A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Wei Du led his men to Shi Xian's residence. Only he could personally lead the search; other officials dared not get involved.

Moreover, they couldn't even get into the houses of these people.

Having gained experience from searching the Honggong residence, the search in the heart of Shixian became extremely smooth.

The places where the two people hid their things were not exactly similar, but rather identical.

Wei Du's men easily searched and found all sorts of hidden treasures and evidence.

Shi Xian was a little smarter than Hong Gong in that he didn't bark at Wei Du.

But the outcome is the same for both.

Faced with such a treacherous and disastrous eunuch, Wei Du had him executed. To let them live even a second longer would be irresponsible to the people on both sides of the Zhuo River.

Send men to cut off the heads of Hong Gong and Shi Xian, preserve them, and when the time comes to reach the banks of the Zhuo River, take these heads with you and fill them into the foundation of the Zhuo River to warn corrupt officials throughout the land.

These two were just appetizers. Although the eunuchs wielded considerable power, they were ultimately rootless and adrift. After killing them, even if Emperor Xuan of Han was unhappy, he wouldn't say anything more.

They're just two dogs.

The next two families we'll face are quite different: the Shi family, who are related to the imperial family through marriage, and the Wang family, who are also related to the imperial family through marriage.

One was the family of Emperor Xuan of Han's grandmother, and the other was his maternal family.

According to the investigation, Shi Xuan and Wang Wu were the ones who directly participated in the project and played a leading role.

These two men were Emperor Xuan of Han's maternal uncle and his maternal great-uncle.

This is different from what eunuchs could easily discard.

Even he should treat this with caution.

Upon arriving at Shi Xuan's residence, they were greeted by the guards employed by Shi Xuan's household.

It's clear they all come from a martial arts background, and their aura is completely different from that of the guards in Hong Gong and Shi Xian's mansions.

"Wei Du, how dare you seal off my residence!"

Shi Xuan saw Wei Du and roared.

Wei Du picked at his ear. Why did they keep saying the same thing? There was nothing new about it.

He's tired of hearing it.

"Are you coming with me to the prison, or should I kidnap you and take you there?"

Wei Du said impatiently.

The evidence found in Hong Gong and Shi Xian's homes clearly shows that Shi Xuan and Wang Wu were involved and made huge profits from it.

Many of the connections in this chain of interests were made by Shi Xuan and Wang Wu.

After all, it would be difficult for the two eunuchs, Hong Gong and Shi Xian, to achieve a flawless result.

Those truly powerful figures could only be persuaded through the influence of the maternal relatives of Shi Xuan and Wang Wu.

"How dare you arrest me?"

Shi Xuan said in disbelief.

"Aren't you guys annoying? Why do you keep saying the same thing over and over again?"

"What? You think you're so high and mighty that you can break the law and no one will dare to arrest you?"

"Who do you think you are? You really think you're something special!"

"The prince is subject to the same law as the commoner!"

"Garlic bird, garlic bird, why am I talking to you so much? If you have something to say, go say it in prison."

Wei Du was surrounded by the Imperial Guards of Chang'an, far superior to the ordinary retired soldiers around Shi Xuan.

"Arrest them!"

At Wei Du's command, the soldiers around him charged forward like hungry tigers.

Shi Xuan's guards were quickly overwhelmed and retreated in disarray.

Although Shi Xuan's territory was large, it was still limited in size.

Before long, he was captured by these imperial guards and brought before Wei Du.

"When you reached for funds meant for flood control, did you ever imagine this day would come?"

Wei Du asked Shi Xuan.

"Do you think you can judge me just because you arrested me?"

"You're dreaming!"

"I am a Marquis of Pingtai, a title conferred by the imperial court. You are not qualified to kill me!"

"Just you wait, I'll be out of jail soon, and you'll get your revenge!"

"I don't believe your Wei family would turn against our Shi and Wang families for your sake!"

Shi Xuan continued to shout.

He dodged the hands of the imperial guards around him that were grabbing his shoulders, and with a forceful tug, he stumbled.

He was a pampered son of a powerful family, with a frail body, and how could he possibly escape the fierce and ruthless Imperial Guards?

"Wei Du isn't afraid of me, and he even dares to look down on you common soldiers!"

"Let go of me right now! I can walk by myself!"

"You believe me or not, just wait until I get out, and I'll make your whole family regret it!"

Shi Xuan shouted to the two imperial guards beside him.

The two imperial guards' faces were filled with disgust for Shi Xuan; these nobles were all bad people.

As the Imperial Guards responsible for protecting Chang'an, they knew the nature of these privileged young men well.

Do you know who they are?

Wei Du asked Shi Xuan.

"I don't know. He's just a common soldier. What kind of distinguished status could he possibly have?"

Shi Xuan said dismissively.

"I don't know."

"It's good that he doesn't know. He's in your hands now. He doesn't know who you are anyway. Even if you beat him black and blue, or break him, with me here, he won't be able to find you."

"You're so arrogant. I thought you knew them. That might actually cause them some trouble."

Wei Du turned around to indicate that he couldn't see anything.

The two imperial guards dragged Shi Xuan into a corner and gave him a severe beating.

Only then did I feel refreshed and take him away.

"Lord Wei, what crime has my younger brother committed that warrants your direct arrest?"

"We urge Lord Wei to explain this clearly. Even if my Shi family is inferior to the Wei family, we will not allow ourselves to be bullied!"

Just then, Shi Gao arrived and saw the Imperial Guards taking away a pig's head, but he couldn't recognize that it was his brother.

"To be bullied by others? I would never dare to bully your Shi family. How noble you Shi family are, daring to embezzle even the funds for river management and using sand and dirt stones instead of the finest materials. How could I dare to bully you!"

Wei Du retorted sarcastically.

The third brother embezzled the river management funds?!

Shi Gao cursed the fool in his heart. Emperor Xuan of Han had repeatedly ordered them not to touch this money, yet Shi Xuan still dared to embezzle it.

But this was his younger brother after all, and he couldn't just stand by and watch his brother die.

"Lord Wei, could you please give our Shi family some face and pretend that the third son was never involved in this matter?"

"We are willing to take out all the money that Shi Xuan embezzled, and then add an extra 100 million coins for river management."

"If only I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done it in the first place."

Wei Du shook his head. "I cannot forgive him on behalf of the people on both sides of the Zhuo River."

"Three hundred million coins!"

"I know that Lord Wei cares about the people. If you are lenient, there will be 300 million coins invested in the treatment of the Zhuohe River."

Shi Gao was good at persuasion and directly grasped Wei Du's weakness.

It's a pity that Shi Xuan crossed his bottom line, otherwise he might have actually given in on other matters.

"no."

Now, more and more people are gathering around, and through word of mouth, everyone knows what happened.

Shi Gao glanced at the surrounding people and knew that he couldn't let things escalate any further. Seeing that Wei Du wasn't going to give the Shi family any face, he immediately abandoned this route and headed to the palace.

"Make way for me, I have urgent business to discuss with His Majesty."