You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 95 Execution without authorization, a special privilege granted by imperial power

After Fang Xuanling finished reading the news, Cao Shaoqin glanced at him and said, "Lord Fang, this is all the information our Eastern Depot has found so far."

"I have heard what Lord Fang just said."

"If Lord Fang doesn't intend to take action immediately, then our Eastern Depot will not be polite."

"His Majesty previously decreed that anyone involved with the Yellow Heaven Sect should be exterminated along with their entire family, without needing to report it."

Cao Shaoqin said in a high-pitched voice.

Cao Shaoqin had heard Fang Xuanling's words.

Some of the things the Eastern Depot found involved the Yellow Heaven Cult.

Since Fang Xuanling wanted to wait until Lü Bu had wiped out the carefree king Zhou Qian and pacified Daizhou before rectifying officialdom and cleaning up the bureaucracy,

Those involved with the Yellow Heaven Sect were targeted first by the Eastern Depot.

After all, Zhou Chen had clearly given the Eastern Depot an order in the imperial court that anyone involved with the Yellow Heaven Cult should have their entire family wiped out without reporting.

Upon hearing Cao Shaoqin's words, Fang Xuanling put down the letter in his hand and nodded; "I understand what Eunuch Cao means."

"Those involved with the Yellow Heaven Sect, you Eastern Depot can deal with them as you see fit."

"Furthermore, those officials who abandoned the city and fled in the face of the rebels will also be handed over to your Eastern Depot for arrest."

"No matter where these officials have fled, I have only one request: that they be brought to trial by the imperial court."

Fang Xuanling looked at Cao Shaoqin and spoke each word clearly.

In order not to make it more difficult for Lü Bu to eliminate the carefree king Zhou Qian and pacify Daizhou, Fang Xuanling did not want to immediately rectify the officialdom and provoke the resistance of powerful families.

However, this does not mean that Fang Xuanling, the imperial envoy, could not establish his authority.

Those officials who abandoned the city and fled, and those involved with the Yellow Heaven Sect, can be used to establish authority and deter the corrupt practices in Yanzhou.

Upon hearing this, Cao Shaoqin's lips curled into a cold smile; "Rest assured, Lord Fang, those officials who abandoned the city and fled will be left to our Eastern Depot!"

"The eccentrics will let them know that facing the Eastern Depot is ten times more terrifying than facing the rebels."

"Is there anything else that Lord Fang needs our Eastern Depot's assistance with?"

Cao Shaoqin looked at Fang Xuanling and asked.

"Yanzhou will also be carrying out comprehensive disaster relief and rescue efforts."

"I hope that your Eastern Depot can keep an eye on the situation in each prefecture and county."

Fang Xuanling didn't stand on ceremony with Cao Shaoqin either.

One of the reasons Zhou Chen sent Cao Shaoqin to the four northern prefectures was to assist him in disaster relief and to investigate corruption among officials.

Cao Shaoqin nodded noncommittally: "That's no problem."

"This is our Eastern Depot's duty. Even if Lord Fang hadn't said anything, our Eastern Depot would have been keeping an eye on it."

"If Master Fang has nothing else to do, then I will go and take care of my business."

Cao Shaoqin spoke in a soft, feminine voice, then turned and left the main hall of the yamen.

After Cao Shaoqin left, Lü Bu said directly to Fang Xuanling, "I also need to go to the military camp outside the city to rest for the night. Tomorrow I will lead the army to Daizhou."

"Although I led three thousand wolf cavalry to wipe out the rebels in Yanzhou, the situation in Yanzhou is still very chaotic."

"Do you need me to reserve ten thousand Divine Martial Guards for you to use?"

Lu Bu looked at Fang Xuanling and asked.

Fang Xuanling shook his head; "No need, the rebels in Yanzhou have already been wiped out by you, the chaos won't affect anything."

"You should take them all to Daizhou to wipe out the carefree King Zhou Qian!"

"You must understand, the carefree King Zhou Qian is no different from these rabble of people in Yanzhou who have just put down their farming tools."

Fang Xuanling understood Lü Bu's meaning.

However, he refused Lü Bu's offer.

The rebels in Yanzhou have all been wiped out by Lü Bu and his three thousand iron cavalry. Even if the situation is chaotic, with the Eastern Depot and his imperial envoy team there, there shouldn't be any major problems.

But the carefree king of Daizhou is not like these rebels in Yanzhou.

Fang Xuanling feared that if Lü Bu brought 10,000 fewer troops, there would be an increased chance of something going wrong.

Therefore, Fang Xuanling refused Lü Bu's offer to leave him 10,000 Divine Martial Guards.

Seeing that Fang Xuanling had refused his offer, Lü Bu said nothing more, stood up and left the prefectural government office.

……

Yanzhou City.

After leaving the prefectural government office, Cao Shaoqin gathered over a hundred guards in Yanzhou City and, amidst many astonished gazes, went directly to a mansion.

"Who are you?"

"This is Lord Gao's residence. What do you want?"

