Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

Gu Yannian flicked his wrist.

A cold glint appeared, and the blade cleanly and decisively sliced ​​through the boy's throat.

The boy's voice stopped abruptly.

Her small body fell heavily into the pool of blood, and the hatred in her eyes quickly dissipated.

Gu Yannian sheathed his long sword and took out a silk handkerchief.

He carefully wiped the blood off the blade, then casually tossed the steel knife to the ground.

He turned and walked out of the room, standing in the courtyard of the Lingering Garden.

The strong stench of blood filled the entire courtyard.

The once bustling and vibrant Jiangnan Garden, once the premier garden in the region, has now become a desolate and desolate battlefield.

The Shen family, from the patriarch Shen Wanquan to the gatekeepers and servants, numbered over three hundred people, and not a single one survived.

Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots, and all is accomplished.

Gu Yannian glanced at the sky.

The east was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

He didn't linger; he bent his knees slightly and rose into the air.

They leaped over the high walls of Liuyuan Garden and disappeared into the darkness before dawn.

He ran north along the road he had come from.

More than two thousand points of physical fitness and endurance flowed continuously within the body.

It sustained him through this unprecedented one-night round trip.

He crossed the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, braving the howling north wind.

They left the bloodshed and slaughter in Jiangnan far behind.

The first moment of Mao hour.

The city gates of Shuntian Prefecture had just opened, accompanied by the sound of the watchman's clapper as he yawned.

A new day has begun.

Gu Yannian landed silently in his own courtyard.

He took off his black outfit, which was covered in dust and reeked of blood.

He drew a bucket of well water and carefully washed his hands and face.

He changed into a brand-new crimson official robe and put on an official hat.

Gu Yannian straightened his clothes in front of the bronze mirror. His face was still handsome and gentle, and his eyes were calm and peaceful.

He pushed open the courtyard gate.

With steady, measured steps, I walked along the streets of Xuanwu Ward toward the Ministry of Revenue.

As he passed the breakfast stall on the street corner, he bought a steaming bowl of soy milk and fried dough rings, as usual.

As they entered the Ministry of Revenue, the officials and clerks along the way bowed respectfully.

Gu Yannian entered the Right Vice Minister's office and sat down behind the desk.

He found his name on the list and signed it.

[Ding! Today's attendance complete. Attribute point gained +1.]

"Add to strength."

Gu Yannian silently recited this in his heart.

He placed the purple brush on the brush holder, picked up the bowl of still-steaming soy milk, and took a sip.

Then he picked up a crispy fried dough ring and put it in his mouth.

Outside the window, the rising sun bathed the courtyard in its light, while inside the Ministry of Revenue, the crisp sound of abacus beads clattering gradually filled the air.

Everything was normal that day.

……

Inside the Ministry of Revenue, the rhythmic clatter of abacuses rose and fell, like a melodious string and wind instrument piece.

Gu Yannian sat upright in the Right Vice Minister's office and drank the bowl of warm soy milk.

He then slowly swallowed the last half of the fried dough ring.

He took out a snow-white silk handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the residue from the corner of his lips.

He exudes a sense of peace and tranquility that comes with the passage of time.

He casually flipped through a few tax books on salt and tea from Guangdong and Guangxi that he had left behind the day before.

A quick glance at the complex figures was enough to discern the truth behind the accounts.

His mind far surpasses any sophisticated calculating mechanism in the world.

It is crystal clear, with the utmost precision.

"Lord Gu, you look exceptionally refreshed today."

Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji entered by lifting the curtain, carrying a purple clay teapot in his hand, and sat down in a grand chair with a smile.

The old minister has been living a comfortable life lately.

Silver was piled up like mountains in Taicang, with no war on the front lines and no famine in the rear.

As the "chief steward" of the Ming Dynasty, he was naturally riding high.

Gu Yannian smiled slightly and neatly stacked the annotated ledgers.

"Minister Xia is too kind. The weather in the capital has been favorable these past few days, and I slept soundly last night, so my complexion is naturally better."

Xia Yuanji took a sip of tea and sighed, "You slept soundly. I tossed and turned all night, constantly thinking about the situation in Jiangnan."

