The Tyrant of the Great Qian Dynasty: Not only will I refuse to arrange a marriage alliance, but I w

Su Zhe returned covered in blood, his warhorse beneath him muscular and spewing hot white breath from its nostrils, its hooves pounding restlessly in place, making a dull "clattering" sound.

He did not dismount outside the palace, but rode straight into the most sacred Golden Palace of the Great Qian Dynasty.

On the smooth, mirror-like floor tiles, clear hoof prints were left, mixed with dark red bloodstains.

He held a head in one hand and casually tossed it forward.

The head traced an arc through the air before crashing heavily into the hall, rolling a considerable distance before finally coming to rest at the feet of an official.

The eyes on his head were wide open, filled with the terror and disbelief of his dying breath; it was none other than Huyan Zhuo, the vanguard general of the Northern Barbarians.

The civil and military officials, who had just been whispering among themselves about the retreat of the barbarian soldiers and had their own thoughts, all fell silent.

Inside the vast Golden Palace, you could hear a pin drop; only heavy breathing echoed between the beams and pillars.

All eyes were on the young prince riding a horse, clad in blood-red armor.

He was still the Ninth Prince they knew, but the aura of iron-blooded ruthlessness emanating from him made them feel incredibly unfamiliar and fearful.

Finally, an elderly minister with white hair and beard walked shakily out of the queue.

He was Wang Su, the Minister of Rites, who served in the three reigns of the Daqian Emperor and was highly respected.

He dared not directly accuse Su Zhe of indiscriminately killing enemy generals, as that was, after all, a tremendous achievement.

So he began with etiquette, speaking in a pained tone: "Your Highness! The Golden Palace is where the Emperor and his ministers discuss state affairs; how solemn it is! How can we allow warhorses to trespass and stain it with blood? This act violates the ancestral rules established since the founding of our Great Qian Dynasty and is utterly improper!"

His voice was old yet loud, full of the admonitory tone of a teacher.

Some conservative old ministers nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

In their view, rules are paramount.

Su Zhe was not angry upon hearing this.

He dismounted, his boots clicking on the smooth tiles with a crisp "thud," leaving a clear bloody footprint.

He didn't look at Wang Su, but instead pointed to the armor he was wearing that was almost soaked in blood.

The armor was crisscrossed with marks from swords and axes, and exuded a strong smell of blood.

"Minister Wang, have you seen it clearly?"

Su Zhe spoke, his voice calm yet each word reaching every corner of the hall.

"This is the blood of my Great Qian soldiers, and also the blood of the northern barbarians. I use it to commemorate the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians slaughtered on the border, and to console the heroic souls who died on the battlefield. This is the greatest 'propriety' today!"

He paused, turned around, and looked directly at Wang Su's wrinkled old face.

"Or, Minister Wang, would you rather watch the barbarian warhorses trample freely here, and then lead your officials in a respectful discussion about what kind of ceremony to use to hand over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun to them?"

Wang Su's old face turned bright red, from the base of his neck all the way to behind his ears.

His lips trembled as he forced a defense: "One thing at a time! Although Your Highness has rendered meritorious service in repelling the enemy, the laws of the nation cannot be abolished! The rules of our ancestors cannot be disordered! If everyone disregarded the rules like Your Highness, wouldn't our Great Qian be thrown into chaos!"

As he spoke, he frequently winked at the officials around him.

He attempted to suppress Su Zhe by using the big labels of "laws" and "rules," placing himself on a moral high ground and hoping to garner the support of other officials to put pressure on Su Zhe.

After all, many of the people present had climbed to their high positions by following these "rules".

"rule?"

Su Zhe let out a soft laugh, his laughter filled with undisguised sarcasm.

He took a step and walked towards Wang Su.

With each step he took, Wang Su would involuntarily take a step back.

The sound of his combat boots pounding on the floor tiles felt like a blow to his heart.

Su Zhe walked up to Wang Su and stopped.

His tall stature cast a shadow that completely enveloped Wang Su.

He leaned down, close to Wang Su's ear, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"For example, Minister Wang, you secretly contacted several wealthy families in the city, raised money and provisions, and prepared to open the west gate and surrender when the city fell, in exchange for the wealth and glory of your Wang clan in the new dynasty. Is this what you call 'rules'?"

These seemingly casual words, however, struck Wang Su like a bolt from the blue.

Wang Su's body stiffened, and the color drained from his face in an instant, turning him deathly pale.

How did he know?

