You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 102 Why should we, the Eastern Depot, need to explain ourselves to others when we do things?
The carefree Prince Zhou Qian died just like that.

Speaking of which, Zhou Qian, the carefree king, is quite a figure.

Previously in Luoyang, Prince Zhou Qian, the carefree prince, played a brilliant game of chess, even the officials and the one on the dragon throne had to be drawn into his game.

Even such a figure could not escape defeat and death in the end.

Perhaps even Zhou Qian, the carefree king, did not expect that he would gather all of his more than 200,000 troops in Shangyang Prefecture, defend the city like an iron barrel, and fight against Lü Bu's army, which was sent by the imperial court to quell the rebellion.

I thought I had everything under control.

However, in less than half a day, what he considered to be an impregnable defense was breached by Lü Bu.

His trump cards were no match for Lü Bu.

In the end, he could only meet a tragic end, dying and disappearing from the world.

Upon seeing the death of Prince Zhou Qian, the rebels who were still fighting the Divine Martial Guards on the city wall suddenly lost all their morale.

Even their commander is dead, so what's the point of them continuing to fight?

Instantly, many rebels began to scatter and flee.

Lu Bu stood on the city wall, sheathed his halberd, and showed no intention of attacking again.

The city gate had just been breached by Lü Bu's halberd, and now tens of thousands of Divine Martial Guards had already stormed into the city. In addition, the carefree King Zhou Qian and those experts were all dead.

With the Divine Martial Guards, they were more than capable of wiping out the remaining rebels; there was no need for Lu Bu, a half-step Celestial Being, to take action.

Lu Bu glanced at the corpse of Zhou Qian, the carefree king, his eyes flickering. He then said to one of the Divine Martial Guards beside him, "Immediately order the Divine Martial Guards to block the four gates and not let anyone out of the city."

"Have someone thoroughly investigate all information about Zhou Qian, the Prince of Xiaoyao, within the city, and see who has been in contact with him."

Lu Bu always felt that something was amiss with the death of Zhou Qian, the Prince of Xiaoyao.

Logically speaking, a prince like Zhou Qian, who raised the banner of rebellion, would not have thought he would be defeated and would have made the worst-case scenario plan by taking poison.

This doesn't make sense.

……

outside the city.

In the dense forest on a hilltop.

A middle-aged man stood on the hilltop, gazing in the direction of Shangyang Prefecture, his eyes gleaming.

If Zhou Qian, the carefree prince, were here, he would surely recognize that the middle-aged man standing there gazing towards the city was none other than his maternal uncle, Cui Songshan.

As the sounds of fighting coming from the direction of the prefectural city grew fainter, Cui Songshan couldn't help but sigh. "I didn't expect it to end so quickly. Zhou Qian has really disappointed me."

"He was given so much support in secret, yet he couldn't even hold out for a day before Lu Bu led his troops to break through the city. He's truly a useless piece of trash who can't be helped."

Cui Songshan said somewhat unwillingly.

Cui Songshan originally thought that with their secret support and an army of more than 200,000, even if the carefree king Zhou Qian was no match for Lü Bu's army to quell the rebellion, he would be able to defeat them.

But at least it can hold off Lü Bu's army for a few days!
Unexpectedly, in just half a day, the city of Shangyang, which was defended by the carefree King Zhou Qian, was breached by Lü Bu's troops.

They're utterly useless.

Fortunately, he left the city beforehand.

Otherwise, being trapped in the city now would be quite troublesome.

Upon learning that Lü Bu had led his troops into the territory of Shangyang Prefecture, Cui Songshan secretly left the city and came to the dense forest on this mountain, leaving only a few people in the city.

After all, in Cui Songshan's view, regardless of the outcome for Zhou Qian, the carefree king, and Lü Bu's army sent by the court to quell the rebellion, his own safety was the most important thing.

Therefore, just in case, Cui Songshan left the city ahead of schedule.

In retrospect, his caution was indeed correct.

Just then, a dark figure appeared behind Cui Songshan.

"Third Master, the man is dead." The shadowy figure said to Cui Songshan as soon as it appeared.

"do you died?"

Cui Songshan didn't turn around, but narrowed his eyes as he looked in the direction of Shangyang Prefecture.

"He didn't say anything before he died, did he?"

"Have all the traces been cleaned up?"

The shadowy figure shook his head; "He didn't say anything, and all the traces have been cleaned up. No one can find anything anymore."

Upon hearing this, Cui Songshan nodded; "That's good."

"Then let's go!"

……

Yanzhou, Yanzhou City.

Inside the prefectural government office.

Fang Xuanling sat in the main seat, looking at the situation and news about disaster relief and rescue efforts in various prefectures and counties over the past few days.

