"It was the year 1998, I was just 68 years old, in the prime of my life... I had the great fortune of serving under Former City Lord Hong Xue, holding an administrative management position at the City Lord’s Mansion. Life was simple yet blissful. It was a summer morning, the weather was perfect, and the sunlight was dazzling. I can still recall the warmth of the sun on my face. Taking advantage of a work break, I took a few extra pastries from the self-service breakfast and rested in the garden. There, I happened to meet the newly appointed Zhao Chenlu. Out of goodwill, I greeted her, but, who would have thought, who would have thought she would use such vile language to sullied my innocence, trample on my dignity, and insult my character, leaving an indelible stain on my life history..."

As he spoke, the 88-year-old trembling old man on stage could not help but shed tears, his old face streaked with tears, leaving the audience feeling shivers and disgust, almost to the point of vomiting.

Only the host, Zhao Hongwu, remained unfazed, suppressing the instinctual reactions of the flesh with his powerful Primordial Spirit. He continued to press, "I know this is a painful memory for you, but to help everyone better understand the evil nature of Zhao Chenlu, I need you to recount the details of that time. What kind of vile language did she use to tarnish your innocence?"

Upon hearing this, 88-year-old Zhao Xiao’s whole body trembled even more intensely, like a sieve, but soon he displayed a determined martyr-like expression: "I, I understand, but even though twenty years have passed, every time I recall what happened then, I can’t help but feel pain and despair, so when restoring the history, I might lose control a bit. Please forgive me... At that time, I was sitting by the flowerbed drinking tea, reading the newspaper, and eating cake. I happened to see Zhao Chenlu passing by the eastern gate of the garden. Thinking that although she was decades younger than me, she was, after all, the new City Lord, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me, as an elder, to keep up any pretense, I nodded to her and greeted her politely. Who would have thought, who would have thought..."

As he spoke, Zhao Xiao again burst into tears, causing the audience’s once-soothed stomachs to churn anew.

"Who would have thought, that demoness frowned deeply upon seeing me, as if looking at garbage, and then said, ’Where did this hideous thing come from? Is someone nearby indulging in reproductive worship, putting such an eyesore in the City Lord’s Mansion to turn others’ stomachs? Quickly get the personnel to drive this face-wrinkled-as-an-egg thing out! It’s such a mood killer...’"

The history of that year had obviously been repeatedly chewed over in Zhao Xiao’s mind, and despite two decades passing, the scenes were still vivid and clear. Zhao Xiao’s recounting of Zhao Chenlu’s words had a similar tone and manner to the real person, making many familiar with Zhao Chenlu feel as though they were right there.

The problem is...

"Wait a minute, Zhao Chenlu’s words were indeed vicious and harsh, but what does this have to do with sexual harassment?" An Elder in the front row couldn’t help but ask.

On stage, Zhao Xiao immediately displayed a delicate expression of receiving a second wave of hurt: "What, what kind of question is that? Can’t you see such obvious sexual harassment? Do I have to spell it out for you? How can you be so vicious!"

The Elder, who was bitten back, was utterly shocked: "I’m vicious? You old thing dare not wear a mask with that countenance, and you have the face to accuse me of being vicious? Truly the most ridiculous thing under heaven!"

"You!?"

Seeing an imminent fight between those on and off stage, the host Zhao Hongwu coughed to control the scene. He then waved Zhao Xiao off stage while explaining for him: "Zhao Chenlu likened Mr. Zhao Xiao’s face to the human scrotum, which is evidently an extremely disrespectful insult. Mr. Zhao has worked diligently for many years, the wrinkles on his face are marks of his labor, yet they were compared in such a vulgar manner..."

"But this still doesn’t count as sexual harassment!?"

Upon hearing this doubt, Zhao Xiao, now halfway down the stage, burst into anger: "I am a pure virgin, if such filthy words are cast upon me, what else is it if not sexual harassment!?"

"What the f***!?"

The phrase "pure virgin" had a destructive power akin to Qingyu True Essence Divine Thunder, creating explosive effects that left the audience shocked and disoriented. Some in the back rows immediately clutched their stomachs, their faces turning pale as they left the venue.

The host, Zhao Hongwu, also felt extremely awkward, glancing at the agenda in his hand, gritting his teeth and questioning the secretary: "How was someone like this allowed on stage!?"

The secretary hastily explained: "The event members thought starting with sexual harassment would easily attract attention and gain focus."

"Collective suicide would attract more attention!"

——

Fortunately, after Zhao Xiao, the speakers who came to the stage refrained from such absurd antics and instead used their own experiences to unequivocally expose the various crimes committed by Zhao Chenlu during her tenure as City Lord.

"I am Zhao Shixun, formerly the supervisor of external affairs in Golden Jade City. My family has been involved in external affairs for three hundred years, and my father, Zhao Heping, facilitated multiple strategic collaborations between Golden Jade City and Celestial Craft City eighty years ago. It would not be an exaggeration to call us a family of external affairs. During my tenure, although I did not achieve anything as astonishing as my father, I can honestly say that I was diligent and had no faults. However, shortly after taking office, former City Lord Zhao Chenlu dismissed me from the City Lord’s Mansion for ridiculous and unreasonable reasons."

