Her voice has never been loud, yet it carries a kind of chill that leaves no room for distraction.
"First item, case filing status." She opened the ledger, and the clerks immediately picked up their pens. "A total of seventy-one cases were filed by the Inspection Department this year."
Someone on the tiered seats took a gentle breath; this number meant that a case was uncovered almost every four days.
Erin continued: "The cases verified and executed for punishment are as follows..."
She read them out one by one: "Embezzlement of disaster relief grain, thirty-one cases; withholding of spring planting seeds, twenty-two cases; unauthorized tax setups, covertly collecting reconstruction fees, twelve cases; harboring Evil God worship, six cases, including five altars."
When "Evil God worship" was mentioned, the entire hall noticeably grew colder, as if the chill seeped into their skin.
