Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

The night was as dark as ink, and the distant barking of dogs could be heard incessantly.

After a harrowing day, the residents of Nanjing gradually drifted off to sleep with trepidation.

On the official road leading to the South Gate, a carriage was speeding along. Several martial artists at the Perfected Acquired Realm were acting as the driver, driving the carriage while vigilantly looking around.

Inside the carriage were Zeng Qian and a few others.

They knew the situation had changed, and staying in the city would undoubtedly mean facing retribution.

Therefore, he planned to leave the city under the cover of night and head towards Qingyu Peak to seek the protection of Empress Dowager Ji Yuxi.

"It's alright, as long as we see the Empress Dowager, we'll be fine."

Zeng Qian kept comforting himself.

Liang Youxin and Zhao Yuanli both placed their hopes on Ji Yuxi. As long as Ji Yuxi returned to the court, they would definitely be able to preserve their ancestral property and lives, and might even have a chance to make a fortune.

Mu Changge, on the other hand, wanted to leave Jinling and go to Xuantian Sect to seek Bai Tianyu's protection.

With different thoughts on their minds, the group of people slowly drove towards the south gate of the city.

"stop!"

Suddenly, a group of armored soldiers stopped the carriage.

The martial artist's eyes turned cold, and he instinctively began to gather his strength to break through the encirclement.

But soon, Zeng Qian pulled back a corner of the curtain and threw out a bag of silver.

"Gentlemen, please do me a favor. My elderly father is seriously ill and urgently needs us to return home to prepare for his funeral."

Upon hearing this, several guards, carrying lanterns, crowded closer to the carriage curtain.

Zeng Qian tried his best to keep his expression calm and smiled at them.

"It's martial law time now. Do you have a warrant from the Jingzhao Prefecture?" the head guard asked.

Zeng Qian tossed over another bag of silver: "Sir, the situation is urgent. Please do me a favor. Once I return to the city, I will immediately get a replacement warrant. Thank you."

Seeing the man bowing and clasping his hands in greeting, the guards exchanged glances, then weighed the silver pouches in their hands before making way.

"Since there's an emergency at home, go over there. Remember to complete the formalities when you come back."

"Yes, sir, thank you very much."

After repeatedly expressing his gratitude, Zeng Qian finally felt relieved.

The coachman also relaxed his guard and continued driving towards the city gate.

"We finally made it through."

Once back in the car, Zeng Qian breathed a sigh of relief.

But the carriage had only gone a few steps when it was forced to stop again.

"what happened?"

With a puzzled expression, Zeng Qian pulled back the carriage curtain once more.

But the scene that came into view made his heart, which had just been at ease, jump again.

Before them stood an officer in a dark blue uniform, his right arm raised expressionlessly, with ten infantrymen on each side, their dark gun barrels pointed at the carriage.

The driver's eyes turned cold, and he once again channeled his inner energy, preparing for a desperate last stand at the crucial moment.

He had never witnessed the power of the Mauser 98K during the day and naively thought it was just a bunch of ordinary people with no cultivation level, and that he could just charge in and kill them.

After forcing the car to stop with a blank expression, Meng Gong went straight up and saluted: "Do you have a pass?"

Zeng Qian tried his best to suppress his fear and said, "Sir, we have an urgent matter at home and do not have time to reissue the warrant. We hope you can do us a favor."

"Without a warrant from the Jingzhao Prefecture, no one is allowed to leave the city. Go back."

After finishing speaking, Meng Gong turned around and walked straight towards the city tower.

Zeng Qian was about to continue persuading him, but the martial artist acting as the coachman couldn't stand being looked down upon by a mere mortal and immediately jumped up.

"Damn it, what are you bastards pretending for? Watch the power of my Yin Yang Hun Yuan Gong!"

In an instant, a strong wind arose around the martial artist, and a reversed white wave of energy appeared around him.

"Prepare to die!"

After channeling his energy to its peak, the martial artist slammed his palm forward, intending to finish off Meng Gong instantly.

Bang bang bang bang bang——

But the next moment, twenty rifles, along with ten rifles on the city wall, opened fire simultaneously.

In an instant, a full twenty-seven out of thirty bullets struck him.

In an instant, the martial artist was covered in blood and collapsed in a pool of blood.

He stared wide-eyed until his death, unable to believe that he would die so wretchedly at the hands of a group of ordinary people.

Meng Gong slowly turned around, sneered, and looked at Zeng Qian, who was completely dumbfounded, before waving his hand.

"Take them all!"

……

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

With the cooperation of local government offices and the Jingwei Division, the Imperial Guards continued their arrest operation until the early hours of the morning.

