Become a king right from the start, beginning with receiving rewards from all the heavens.

Although the Great Xia Dynasty is now somewhat corrupt, the imperial power is no longer able to completely suppress the world.

But no one dares to underestimate the royal family; after all, the royal family is the greatest power in the Great Xia Dynasty.

If they were to go all out and disregard everything, the royal family could wipe out half of the Great Xia's power.

This time, Xia Zhaoyan made the right gamble. Between the imperial power and the ministers, his father chose the imperial power.

The rise of the Heavenly Punishment Division will certainly benefit the imperial power in the early stages, after all, it was once the sharpest blade of imperial power.

The only thing that disappointed him was that the Heavenly Punishment Division did not regain the power to hunt down the nobles this time!

It should be understood that the biggest cancer in the Great Xia Dynasty was those ancient noble families.

The Great Xia Dynasty has been established for 100,000 years, and the founding nobles have continued to occupy a large amount of resources to this day.

They monopolized the path to advancement, making the officials in the central government seem insignificant in comparison.

The court was completely silent at this moment, and all the ministers and princes wore expressions of disbelief.

Only Xia Zhaoyan's voice rang out.

"Your subject obeys the decree and will certainly not disappoint Your Majesty's expectations!"

Many ministers, including the Three Dukes, still wanted to say something.

However, the Xia Emperor above simply flicked his sleeves and disappeared from the throne, leaving behind only a faint "Dismiss the court!"

Xia Zhaoyan turned to look at everyone, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"My lords and my royal brothers, this time my counterattack was also out of necessity."

"I have lost the right to compete for the throne, and I originally just wanted to live a carefree life as a prince."

"But Minister Zhang, you've been suppressing me for no reason."

"He's to blame for all of this!"

"By the way, let me reiterate that I have no intention of participating in the struggle for the throne; I only wish to live up to the heavy responsibility entrusted to me by my father."

After saying that, he took the lead and walked out.

Even officials who wanted to curry favor with him were completely ignored.

The image he presents to the public now is not that of a prince vying for the throne.

Why bother with these people? What if they misunderstand us?

In a corner of the inner palace, there was Consort Hua's garden.

Suddenly, a sharp sound echoed throughout the palace.

"His Majesty has arrived!"

In an instant, the entire palace garden was filled with people, as Consort Hua led all her servants to respectfully welcome the Emperor's arrival.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects! May Your Majesty live as long as the heavens!"

"Haha... My beloved concubine, please rise." Emperor Xia helped Consort Hua up and waved away all the servants.

The two then went to the pavilion by the pond in the courtyard.

"What brings Your Majesty to my humble abode today?" Consort Hua's voice carried a hint of joy.

As he spoke, he prepared tea and various spiritual fruits for Emperor Xia.

"My beloved concubine, there's no need to prepare anything. Sit down and chat with me."

"Only here can I relax a little." Emperor Xia's words were indeed true.

Behind every other concubine was a powerful force.

Only behind Consort Hua was a merchant family that was still a small force.

"My beloved concubine, do you know that an interesting thing happened in court today!"

Before Consort Hua could ask, Emperor Xia recounted in detail what had happened in the court that day.

After hearing this, Consort Hua's face showed worry.

She was even worried about her son; Zhao'er had offended quite a few people today.

For the sake of a mere Heavenly Punishment Division, they've offended so many people and forces...

Emperor Xia immediately saw through Consort Hua's worries, "My dear consort, there's no need to worry!"

"Zhao'er's biggest advantage is that he has lost the right to compete for the throne, so even though he has offended many people, no one will really take revenge on him now."

"A prince who did not vie for the throne still holds the power of the Heavenly Punishment Division."

"People like that will either try to befriend them or stay completely away from them!"

With this analysis, Consort Hua's worried heart was finally at ease.

"Your Majesty, I thank you. If it weren't for your support, he would probably not have fared well in the future."

Emperor Xia smiled slightly, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"My dear consort, we underestimated Zhao'er's ambition!"

The Xia Emperor's words were quite profound...

...

As the court session concluded, the events that had transpired in the main hall spread rapidly in all directions.

The sudden rise of Niou has truly shaken many forces.

However, Xia Zhaoyan had no time to worry about these things at the moment.

The personnel from the Heavenly Punishment Division began heading towards the Zhang family. Upon closer inspection, these people were actually guards who had been rewarded to Xia Zhaoyan by the system.

The Department of Divine Punishment comprises the departments of surveillance, investigation, reporting, and, most importantly, arrest.

The Arrest Division is the branch of the Heavenly Punishment Division's military force.

The prince's carriage, escorted by a group of guards, arrived at the gate of the Zhang residence.

At this moment, the core members of the Zhang family were gathered in the living room.

"Father, what should we do now?"

"Why don't we run away quickly!" The leader was now speaking recklessly.

"Escape? Where to escape to?"

"If we are captured by the Heavenly Punishment Division, I still have a chance to turn things around. But if we really escape, then there is absolutely no hope!"

Suddenly, a servant rushed in, tumbling and crawling.

"Master, master, something terrible has happened! Prince Ren and his men have surrounded our house!"

"What?! How dare you!"

"His Majesty didn't order our arrest during the court session, so why should Prince Ren order it?"

"I'll go and meet him!" With that, the third son of the Zhang family turned and left.

The third brother dislikes officialdom and is an arrogant and domineering figure, but his cultivation level is also quite impressive; he is currently at the mid-stage of the Innate Realm.

Zhang Shilang did not stop his third son; he also wanted to see what this benevolent king was up to.

However, he seemed to have forgotten that the Heavenly Punishment Division has the power of arrest.

However, in the past, the Heavenly Punishment Division rarely personally went out to arrest criminals.

The gates of the Zhang residence suddenly opened, and a figure rushed out with the guards.

"Who dares to surround my Zhang residence!" The speaker was, of course, the third son of the Zhang family.

That arrogant and domineering attitude made those secretly observing the situation frown.

"By order of the Chief Justice and Prince Ren, we have come today to invite Minister Zhang to assist in the investigation!"

The person from the Heavenly Punishment Division spoke, their voice brooking no refusal.

"Heh...who do we have here? It's the Heavenly Punishment Division."

"My father is a high-ranking official in the imperial court. Even if an investigation were necessary, it wouldn't be the place for your Heavenly Punishment Division!"

...

"What, you want to obstruct my Heavenly Punishment Division's investigation?"

...

"So what if it is!" Until this point, the man still hadn't grasped the development of the situation.

Suddenly, Xia Zhaoyan's voice rang out from inside the carriage, but the sound carried all around.

"Obstructing the Heavenly Punishment Bureau from handling cases is considered disobeying imperial orders and rebelling against the dynasty."

"All guards, listen to my command! Seize this man! If he resists..." He paused here.

He then coldly uttered a cruel statement.

"Can be killed on the spot!!"

hiss...

Those secretly observing the situation couldn't help but gasp in shock.

No one could have imagined that the usually gentle and refined King Ren would have such a cold-blooded side!