123: Chapter 123 A Court Uproar? Direct Confiscation of Family Property

The next morning, the gilded bronze bell of the Golden Throne Hall struck three times, resonating throughout the Imperial Capital.

The civil and military officials stood in rows according to their rank, their black official robes neat and orderly, their breathing barely audible. Su Ninghua sat on the main throne, wearing an imperial robe embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon, her expression cold and stern. Lin Zhe sat in the exclusive seat of the Prince Regent to her left, still dressed in ordinary cloth clothes, yet surrounded by faint golden patterns of the Power of Rules, his aura no weaker than that of the Queen beside him.

The preceding discussions went smoothly; reports on local taxes, disaster relief, and border defense were all finalized by Su Ninghua in a few words, and no one dared to voice any objection. Until the remonstrance session, when an old official wearing the crane-patterned robe of a third-rank official stood out tremblingly from the ranks. He had gray hair and a wrinkled face; it was none other than the Grand Tutor Zhou Wen, the leader of the conservative faction.

He fell to his knees with a "thud," holding up a bronze plaque engraved with the ancestral precepts, weeping with snot and tears. His voice was as shrill as a duck with its neck strangled: "Your Majesty! I have a memorial to submit! Lin Zhe is merely an outsider Refugee NPC. He has no royal bloodline and holds no noble title. By what right does he serve as the Prince Regent of our great Human Empire? Handing the power of the Empire to an outsider is a disaster that shakes the foundation of the state! I beg Your Majesty to retract the order, strip Lin Zhe of all his positions, and return the control of Luofeng Village to the Royal Family. Otherwise, the century-old foundation of our great Human Empire will be destroyed!"

He wept bitterly, his forehead hitting the bluestone floor with a rhythmic thumping sound, while the corner of his eye swept toward several conservative nobles behind him with whom he had colluded, signaling them to join in.

Those nobles had just taken half a step forward and hadn't yet had the chance to speak when Su Ninghua suddenly sneered. With a fierce flick of her black imperial robe's sleeve across the table, a stack of glowing secret letters slapped against Zhou Wen's face, causing his nose to bleed.

"Ancestral precepts?" Su Ninghua's voice was as cold as ice. With a tap of her finger, the light screen in the center of the hall instantly lit up. It clearly displayed the records of secret correspondence between Zhou Wen and the Remnants of the Three Clans, the shipping vouchers for secretly transporting three thousand stones of grain and five hundred sets of enchanted armor to the Dark Forest last month, and surveillance screenshots of his meetings with the Remnants. Even his promise to the Remnants that he would be "appointed Prime Minister after the city falls" was written clearly. "When you were committing treason by supplying the rebel army with grain and weapons, why didn't you think about what the ancestral precepts said? Treason is a capital offense punishable by the execution of one's entire clan. Do you really have the nerve to talk to me about ancestral precepts?"

Looking at the ironclad evidence on the light screen, Zhou Wen's face turned as white as paper, and his whole body trembled like a sieve. Just as he was about to open his mouth to quibble, Su Ninghua impatiently raised her hand.

"Guards."

"Here!" The Royal Guards outside the hall immediately rushed in, the crisp sound of their armor clashing making people's hearts tremble.

"Zhou Wen has committed treason, and the evidence is irrefutable. Confiscate his entire family's assets immediately. All properties, land, and shops are to be confiscated and deposited into the Luofeng Public Account. All men, women, and children of his clan are to be demoted to commoners and exiled to the Dark Forest to guard the border, never to step foot in the Empire's interior again for all eternity." Su Ninghua's voice carried no emotion, ringing out clearly. "Anyone who dares to plead for him will be punished with the same crime."

"Yes!" The guards stepped forward and dragged the limp Zhou Wen out like a chick. He didn't even have time to scream before his mouth was gagged, and he was dragged out of the hall.

The few conservative nobles who had just taken half a step forward were so scared their legs turned to jelly. They all fell to their knees with a "thud-thud," their foreheads banging against the floor, their voices trembling like a sieve: "Your Majesty is wise! We absolutely support the Prince Regent's decision! We have absolutely no objections! If we harbor any ulterior motives, may we be struck by lightning!"

The entire court of civil and military officials knelt in unison, shouting in unison, "Your Majesty is wise, may the Prince Regent live for a thousand years," and no one dared to make another sound.

Lin Zhe sat in his seat the entire time without even lifting his eyelids, as if the person who had just jumped out was merely a buzzing mosquito. He tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of his chair, and the cold system notification sound rang in his mind right on cue:

[Ding! Cleanup of opposition forces in the court complete. Human Empire Rule Compatibility increased. Host Power of Rules +0.5%, current progress 99%!]

[Ding! Detected that top-tier female NPC, Human Queen Su Ninghua, has dealt with hostile forces with thunderous speed to protect the host's authority. Third Bond trigger progress +2%, current progress: 72%!]

This grand court session was broadcast live to the entire server. Hundreds of millions of players were squatting in the live stream, watching the whole process clearly. The bullet comments exploded, and the messages on the world channel flooded so fast that the server lagged for half a second:

[Holy crap? Is this old thing tired of living? He has the nerve to talk about ancestral precepts while committing treason? Beheading is letting him off easy!]

[The Queen is domineering! Directly confiscating his assets and putting them into the Luofeng Public Account! That's basically giving us a bonus! So satisfying!]

[The faces of those nobles who wanted to chime in just now turned pale. It's hilarious. They still wanted to cause trouble? I guess they forgot Zhou Mingyuan's head is still hanging at the city gate!]

[Big Boss Lin Zhe didn't even say a word the whole time, and the Queen handled it directly. Who else has this kind of status?]

After the court session adjourned, Lin Zhe had just stood up to leave when the Head Eunuch hurried in, bowed, and reported: "Your Majesty, Prince Regent, the Grand Elder of the Celestial Realm is waiting outside the palace gate with gifts, saying he wishes to congratulate the Prince Regent on his investiture."

Lin Zhe glanced toward the direction of the palace gate. Soft white light could be vaguely seen behind the clouds, and the corners of his mouth curled into an extremely faint arc.

The clowns have been cleaned up, and the benefits that should come will naturally be delivered to the door.