Upon seeing Cao Shaoqin leading over a hundred imperial guards menacingly toward the Gao residence, the guards immediately stepped forward to question him.

"puff."

No sooner had the guard finished speaking than his head flew off his body and rolled to the ground.

"kill."

"Leave no one behind."

Cao Shaoqin waved his hand, and hundreds of imperial guards, like wolves and tigers, drew their swords and killed the guards on the outer perimeter, rushing directly into the mansion of the high-ranking official.
Then, sounds of fighting and screams echoed continuously from inside the mansion.

"How dare you! Who is it that dares to cause trouble at my Gao residence?"

Just then, a loud shout came from the backyard of the Gao residence.

Then, a slightly plump man dressed in official robes walked out from the backyard, accompanied by three or four guards of considerable strength.

"Who are you thieves?"

"How dare you come to my Gao residence and cause trouble? You've really eaten a leopard's gall."

After the slightly overweight man in official robes came out, he saw the corpses of his guards scattered all over the ground and immediately looked at the imperial guards with a grim expression.

Finally, his gaze settled on Cao Shaoqin.

Because the slightly overweight man in official robes had already realized that Cao Shaoqin was the leader of this group.

Thief?

"Hehe, we Eastern Depot are not thieves."

"Our Eastern Depot was specially established by the Emperor to supervise all officials and inspect the entire country."

"As an official of the Yanzhou Prefecture government, you must have heard of the Eastern Depot!"

Cao Shaoqin glanced at the man in official robes with a cold smile and said.

East Factory?

Upon hearing this, the tall man in official robes frowned slightly.

He had indeed heard of the Eastern Depot.

It is said that the residences of the Grand General, the Minister of Personnel, the Minister of Rites, and dozens of other officials from the imperial relatives' faction were raided by the Eastern Depot.

“Even if you are from the Eastern Depot, you have no right to act recklessly in my residence.”

"I am an official appointed by the imperial court. What are you trying to do by committing such a massacre in my own residence?"

The tall man looked at Cao Shaoqin with a very unpleasant expression.

What happened to the Eastern Depot this time?
Could the Eastern Depot just barge into officials' residences and indiscriminately kill people?

Moreover, this is Yanzhou, not Luoyang, the capital city, so it's not the Eastern Depot's place to be arrogant.

"right?"

"To act first and report later is a special privilege granted by imperial authority."

"This is the right of our Eastern Depot."

"As for why our Eastern Depot came to your Gao residence, you, Lord Gao, should know better than I do."

"The Emperor has decreed that anyone associated with the Yellow Heaven Sect, regardless of who they are, should have their entire family, including nine generations of relatives, executed without prior notice."

Cao Shaoqin stared coldly at the tall man dressed in official robes.

Upon hearing Cao Shaoqin's words, the tall official in his official robes changed his expression and his pupils contracted sharply.

Clearly, he had figured out why the Eastern Depot had led men to storm his Gao residence.

"kill."

"Not a single chicken or dog will be spared."

Cao Shaoqin stopped wasting words and once again issued the kill order to the Imperial Guards.

Upon hearing this, hundreds of imperial guards, without hesitation, brandished their crescent blades and unleashed a merciless massacre at the Gao residence. "Block them for me! Kill that damned eunuch!"

The tall man in official robes realized that the situation was not going to end easily.

It's a matter of life or death; there's no other way.

He was no longer afraid. Instead, he shouted desperately to the guards in the mansion to block the imperial guards and to order the two experts who had been protecting him to kill Cao Shaoqin.

What happened to the Eastern Depot this time?
This is Yanzhou, his Gao residence. Even if the Eastern Depot is authorized by the emperor, it can't make him surrender without a fight.

A dead eunuch?
Upon hearing those three words, Cao Shaoqin's face immediately turned cold.

People like them hate it most when their shortcomings are exposed or when these words are uttered.

Upon hearing the order from this high-ranking official, the two experts who had been guarding him immediately leaped up and attacked Cao Shaoqin.

"Humph."

"A half-step Grandmaster?"

"Insignificant ants."

Seeing the two men charging towards him, a cold glint flashed in Cao Shaoqin's eyes, and he immediately drew his longsword.

"puff."

The two figures fell to the ground without resistance, and two bloody heads rolled to the feet of the tall man.

This scene shocked the tall official in his official robes.

These are two near-Grandmasters.

They can all be considered top-notch fighters.

He was killed with a single sword strike without any resistance?
How can this be?

The tall official in his official robes never expected that his two most trusted half-step Grandmasters would be no match for Cao Shaoqin.

He was killed with a single sword strike.

I suddenly felt a chill all over my body.

This dead eunuch was actually a grandmaster.

A master capable of killing two half-step Grandmasters with a single sword strike must naturally be a Grandmaster himself.

This tall man was aware of this.

Before the tall official in his official robes could even turn around, he felt a chill on his neck as he looked at the two heads still with their eyes open at his feet.

Then, the tall man's pupils shrank, and he looked at Cao Shaoqin in disbelief before slowly collapsing to the ground.

