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Chapter 70
The Ministry of Works suddenly raised his head.
Emotions surged in his eyes, and suddenly the words Gu Sang had said in Lingnan flashed through his mind, her determined and confident demeanor, as if mocking his blind trust in the Emperor.
The Ministry of Works suddenly felt that his trust was a joke!
He shook his head in panic: "Your Majesty, the Fifty Great Punishments will take the life of your servant!"
"It is not that your humble servant is incompetent, but when I arrived in Lingnan, the Elder Princess had already monopolized sweet potatoes seven days before, Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
"Ah——!!"
The guards swiftly dragged the Minister of Works down.
Within the grand hall, the piercing cries and pleadings of the Ministry of Works lingered in the hearts of all the civil and military officials.
The entire court felt sympathetic towards the Ministry of Works, but not a single person dared to speak up at this moment, all lowering their heads, unaware of what they were thinking.
Pei Changying's gaze was like that of a rabid dog, fiercely staring at Gu Sang, as if wishing to charge into the screen and tear her to shreds.
Every word that came out of his mouth carried intense malice.
Pei Changying: "Vicious woman! It was you who played tricks behind the scenes! It was you who instigated Pei Weiqi to search for sweet potato vines! Have you truly forgotten the past affection between you and I?"
Gu Sang smiled brilliantly: "Of course I have."
Pei Changying gripped his fists tightly: "You think you can challenge me with mere sweet potatoes? I have hundreds of thousands of soldiers who can easily wipe out that traitor Pei Weiqi!"
"I will make you witness with your own eyes how I execute Pei Weiqi!"
"All those who dare to attempt to overthrow my reign deserve to die a thousand deaths, and you are no exception!"
Faced with Pei Changying's hateful gaze, Gu Sang did not show the slightest hint of fear.
Since Pei Changying wanted to reveal his true colors, there was nothing more to say!
If the fish dies, the net breaks!
Suddenly!
Gu Sang turned her gaze towards the third split screen, where tens of thousands of commoners were gathered outside the palace walls.
With biting words and heartfelt sentences, she questioned: "What crime has the Elder Princess committed in saving the city from plague? What crime is there in finding sweet potatoes to alleviate the disaster?"
"Must you, the lofty ruler, set aside your dignity before deigning to give your subjects a meal?"
"People, open your eyes and take a good look at your Emperor. He has long known about sweet potatoes and that mass cultivation would feed you."
"Yet he claimed sweet potatoes are a foreign product, eating them would be undignified, and ordered that no one seek them out."
"What crime has the Elder Princess committed? She merely cared for the people and ordered someone to find sweet potatoes."
"And what crime did Consort Zhao commit? She merely informed the Elder Princess of where the plague had occurred, allowing the Elder Princess to bring physicians to save lives."
"Yet you, this lofty Emperor, felt affronted that someone dared to disobey you. You immediately flew into a rage and imprisoned Consort Zhao and the Zhao Family in the dungeons."
"You envy the country I come from, where everyone is well-fed and happy. That is because we have true rulers who care for all under Heaven, not selfish and greedy dog Emperors who only care about filling their own bellies and neglect the people!"
"......."
Suddenly—
The entire hall was in an uproar!
A large portion of the commoners outside the palace walls did not understand these court affairs, and upon hearing Gu Sang's scolding, they did not know what had happened.
After inquiring with each other, they finally understood the reasons behind it.
It turned out...
In the Immortal's future world, there was a food called sweet potatoes that was delicious and, more importantly, could prevent hunger!
But their Emperor did not send anyone to seek out this life-saving food!
It turned out...
A plague had occurred in a distant place, but their lofty Emperor ignored the lives of the people and did not allow physicians to go and save them.
It was the Elder Princess who personally led physicians there and cured the plague.
When the truth was revealed, the commoners did not immediately become enraged, but instead felt a sense of desolation, numbness, doubt, and condemnation.
"Is what the Immortal said true? Did the Emperor really neglect the lives of us commoners? Could it be a lie?"
"Wasn't Consort Zhao unchaste? The Emperor wouldn't slander a consort, would he? What exactly is the situation here? Can someone explain the details?"
"Heh, if this is true, then the Emperor is a tyrannical ruler!"
"We can't even eat our fill, yet he's doing well, worrying about losing dignity by eating this meal! We have no lives, what dignity is there to speak of?"
"......."
"Why didn't the Elder Princess bring the sweet potatoes back after finding them? These children of the imperial family are all selfish and only care about themselves, never minding whether us commoners live or die."
"Let the court come out and explain the truth, and everything will be clear!"
"Yes, let the court come out and explain!"
A small disturbance erupted among the crowd, but they fell silent as cicadas in winter when hundreds of soldiers drew their swords.
Gu Sang gazed coldly at this scene. The ancient commoners had already ingrained the imperial power in their very bones.
Even if they had a momentary impulse, the deep-rooted beliefs made them doubt, fear, disbelieve, and dare not easily oppose the imperial power.
Gu Sang was not disappointed.
Her words today were meant to plant a seed in the hearts of the commoners, and this seed would eventually sprout: "Pei Changying, whether the truth or not, the commoners will find out one day."
"I only know that Pei Weiqi will die before the truth emerges!"
"Gu Sang, do not provoke me further. Your troops are nothing in the face of my hundreds of thousands of valiant soldiers!" Is that so?
But next, it was Consort Zhao's turn to appear.
By then, Pei Changying would know that even hundreds of thousands of valiant soldiers were nothing before the hearts of the people!
In the Xuyang Palace.
Consort Li stood quietly in the corner, watching the livestream. She knew the Ministry of Works had returned from Lingnan...
She was truly afraid!
Afraid that after helping Consort Zhao, she would meet the same fate.
"Elder Sister Zhao, I really don't know what to do."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...."
"Wuu wuu I'm scared, I don't know if I should help pass on your message. I promised you, but I'm afraid of implicating myself....."
It was during Consort Li's struggle and inner turmoil that a film that would solidify her resolve was about to begin!
Gu Sang had planned to have the ancients watch a film, and this afternoon happened to have time, so she went to the cinema with Lu Mufei and chose the newly released earthquake rescue film.
After buying tickets and entering, they came to a MAX giant screen 2D cinema.
Consort Li wore a pained expression, constantly wringing her handkerchief as she looked towards the livestream of the movie theater.
Gasps of astonishment arose from the consorts around: "Good heavens! What an enormous screen! Is that thing making sounds a television? How can it be that huge?"
"Hey, why did it suddenly go dark?"
Gu Sang and Lu Mufei found a spot to sit, then addressed the live broadcast: "We happen to have some free time today, so let's watch a movie together. This is a movie theater."