Xuanqing Guard

On the fourth day, the undercurrents lurking in the Imperial City began to bubble up, and all sorts of rumors targeting the Xuanqing Guard spread from who knows where, even the markets buzzing with whispers.

It’s not that this time it’s about the Qin Family, but instead, tales about Xuanqing Guard’s "illegal deeds" and "after doing all manner of evil, they’ll reap what they sow" surfaced one after another.

Among the people who mostly never stepped foot in school, these stories pack way more punch than any official black-and-white proclamation—they feel more "real," more connected to the streets. Besides, who wouldn’t wish evil on a place like Xuanqing Guard? Ha! Serves them right!

That’s just how things are. And to be honest, who in Xuanqing Guard thinks of themselves as a good guy? You’d have to be brain-damaged to believe that.

Rumors flying everywhere, but the Xuanqing Guard doesn’t react at all, as if they’d truly forgotten the deadline the Emperor gave them.

That is, until late afternoon on the fourth day... The Qin Family’s external affairs steward, Huang Ping, vanished during his rounds in the city shops—a pebble dropped in a placid pond, ripples slowly expanding, stirring the water into turmoil.

That night, at mid-9 p.m., Shen Hao, missing for days, finally appeared on the streets flanked by an entire Little Banner Battalion of Black Banner Battalion soldiers, and a General Flag squad of the Governor’s Personal Guard.

In the dead of night, this fast-moving pack looked like a bunch of starving wolves, swiftly encircling the Qin Family’s main mansion—front and back, every nearby street included, all under prior lockdown.

Actually, it wasn’t just the main Qin mansion—two other branches of the Qin Family met the same fate. Even the distant ancestral branch kept in Jingdong had a Little Banner Battalion from the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office show up.

Xuanqing Guard never does things halfway—it’s always a full sweep, and they’re partial to night raids.

"Bang!"

They smashed open the doors violently; the household staff, who’d been keeping watch through the night, barely had time to react before the Xuanqing Guard burst in and chopped their heads off, one by one.

"Any resistance—kill them!"

The already panic-stricken Qin Family was thrown into total chaos. The house was filled with cries, but curses became rare.

Who’d dare curse? Open your mouth and you’d get slapped so hard your back teeth flew—you wanna keep cursing after that?

Because this wasn’t a confiscation, only arrests, no treasures were hauled out of the Qin Mansion—just people dragged out, strung together like livestock.

Even the menial servants didn’t escape—no one from the main Qin Family was spared either.

"Without an imperial order from Your Majesty, how dare you arrest me?!"

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, well past fifty and with some Cultivation to his name, looked battered. He was still in his nightgown, hair disheveled, eyes bloodshot with rage, but the surprise attack left him no chance to resist—he’d been subdued by the Governor’s True Qi and fitted with a Board Lock. Now he was being dragged out, with only his mouth left unrestrained.

Qin Wenhe’s voice was powerful, echoing through the night.

Shen Hao waved for the soldier who was about to lock Qin Wenhe’s mouth to hold off, then walked over with a smile.

"Qin Wenhe, you sheltered fugitives and let them keep doing evil, used your high position to abuse power, becoming the villain’s shield—and yet you still have the nerve to invoke ’Your Majesty’? Look—here’s the imperial order you wanted!"

That afternoon, after interrogating Huang Ping and confirming the unusual relationship between Qin Yurou and Huang Ping, Shen Hao reported the stage progress of the investigation and applied for permission to detain the Qin Family for a wide-ranging review.

And since Qin Wenhe was Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, arresting him required an imperial edict—this rule applied even to Xuanqing Guard. So the order was fetched from the palace by Pang Ban an hour ago and handed to Shen Hao just before the raid.

The order was genuine, no doubt, approved by the Emperor after reviewing Xuanqing Guard’s case files for the first two stages of the investigation.

In other words, Qin Wenhe had been abandoned by the Emperor.

Setting aside how the civil officials had schemed to cut down the Emperor’s voice in the Temple Hall, just losing the Empress’s protection and getting nailed as "sheltering fugitives" was enough for the Emperor to come down hard on the Qin Family.

Qin Wenhe’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull—enraged as he was, he still could tell Shen Hao’s order was legit. That realization killed all hope. But why did it turn out like this?

Qin Wenhe still couldn’t understand how his Qin Family collapsed overnight—who was behind this? Why?

"You... mm..."

He tried to ask, but Shen Hao motioned for the soldier to lock his mouth. Showing him the imperial order was just a formality—every word after that, Shen Hao wanted saved for Xuanqing Guard headquarters, with records.

"Lord, the Ministry of Justice Major Case Department has arrived, along with the Imperial City Guard. We’ve got our men blocking them outside."

"Imperial City Guard? What are they doing here?"

"Seems the Ministry of Justice sounded the alarm—said a bunch of armed men appeared in town, so the Guard came along for backup."

Shen Hao curled his lip. He’d expected nothing less before coming. After all, it was a sudden raid—there weren’t more than five people across the Dynasty who knew tonight’s plan in advance. The Ministry of Justice bigwigs probably dropped their jaws in fear, huh?

Kind of funny, really. A bunch of clueless people get dragged in, thinking they’re the ones moving pieces on the chessboard—turns out they’re the pawns and don’t even realize it. Wonder what those civil servant bosses’ faces will look like once the case summary gets released. Will they tuck away their pride and stash it in their pockets?

Standing at the top step outside the Qin Mansion gates, Shen Hao looked up at the scene on the street.

On the left stood the governmental officials, led by Iron-faced Xue Gui. His eyes, catching the lantern light, glowed red, making the night and killing aura around the place feel downright chilling.

On the right, all in full garrison soldier regalia, headed by a Deputy Thousand Households—chubby, smiling, mounted on a big horse. Seeing Shen Hao emerge, he cupped his hands in greeting, showing his attitude.

Can’t hit a smiling face, Shen Hao smiled right back and walked toward the Guard.

For those in military positions, especially the garrison soldiers across the land, Xuanqing Guard kind of counts as one of their own. They often have chances to cooperate, organizing together, assisting, or fighting shoulder to shoulder against enemies. At least in Shen Hao’s eyes, the Guard’s military types felt pretty close.

"Hahaha, flood overflows the Dragon King Temple! Lin Chong, haven’t had the pleasure of asking Lord’s name!" The Deputy Thousand Households, seeing Shen Hao, quickly dismounted and walked up to greet him.

Just hearing that powerful voice—you could tell he was military to the bone. Very much like most soldiers Shen Hao knew.

"Households Commander Lin, you’re too kind. I am Shen Hao. Here for official business—please show some leniency. Here’s the imperial order." With politeness met, Shen Hao responded likewise—and anyway, he’d already heard that the garrison soldiers were only here thanks to the Ministry of Justice’s scare tactics, not out of malice.

When Vice Thousand Households Lin saw the palm-sized red stamp on the order, his smile froze, and he quickly closed it and handed it right back.

"I won’t delay Lord Shen’s business. Sorry for the interruption, please don’t hold it against me—farewell."