With a warehouse full of supplies, I stood alone as king in this chaotic world, gun in hand.

The officials who were summoned sensed something was amiss as soon as they entered the government office.

Lu Rui was nowhere to be seen in the second hall, and the door was closed by Judge Liu. A dozen or so armed constables stood on both sides, and the officials immediately felt uneasy.

"Lord Liu, didn't Lord Lu send us here on urgent business? What happened?" a judge asked.

Judge Liu put down his teacup before saying, "To tell you the truth, at 7 PM last night, His Highness the Crown Prince came to the Nanyang City government office and found out that the former Vice Prefect Lu Rui had committed a serious crime. He not only colluded with the Snake Spirit Society, but also conspired to murder eleven former prefects and three former vice prefects. The evidence is conclusive, and the Crown Prince has already convicted him."

"What? The Crown Prince has actually come to Nanyang City?"

"Lu Rui has actually caused trouble! How come we didn't know?"

Several officials turned pale.

"Where is His Highness the Crown Prince?" the judge asked.

"We can't ask His Highness the Crown Prince about his whereabouts. Let's just wait for his arrival!" Judge Liu felt that the world in Nanyang City was finally about to change.

Lu Shan listened to their words, his eyes flickering. "From the moment the Crown Prince entered the government office, I've been following him around the whole time..."

All eight officials' eyes immediately fell on him.

"Then tell us quickly, what has His Highness the Crown Prince done since he arrived? How is Lord Lu doing now?" The judge asked anxiously.

"Lu Rui is in prison awaiting trial, and the entire Lu family will be executed, including the mistress he kept for nearly 300,000 taels of silver. The Gao family and Lu Rui are in cahoots. Where will your Crown Prince go?" Lu Shan looked at them with a wicked expression.

"Clang..." The judge's hand trembled, and the teacup in his hand fell to the ground.

He suddenly stood up. "When I came out, my third aunt was about to give birth. I'll go back and check on her first."

Lu Shan stood in the doorway, sneering, "Your Honor, a woman giving birth should go to a midwife. What can a man like you do there?"

The magistrate's face darkened. "How dare you! You mere constable, how dare you block my path?"

"This humble servant dares not." Lu Shan stood motionless in front of the door. "Is Your Honor feeling guilty?"

His Highness the Crown Prince personally led the people to wipe out the Serpent Spirit Society and settle scores with the Gao family. As the local officials, you not only failed to manage Nanyang City properly, but you weren't even willing to wait a moment. How will you explain yourselves to His Highness when he returns?

"Lu Shan, pass on my order: guard this gate. No one is allowed to leave this gate tonight until His Highness the Crown Prince returns. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite."

The judge, enraged, retorted, "Liu Weiwei, how dare you? You're just a judge, yet you want to imprison us?"

"Swish!" Lu Shan drew his sword and held it to his neck. "Here, the judge holds the highest rank. Anyone who dares disobey his orders will be executed as a traitor!"

Other yamen runners also stepped forward, glaring menacingly at the officials.

The judge collapsed to the ground; he knew it was all over!

In the latter half of the night, explosions and gunfire, along with sounds of fighting and shouts of killing, echoed intermittently throughout the city until dawn.

Outside the second hall, Bei Chenyan saw the main gate was closed and frowned. "Liu isn't here?"

"He's...he's inside." The constable scrambled to his feet and shouted, "Sir, His Highness the Crown Prince has returned!"

Just then, the doors to the second hall were opened, and Judge Liu came out, kneeling down with a thud. "Your subject Liu Wei greets Your Highness the Crown Prince! May you live a thousand years!"

The others inside also ran out, knelt down, and shouted "Long live the Emperor!" three times.

"Get up!" Bei Chenyan led Nangong Wu by the hand and walked past them.

Once inside, he lifted the front of his robe and sat down in the main seat, looking at the several officials who followed him in.

"Guards! Bring him up!"

Two constables dragged Lu Rui in and forced him to kneel down.

"Lu Rui colluded with the Gao family, and as an official of the imperial court, he secretly conspired with the Snake Spirit Society to murder other officials of the imperial court. His crimes are unforgivable! He is hereby sentenced to hanging and his body shall be displayed outside the South Gate for seven days as a warning to others!"

"And the corpses of the Lu family members were also dragged out of the yamen and left to rot for seven days!" Bei Chenyan still felt unsatisfied.

However, a mere sub-prefect was responsible for the deaths of so many officials; he deserves to die a hundred times over.

Nangong Wu threw a rope over and said, "Drag him outside and execute him immediately."

"yes!"

Lu Shan picked up the rope, pulled the man out again, and carried out the execution right there outside.

"Someone come here!" Bei Chenyan shouted again.

A constable immediately stepped forward, "Yes, sir."

"Take them down..." Bei Chenyan called out the names of four officials, including the judge.

"yes!"

A dozen or so constables rushed in, seized the four officials named by the Crown Prince, stripped them of their titles, and ripped off their official robes.

"Your Highness, what are you doing? Why are you trying to capture us as soon as you arrive?" The judge tried to argue.

Nangong Wu pulled out a large stack of letters and threw them at the judge's face. "Take a look at what this is!"

The judge, upon seeing the letter on the ground, turned ashen-faced. "Your Highness, this must be a misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding?" Bei Chenyan stood up and suddenly kicked the judge over. "The four of you colluded with Lu Rui to embezzle public funds and commit crimes. Now the evidence is conclusive, and you still want to deny it?"

The other three were terrified and kowtowed to him, begging for mercy.

"Your Highness, it was all Lu Rui who instructed us to do it; we dared not disobey..."

"Your Highness, spare my life..."

Cries for mercy and wails rang out.

"Go on!" Lu Shan and a dozen constables forcibly dragged the four people out.

Liu Wei stood there stunned, not expecting the Crown Prince to be so decisive.

They executed the person without even holding a trial.

In fact, Bei Chenyan didn't have time to stay here.

This is a case with solid evidence, and a trial would take at least a day. They don't have time to stay here, and if they don't kill these people, they're afraid they'll escape.

"Fifth Senior Brother, we're back!"

Zhu Yi and Pei Xing walked in from outside the door.

Bei Chenyan looked up. "How is it?"

Zhu Yi bowed and reported: "Your Highness, Master Gao escaped out of the city through a secret passage with his three sons, two grandsons who are about ten years old, and more than a hundred guards."

When we arrived there, they had already fled. We chased them for several miles on horseback and caught up with them, but they resisted arrest and we shot them all dead.

Master Gao tried to escape in the chaos, but he was also killed by a hail of arrows!

"Can we send someone to guard the exit of that secret passage?" Bei Chenyan asked.

"No," Pei Xing answered quickly. "Fifth Senior Brother, I used your bomb to collapse that secret passage. No one can escape now."

"You've actually become smarter this time," Bei Chenyan rarely praised him.

"Of course, I am a disciple of the Kunlun Sect." Pei Xing patted his chest.

"Zhu Yi!" Bei Chenyan called out.

"Your servant is here," Zhu Yi hurriedly bowed.