"Zhou Chen brought three million taels of government silver, which may have opened up the market in Pingjiang Prefecture, but is Shen Wanquan someone to be trifled with?"

"These local bullies in Jiangnan are deeply entrenched. If they secretly cause trouble for us, Zhou Chen, all alone, might not be able to hold his own."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yannian lowered his eyes slightly, concealing a deep smile.

"Minister Xia's concern for the country and its people is truly admirable."

Gu Yannian spoke in a calm tone.

"However, as the saying goes, those who do many evil deeds will surely perish. Those tyrants have been bullying and oppressing for too long, making countless enemies. Who knows what terrible disaster they might bring upon themselves one day, leaving them no time to even take care of themselves."

"Governor Zhou is going there on the Emperor's orders, and he is protected by all the gods. Minister, you can rest assured."

Xia Yuanji took it as him comforting himself.

He shook his head, got up, and went to the main hall to handle today's official documents.

Gu Yannian picked up the purple brush on the desk, dipped it in ink, and continued to review the case files.

The wind outside the window rustled through the old locust tree in the courtyard.

Everything was calm and peaceful.

However, in Jiangnan, a thousand miles away, the sky had already fallen and the earth had collapsed.

Pingjiang Prefecture, west of Suzhou City.

The Shen Family Garden, once a magnificent and luxurious garden, was known as the finest garden in Jiangnan.

At this moment, it was completely surrounded by the yamen runners of the Suzhou government and the soldiers of the Three Thousand Battalion.

People on the outskirts crowded the long street, peering out and discussing amongst themselves.

Everyone's face was filled with shock and disbelief.

The gates of Lingering Garden were tightly closed, and the air was filled with a strong, nauseating stench of blood.

Even the early summer breeze couldn't dispel it.

Zhou Chen, the governor of Jiangnan, wore a black gauze hat and a crimson official robe of a fourth-rank official.

He stood in the courtyard of the main hall of the Lingering Garden, his face ashen.

Beneath his feet lay a shocking pool of dark red blood.

The head of the Shen family patriarch, Shen Wanquan, with his eyes wide open, rolled down a few steps away from the grand master's chair.

From the main hall to the inner courtyard, from the corridor to the woodshed.

More than three hundred corpses lay scattered about.

No trace was left, and not a single person survived.

The Suzhou prefect knelt beside Zhou Chen, trembling like a leaf, not even bothering to straighten his crooked official hat.

"Lord Zhou...Lord Zhou, I failed in my duty, I deserve to die! This...this is the entire Shen family, wiped out overnight."

"Suzhou is heavily fortified; the city gates were tightly closed last night, and we haven't heard of any large groups of bandits entering the city!"

Zhou Chen frowned, suppressing the churning in his stomach, and walked to the body of a guard.

He crouched down and examined the fatal wound closely.

"A single, swift strike, without any hesitation."

Zhou Chen gasped, his voice revealing an undisguised shock.

"The guards of the Shen family were mostly skilled martial artists hired at great expense. These more than three hundred people were slaughtered before their cries for help could even be heard outside the garden."

"Just who is this killer?"

The prefect stammered, "Could it be...could it be some martial arts or bandit masters who have come seeking revenge?"

"absurd!"

Zhou Chen gave a cold shout.

"In the world of outlaws, murder and robbery are possible. But to silently and completely annihilate a heavily guarded mansion of a hundred acres in one night, without stealing a single tael of silver from the treasury,"

"Such methods are far beyond the capabilities of a few petty bandits."

Zhou Chen stood up and gazed intently northward.

Shen Wanquan was still putting up a stubborn resistance yesterday, attempting to strangle the court by hoarding silver.

Their entire family was brutally murdered last night.

Is there really such a coincidence in this world?

A chilling thought surfaced in Zhou Chen's mind.

Could it be... that the master sitting high in the capital has used the legendary inner court guards?

Or perhaps that unfathomable Vice Minister Gu of the Ministry of Revenue has secretly laid some inescapable trap?

Whoever it is, this terrifying force lurking in the shadows could wipe out the richest man in Jiangnan overnight.

It's enough to make anyone feel despair.