If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

Zhou Ming did not linger in front of the Zheng residence.

The black-armored soldiers then escorted the entire Zheng family of over a hundred people onto the prison cart one by one.

Zhou Ming ordered over a hundred soldiers and several clerks from the Ministry of Justice to stay behind to continue searching for valuables, counting land deeds, and sealing up the warehouses, while he himself mounted his horse.

The long sword that Su Mingyue had given him still hung beside his saddle, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

Zhou Ming flicked the reins, leading the large group of people westward along the long street.

The next goal.

Meng family.

Meng Xi, the head of the Meng family, had previously pointed at Zhou Ming's nose and scolded him in front of all the civil and military officials in the imperial court, saying, "A mere servant dares to come to the imperial court and pretend to be a great talent."

Zhou Ming had not forgotten those words that struck at the heart.

He has always had a very good memory, especially when it comes to remembering people's deeds; he never needs to take notes.

The Meng family's mansion was slightly smaller than the Zheng family's, but it was still considered one of the most prominent mansions in the western part of the city.

The vermilion-lacquered gateposts and blue-brick courtyard walls, along with the plaque above the gate bearing the two characters "Meng Mansion" in vigorous calligraphy, suggest that the Meng family ancestors were once quite wealthy.

But at this moment, the house was unusually quiet.

The cries and the rumble of the prison cart from the Zheng residence had already spread throughout the entire neighborhood; the Meng family couldn't possibly have missed them.

Just as the army turned the corner of the alley, the two tightly closed vermilion gates of the Meng family were suddenly pushed open from the inside.

The two door panels slammed against the walls on either side with a dull thud, and dust fell from the lintel.

A figure dressed in a purple silk robe stumbled out of the door.

He scrambled and crawled across the steps in front of the door, ran across the bluestone pavement, and ran to a spot five or six steps in front of Zhou Mingma, where he knelt down with a thud.

This person was none other than Meng Xi.

He knelt on the ground, his hands braced on the stone slab in front of his knees, his shoulders heaving violently as he gasped for breath.

His official hat had fallen off, and his hair was disheveled and draped over his shoulders.

Sweat dripped down his graying temples, and his face was contorted with extreme fear, almost distorted.

He raised his head, his voice broken and intermittent from heavy breathing, yet he strained to raise it as if afraid Zhou Ming wouldn't hear him:

"Lord Zhou! I support the promotion of the new laws! I support the promotion of the new laws! The Meng family is willing to take the lead in implementing them! I, Meng Xi, will be the first to promote them!"

Zhou Ming, mounted on his horse, looked down at the Meng family patriarch below, who was kowtowing repeatedly.

His gaze lingered on Meng Xi's face for a moment before he spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Oh? The implementation of the new law will greatly harm the interests of your aristocratic families. Didn't Lord Gongsun say that easily changing ancestral rules and altering old laws could endanger the fate of the nation? And you actually agree?"

"This...this..." Meng Xi forced a smile that was more like a grimace on his face, which was contorted with fear. His lips trembled for a long time before he managed to utter a complete sentence.

"My lord... I... I intend to resign from my post and retire from worldly affairs."

"The Meng family has over a hundred members. I will take them back to my hometown in the countryside and stop causing trouble for the court. Please grant my request, Your Excellency!"

He was genuinely scared.

Even a powerful family like the Zheng family, which had several Blood Refining Realm martial artists in their mansion, couldn't withstand a single sword strike from Zhou Ming, and more than a hundred people were put on prison carts in the blink of an eye.

What does the Meng family have? A few guards, a few knives, they can't even get close to the Blood Refining Realm.

He was terrified and now had absolutely no desire to get involved in the new law.

The talk of national collapse and the inviolability of ancestral rules is utter nonsense.

There's an old saying that goes, "There are no dynasties that last a thousand years, but there are aristocratic families that last a thousand years."

Whether the country falls or not has absolutely nothing to do with the Meng family.

He now has only one thought in his mind: to run away with his whole family, as far away as possible, back to his hometown, and safely escape this catastrophic disaster.

Zhou Ming looked down at him, his smile deepening.

He spoke slowly, his tone still deliberate and measured:

"Heh... Lord Meng, you're dreaming."

Zhou Ming tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over Meng Xi's knees as she knelt on the ground. Suddenly, his tone shifted, becoming noticeably critical.

"Lord Meng, when you knelt down just now, your two knees did not touch the ground at the same time."

"What? You look down on me, a mere servant? You think I'm not worth you kneeling on both knees at the same time?"

Meng Xi was completely stunned.

His mouth dropped open, his eyes widened, and his face was filled with bewilderment and disbelief.

The knees didn't land at the same time?

He was running so fast that he suddenly knelt down. Who would notice if he landed on the ground at the same time?

What... what kind of reason is this?

He looked up at Zhou Ming, trying to find even the slightest trace of a joke on that face.

But all he saw was a pair of cold eyes and a chilling, ambiguous smile.

He then realized that Zhou Ming had no intention of letting him go from the very first sentence he uttered.

Kneeling on the ground was just an excuse; he was holding a grudge against that remark made in court.

"A lowly servant"

That very sentence made Meng Xi wish he could travel back to the morning court session and slap his outspoken self to death.

"Sir! No! I didn't look down on you! I was just..." Before he could finish speaking, he was completely drowned out by Zhou Ming's next words.

"Someone come here." Zhou Ming's voice suddenly turned cold, each word clear and forceful.

"The Meng and Zheng families are a den of snakes and rats, harboring wicked intentions. They privately raise fugitives, nurture assassins, and collude in evil deeds. They exploit the villagers, forcibly seize farmland, and cause widespread resentment."

"The two clans secretly agreed to divide their lands and claim kingship, coveting the divine artifact; their signs of rebellion are blatantly obvious."

Zhou Ming paused, his gaze sweeping over Meng Xi's completely bloodless face, before uttering the last few words slowly and deliberately.

"Arrest the entire Meng family, throw them in jail, execute them on a chosen day, and confiscate their property."

The black-armored soldiers surged out from behind Zhou Ming like tigers descending a mountain.

Holding a spear, he bypassed Meng Xi, who was kneeling on the ground trembling, and rushed into the wide-open gate of the Meng residence.

A short scream and cry rang out from inside the mansion, which was then replaced by orderly shouts.

Sealing off the house, arresting people, and confiscating valuables—the same procedure, the same efficiency.

Meng Xi knelt on the bluestone pavement, his whole body limp and collapsed as if his spine had been removed.

His lips trembled violently as he tried to say something, but only muffled breaths escaped his throat.

Then he began to kowtow, his forehead slamming heavily against the bluestone slab, again and again, with even more force than before. The rough stone surface chafed the skin on his forehead, and blood streamed down his graying eyebrows.

"My lord, spare me...my lord, spare me..."

His voice was hoarse and hollow, "Sir, I was wrong, I know I was wrong..."

"My lord, I shouldn't have opposed you, I was wrong, I shouldn't have insulted you... My lord... I beg you..."

Zhou Ming listened to these repeated pleas, not even bothering to lift his eyelids again.

He never listens to dying words or pleas for mercy. If pleas for mercy were effective, what would be the point of the law?

Upon seeing this, two soldiers in black armor stepped forward, one on each side, and grabbed Meng Xi's arms, lifting him off the ground.

Meng Xi's legs twitched weakly a few times in mid-air before they were thrown into the prison van.

The iron bars of the prison van slammed shut, and Meng Xi stretched out a hand through the gaps. The hand opened and closed weakly in the autumn wind, and the fingernails were full of dirt and blood that had been rubbed into them when he kowtowed.