How could he possibly know!

He kept this extremely secret, contacting only his trusted confidants. How could it have been leaked?

A fear originating from the depths of his soul seized his heart.

He took two steps back in terror, distancing himself from Su Zhe, his eyes looking at a devil.

Extreme fear drove him mad; he stretched out his withered finger, pointed it at Su Zhe, and let out a piercing scream:

"You...you're spouting nonsense! Utter rubbish!"

"I have dedicated my life to serving the emperor and the country, to the people. How could I possibly commit such a heinous act of betrayal, despicable as a pig or a dog!"

He screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to use the volume to cover up his inner panic.

He turned to the officials in the hall, and, in a frenzied manner, incited them: "My colleagues, you have all seen it! This man has gone mad! He has indiscriminately slaughtered ministers before the palace, and now he is fabricating charges to slander me! If we do not rise up and resist, one day we will all be innocent victims under his blade!"

He wanted to make a final stand, to drag everyone down with him. He believed that the law would not punish everyone, and he didn't believe that Su Zhe would dare to kill all the officials in the court!

This time, however, very few people responded to him.

Those officials weren't fools. Seeing Wang Su's distraught appearance and recalling Su Zhe's confident demeanor, they were already seven or eight parts convinced.

No one wanted to stand up for someone who might actually be a traitor at this time.

Watching Wang Su's clumsy performance, Su Zhe's patience finally ran out.

He didn't say another word of nonsense.

He took out a blue-covered account book from his pocket, flicked his wrist, and threw it away.

With a sharp "smack," the account book struck Wang Su squarely across the face, causing him to stumble and nearly fall.

"This is a secret tent found at Zhao Kang's residence. Open your eyes and take a good look!"

Account books were scattered all over the floor, and papers were flying everywhere.

Wang Su looked down, and in just one glance, his last line of defense completely collapsed.

On the scattered papers, the black ink on the white paper was a handwriting he knew all too well, clearly recording:

Wang Su, the Minister of Rites, spent 30,000 taels of silver to "grease the palms" of the deputy general of the Northern Barbarians, hoping to secure a position as the Minister of Rites in the new dynasty after the city fell.

Beside the record was a line of flamboyant annotations, written in Zhao Kang's own hand: "Old dog Wang is greedy, but he's still usable."

"Do you need me to read it out to you word by word in front of everyone?" Su Zhe's voice was flat and straightforward, yet it carried a chilling sense of oppression.

"No...it's impossible...it's absolutely impossible..."

Wang Su's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, muttering to himself in a daze, his eyes losing all focus.

He couldn't understand how the account book, which should have been hidden in Zhao Kang's most secret place, ended up in Su Zhe's hands.

The officials around him, who could catch a glimpse of the scattered account books and the familiar handwriting on them, were all so frightened that they lowered their heads deeply, wishing they could bury their heads in their chests and never dare to look at Su Zhe again.

They were terrified that Su Zhe's next target would be them.

The atmosphere inside the main hall was extremely oppressive.

Su Zhe gave Chen Baipao, who had been standing silently behind him, a wink.

"General Chen."

"Your subordinate is here." Chen Baipao stepped forward, his armor making a slight clanging sound, his posture as straight as a spear.

"Minister Wang has committed treason and collusion with the enemy; the evidence is irrefutable. According to the laws of our Great Qian Dynasty, how should he be punished?"

Chen Baipao's voice was straightforward and clear, resonating like metal and stone in the Golden Palace:

"His entire family was exterminated, and their property was confiscated."

"Then let's do it," Su Zhe said casually, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

"yes!"

Upon receiving the order, two burly and imposing Snow Dragon Knights stepped forward, one on each side, and lifted the limp Wang Su, dragging him out of the Golden Palace like a dead dog.

"Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me! This old minister...this old minister knows his mistake!"

Wang Su's agonizing screams came from outside the palace, but they quickly changed and were finally silenced by a dull thud.

Upon hearing that voice, the officials inside the hall turned pale and began to tremble uncontrollably.

Su Zhe surveyed the trembling officials in the hall, then walked to the empty dragon throne and picked up a blank imperial edict scroll from the table beside it.

In front of everyone, he held both ends of the reel with both hands and slowly unrolled it.

The snow-white scroll was completely blank.

But in the eyes of the officials, their names were already densely packed on the surface.

Su Zhe's voice rang out, like a death knell.

"I have another long list here."

"Now, are you going to step forward yourselves, or wait for me to call your names one by one?"