Making you a son-in-law is not about making you conquer the world.

He didn't want to know that Xiang Lian wanted to arrest him; he only knew that Xiang Lian wanted to harm his family.

This is absolutely intolerable.

Lin Ping's arms trembled slightly as he gripped the flintlock pistol in both hands.

To be honest, this was his first time handling a gun, and he didn't know how powerful it was. If he couldn't kill Xiang Lian, he would definitely be arrested.

When Xiang Lian's left eye function was fully activated, his head became larger than a hill, blocking Lin Ping's view of the entire world.

With such magnification, comparable to a sniper rifle, Lin Ping was confident he could blow his head off with a single shot.

"Go to hell!" Lin Ping gritted his teeth and began to pull the trigger.

"stop!"

A huge figure suddenly appeared in front of Lin Ping, blocking his entire view.

Even if you fire, you can't hit Xiang Lian in the head.

He had no choice but to turn off his left eye, and only then did he realize that the person who had come was Xia Yeran.

"Why are you stopping me?" Lin Ping questioned.

"It is the king who wants to arrest you. What's the use of killing Xiang Lian? It will only implicate your family and leave you nowhere to hide," Xia Yeran explained loudly.

“Then I will go and kill the king,” Lin Ping said coldly.

Xia Yeran broke out in a cold sweat; he had no doubt about Lin Ping's abilities.

"The monarch is the ruler of the country. If he is killed, the entire court will be thrown into turmoil, and it may even lead to internal strife. The common people will be the first to suffer the consequences."

"What does it have to do with me?"

Xia Yeran thought that using the lives of ordinary people to persuade Lin Ping would be effective, but she never expected that he would be willing to fight against the whole world for the sake of his family.

Although it may seem selfish, it is still a sign of filial piety.

"Your Majesty is Linglong's father. How can you bear to make her sad and heartbroken? She is enduring pain to protect your family."

Since you, Lin Ping, are selfish, let's talk about something related to you.

Lin Ping indeed put down his flintlock pistol and activated his right eye to observe the situation in the hall.

At that moment, Lin Xiaomei's longsword just slashed Xia Linglong's wrist, and bright red blood dripped down her fingertips.

"Tomboy, why are you doing this to yourself?"

Lin Ping kept shaking his head, feeling extremely guilty.

She really wanted to rush in and teach Lin Xiaomei a lesson, but the reason the other party was resisting so fiercely was because she was following his orders.

"You brat, stop right now! Do you want to kill your sister-in-law?"

Seeing that Xia Linglong had multiple wounds, Lin Fugui stood directly in front of Lin Xiaomei and said angrily.

"But my brother told me to protect Father," Lin Xiaomei said, feeling wronged.

"How could I have given birth to such a stupid daughter? Let me ask you, who is the person your brother fears the most?" Lin Ping asked angrily.

"I'm afraid of my sister-in-law," Lin Xiaomei replied without hesitation.

That's true. Lin Ping was a local tyrant at home, but he only became more restrained after marrying into the city lord's family.

He practically had the words "afraid of his wife" etched on his face.

“This is also your sister-in-law; her words carry more weight than your brother’s!” Lin Fugui explained.

Lin Xiaomei's eyes darted around, and she felt that there was some truth to what she said.

Even if she dared to offend the king, she wouldn't dare to offend her sister-in-law.

Without hesitation, Lin Xiaomei dropped the longsword on the ground and hurriedly apologized.

Xia Linglong was stunned, and once again doubted the intelligence of this family.

She wiped the blood off her body, determined not to let Xiang Lian see her wounds, otherwise Lin Xiaomei would die a horrible death.

"Lord Xiang, Lin Ping is not in Mingyue Tower. These are his father and younger sister. I will take them back to the Embroidered Uniform Guard to be detained."

With the embroidered spring knife held to Lin Xiaomei's neck, Xia Linglong said coldly.

Xiang Lian's target is Lin Ping, not Lin Fugui and Lin Xiaomei, and there is no need for him to openly offend the princess for the sake of these two.

He figured Xia Linglong wouldn't dare to openly let the two go, since the Imperial Guard's prison was no better than the Dali Temple's dungeon, and might even be worse.

"Escort the princess!" Xiang Lian hurriedly said.

He wasn't protecting Xia Linglong's safety; he was monitoring her to make sure Lin Xiaomei and Lin Fugui didn't run away on the way.

The significance is evident from the lineup of over a hundred people.

Xia Linglong gave a cold snort and remained silent.

Letting them go at this critical juncture would only harm them; Xia Linglong isn't that foolish.

In comparison, the Imperial Guard's prison was the safest place, after all, it had her protection.

After Xia Linglong left, Xiang Lian sent people to break into Mingyue Tower, ostensibly to search, but in reality to wantonly destroy it.

He knew Lin Ping wasn't inside, so he wanted to destroy his stronghold, make him hate him, and hopefully get revenge.

"Oh no, Yinyin is in danger!" Lin Ping shouted, only then realizing what was happening.

If the other side wouldn't even let Lin Fugui and Lin Xiaomei go, they certainly wouldn't let Zhou Xiyin and the others go either.

"It's too late. The Minister of Justice has already sent men to surround the Zhou residence," Xia Yeran said again, stopping Lin Ping.

"But don't worry, Zhou Yecheng is afraid of the Ministry of Justice and won't dare to resist. At most, he'll just be locked up in jail."

"Damn it, I won't let them get away with this!" Lin Ping gritted his teeth, wishing he could shoot them all.

