Princess, something terrible has happened! The prince consort has attempted suicide again!

The joyful atmosphere instantly turned cold.

Previously, Liu Ru had hired someone to assassinate Zhang Xiaomeng, but Zhao Qiandong, for the sake of the overall situation, did not take action against her for the time being.

Now that the bandit suppression is over, it's only natural that a proper reckoning must be done.

"Marquis of Valor".

Zhao Qiandong shouted in a deep voice.

Marquis Yongwu had already prepared himself mentally and immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I failed to manage my household properly, which almost led to a great disaster. I am willing to accept the punishment."

Zhao Qiandong said calmly, "In that case, deduct a year's salary and give him thirty lashes."

"I thank you Lord for your kindness."

Marquis Yongwu kowtowed and accepted the imperial decree.

"As for the Liu family..."

Zhao Qiandong's face immediately turned cold.

"He was stripped of his imperial title, demoted to a commoner, exiled three thousand li away, and never allowed to return to the capital for the rest of his life."

For a strong man, being exiled three thousand miles away would be a near-death experience.

Moreover, a pampered woman like Liu Ru would probably have died on the way to her place of exile.

Even if they manage to arrive by sheer luck, the rest of their lives will be worse than death.

"The rest of them are all thrown into death row and will be executed in the autumn!"

After issuing the decree, Zhao Qiandong looked at Zhang Xiaomeng, his stern expression softening slightly.

"Since this matter arose because of you, you are responsible for overseeing it."

Zhang Xiaomeng asked, "Your Majesty, what if someone tries to stop us?"

Zhao Qiandong's brows furrowed. "I am sending the Embroidered Uniform Guard to assist you. Anyone who obstructs you will be punished along with the guilty party."

"Your Majesty is wise."

Zhang Xiaomeng raised his voice and shouted, then lowered his head, a ruthless smile appearing on his lips.

That's exactly what he wanted to hear.

Since my attempts to commit suicide have failed time and again, I might as well take this opportunity to settle the score.

Who knows, if things escalate, we might actually turn misfortune into good fortune and end up with a death sentence.

Half an hour later.

Zhang Xiaomeng appeared near a gambling den.

Accompanying them were more than ten Imperial Guards, who were not wearing official robes or carrying swords, but were all dressed as commoners.

The leader among them was Wang Dongjian, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who was also one of the participants in the siege of the Black Lotus Sect.

He was deeply grateful and respectful to Zhang Xiaomeng for saving his life.

However, unable to understand Zhang Xiaomeng's intentions, she finally couldn't help but ask, "Young Master, since the Emperor has already issued the decree, we can simply go and arrest the person. Why do we need to dress like this?"

Zhang Xiaomeng said mysteriously, "Brother Wang, don't worry. We can't delay the task assigned by the Emperor. But how to do it well is quite an art."

Wang Dongjian was completely confused.

Just then, Feng Yi, also dressed in plain clothes, came out of the gambling den and quickly walked up to Zhang Xiaomeng.

"How is it?" Zhang Xiaomeng asked.

"Liu Wanfu wasn't at the gambling den, but we did find Qian Youkang, the son of the Minister of Revenue," Feng Yi replied.

Wang Dongjian immediately chimed in, "This man is a compulsive gambler, a regular at various gambling dens, a spendthrift, and he even..."

He suddenly realized something was wrong halfway through his sentence, quickly stopped, and secretly glanced at Zhang Xiaomeng.

Zhang Xiaomeng's expression remained unchanged as he continued, "He used to be that fake Zhao Tianhao's lackey, and he was partly responsible for making me suffer the humiliation of crawling between his legs."

Wang Dongjian wisely refrained from continuing the conversation.

Zhang Xiaomeng smiled slightly, "I'll go find this spendthrift son to catch up first. You all wait for my orders."

Although Qian Youkang had nothing to do with the task at hand, Wang Dongjian did not stop him and waited patiently.

The gambling den was filled with smoke and grime, with all sorts of people coming and going, and cheers and wails rising and falling.

As soon as Zhang Xiaomeng entered, he locked onto his target at a glance.