Cao Shaoqin sheathed his sword, not even glancing at the still-dead Gao, as if he had killed a chicken.

No fluctuations.

Cao Shaoqin did not draw his sword again; the remaining people in the mansion were enough to be handled by the hundreds of imperial guards.

He's not even worthy of being personally taken care of by the Second Supervisor of the Eastern Depot.

More than ten minutes later, there was no living creature left in the entire Gao Mansion, only corpses and blood scattered all over the ground.

Cao Shaoqin led over a hundred imperial guards, their bodies reeking of blood, away from the Gao residence and headed toward their next target.

……

"who?"

"What do you want to do?"

Outside the gate of a mansion, the guard's voice abruptly stopped before he could finish speaking. He clutched the bleeding knife wound on his neck and collapsed to the ground.

Cao Shaoqin led the imperial guards directly into the mansion.

"The Emperor has decreed that anyone who is associated with the Yellow Heaven Sect shall have their entire family, numbering nine generations, exterminated."

As the sharp sound rang out, the sounds of fighting filled the entire mansion.

A few minutes later, Cao Shaoqin left again with the factory guards, leaving behind only the pungent smell of blood and corpses scattered on the ground.

……

"The Imperial Envoy has ordered that you, as an official of the court, abandoned the city and fled when the rebels attacked, disregarding the safety of all the people in the city. This is an extremely heinous crime."

"Take it."

"Copy the house."

"Throw him into a death row cell."

In yet another mansion, Cao Shaoqin, accompanied by the imperial guards, did not kill anyone this time, but instead confiscated the property and arrested people.

The official in this mansion was a mansion lord who abandoned the city and fled to Yanzhou City when the rebels attacked it.

They thought they would be safe and sound, but who would have thought that the imperial guards would come to their door to raid their home and arrest them.

……

"When the Eastern Depot is handling business, all irrelevant personnel should stay away."

On the main streets of Yanzhou City, Cao Shaoqin led hundreds of guards on their way through the city.

The sight of hundreds of imperial guards dressed in eagle-patterned uniforms, wielding crescent-shaped swords and jade belts caused quite a stir among the people of Yanzhou City.

The fact that these imperial guards looked like they had just been through a battle made the people on the street gossip endlessly.

The common people had no idea what the Eastern Depot did.
However, seeing these people who called themselves the Eastern Depot confiscating property and arresting people, the common people guessed that they must be people from the imperial government.

Meanwhile, Cao Shaoqin, along with over a hundred imperial guards, also exterminated and confiscated the residences of more than a dozen families.

The news immediately shook the entire city of Yanzhou.

This was the first time the Eastern Depot had made its first appearance in a local area.

Officials from various factions in Yanzhou City were all shocked upon hearing the news.

With their influence, these people had naturally heard of the existence of the Eastern Depot long ago, but had never actually seen it.

No one expected that the Eastern Depot would suddenly appear in Yanzhou City and let them witness its methods.

……

Inside Cui Hao's residence.

Cui Hao sat in his study, listening to an official's report, his face remaining silent.

"Your Excellency, the Eastern Depot has been wiping out the entire families of officials in Yanzhou City, confiscating their property, and arresting people."

"Such blatant audacity is simply appalling."

"If we allow the Eastern Depot to continue to act recklessly, Yanzhou City will never have peace."

"We should immediately speak with the Imperial Envoy to stop the Eastern Depot's unbridled atrocities."

The official looked at Cui Hao with a solemn expression and said.

stop?

After hearing the official's words, Cui Hao glanced at him and asked, "How can we stop it?"

"Don't you know what the Second Chief of the Eastern Depot said at the Gao residence?"

"To act first and report later is a special privilege granted by imperial authority."

"Who has the right to stop it?"

"And who can stop it?"

"I doubt even the Imperial Commissioner Fang Xuanling had the authority to stop the Eastern Depot!"

"Besides, are you sure that the imperial envoy wasn't behind this?"

"You should know that the officials who abandoned the city and fled, whom the Eastern Depot confiscated and arrested, were acting on the orders of that imperial envoy."

As Cui Hao spoke, he glanced at the official again.

His tone was rather unpredictable.

"Your Excellency, we cannot allow the Eastern Depot to continue operating with impunity in Yanzhou City!"

The official reiterated that he was somewhat puzzled by the attitude of Prefect Cui Hao.

Logically speaking, Cui Hao, as the prefect of Yanzhou, was the one with the greatest power in the government.

How could they possibly tolerate the existence of the Eastern Depot, a force that dared to confiscate property and exterminate entire families in Yanzhou without even informing the prefect?
Cui Hao's eyes flickered, and he said to the official, "Don't worry! The Eastern Depot won't continue like this forever."

"Tell your subordinates to be discreet in this disaster relief effort and not let money blind them."

"The arrival of the Eastern Depot in Yanzhou is no joke."

Cui Hao looked at the official and offered a reminder.

The emergence of the Eastern Depot served as a wake-up call for Cui Hao, the prefect.

(End of this chapter)