"Not let them go? With this hidden weapon in your hand?" Xia Yeran said coldly.

Although he didn't know the power of the flintlock musket, he knew it was impossible to kill all the enemies.

Even if Xiang Lian dies, so what? Ten more Xiang Lians will immediately appear.

What he needs to do is not assassinate, but truly become powerful.

Lin Ping lowered his head and remained silent, knowing that reckless courage was useless.

"We can't just stand by and watch Yinyin and the others suffer such humiliation!" Lin Ping said through gritted teeth.

"The Minister of Justice will give me some face, and you don't need to worry about Miss Zhou. The Embroidered Uniform Guard will also give Linglong face, and Boss Zhou will not be punished."

These words calmed Lin Ping down somewhat.

He suddenly felt incredibly weak, as if he couldn't accomplish anything without the help of others.

To truly have a voice, one must become powerful.

"Do you know why the king was so furious?" Xia Yeran asked calmly.

"Could it be related to last night's theft?" Lin Ping knew Xia Yeran wouldn't betray him, so he didn't deliberately hide it.

"So the theft was indeed related to you? No wonder there was no record of you leaving the palace last night."

Lin Ping then realized that he had overlooked this step last night, which ultimately led to the mistake.

"Don't worry, the eunuch in charge of recording has some connections with me and has already suppressed this matter. The reason the king is angry is because someone has exposed all your identities."

"Wu Xin has returned to the court?" Lin Ping immediately guessed who it was, after all, the appearance of the Phoenix Dance Flower was no coincidence.

"Young Master Lin, I never imagined you had so many identities. I was completely fooled by you."

Xia Yeran said sarcastically, naturally because she felt somewhat angry about Lin Ping's concealment.

"Enough with the nonsense, let's get to the specifics of the situation."

Lin Ping didn't have time to waste with Xia Yeran; every second wasted increased the danger to Zhou Xiyin.

Xia Yeran hurriedly told Lin Ping what had happened in the court, so that he could be mentally prepared in advance.

"What a Wu Xin! He's been patiently enduring until now." Lin Ping sneered.

He had to admire Wu Xin's cunning.

If he had shown up earlier, Lin Ping might have been able to escape back to Jiangcheng. After all, Jiangcheng was an impregnable fortress, and even if Lu Zhan personally led the troops, he might not have been able to achieve any results.

He deliberately waited until Lin Ping was settled here and had something to worry about before making his move.

With Lin Fugui, Zhou Xiyin, and others in hand, it's unlikely that Lin Ping will be able to escape back to Jiangcheng Prefecture.

For a moment, Lin Ping fell into deep thought. This was a dead end, with no solution!

He wasn't arrogant enough to kill all these people one by one with a flintlock pistol; those few experts from Lotus Palace could easily take him down.

“There is an opportunity right now,” Xia Yeran said, frowning. Even he himself found it somewhat absurd.

"what chance?"

"To achieve the title of Martial Arts Champion!"

"Once you pass the martial arts exam and become the top scholar, it will prove your ability. The king will not stop your relationship with Lingling. Not only will you resolve the crisis, but you will also be highly valued by the king."

Xia Yeran explained.

"What good is the ability to prove something? It still can't change the fact that the city lord of the mountain city was killed."

The king had two reasons for arresting him. One was that he had an affair with the princess. If he could prove his strength, the matter could indeed be resolved.

However, the second reason involved treason, which touched the king's sore spot. The stronger his abilities became, the more uneasy the king felt.

"The city lord of Mountain City? He should have died long ago!"

Xia Yeran smiled faintly: "The king's eyes and ears are all over the world, and he is also aware of the affairs of Shancheng and Jiangcheng. Even if the city lord of Jiangcheng does not take action, the king is prepared to reduce the prestige of the city lord of Shancheng."

Lin Ping was taken aback, realizing that he had long since become a pawn in the king's hands.

Therefore, as long as he wins the title of martial arts champion, he can immediately resolve the current crisis.

"If that's the case, why does Your Excellency look so worried? Could it be that you don't trust my abilities?"

Lin Ping asked, displeased.

"Of course, I can't trust him..."

Xia Yeran thought to himself, he knew Lin Ping was capable, he was good at using underhanded tricks, but he might not be able to win a fair fight.

These words should not be said aloud, otherwise the friendship would be over.

“Young Master Lin is not a martial arts graduate, so I’m afraid he’s not qualified to participate in this martial arts examination,” Xia Yeran said, shaking his head.

The martial arts examination was equivalent to the college entrance examination, and the candidates were like high school graduates.

Lin Ping was a spoiled brat who had never taken any academic exams and had never attended high school.

This seems... a little awkward.

"It's not that there's no way at all. Every year there's a special quota that allows someone to directly participate in the assessment."

"Adult college entrance examination?" Lin Ping roughly understood what this meant.

In other words, they won't use academic qualifications to directly exclude people, but will give ordinary candidates a goal to strive for, while the control is extremely strict, with only one spot available.

"How do I get this spot?" This was the question Lin Ping was most concerned about.

"The military examination is organized by the Ministry of Rites, and the quota is naturally in the hands of the Ministry of Rites. If it were before today, I could have shamelessly helped you get this quota, but now that you have offended the emperor, the Ministry of Rites may not dare to give it to you."

At this point, Xia Yeran was utterly helpless.

He had previously mentioned the martial arts champion to the king, hoping that Lin Ping would participate. However, this incident completely disrupted his plans.