40: By order of the Crown Prince: Execute all nine clans!

The entire square instantly fell silent.

“By the command of the Heir Apparent”

“Corrupt Official Huang Jianzhong, his crimes are heinous and unforgivable by the nation’s laws! To purify the imperial court and deter evildoers, this imperial decree of the heir apparent is hereby issued—”

Qin Huaiyu’s voice paused, each word squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying an bone-chilling coldness.

“Exterminate—his—Nine—Clans!”

“Boom!”

These four words were like divine thunder from the Nine Heavens, exploding above everyone’s heads.

All the Officials were scared Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, collapsing to the ground; some even soiled themselves, and a foul stench permeated the air.

Exterminate the Nine Clans!

What a cruel punishment that was!

If one person committed a crime, their entire clan, regardless of age or gender, would be slaughtered!

The way they looked at Qin Huaiyu was no longer with awe, but with deep fear.

This seemingly young general’s methods were so ruthless, he was practically an Asura who had walked out of Hell!

The swords of the city guard began to unsheathe, emitting a “clang-clang” sound of metal friction, which was particularly harsh in the silent night.

Soon, throughout the streets and alleys of Jing Province City, there were sounds of agonizing cries, screams, and weapons piercing flesh.

Blood, like ink dripping into clear water, rapidly spread through this ancient city.

The common people hid behind their doors, peeking through the cracks with terror as teams of soldiers kicked open the gates of the formerly high-and-mighty Officials’ residences, dragging the people inside out like livestock and executing them on the spot.

Jing Province was destined to be sleepless tonight.

On the city wall, listening to the screams coming from various parts of the city, Huang Jianzhong’s body trembled like a sieve.

He finally broke free of the gag and roared with all his might.

“Qin Huaiyu! You cannot kill me! You cannot!”

His voice was hoarse like a broken gong.

“Do you know who my backer is? It’s the current Chancellor! Fang Xuanling! Chancellor Fang! I am his man! If you touch me, you are slapping Chancellor Fang’s face! He will not let you off! The Heir Apparent will not let you off either!”

He brought out his last and greatest reliance.

“Prefect Huang, are you perhaps muddled with fear?”

Qin Huaiyu’s voice was very light, yet it made Huang Jianzhong feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

“You can eat whatever you want, but you cannot speak carelessly. Chancellor Fang is a pillar of the nation, a model for all Officials. How could he associate with a corrupt traitor like you? Now that death is at your doorstep, you still try to implicate the Chancellor. Do you intend to drag Chancellor Fang down with you?”

Qin Huaiyu took a step forward, looking down at him, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

“Do you know what crime it is to slander a First-Rank Official of the imperial court? If this were to reach Chang’an, and reach the ears of His Majesty, what do you think Chancellor Fang would do to prove his innocence? I fear he would be the first to memorialize His Majesty, requesting an Imperial Edict to have you slowly sliced to death, and then grind your Huang Family to dust, to show the world that he is irreconcilably opposed to you!”

“You…”

Huang Jianzhong was dumbfounded, a breath caught in his chest, nearly suffocating him.

He hadn’t expected that his last straw of hope, in the other party’s mouth, would turn into a deadly poison!

Seeing his unwilling and desperate expression, Qin Huaiyu lost his last bit of patience.

He turned around and calmly ordered a personal guard beside him: “Go, ‘invite’ Prefect Huang’s wife and two Young Masters up.”

He deliberately emphasized the word “invite.”

“Let his family have a good reunion here on the city wall, and also enjoy the night view of Jing Province City.”

The personal guard acknowledged the order and left.

Huang Jianzhong’s pupils instantly dilated to their limit, and an unprecedented fear seized his heart.

“No! Don’t! You devils! Don’t touch my family! Don’t!”

He struggled like a madman, the veins on his neck bulging like hideous earthworms.

But he was tightly bound, and two Great Snow Dragon Riders soldiers held him down like iron clamps, rendering him immobile.

Soon, his wife and two sons were brought up.

His wife, a woman accustomed to luxury, was now pale with fright, her hair disheveled.

His two sons, one about fifteen or sixteen, and the other just turned ten, were already trembling with fear, not daring to even cry aloud.

“Husband!”

“Father!”

When they saw Huang Jianzhong, who was pressed firmly to the ground, they finally couldn’t help but burst into heartbroken sobs.

“Young General Huaiyu! Please! Please let us go! We don’t know anything! There is a head for every wrong, and a master for every debt, you…”

Madam Huang knelt on the ground, pleading incoherently.

However, Qin Huaiyu did not even look at her.

His gaze remained fixed on Huang Jianzhong’s face.

Huang Jianzhong looked at his wife and children, at their terrified and desperate faces, listening to their heart-wrenching cries, and the last vestiges of reason and madness in his eyes finally completely collapsed.

In those eyes, once filled with greed and cunning, there was now only boundless despair, and an all-consuming…anger and hatred.

He stared fixedly at Qin Huaiyu, with an gaze that seemed to want to carve his image into his bones and take it with him to Hell.

With a “thump,” Huang Jianzhong seemed to have all the bones pulled from his body, slumping to the ground.

Despair, like an impenetrable net, tightly enveloped him, making even his breathing cold with death.

Just in this dead silent standoff, a series of urgent hoofbeats, from far to near, broke the frozen atmosphere on the city wall.

A knight, clad in the standard armor of the Great Snow Dragon Riders, galloped over, dismounted, knelt on one knee, and held up a scroll of bright yellow imperial decree of the heir apparent.

“The Heir Apparent Your Highness’s second imperial decree of the heir apparent!”

Qin Huaiyu turned, took the imperial decree of the heir apparent, and slowly unrolled it.

His gaze swept across the silk scroll, and the Killing Intent on his originally stern face suddenly surged.

He turned again to the countless Officials and soldiers below the city wall, his voice like the nethermost ice, resounding throughout Jing Province: “Jing Province Prefect Huang Jianzhong, corrupt and lawless, preying on the common people, his crimes are heinous! The Heir Apparent has ordered that Huang Jianzhong be exterminated, with his Nine Clans!”

The last three words, he roared out almost syllable by syllable, each word like a heavy hammer, striking hard at everyone’s hearts.

As soon as these words were uttered, the entire city was shocked.

Those Jing Province Officials who had just been trembling with fear instantly turned ashen.

“General! General! I have evidence! Huang Jianzhong embezzled thirty thousand shi of imperial relief grain!”

A Sima was the first to kneel, his voice sharp.

“I… I will expose him! He forcibly occupied common women and caused deaths, it’s in his villa in the south of the city!”

Another subordinate Official shouted, scrambling to his feet.

For a time, when the wall falls, everyone pushes.

The faces that had once been fawning were now more hideous than evil spirits.

Huang Jianzhong listened to those voices he knew best, now scrambling to tear him apart. He trembled violently, a bestial grunt escaping his throat, his eyes bloodshot, and a mouthful of fresh blood suddenly spewed out.

Qin Huaiyu did not even glance at him, coldly waving his hand: “Order the city guard to arrest according to the roster. Any member of the Huang Family who resists shall be killed without mercy!”

“Understood!”

Commander Zhao trembled all over and loudly acknowledged the order.

In an instant, within Jing Province City, cries of killing erupted.

The sharp clang of swords being unsheathed.

With the order given, the entire Jing Province City turned into a massive slaughterhouse.

The formerly high-and-mighty members of the Huang Family, regardless of gender, age, or whether they were from the main or collateral branches, were dragged out of their warm beds and luxurious mansions by the wolf-like city guard.

Cries, pleas for mercy, and curses mingled together, tearing through the silence before dawn.