried, afraid that if the Emperor kept trembling like that, he might suffer a stroke.