Xiao Ling, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, held an imperial edict in his left hand and the ancestral rules of the Xiao family in his right. Before he even reached the Jiangjin area, he was besieged by the Qinglian Society.
Fortunately, Xiao Ling was prepared and brought a thousand imperial guards with him.
Consort Chen also ordered the Heavenly Guards to accompany Xiao Ling to Jiangjin.
However, Xiao Ling and the Imperial Guards were five miles apart.
When they were surrounded, Xiao Ling sent a signal.
The Imperial Guards rode swiftly to the rescue.
When they arrived, all the assassins from the Qinglian Society had already been killed by the Tianji Guards.
Xiao Ling was furious. He originally wanted to try diplomacy first and then resort to force, to deliver the imperial edict and make Xiao Yi obediently submit to the law.
Unfortunately, before he even arrived, Xiao Yi wanted to kill him, so he didn't hold back.
Upon arriving at Jiangjin City, Xiao Ling and his party camped outside the city.
A signal flare was launched into the sky.
After seeing this, several homeless men posted the prepared instructions in various places with high foot traffic in Jiangjin City.
The order read: "Do not follow Xiao Yi in his rebellion, for rebellion is a grave crime that will result in the extermination of nine generations of one's family."
If Xiao Yi's private soldiers defect, they will be forgiven.
The homeless men also placed their orders in front of various government offices in Jiangjin.
There are also some right at people's doorsteps.
After posting the order, they also posted the charges against Xiao Yi jointly issued by the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice.
After the posters were put up, the homeless people left the city overnight.
These were all people arranged by Li Ting in advance, in order to render Xiao Yi incapable of resisting.
As Xiao Yi looked at the imperial edicts bearing the imperial seal that had been torn back by the servants inside the Anle Prince's Mansion, he truly hadn't expected his nephew to have this trick up his sleeve.
Furthermore, the charges against Xiao Yi presented by the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice were detailed and complete, with no omissions.
So all these years, everything I've done has been under the surveillance of these people in the capital?
Why didn't they eliminate him earlier, but only when Xiao Sheng ascended the throne?
Xiao Yi paced back and forth in the room.
Resisting means death, not resisting also means death.
Xiao Ling had already set up camp outside the city.
The scouts reported that Xiao Ling had only brought a thousand soldiers.
However, the scouts failed to discover that Xiao Ling had led the Imperial Guards, whose fighting strength was equivalent to ten ordinary soldiers.
Xiao Yi estimated his troop strength and first gathered his men together.
Little did they know that many of Xiao Yi's private soldiers, upon seeing the imperial edict bearing the imperial seal and the charges against him by the Ministry of Justice, fled the city.
Xiao Yi had a total of 50,000 private soldiers, but now, when it came time to mobilize troops, only 5,000 remained.
The rest of the private soldiers had already surrendered and gone to Xiao Ling's garrison outside the city.
While Xiao Yi was still hesitating between fighting and surrendering, the people of Jiangjin had already opened the city gates.
Xiao Ling went straight to Jiangjin, as if he were in an empty place.
Upon entering Jiangjin City, Xiao Ling headed straight for the Prince Anle's Mansion.
The Qinglian Society has scattered like birds and beasts.
The people of Jiangjin arrived at the gate of Prince Anle's Mansion carrying rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves.
Xiao Ling stood still, and the people threw rotten eggs at him.
Among the common people, some of the bolder ones took the lead in cursing Xiao Yi.
The people of Jiangjin haven't had a good life in recent years.
King Anle is indeed living a life of ease and comfort, but the taxes in Jiangjin are too heavy.
The people are suffering terribly.
Xiao Yi plundered the people's wealth in order to allow his wife to enjoy a life of luxury.
He even took the risk of planting opium on a large scale to make money.
Therefore, Xiao Ling's arrival in Jiangjin is truly a blessing for the people of Jiangjin.
Xiao Ling had not expected that public anger in Jiangjin had reached such a level.
He began to ponder whether the ancestral system of sending princes to their fiefdoms upon reaching adulthood, or allowing princes to request such fiefdoms themselves, was still worth continuing.
With the emperor far away and princes holding absolute leadership in their fiefdoms, it was all too easy for them to harbor rebellious thoughts.
After returning to the capital, I will submit a memorial to the emperor, requesting that this ancestral rule be abolished!
Xiao Ding in the capital was still preparing to request to go to his fiefdom, dreaming of taking revenge when he grew up.
Little did they know that Xiao Ling was determined to abolish the ancestral system of princes being enfeoffed in their fiefdoms.
Looking at the five thousand private soldiers and the various people in the mansion, Xiao Yi knew that even if he fought to the death, he could not defeat Xiao Ling.
His crimes had already spread throughout Jiangjin, and resistance would not save his life; he might even die a more gruesome death.
But if he didn't resist, his wife and children would have to go to the capital with him, and he would end up dying anyway.
The gates of the Prince Anle's Mansion were tightly shut.
Xiao Ling wasn't in a hurry. He asked a few chairs from a nearby shop and sat down at the door to wait.
Inside the Prince Anle's residence, Xiao Yi went to see his wife and children.
King Anle's wife was still throwing a tantrum, scolding the servants for bringing her food that was too unpalatable.
However, this was because when the kitchen went to buy ingredients this morning, the vegetable vendors and shops that usually supplied the Prince Anle's Mansion were all closed.
Unable to purchase any other ingredients, they temporarily bought some food at the market to tide them over.
Little did anyone know that Princess Anle was completely unaware of her current predicament and was still throwing a tantrum, demanding the best ingredients.
Xiao Yi entered the room and gestured for the servants to leave, saying that he would stay there.
"My beloved concubine, is the food not to your liking?" Xiao Yi looked at the woman in front of him, his heart growing colder.
The world outside has changed, yet she remains here indulging in her sensual pleasures.
Looking back on their marriage, his wife had never helped him in his career; on the contrary, she had been the one who held him back.
Xiao Yi felt he had done everything he could to keep his promise.
Husbands and wives should share joys and sorrows, but this wife only ever shared the joys, never the sorrows, which led him to make one mistake after another.
He was also very tired.
Looking at the children, they, like their mother, were also complaining that today's food didn't suit their taste.
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