Seeing the head of the Zhang family fall to the ground, the surrounding members of the Zhang family were all stunned and stood there in shock.

They never imagined that these people would be so ruthless, simply reading out the incriminating evidence without even checking its authenticity before raising their knives and killing people.

"Hmph~, leave a few people here to watch them, the rest of you come with me!!"

The Imperial Guards merely glanced at the Zhang family members, gave an order, and then led their men towards a secluded courtyard, where the Zhang family's elite assassins were kept.

Upon approaching, the Imperial Guards leader frowned as he looked at the completely silent courtyard. The silence was eerily quiet.

"Charge in immediately!! Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!!"

"promise!!"

At the command of the Imperial Guards, a group of guards and soldiers immediately broke down the door and entered.

The Imperial Guard stood quietly outside, but the expected shouts of battle did not come.

Before long, a soldier from a prefecture or state came to the Imperial Guards looking panicked.

"Sir, something terrible has happened...!"

"What happened?"

Seeing the soldier so panicked, the Imperial Guards couldn't help but change their expressions.

The soldier stammered, "The...the people inside...they're all...all dead!!"

"What....?"

The Imperial Guardsman was startled and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. He then turned and ran inside.

Upon rushing into a room, they saw several assassins lying on a couch, each foaming at the mouth and with a bluish face, clearly having died from poisoning.

"Hiss~, what happened??"

This scene made even the Imperial Guard soldier gasp in shock.

"Sir, all the people in the next room have also died from poisoning, and their deaths are exactly the same as these people's!!"

Soon, the soldiers from the other rooms also ran up to the Imperial Guards and reported what they had seen.

Upon learning that all of Zhang's more than one hundred assassins had died from poisoning, the Imperial Guards couldn't help but realize something, and their expressions returned to normal.

"It's better if they're dead, saving us the trouble!"

The anticipated conflict did not erupt, which greatly relieved everyone.

"Leave some of you to clean this up, the rest of you follow me!!"

"promise!!"

With a command from the Imperial Guards, a dozen men were left behind to move the bodies, while the rest of the men began searching the mansion for valuables.

Before long, boxes of valuables were moved out of the Zhang residence and escorted along with the main members of the Zhang family towards the prefect's residence.

On the other hand, because the assassins in those mansions had all been poisoned, the movement of the teams heading to other powerful mansions was also exceptionally smooth!

The looted valuables were continuously transported to the prefect's residence.

The entire operation lasted all night, until the next morning, when the looted valuables filled the front and back courtyards of the prefect's mansion.

"My God, these people's wealth is comparable to that of those people in Luoyang back then!!"

Seeing the mountain of wealth before him, Zhang Rang couldn't help but marvel.

"Hmph~, for more than a decade before His Majesty ascended the throne, most of the income of Liaoxi Prefecture was seized by them. It's not surprising that they have this much!"

Yang Biao, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but snort coldly. If these resources were used to develop people's livelihoods and infrastructure, the people of western Liaoning would not be suffering so much now.

Just as the two were sighing, Geng Hu, the Commandant of Liaoxi, an officer from the Imperial Guard, and a general from the Youzhou Army also approached them with solemn expressions.

"Hehe~, you've all worked hard! What was the casualty situation last night?"

Since the operation had just ended and Yang Biao was not clear about the specifics, he looked at the others and asked about the casualties.

Geng Hu stepped forward respectfully and said, "Reporting to Prefect Yang, our men have suffered no casualties!"

"No casualties?? Didn't they put up a fight?"

Yang Biao was taken aback; in his view, those people were not law-abiding citizens.

"No!! By the time our people arrived, all of their trained assassins had already succumbed to the poison!! A total of over 5,100 people, not a single one survived!!"

"What did you say?! More than five thousand assassins were all poisoned to death... Who did it?"

Upon learning of this situation, Yang Biao's expression changed drastically.

Geng Hu nodded and said solemnly, "Yes!! After careful investigation, no traces were left at the scene. I have no idea who it was!"

As Geng Hu finished speaking, Zhang Rang, who was standing to the side, turned pale. In his opinion, this must have been Jia Xu's doing.

What wouldn't a man capable of poisoning over five thousand assassins without leaving a trace and without a sound dare to do?

If he wanted to deal with him, wouldn't it be a piece of cake? Thinking of this, Zhang Rang couldn't help but shudder, and the hatred he felt for Jia Xu dissipated considerably.

Zhang Rang's unusual behavior did not escape Yang Biao's notice. With a thought, Yang Biao realized that this matter might have been done by the assistant clerk of the Sili government office that Zhang Rang had mentioned.

"Alright, whoever did it, these people are friends, not enemies! Commander Geng, please send some men to burn and bury those corpses as soon as possible!!"

At the same time, those powerful clans outside the city and in the surrounding areas must be apprehended and brought to justice as soon as possible!

"promise!!"

After Geng Hu left, Yang Biao looked at the general of the Youzhou army and said in a deep voice:

"I would like to ask the general and the soldiers of Youzhou to do their utmost to go to the territory of Wuhuan and transport back the coal they have acquired!"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!