Dream of the Red Chamber: After being exiled, I went on a killing spree in Liaodong.

No one answered.

You look at me, I look at you.

Who knows Jia Yi? Why would he help them?

a long time--

"Let's go..."

"It's better to pay money to save your life than to lose your head."

"well……"

Sighs echoed like autumn leaves swept away by the wind.

"Alright!" Zhang Yong slapped the armrest. "Then let's prepare the funds immediately!"

"Once everything is ready, I will personally enter the city and meet with the King of Qin!"

He couldn't sleep a wink until this matter was resolved.

"Walk!"

The crowd dispersed.

Meanwhile, Jia Yi, who was stationed in the prefectural city and commanding the army to suppress the remnants of the White Lotus Sect, was...

We have learned from the secret reports of the Embroidered Uniform Guard that powerful families in Guangdong and Guangxi have supplied large amounts of grain and provisions to the White Lotus Sect.

He raised the corner of his lips and chuckled softly:

"Heh, here to throw money away again?"

With this leverage, confiscating their property becomes perfectly legitimate.

When the time comes, he can just slip a little profit through his fingers to Emperor Yuankang, and the rest will all be his own.

He never expected that those people would actually come to him on their own.

When Zhang Yong and his entourage arrived in the prefectural city with their large convoy,

Looking at the Great Qian Army flag fluttering in the wind atop the city wall, I felt a mix of emotions.

If only I had known this would happen, I would have delivered the grain even a few days later...

"stop!"

The guards at the city gate shouted sternly, their eyes like knives, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Musketeers behind them had already locked onto the convoy from the city wall.

They were ready to fire at the command.

"Please calm down, sir." Zhang Yong bowed and smiled obsequiously. "We have come to request an audience with the King of Qin."

"I am the head of the Zhang family of Guangdong and Guangxi."

They adopted an extremely humble posture.

If not for the circumstances, would he, the head of a prestigious family, bow down to a lowly border soldier?

"Wait here," the soldier said coldly. "I'll go inform the prince."

After saying this, he turned and left, heading straight for the Prince of Nan'an's residence.

Zhang Yong and the others stepped aside to clear the way.

They silently observed the city's defenders—their armor was gleaming, their killing intent palpable, and every gesture exuded an aura of iron and blood.

At this moment, they finally understood why the White Lotus Sect had been defeated so quickly.

Those so-called "followers" were nothing more than a group of farmers with knives.

The army before us... is a truly ferocious force that has witnessed mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

It was only natural that they lost.

"A prominent family from Guangdong and Guangxi requests an audience?"

Jia Yi sat upright behind the desk, his eyebrows slightly raised.

How many people came?

Jia Yi narrowed his eyes, a hint of amusement rising in his heart.

The original plan was to send people to take action in a few days and uproot these prominent families from Guangdong and Guangxi.

Unexpectedly, they came to us of their own accord.

"Your Highness, there are twenty or thirty people outside."

The guards reported this in a low voice.

"Heh, it seems that none of the well-known families in Guangdong and Guangxi have been left out."

Jia Yi chuckled lightly, "Bring him in."

"yes!"

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, footsteps approached from afar.

The soldiers led Zhang Yong and the other family heads in single file, all of them neatly dressed and with respectful expressions that bordered on obsequious.

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

A group of people knelt down in unison, their foreheads almost touching the ground.

"Yes, get up."

Jia Yi nodded lazily.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Everyone stood up, their faces full of ingratiating smiles, but their eyes held a hint of probing.

"Speak, what do you want with me?"

Jia Yi didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly.

Zhang Yong was taken aback.

This King of Qin... no pleasantries, no formalities? He's so ruthless, getting straight to the point.

But then I thought about it again—this prince doesn't play by the rules, and his mind is often unpredictable.

It was no longer surprising.

"Your Highness, I am ashamed!"

Zhang Yong sighed, his old face scrunched up, "When the White Lotus Sect rebelled, they looted our warehouse and took a large amount of silver..."

