Zhou Zhi's voice echoed like thunder within the prison, leaving everyone temporarily stunned and frozen in place.
The only person present who wasn't dumbfounded was Xu Qin.
Her eyes were fixed intently on Ren Tianye.
In an instant, a vibrant gleam burst forth in her gaze.
This... this was the perfect domineering prince of her dreams!
Right, that general with the scarred face was this prince's subordinate? Didn't that mean the fine steed, Snow Qilin, could also be considered this prince's property?
So...
She hadn't found the wrong person!
She had just taken a slight detour.
This was heaven's test of her love. Fortunately, heaven did not let down those who persevered; she had finally waited for her moment.
Thus, the moment Zhou Zhi's words fell, Xu Qin lunged forward like a fierce beast trying to break out of its cage.
She cried out eagerly, Your Highness, Your Highness! I was the one who injured your horse, but I am willing to compensate. I have already asked my mother to sell our family's assets and borrowed money from relatives and friends.
I know that this is still far from enough.
But I, Xu Qin, am a woman of noble character. I would never back out on my debts. How about this...
I am willing to work for you as your personal servant!
Until I have paid off the debt in full!
If Zhou Zhi's stubborn attitude just now had left everyone bewildered, Xu Qin's words directly struck fear into their hearts.
Wang Ming, Zhang Shi, and Xie Changfeng—those belonging to the ranks of military officers—instantly rushed forward.
As the saying goes, when the master is humiliated, the subjects must die!
To allow some nonsensical woman to insult the Lord Duke right under their noses!
They deserved death!
However, before they died, they would make sure this Xu Qin died first!
The three burly men possessed extraordinary martial skills.
The moment they struck, they effortlessly pinned Xu Qin down. Some slapped her face, others restrained her, and they didn't forget to deliver a swift kick to the back of her knees, making Xu Qin fall to the ground with a heavy thud.
Insolence!
Right at that moment, Zhou Zhi let out a sudden roar.
This is a prison, a place where the law is paramount. Miss Xu Qin is merely filled with a yearning for love. What do you think you are doing?
Besides, what is wrong with what Miss Xu Qin said?
She should be highly praised...
Before Zhou Zhi could finish his sentence, Zhang Shi, who was already bewildered and holding back a bellyful of anger, dropped Xu Qin and delivered a flying kick from the side.
This kick deeply captured the essence of the Ren family army.
Not only did the foot fly, but the person flew as well.
With a loud crash.
Zhou Zhi performed a perfect mid-air parabola, slamming heavily against the wall before sliding down.
He looked completely deflated!
Ren Tianye looked at him with a mild gaze. You're quite brave, aren't you!
As long as the word 'love' is involved, you dare to act recklessly and unstoppably, using Yunjing's laws to judge my imperial court's cases!
Heh. If Huaian City had not yet returned to the imperial court, I wouldn't hold it against you. But now... do you still not understand whose laws you must obey?
Looking at Zhou Zhi, who lay on the ground still wearing a resolute expression as if he had done nothing wrong, Ren Tianye surprisingly felt no anger in his heart.
It was as if he had seen too many similar incidents; his psychological endurance had been forged to a terrifyingly strong level.
Instead, a strong sense of absurdity enveloped his mind.
He could have been a good official who served the country and the people, but now he was so deeply infected by twisted logic and heresies that it had penetrated his bones and was impossible to eradicate. It was likely he had committed countless crimes because of it.
For such a person, physical means were the best solution.
He announced loudly, Three days from now, at the vegetable market, Zhou Zhi, and...
His gaze swept over Xu Qin, And this woman.
They are to be beheaded in public!
The new City Lord of Huaian, Xu Sha, will personally supervise the execution.
The Demon Suppression Division will oversee it!
Invite all the citizens of the city to watch!
They must attend!
Su Jin, representing the Demon Suppression Division, was about to agree when Pei Jingzhi beside him spoke up first: Lord Duke, your subordinate has a suggestion. I wonder if I should speak it?
Speak!
Lord Duke, I believe we could hold a public trial in three days to determine the crimes of Zhou Zhi and Xu Qin, and have the entire city watch.
This way, they will understand what the true laws of the land are!
Ren Tianye nodded and said, Permitted.
We will do just that.
Also...
Ren Tianye glanced at Zhou Zhi again and said indifferently, The Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion is the source of spreading these twisted heresies. In three days, while convicting these two...
Burn down the Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion!
Such a place must be erased from Huaian City, and from the entire world!
He spoke the word erased with absolute resolve.
In truth, Ren Tianye did not object to people reading romance novels. However, places like the Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion, which used official endorsements for sheer fabrications to bewitch the public, had to be abolished!
Resolutely abolished!
However, Ren Tianye did not expect that after he said this, Zhou Zhi, who had just been lying on the ground unable to get up, would suddenly act as if he had been injected with chicken blood.
With a kip-up, he jumped straight to his feet.
His eyes were bloodshot.
No, no, the Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion cannot be burned!
Absolutely not!
Under no circumstances!
Zhou Zhi actually bowed his back in a rare display of submission, his voice carrying a hint of pleading. Lord Duke, you cannot burn it.
Those are not just books; they are the righteous path that generations of us in Huaian City have fought for.
So many books, so wonderful!
They are the dreams of every young boy and girl in Huaian awakening to love. Just like me—back then, it was because I recited 'Woman, you have successfully caught my attention' in the courtroom that I was appreciated and promoted all the way to where I am today, in charge of a city's penal laws.
Inside the Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion...
Is the truth of our Huaian!
Zhou Zhi shouted himself hoarse, his voice echoing in the prison. Yet, the crowd fell into a collective silence. Only, that silence was deafening!
This man is beyond saving...
Wang Ming muttered softly, then immediately added, No, he was beyond saving a long time ago!
No one paid any more attention to Zhou Zhi. Ren Tianye and his entourage quickly left, leaving behind only the people from the Demon Suppression Division to clean up the mess. Zhang Shi also followed them out.
Following behind Ren Tianye, he just felt his head buzzing as many memories involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Ever since he started following the Lord Duke in their uprising, it seemed... he had seen quite a few similar incidents. But after a trip to the grasslands, he seemed to have forgotten.
This had caused things to go wrong at every turn.
It wasn't until this time, when they took Huaian City almost without bloodshed, that he finally understood a little.
And right now, Zhou Zhi's absurd persistence made his thoughts seem a bit clearer.
Is this... the true nature of Yunjing?
So, to conquer Yunjing more smoothly, we need to... understand these things?
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
