Ren Tianye couldn’t be certain and instinctively looked toward Su Jin.
Su Jin, sharp-eyed and clear-headed, also noticed the anomaly and gave him an almost imperceptible nod.
Only then did Ren Tianye understand.
Oh, very well.
A mere city lord of Source City dared to play tricks right before his eyes?
Since that was the case, he would indulge him.
He immediately spoke in a cold voice: “Hu Shaoyou, as a court official tasked with guarding his domain, failed to serve the imperial court and instead dared to harbor a fugitive wanted by the authorities!”
“And when the imperial decree arrived, he even raised troops in rebellion!”
“For such grave crimes, how can it be settled with mere compensation?”
He paused, then shouted: “Zhang Shi! Reckless!”
“Your subordinate is here!”
“Your general is here!”
“Set up firewood outside the mansion, soak it with oil, and light a great blaze…” Ren Tianye said, glancing at Hu Shaoyou’s corpse, “and throw his body onto it.”
“I will burn him to ashes!”
“So that all rebels under heaven may see what happens to those who defy the court!”
“Yes!”
“Yes, Lord Duke!”
Zhang Shi and Wang Ming immediately went to carry out the order.
The guards moved to drag Hu Shaoyou’s body away.
At that moment, Hu Shaoyou’s parents could no longer stay calm. They fell to their knees with a thud, knocking their heads against the ground like pestles, pleading in every way possible.
“Lord Duke, even if Shaoyou committed great wrongs, he is already dead. Please spare his body and leave him whole, we beg you, Lord Duke!”
“Lord Duke, the dead should be honored above all. Though Shaoyou had countless faults in life, he has paid with his life. Please don’t burn him. Let us take him back for burial. Rest assured, Lord Duke, whatever Shaoyou emptied from Source City’s treasury, our daughter-in-law will repay. Every coin will be repaid, not a single copper lacking!”
Ren Tianye was about to have the guards interrogate the parents as well, when Gu Qing also kowtowed three times and pleaded for Hu Shaoyou.
“Lord Duke, Shaoyou acted stubbornly and opposed the court. He deserved death for his crimes. But he is already dead and has paid with his life. I beg you to spare his remains. I am willing to devote my whole life and repay you tenfold.”
“Please show mercy, Lord Duke!”
As Gu Qing spoke, fear churned in her heart. Vividly, the rumors about Lord Duke Ren Tianye surfaced in her mind.
She knew clearly that her words might not move him.
Desperate, like a person grasping at straws in a dying moment, she cried out again: “Lord Duke, I am not speaking recklessly. I can truly deliver on this promise. Tenfold, I swear it will be tenfold.”
“Near Cloud Capital, there is a crop called sweet potato, with astonishing yields. I introduced it and, after generations of cultivation, have stabilized its production, yielding abundant harvests.”
“This crop is not as refined as rice or flour, but it produces a great quantity and can sustain countless lives.”
“I have mastered its secrets. If you grant me some time, Lord Duke, I will ensure it is sold throughout the land, earning you vast sums of money.”
“I speak nothing but the truth. I beg you to spare my husband’s body.”
Gu Qing clung to this hope like a drowning person, praying that Ren Tianye would value her sincerity and grant her a chance.
To her surprise, Ren Tianye’s eyes suddenly gleamed, though his expression remained calm and steady. He said flatly: “What did you say?”
“Sweet potatoes?”
“What is that?”
“Hmph, I am well-traveled and knowledgeable, yet I have never heard of any crop with such high yields.”
These words made Gu Qing see a sliver of hope. She quickly said: “It’s true, Lord Duke, such a crop exists. It came from Cloud Capital and has already spread in this area.”
“But my family’s yield is the most stable, with the largest and sweetest fruit. It can certainly replace military rations.”
As she spoke, she remembered a sample on the desk. She started to rise halfway but knelt again, pointing to a nearby spot: “Lord Duke, those things over there. You will see for yourself.”
Ren Tianye’s gaze followed her gesture, and his body trembled almost imperceptibly. When the guards brought the item and placed it in his hand, a surge of joy flooded his heart.
Sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes…
By all the gods, it’s real!
It’s truly the sweet potato!
This was a life-saving miracle in times of chaos!
Its yield was several times that of ordinary millet or rice. It required no pickiness about soil or terrain, and could be eaten raw or cooked.
If this sweet potato were widely promoted, it could save countless lives without exaggeration.
But the sweet potato did not originate from the Central Plains. While in the capital, he had sent people to search for it and even asked many Southern Sea merchants, all without success.
Now…
It existed near Cloud Capital!
And this Gu Qing, right before him, had mastered the technique!
Looking at Gu Qing again, Ren Tianye no longer saw just a person.
He saw a treasure!
A treasure he must obtain!
His face remained impassive as he asked: “Is this crop truly as miraculous as you claim?”
“It is, it absolutely is!” Gu Qing, sensing an opening, quickly added: “The sweet potato has been planted extensively in my Gu family’s fields and estates. Both the yield and the fruit are exceptional.”
“Lord Duke, if you but nod, I will devote my whole life, spare no effort, work tirelessly, to nurture the sweet potato for you, sell it across the country, and help your army become even mightier!”
A hint of a smile crept onto Ren Tianye’s face.
Oh, very well.
Such sincerity, he really had to reward her.
Reward her with a living, breathing husband!
Though, he wondered if she would accept it when the time came?
He turned slightly, about to signal Su Jin, but before he could move, Su Jin had already stepped past him. She crouched down, supporting Gu Qing, her face full of pity.
“As a fellow woman, I truly admire you. For your husband, you would sacrifice your entire future, endure toil and hardship, and try to mend the disaster he caused, but alas, this husband of yours…”
“Why didn’t he cherish you?”
“Why did he have to do such things?”
“Why oppose the court?”
“Leaving you to such a fate. He, he… is truly too much…”
Su Jin grew more agitated as she spoke. She stood up, and before anyone could react, “Slap, slap!” gave two sharp blows to Hu Shaoyou’s “corpse” — one on each cheek.
The sound was crisp and clear!
Hu Shaoyou’s deathly gray face faintly showed traces of redness.
But Hu Shaoyou remained lifeless, without the slightest movement.
Hmm?
He could endure this?
Then Su Jin’s cries grew even more bitter and loud. Her jade-like hands rained down blow after blow, slap after slap, smacking away!
Between sobs, she scolded:
“How could you die so easily? Are you not betraying Sister Gu Qing?”
“Does your conscience not ache?”
“How could you go and die, leaving Sister Gu Qing to suffer such a lonely widowhood? Are you even a man?”
…
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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!
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...