On a gambling table, Qian Youkang, dressed in fine clothes, bet on big or small and burst into laughter, extremely pleased with himself.

He excitedly grabbed the banknotes, ready to continue betting, when a shout drowned out all the noise, appearing extremely arrogant.

"Everyone stop right now and get Liu Wanfu out here!"

The entire gambling den fell silent instantly!

The gamblers all looked in the direction of the voice, and after seeing Zhang Xiaomeng's face, they immediately began to sneer and whisper among themselves, without any restraint.

"Isn't he the heir apparent of the Marquis of Yongwu's mansion? What is he doing here?"

"What prince? Marquis Yongwu has severed ties with him. He's just a fallen pawn now."

"I heard that Marquis Yongwu drove him out of the capital, yet he still dared to come back."

"He probably couldn't make it outside and came back to beg for forgiveness."

Zhang Xiaomeng heard it clearly and immediately his face turned angry. He shouted, "Shut up, all of you! I'm here to see Liu Wanfu on business. If you know what's good for you, get out of here, or you'll regret it!"

boom!

Qian Youkang slammed his fist on the table and stood up, immediately cursing, "Zhang Xiaomeng, you're nothing but a stray dog ​​now, what are you barking for? I'm warning you, my luck is on fire, if you dare ruin my winnings, I'll break your legs!"

All the gamblers echoed the curses, completely disregarding the former prince.

Zhang Xiaomeng wasn't annoyed. He glanced around and asked calmly, "So, you want to stop me from finding Liu Wanfu?"

Qian Youkang said impatiently, "Are you fucking done yet? What's wrong with stopping you? I'll say it again, get out of here right now! Do you hear me?"

He had already planned that after he finished gambling, he would have someone cripple Zhang Xiaomeng.

"Good! Very good!"

Zhang Xiaomeng's lips curled up slightly. "Since you admit to stopping me from finding Liu Wanfu, that makes things easier."

"Damn it! And he keeps rambling on and on."

Qian Youkang completely lost his patience, his face contorted with rage. With a wave of his hand, he shouted, "Break his legs for me!"

The thugs at the gambling den had been itching to act. Now that they had received Young Master Qian's order, they dared not disobey and immediately surrounded Zhang Xiaomeng with sinister smiles.

Zhang Xiaomeng remained completely unfazed, giving a disdainful smile. "So you think you have connections? Do you think I don't?"

He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Come in, all of you!"

A group of Imperial Guards had been waiting outside for a long time, and rushed in immediately upon hearing the news.

Upon seeing this, the thugs' expressions immediately changed.

In contrast, Qian Youkang was not afraid at all, and even mocked, "Zhang Xiaomeng, do you think having more people means having an advantage? This rabble, you dare to be arrogant in front of me? Have you forgotten how you crawled between my legs back then?"

When this matter was brought up, Zhang Xiaomeng's gaze suddenly turned cold.

"Bring him here."

Wang Dongjian immediately strode aggressively toward Qian Youkang.

"Trying to catch me? You're overestimating yourself." Qian Youkang looked disdainful and ordered, "Ali, you're in charge."

A burly man stood behind him, specifically responsible for protecting his personal safety.

"Yes, young master."

Ali responded and met Wang Dongjian with a blank expression.

"He is Qian Shao's personal bodyguard. I heard he is extremely skilled and can take on ten people at once."

"Zhang Xiaomeng found these lowly commoners from who knows where. They look ordinary, yet they dare to challenge the Minister's son. They are overestimating themselves."

"I bet he'll be begging for mercy on his knees soon."

"I bet he can't take a punch."

The gamblers immediately placed their bets, none of them favoring Wang Dongjian.

The guard, Ali, crossed his arms and said contemptuously, "Kneel down now, kowtow to my young master, and I'll give you a quick death."

"You're asking for it!"

When has a deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard ever been ridiculed like this?

He immediately flew into a rage and threw a punch at him.

boom!

A muffled thud.

Ali's fist shattered instantly, and he screamed as he flew backward, smashing the gambling table. His fate was unknown.

All the jeers and shouts abruptly ceased, plunging the room into a deathly silence.