The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

at this time!

"You want to leave? Did you ask me first?"

An old man in a gray robe appeared out of nowhere, wielding a long sword, and attacked the man in black with a single strike.

Clearly, everything was within Zheng Yunzhao's, or rather Zheng Min's, calculations.

As the governor of Yizhou and the head of the Zheng family in Hanzhong, how could Zheng Min be an ordinary person?

From the very beginning, he knew that taking down Qi Yan would be a piece of cake for him.

What we really need to be careful of is the person Qi Yan is colluding with. They might make a move at this time to eliminate Qi Yan and completely cut off all leads.

"Didn't you promise not to kill me?"

The man in black's expression changed slightly, and he looked at the old man in gray robes with a puzzled look on his face and asked.

Only the dead can keep secrets!

The old man in the gray robe, his eyes filled with murderous intent, charged towards the man in black with even greater speed.

"not good!"

The black-clad man's pupils contracted, and he threw the massive black bow in his hand toward the gray-robed old man, attempting to escape using his lightness skill.

For an assassin like him, besides archery, his greatest skill is lightness skill!

It's even possible that his lightness skill is even better than his archery skills!

However, close combat is his weakest point. Not to mention experts at the Earth Immortal level, even experts at the Human Immortal level could kill him if they engage in close combat with him.

However, given a certain distance, he could easily kill even a mortal immortal.

"Zhou Tian Xing Dou Jian Dian!"

Seeing the man in black throw out the giant black bow, the old man in gray robes spoke with murderous intent in his eyes. At that moment, the longsword in his hand unleashed a terrifying power, with starlight swirling around it. After slicing the giant black bow down, he slashed down at the man in black.

"I was wrong to say that aristocratic families cannot be trusted..."

Despair filled the man's eyes, and he said with a look of grief and indignation, "I am not reconciled..."

Unfortunately!

He hadn't even finished speaking!

More importantly, the gray-robed old man killed him with great fanfare, the sound of his sword whistling through the heavens completely obscuring everything else.

No one knew what he said except for the old man in the gray robe!

Boom!

A deafening roar echoed throughout the heavens and earth.

Not only was the man in black cleaved in two by the old man in gray robes, but the entire building was also reduced to ruins.

After killing the man in black, the old man in gray robes drifted away with his long sword in hand, like a celestial being.

"Thank you, young master, for saving my life..."

Qi Yan struggled to her feet, a bitter smile on her face, and bowed to Zheng Yunzhao with trembling hands.

"Qi Yan, tell me, who bribed you to betray our Great Zhou Dynasty and disregard the lives of millions of our people?"

Zheng Yunzhao sheathed his longsword and looked at Qi Yan with an indifferent expression.

Qi Yan remained silent. If this skilled archer had appeared, he would never have revealed the matter.

He would even commit suicide to take this secret underground.

But he never expected that they didn't trust him and even sent a real archer as an assassin to kill him.

This means that the son he handed over to the Yang family of Hongnong had already been eliminated!

Indeed, only the dead can keep secrets!

The Yang family of Hongnong never intended to let him live when they first started trading with him.

He actually believed that the Yang family of Hongnong would give him everything they promised.

Even if he is eventually exposed, his son will still be cultivated by the Yang family of Hongnong and become a true strongman, or even a truly powerful family.

"Young Master, I know I deserve to die, and I do not wish to live."

"I only hope that the young master can grant me one request."

“This matter was done by me alone from beginning to end, and no one in my family knew about it.”

"I hope the young master will spare the lives of my entire family."

"As long as the young master agrees, this humble general will immediately reveal who this person is."

Qi Yan took a deep breath to calm himself down. He gritted his teeth, looked at Zheng Yunzhao with a pleading expression, and earnestly begged him.

"You have no right to bargain with me!"

"Whether or not I let your whole family go is not something I can decide."

"Even if it were my father, he wouldn't have the right to decide this matter!"

"When you did this, why didn't you think about your family?"

Zheng Yunzhao said calmly.

"Okay, I'll talk, I'll talk..."

A look of madness flashed across Qi Yan's face as she gritted her teeth and roared, "Yang Tao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel..."

"It was Yang Tao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who sent someone to bribe me. It was Yang Tao who sent someone out of the pass to contact the barbarians and persuade them to send troops!"

He truly hated it!

If it weren't for Yang Tao, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

Anyway, his son, on whom he placed all his hopes, had long been eliminated by the Yang family of Hongnong, and now he was facing the fate of having his entire family executed!

He naturally understood Zheng Yunzhao's meaning; this matter was indeed no longer something that Zheng Yunzhao, or even Zheng Min, could decide.

There is only one person in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty who truly has the power to spare his entire family!

Since he was destined to have his entire family executed, he would make Yang Tao, and even the entire Hongnong Yang clan, take the fall for him!

"The Yang family of Hongnong?"

Zheng Yunzhao's expression changed slightly, and he said, "No wonder, no wonder you were willing to betray our Great Zhou Dynasty. It seems that the Yang family of Hongnong must have promised you a lot of benefits."

Qi Yan lowered her head and remained silent.

"Take him away and throw him in jail!"

"Everyone in the Yangwu General's mansion, except for the guards and maids, along with all their family members, are being taken away!"

Zheng Yunzhao waved his sleeve and said in a firm and powerful voice.

"Yes!"

A group of soldiers from Yizhou responded and rushed into the residence of General Yangwu, beginning to arrest Qi Yan's family members.

The guards responsible for protecting General Yangwu's residence felt their knees buckle and they knelt on the ground. However, their faces showed relief and immense joy as they repeatedly kowtowed to Zheng Yunzhao, saying, "Thank you, Young Master, for sparing our lives! Thank you, Young Master, for sparing our lives..."

Zheng Yunzhao didn't even glance at the guards of Yangwu Zhonglang General's Mansion. Instead, he stood with his hands behind his back, waiting for the Yizhou soldiers to bring all of Qi Yan's family members out of the mansion before personally escorting them away.

After a cup of tea.

State pastoral office.

In the study room.

"Father, I have done as you instructed and found out in public who bribed Qi Yan."

"Now the Yang family of Hongnong will certainly not be able to escape His Majesty's punishment."

"only……"

"This was solely the work of Yang Tao. Whether it can threaten the entire Hongnong Yang clan, I am not sure."

Zheng Yunzhao spoke respectfully to Zheng Min, who was sitting upright at the desk.

"Whether or not it can threaten the entire Hongnong Yang clan is not important."

"This matter cannot be as simple as just the death of Yang Tao."

"Even if it can't wipe out the entire Hongnong Yang clan, it will certainly cripple them."

"Over the years, the Hongnong Yang family has accumulated immense power by relying on the old man Yang Yan. They not only control Sizhou, but also Xuzhou is in the hands of Yang Yan's eldest son, Yang Xuance."

"Among our five surnames and seven clans, only the Yang family of Hongnong is capable of ruling over two prefectures!"

"Now that the Danyang Wang clan is gone, the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families can even be considered as the Five Clans and Six Noble Families. If the Hongnong Yang clan is also dealt with, then only the Four Clans and Six Noble Families will remain. This will be an immense benefit to our Zheng family."

Zheng Min put down his brush, smiled calmly, looked towards the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and said, "As the saying goes, the tallest tree in the forest will be felled by the wind. In recent years, the Yang family of Hongnong has been too prominent. Even though Yang Yan has now resigned from his position as Grand Secretary, the strength accumulated by the Yang family of Hongnong in the court and even outside the court has reached an incredibly terrifying level."

Who among us doesn't fear the Yang family of Hongnong now?

Now is the time when everyone is kicking someone when they're down!