Cao Shaoqin was sitting to his right.

The information and news about disaster relief and rescue efforts from various prefectures and counties were just sent by Cao Shaoqin.

Fang Xuanling frowned as he looked at the disaster relief and rescue efforts in various prefectures and counties.

Despite Fang Xuanling's stern warnings to the officials in Yanzhou, some still took the risk, disregarded the warnings, and dared to steal.

Really desperate.

After putting down the messages in his hand, Fang Xuanling's face turned somewhat gloomy.

After seeing Fang Xuanling put down the messages in his hand, Cao Shaoqin glanced at Fang Xuanling slightly and said, "Lord Fang, you have already seen these messages."

"I would like to ask, when does Master Fang plan to make his move?"

Cao Shaoqin asked.

After all, Fang Xuanling was the imperial commissioner in charge of disaster relief and saving the people, and such matters were within his authority.

Of course, the Eastern Depot's privilege of acting first and reporting later also meant that they could directly arrest people.

No sooner had Cao Shaoqin finished speaking than a messenger rushed into the prefectural government office.

"Report..."

"Lord Fang, a great victory at Daizhou!"

"General Lü has annihilated the rebel army of Prince Xiaoyao and pacified Daizhou."

The messenger rushed into the prefectural government hall and reported to Fang Xuanling.

"Oh!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuanling immediately stood up and said, "Bring the letter here."

The messenger immediately delivered a letter to Fang Xuanling.

Without saying a word, Fang Xuanling opened it and started reading.

Fang Xuanling knew that if Lü Bu wiped out the carefree king Zhou Qian and pacified Daizhou, then he could begin to rectify the officialdom.

After reading the contents of the letter, Fang Xuanling smiled.

Such a great victory is something to celebrate.

After dismissing the messenger, Fang Xuanling looked at Cao Shaoqin and said, "Eunuch Cao, didn't you just ask me when I planned to make my move?"

"I believe we can make our move now."

"General Lü has annihilated the Prince of Xiaoyao and pacified Daizhou. Now is the time for us to take advantage of this opportunity."

Fang Xuanling shook the letter of great victory in his hand and said to Cao Shaoqin.

Fang Xuanling was waiting for news from Lü Bu.

Now that the news has arrived, Fang Xuanling has nothing left to worry about.

Upon hearing this, Cao Shaoqin narrowed his eyes; "Lord Fang, are we going to launch a full-scale attack?"

Fang Xuanling nodded without hesitation; "That's right, let's take full action."

"Let's start with Yanzhou City. I'm going to thoroughly clean up the officialdom in Yanzhou."

As Fang Xuanling spoke, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Since arriving in Yanzhou, Fang Xuanling has discovered many problems in the local officialdom.

The reason he hadn't taken action until now was to avoid creating trouble for Lü Bu in eliminating Zhou Qian, the Prince of Xiaoyao, and pacifying Daizhou. Now that Lü Bu had eliminated Zhou Qian and pacified Daizhou, he could deal with these issues with peace of mind.

Upon hearing Fang Xuanling's words, Cao Shaoqin's eyes flashed with a golden light. "Good, I understand."

Cao Shaoqin had already understood Fang Xuanling's meaning.

Take action across the board.

That means that whether it's someone found now, someone found before, or someone with problems, we can take immediate action to arrest them.

Isn't this exactly what his Eastern Depot excels at?
"Master Fang, then I shall take my leave now."

Cao Shaoqin didn't linger any longer. He stood up, left a single sentence, and departed.

……

The residence of Cui Hao, the prefect of Yanzhou.

in the hall.

Cui Hao sat in the main seat.

Four or five officials sat on his left and right sides.

"Your Excellency, the Eastern Depot's agents have been infiltrating everywhere these past few days. They've appeared in every prefecture and county; they're clearly investigating something."

One of the officials on the right spoke with a solemn expression.

"Yes, Your Excellency, if I am not mistaken, the Eastern Depot's visit to Yanzhou this time is probably not just about disaster relief and saving the people."

Another official said with a solemn expression.

Although the Eastern Depot's guards were elusive, Yanzhou was not their home turf.

These local officials are the real power brokers here.

Therefore, it was difficult for the Eastern Depot to hide its activities in Yanzhou from the eyes and ears of these local tyrants.

Judging from some clues, these officials discovered that the Eastern Depot was secretly investigating something.

This caused great concern among these officials.

They had all witnessed the fate of those officials who had ties to the Yellow Heaven Sect a few days ago.

They feared that if the Eastern Depot found out something about them, these officials, they would end up like those people.

After all, how many of these officials can be completely clean?

After listening to the two officials, Cui Hao glanced at the officials below with a blank expression and said, "I understand what you mean."

