"Y-Your Majesty…"
Hu Chen's voice was full of fear.
He had held a high position for many years, and his body had long grown fat and pampered.
Elara's pressure had already pushed his timid nature to the edge. When he saw her suddenly appear in front of him like a ghost, getting right in his face in a blink, Hu Chen's legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, unable to say a complete sentence.
Elara looked at his cowardly and terrified expression. Her anger grew even stronger, and her face turned colder.
"Since 137 people in Xunding City died because of you, then Hu County Governor, I'll pull 137 of your relatives to be buried with them."
Hu Chen froze. His eyes went wide like he had just heard something horrifying. He suddenly let out a loud and miserable scream, begging in panic.
"No! No no! Your Majesty! It was my fault! I lost my mind! I was blinded by greed! But... but my family is innocent, they... ah!!"
He crawled forward trying to hug Elara's legs to beg for mercy, but she kicked him hard in the chest. His fat body slammed into the door with a thud, and he slumped to the ground.
"Innocent?" Elara sneered, walking slowly to stand over him and looked down at him coldly. "Then tell me, did none of your family eat a single grain of the food you stole? Did none of them spend a coin of the money you sold to the black market?"
"If you dare guarantee that none of your family ever touched a bit of what you stole, I'll let them go, how about that?"
"Oh, now that I think of it…" Elara bent down, grabbing Hu Chen by the throat, forcing him to look at her.
"Hu County Governor, I suddenly remembered that when you all used to work under Lord Gregory, even though you were cowardly and didn't dare accept his huge bribes of food and money, Lord Gregory still purposely raised your official salaries to ridiculous amounts so you could live in luxury without technically taking bribes, right?"
"Now that I'm in charge, I won't follow Lord Gregory's way. In fact, the new system I've put in place gives far less than what you used to get. It's not even enough to fill the gaps between your teeth. That's why even someone like you, once timid and passive, finally couldn't hold back and turned on your own people. Am I right?"
Each time Elara finished a sentence, Hu Chen trembled harder.
His face was full of fear and guilt, like someone who had been fully exposed.
He... he really had always been a cautious man. Back then, he never dared accept Lord Gregory's massive bribes because he feared getting caught.
But to keep them satisfied, Lord Gregory had greatly raised their official pay, dozens of times higher, which did let them live in luxury without needing to steal.
So over the years, even though they didn't have obvious dealings with Lord Gregory or clear crimes, they had still lived rich, wasteful lives with wealth a commoner couldn't spend in several lifetimes.
But after Elara got rid of Lord Gregory and the others, sweeping away the old corrupt ways and rebuilding the system, those who had gotten used to the rich life suddenly had to live simply again.
This kind of fall from living in luxury to eating plain food was hard to bear. Not just Hu Chen himself couldn't take it, even his wives, concubines, and relatives had already grown used to a rich lifestyle. How could they possibly be satisfied with this current poverty?
So after holding back for the first few months, seeing that Elara was out fighting everywhere every day, and people like Francis and Damon were also busy with campaigns across the land, and the other high-ranking officials at court were so busy they barely had time to breathe, it seemed like no one had time to manage his region.
Under the pressure of his own growing desires and his family's nightly complaints, Hu Chen slowly grew bold. He planned to start small and test the waters by targeting the least noticeable place under his rule, Xunding City.
But unexpectedly, the moment he made a move, he was caught directly by Kristof, the head of the Ministry of Justice. And today, Kristof presented his crimes to the emperor right in the grand hall without warning, in front of everyone.
Hu Chen collapsed completely, his whole body trembling with panic. He tried to speak but couldn't form a complete sentence. All he could do was sob in terror and beg for mercy, "It's all my fault! I deserve to die! I deserve to die!!"
Elara saw him like this and knew her guess had been correct.
She threw him aside and looked coldly at the group of old ministers standing at the back of the court. "So you all think the same way as him? You think the salaries I give you are too low? Not enough to feed you?"
Those ministers were already shaking in fear. When Elara described how Hu Chen committed his crimes, the ones who still had some sense had already guessed that they would likely be dragged down with him.
Now that Elara really turned to question them, the group of old ministers all fell to their knees with a loud thud. They shouted their innocence and swore they wouldn't dare, while secretly cursing Hu Chen for dragging them down with him.
Elara stared at them for a while but didn't take action against them just yet.
She turned her eyes back to Hu Chen, who was slumped on the ground, the stink of urine already spreading from under his legs. "Kristof, send people to search Hu Chen's home. From his relatives, pick out the 137 people who gained the most from him and have the top officers of the Ministry of Justice escort them personally to Xunding City. Write out their crimes clearly and parade them through the city for three days. Then, in the busiest central spot of Xunding City, execute them one by one."
"After the execution, no one is allowed to collect their bodies. Hang their corpses in the city center for one month and let the local people whip and insult them as they please."
"The city leader of Xunding and all the corrupt officials involved in this embezzlement will be punished in the exact same way."
"For every life lost and every disaster these corrupt officials caused, drag out the same number of their family members to be buried with them!"
When Hu Chen heard Elara declare the punishment for his family, his whole body convulsed and he fainted as if struck by lightning.
The old ministers who had already been trembling in fear were even more horrified. Some of them even collapsed to the ground, faces pale and stunned.
The other officials in court looked very serious. The way they looked at those old ministers and Hu Chen was full of cold anger.
Most of them were newly appointed officials who had passed the imperial exams. In the past, they came from very humble backgrounds, and some were even former slaves.
Because they had suffered under corrupt officials, the thing they hated most were greedy, law-breaking officials who harmed the people.
For the past few months, they had been working tirelessly day and night, trying to complete all their tasks. They never expected that people like Hu Chen had slipped into their ranks like poison.