Inside the Jingzhao Prefecture, Wei Donghai, Yang Xiong, and Shen Lang, after a night of preliminary interrogation, directly sentenced 40% of the key criminals to death.

"No, I don't want to die!"

When Ma Wei heard Wei Donghai's verdict against him, he was so frightened that he wet his pants.

"Mother, I want to see my mother!"

He wept and wailed in the hall, resonating with countless people who shared the same fate.

Yang Xiong and Wei Donghai, who were acting as observers, glanced at Shen Lang, who was dozing off beside them. They wanted to say something, but dared not speak up.

Today, he witnessed firsthand the cruel and ruthless side of this young man.

He could arrest those powerful and influential families at will, and anyone who dared to resist, including the children of their own clan, was killed.

He certainly wouldn't dare offend the future son-in-law favored by the Empress at such a time.

Perhaps disturbed by the crying, Shen Lang slowly opened his eyes.

"Are you done crying?"

"My lord, please spare me this time! I'm only sixteen, still a child..."

Ma Wei kept kowtowing to Shen Lang, begging to be spared his life by using his student status.

"Yes, you're still a child, so we can't let you off the hook even more."

Shen Lang sat up straight and smiled slightly at Ma Wei and his group.

"Confucian scholars should study diligently in schools to serve the country, but what about you?"

They aided and abetted the wicked, using fabricated charges to harm the city's residents and disrupt the central government's operations.

How dare you call yourselves students now? What have you even learned in school?

Learn how to destabilize the country, learn how to force someone to abdicate? That's utterly outrageous!

Shen Lang roared, which terrified the thugs.

"We...we were deceived too, sir."

Mawei still wanted to make a last-ditch effort.

Shen Lang sneered, "You're trying to say that ignorance isn't a crime, right?"

Yes, ignorance is not an obstacle to survival, but it is not an excuse for you to evade responsibility.

You have only yourself to blame for your current situation; you're just not smart enough.

Blame the very people who instigated the riots.

After speaking, he waved his hand.

Immediately, a group of yamen runners took them away.

Instantly, these guys started screaming and begging to survive.

"My lord, my lord, please listen to me! My father was a bodyguard of the late emperor, you can't kill me!"

"To tell you the truth, my mother is Her Majesty the Empress. If you kill me, it is tantamount to going against Her Majesty! I advise you to think twice before you act."

"My lord, please reconsider. I am the Empress's beloved. Do you know the story of Liu Ruyan?"

That's right, just like you think. If you kill me, Her Majesty will definitely take revenge on you just like Liu Ruyan did, until she drives you to your death!

Lord Shen, you didn't want that, did you? Why don't you let me go? I'll go and put in a good word with Her Majesty the Empress. She definitely won't... No, no, no... My lord, please let me go, please let me go..."

Shen Lang had witnessed firsthand how people would make up any excuse to survive in a crisis.

This pushed him to his limit, and he immediately changed the method of torture.

"Qu Yi!"

"My subordinate is here!"

"At noon, the execution will be carried out by firing squad. Notify the soldiers in your unit who have not yet fired a shot today to come and carry out the execution."

"As ordered!"

Qu Yi, his face fierce, accepted the order and left.

After doing all this, Wei Donghai asked in a low voice, "Lord Shen, what should we do with Zeng Qian, Mu Changge, and the two main culprits, Liang and Zhao?"

Without hesitation, Shen Lang said directly, "If accomplices are not tolerated, how can the ringleader be let off the hook?"

They were all taken to the execution ground and shot without interrogation.

“This…” Wei Donghai advised, “My lord, Zeng Qian is a protégé of the Prime Minister’s mansion, and what about Prime Minister Ye…”

Shen Lang, however, pretended to bow towards the city gate and said righteously, "In my eyes, there is no Prime Minister Ye, only His Majesty!"

Since His Majesty has entrusted this matter entirely to me, I will naturally handle it with utmost care and diligence, so as to prevent this calamity from befalling the nation.

Now that they've fallen into my hands, I cannot let them go. In short, Zeng Qian and Mu Changge must be executed.

As for what to do with their families, that is entirely up to His Majesty to decide.

After saying that, he narrowed his eyes: "My lords, you don't actually think that Ye is older than His Majesty, do you? Hmm..."

Wei Donghai and Yang Xiong broke out in a cold sweat and said in unison, "We will do our best to cooperate with Lord Shen and leave everything to him."

"Well, that's right."

Shen Lang then leaned back in his chair with a sinister grin and continued to doze off.