The fire at the Zheng family's residence burned for an entire night before finally being extinguished, leaving the once grand mansion in ruins.

The next day at noon, the constables sent down from the county arrived late to investigate the site. As soon as the constables reached the ruins, a pungent, acrid smell made them immediately cover their mouths and noses.

People from the surrounding area also came to watch.

The constables began asking the onlookers for details, only to learn that none of the Zheng family members had escaped. Thinking of the Zheng family members buried under the ruins, and with the stench of burning food, several constables began to gag.

"Boss, who did this? That's too ruthless! They didn't leave a single survivor!"

A thin bailiff approached their leader, his face contorted in a bitter expression, clearly having just vomited.

The head constable glared at the man. "How would I know? Send someone to search the surrounding area and see if there are any clues."

"promise!"

"You two, come with me!"

The constable called to his two companions, and they began searching around. Soon, they found the Qiang people's clothes and the bloodstained long knife in a small grove of trees not far away.

"Boss, look, this looks like Qiang people's clothing!"

The leader took it and saw that it was indeed Qiang clothing, and the long knife was also a weapon commonly used by the Qiang people.

"How could the Qiang people have ventured so far into this region?"

"Boss, do you think these are the Qiang soldiers who were defeated by the Marquis of Dingbian and fled here?"

Several constables looked at their leader with puzzled expressions.

The leader nodded. "Yes! Very likely!"

When the surrounding people heard that it was related to the Qiang people, they began to panic. In the past, the Qiang people were known for burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil. Now that they had wandered here, wouldn't they be in great danger?

"You must immediately return to the county office and report to the magistrate, so that he can send someone to request reinforcements from General Duan!"

"promise!"

The constable quickly left the place and ran towards the county.

Noticing the unusual behavior of the people, the leader quickly instructed the constable to go back and report the situation. With the autumn harvest almost finished, the people needed to be kept calm.

The remaining people began clearing the ruins. One by one, charred corpses were carried out and neatly arranged in an open space. There were more than thirty of them. The leader covered his nose and went forward to examine them. The corpses were burned beyond recognition. Only the general outlines could be used to distinguish adults and children, men and women.

A coroner also stepped forward to examine the body.

"Captain, there are only a few ashes in the mouths and noses of these people, and each corpse has slash marks on its abdomen and neck. It seems that they were killed first and then burned!"

"Um!"

The leader nodded, then looked at the constable beside him, "What did you find?"

"Boss, after searching, we only found a few scattered copper coins in the ruins. The rest were probably looted!"

"Understood! This should be a simple case of robbery and murder by the Qiang people! We'll discuss everything once the magistrate and General Duan arrive!"

"promise!"

About two hours later, Duan Jiong and his five hundred personal guards slowly arrived at the scene.

"General Duan, look, this was left behind by the Qiang people."

Duan Jiong, riding on horseback, glanced at the evidence in the hands of the head constable and then looked away, focusing instead on the more than thirty corpses laid out in the square.

"Where did the Emperor find this person? So ruthless. But... this kid's methods are to my liking!" Looking at the horrific scene before him, Duan Jiong was secretly shocked, but at the same time, he also greatly admired Cheng Yu.

Duan Jiong then said in a deep voice, "This group of Qiang people are scattered and extremely difficult to deal with. You all should quickly lead the people to harvest the grain. I will personally lead the troops to guard this place!"

"Thank you, General!"

Hearing that Duan Jiong was personally guarding the area, the people felt relieved. They knew of Duan Jiong's reputation, so they rushed to the fields to harvest the crops.

As for the Zheng family's grain, it was all used by Duan Jiong as military rations, and their land was converted into public land.

The local magistrate was overjoyed. With the local bully gone and more public land available, he could pay more taxes next year, adding to his political achievements.

Just as we finished our work here, the magistrate of the neighboring county sent someone to ask for help, saying that a local powerful family had been killed by the Qiang people.

Without saying a word, Duan Jiong immediately led his men over. Thus, Cheng Yu set the fire in front, and he followed behind to put it out.

Suddenly, the powerful families in Liangzhou began to feel insecure. They took the initiative to report their land holdings and pay taxes, only asking that the Liangzhou soldiers could stay in their homes a little longer.

Duan Jiong and his soldiers couldn't help but laugh when they saw the mountains of grain piled up in the camp. It had been so many years since they had lived such a prosperous life.

"I never expected the Emperor to be so cunning and ruthless at such a young age."

Unable to resist glancing in the direction of Luoyang, Duan Jiong was filled with awe.

Compared to Duan Jiong, Yang Qiu and Zhang Jian from Xuzhou seem to act more directly.

"I am Cao Xian, and I greet Commandant Yang and Governor Zhang."

"We have met with Commandant Yang and Governor Zhang."

Zhang Jian smiled and asked politely, "Gentlemen, there's no need for such formalities. May I ask what brings Patriarch Cao and you all here?"

Looking at the group of twenty-odd people led by Cao Xian, who comprised almost half of the powerful clans in Xuzhou, Zhang Jian couldn't help but sneer inwardly, while Yang Qiu remained silent beside him.

“We, the humble servants, have been waiting anxiously at home for several days, but the tax officials have not come. We are worried that this will delay the court’s tax collection, so we have come here to voluntarily pay our taxes.”

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