"She said that external affairs workers are the facade of Golden Jade City. They don’t need to be unmatched like her, but at least they should be bright and impressive, whereas my plain appearance would undoubtedly disgrace the city famed for having Xiangzhou’s number one beauty."

The audience immediately began to murmur upon hearing these words.

"That remark sounds very familiar."

"Just earlier, Zhao Egg, oh no, Zhao Xiao was also mocked by Zhao Chenlu for having an ugly appearance; no wonder it sounds familiar to you."

"No, no, not those two. Back in the day when our trading house invited City Lord Zhao, oh no, former City Lord, to a banquet, she took just one glance at me and said that as the head of the trading house, I should at least be bright and impressive if not unmatched, and that my ugly appearance affected her appetite, so she turned around and left. This made our nearly finalized project with Heaven-Reaching City fall through."

"Now that you mention it, I remember back then I also..."

The audience below began recalling the fear and humiliation imposed on them by Zhao Chenlu. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Zhao Hongwu said, "Everyone, please be quiet, Zhao Shixun is not finished speaking!"

Zhao Shixun gave him a grateful look and continued, "Actually, I am well aware of my plain appearance. Zhao Chenlu despised me for being ugly, so I considered getting cosmetic surgery. However, she also said I was cowardly and couldn’t even keep my own wife, let alone safeguard the interests of Golden Jade City. So... she dismissed me on the spot from the City Lord’s Mansion. It was pitiful that I had just been promoted to supervisor of external affairs, had taken out a loan to buy a suburban property, and set a wedding date with my beloved of two years. However, after Zhao Chenlu stripped me of my position, my life spiraled downward. First, I couldn’t repay the loan due to decreased income, and the wedding house that my beloved and I had carefully designed and decorated was repossessed by the bank. Then, due to being unable to afford the wedding, my beloved left me. I was left to live in Golden Jade City as a living corpse for twenty years, believing that my life would be forever shrouded in darkness. However, the heavens granted me a chance for revenge. My abilities are limited, and I can’t do much, but at least I can share my experiences with everyone and expose the despicable crimes of Zhao Chenlu!"

——

"I am Master Wu, the head of Xinyue Trading House. Eighteen years ago, the Broken Gold Garden project we invested in was nearing completion, but Zhao Chenlu ordered its halt, calling its aesthetic taste vulgar and claiming it marred the city’s appearance, leading to its complete removal within three days... The project we invested tens of thousands of Spirit Stones and five years of time in was ruined by her personal whims! When I confronted her with the construction contract signed with the Golden Jade City Lord’s Mansion, she said it was from the previous City Lord’s time and had nothing to do with her! I then took out the Golden Jade City law code and questioned her as to why she wouldn’t acknowledge the contract signed by the former City Lord, to which she shamelessly said her personal preferences always overrode the law code!"

"I am..."

For the next whole hour, people from all over Golden Jade City took turns speaking on stage, depicting with their tragic experiences the image of a peerless demoness guilty of countless misdeeds.

Objectively speaking, during Zhao Chenlu’s tenure as City Lord, she didn’t commit any atrocious acts that would ruin humanity, but as the City Lord of Golden Jade City, she embodied the words "willful arrogance" to the extreme. Neither the millennium-old Golden Jade Code nor the city’s millions of inhabitants seemed to matter to her. In her whims, she could trample over millions. Even though she didn’t commit any sky-punishing crimes, she’s indeed guilty of "numerous offenses."

Having listened to the whole process, Wang Jiu couldn’t help but reflect that his old friend truly never forgot her original intention; even after a millennia-long resurrection, she maintained the exact same demeanor as back in the day.

Back then, the most beautiful woman in Jiuzhou also had no regard for anyone and did whatever she pleased, creating countless enemies. Yet, her personal charm was nearly divine; with just her looks, she could turn foes into friends countless times, causing many to suffer from her while remaining sweetly willing to endure. Now, Zhao Chenlu could never match the cultivation of her past life in the Jiuzhou Era, unable to dissolve hatred with her charm, leading to her current predicament.

Thus, it becomes evident that in this world, power is everything. As long as one’s strength is formidable, humanity’s so-called ethics and norms can all be twisted and trampled upon. Zhao Chenlu, having been reborn for over thirty years in this life, has managed only to regain her strength to the Sea Overturning Realm. Even considering environmental constraints, she appears somewhat neglectful, and thus her current plight is indeed self-inflicted.

As these thoughts arose, the crowd suddenly quieted down, refocusing all attention back onto the stage.

A clear spring descended from the sky, transforming into a delicate and charming beauty.

She was none other than Zhao Chenlu’s personal maid, the key figure in this coup, Zhao Lingbo!