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?
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