"I've already told you before, the purpose of the Eastern Depot's presence in Yanzhou is definitely not simple."

"The officials who were arrested by the Eastern Depot a few days ago for abandoning the city and fleeing in the face of rioters and rebels are being interrogated by the Eastern Depot with all its might these days."

"Especially those matters concerning the officialdom of Yanzhou, the people from the Eastern Depot are conducting serious interrogations."

"Several people couldn't hold out any longer and have confessed, giving up information on many others."

Cui Hao looked at the officials and said.

If even these officials could discover something, then Cui Hao, the prefect of Yanzhou, was even more capable of doing so.

It can be said that Cui Hao, the prefect of Yanzhou, knew far more than these officials.

Even the interrogation of those officials by the Eastern Depot could not be kept secret from Cui Hao, the prefect of Yanzhou.

"What the Prefect means is..."

Upon hearing Cui Hao's words, the officials' expressions changed, and they all stared intently at Cui Hao, who was sitting in the main seat.

Cui Hao's expression also turned serious, and he nodded; "That's right, it's just what you think."

"The imperial envoy Fang Xuanling came to Yanzhou, probably not just for disaster relief and to help the people."

"The reason I haven't taken action yet is, in my opinion, because I'm waiting for General Lü to pacify Daizhou!"

To become the prefect of a prefecture, Cui Hao was certainly no ordinary person.

Their sense of smell for certain things is definitely much stronger than that of the average person.

Based on the emergence of the Eastern Depot and various other pieces of information, Cui Hao had already made a basic judgment.

No sooner had Cui Hao finished speaking than the sound of weapons clashing came from outside.

Immediately afterwards, the gates of the mansion were blasted open.

"what happened?"

Upon hearing the commotion outside, Cui Hao and several officials were startled and stood up in unison.

Then, the group exchanged glances and walked out of the hall.

As soon as Cui Hao stepped out of the hall, he saw a group of people dressed in eagle-patterned robes, with jade belts around their waists and crescent-shaped blades in their hands rushing into his mansion and fighting with his guards.

Eastern Depot and its guards?

Judging from their distinctive attire, Cui Hao immediately recognized them as members of the Eastern Depot, and his expression changed.

Why would the people from the Eastern Depot attack the residence of a prefect?
Could there be news from Daizhou?

The imperial envoy was preparing to take action against these officials in Yanzhou.
In a short while, many thoughts raced through Cui Hao's mind.

Even the officials who came out with Cui Hao had a change in expression.

Clearly, they had already recognized that these people who rushed in were the guards of the Eastern Depot.

"Oh, besides Prefect Cui, all the other officials are here too!"

"That's perfect, it saves me from running around. Gentlemen, please come with me!"

Seeing Cui Hao and the others come out, Cao Shaoqin stepped forward and looked at them with a sinister expression.

"Eunuch Cao, how dare you lead the Imperial Guards to storm the residence of a prefect of a state?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Even if your Eastern Depot has the privilege of acting first and reporting later, it does not have the right to innocently storm the residence of a prefect."

"If you don't give me an explanation today, I will definitely submit a memorial to the throne impeaching your Eastern Depot."

Cui Hao looked at Cao Shaoqin with a grim expression and said.

Although Cui Hao already had some guesses in his mind, he still tried his best to remain calm.

Explain?

"Why should we, the Eastern Depot, need to explain ourselves to others?"

Cao Shaoqin sneered.

"Besides, Prefect Cui should know best what our Eastern Depot wants to do."

"As an official of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the prefect of Yanzhou, I don't need to elaborate on how many wicked things Prefect Cui has done over the years!"

"This was ordered by Lord Fang, with the assistance of our Eastern Depot. Lord Cui should know the significance of this."

"You'd better come with me obediently, lest I resort to violence."

Cao Shaoqin looked at Cui Hao and spoke softly and gently.

Upon hearing this, Cui Hao's face darkened immediately. "Hmph, this is slander. I am the prefect of a prefecture. Without an imperial edict, even the imperial envoy and your Eastern Depot have no right to arrest me directly."

"If you want me to go with you, produce the imperial edict."

Cui Hao knew very well that if he followed Cao Shaoqin like this, it would be difficult for him to get out again.

It's easy to get into the Eastern Depot, but difficult to get out.

Therefore, he would never go with Cao Shaoqin so easily.

Imperial decree?

"Our Eastern Depot acts first and reports later, which is like an imperial edict."

"Since Prefect Cui is determined to refuse a toast and then suffer the consequences, then don't blame me for being impolite."

Cao Shaoqin's face turned cold, and he waved his hand.

"Make your move, arrest them all."

Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without exception.

(End of this chapter)