"If it weren't for the Prince's swift and decisive action in quelling the rebellion, we would likely have been condemned for eternity!"

"That's right! It was all thanks to His Highness's heroic efforts that the situation was turned around!"

"Your Highness is a lucky star for Guangdong and Guangxi, and the backbone of the Great Qian Dynasty!"

"Heaven blesses our dynasty, bestowing upon us such a wise ruler!"

The crowd behind him immediately followed suit, showering him with flattery like a tidal wave.

"So—you've colluded with the enemy?"

The moment Jia Yi finished speaking, his killing intent, like a blade drawn from its sheath, swept across the entire hall.

Zhang Yong and the others froze, their legs trembling, and they almost collapsed to the ground on the spot.

"Your Highness, please see the truth!"

Zhang Yong suddenly looked up, "That silver was forcibly stolen! We certainly didn't intentionally give it to the enemy!"

"But as far as I know..."

Jia Yi slowly picked up his teacup, blew on it, and said, "That batch of silver was 'presented' by you yourselves."

His tone was casual, yet it was as powerful as a thunderclap.

Everyone's expression changed drastically.

They never expected that Jia Yi would find out about this so quickly.

"Your Highness, we had no other choice!"

Zhang Yong's voice trembled, and his eyes reddened. "The White Lotus Sect threatened to massacre our entire clan! We...we just wanted to live!"

"Yes, Your Highness! We are victims too!"

"Please have mercy and spare our lives!"

A chorus of wails erupted, and people kowtowed repeatedly.

Jia Yi watched coldly, his expression unchanged.

He understands their choice.

But if you have different stances, it's a dead end.

Zhang Yong noticed that cold gaze, and his heart sank—this is bad, the King of Qin is about to make a move!

"Your Highness!"

He gritted his teeth and pulled an account book from his sleeve. "This is the nearly two million taels of silver we've scraped together. We're offering it all up, just to save our lives!"

Before he could finish speaking, he knelt down with a thud and kowtowed heavily.

The other family heads followed suit, leaving lists of gold and silver scattered all over the ground.

"Your money?"

Jia Yi scoffed, "These things were originally mine."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.

Become!

Money makes the world go round, and the King of Qin was finally tempted!

"Thank you so much, Your Highness, for your mercy! Thank you so much, Your Highness, for your mercy!"

The fear on his face had not yet faded, but hope had already ignited in his eyes.

Just as they were secretly rejoicing—

"Someone come here!"

Jia Yi suddenly stood up, and his sharp shout made the roof beams tremble slightly.

"Throw them all into jail, leave no one alive!"

The guards outside responded and entered, their armor clanging.

"Um?!"

Zhang Yong looked up abruptly, his face full of astonishment.

You took the money, and you still want to arrest us?!

Are you crazy?!

"Your Highness... what do you mean by this?"

Zhang Yong's voice trembled, and the last shred of hope in his heart completely collapsed.

He finally understood—

This is not about negotiating terms.

This is a case of "double-crossing"!

"I'll take the money."

Jia Yi stood up, looking down at the man with a chilling smile on his lips.

"I'll take your life too."

"Jia Yi, you—"

Zhang Yong's blood rushed to his head, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he wanted nothing more than to pounce on him and tear him apart!

Before he could even utter a curse, Zhang Yong was slapped so hard by one of Jia Yi's personal guards that he spun around on the spot.

"Snapped!"

Blood and foam mixed with three or four teeth spurted from his mouth, drawing a gruesome arc in the air.

It hurts to look at it!

"You audacious wretch, how dare you call the Prince by his name?"

The guard's eyes were like knives, fixed intently on Zhang Yong's face.

If Jia Yi hadn't ordered him to be imprisoned first, this slap would have been followed by a beheading.

"I...I..."

Zhang Yong was struck by that piercing gaze, and his crotch instantly became soaked, his legs trembling like a leaf.

The other family heads who had come along felt their hearts pounding, secretly relieved—

Fortunately, I kept my mouth shut and didn't join in the commotion.

Otherwise, there would be more than one person lying on the ground after being slapped.