Dream of the Red Chamber: After being exiled, I went on a killing spree in Liaodong.

Jia Yi mounted his horse, his personal guards lined up, and the iron cavalry galloped straight towards Jinling!

Dust billowed, banners fluttered, and they sped along like lightning.

The news had already been spread by Jia Yun on horseback.

Nanjing was shaken.

The Jia family was instantly in an uproar, with everyone beating drums and gongs, cleaning their homes, and decorating with lanterns and streamers, as if they wanted to pave Ningrong Street into a golden avenue.

All factions reacted quickly, with officials, gentry, and merchants flocking to Ningrong Street.

Who doesn't know? Duke Jia Yi of Qin is stationed in the Jiangnan Grand Camp, commanding a large army. How powerful he is!

Why has he suddenly come to Nanjing?

Is the Jia family about to turn their fortunes around?

Zhen Yingjia, the local tyrant of Jiangnan, personally visited the Zhen family, beaming with smiles, as if he were there to acknowledge a relative.

The Jia family members were beaming with joy.

This is real prestige! This is real status!

Xue Pan stood at the gate of the mansion, rubbing his hands and grinning, "Mother, let me go down to greet him! I still want to take Third Brother Yi to the Qinhuai River—oh no, I mean, to go drinking!"

I almost got caught.

"Shut up!" Xue Baochai said coldly, her tone resolute.

"No one can tell that we're getting too close to the Duke of Qin right now!"

"If you go over there now, you'll only ruin Brother Yi's big plan!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Xue Pan nodded hurriedly, "We can't ruin things!"

"Also," Xue Baochai lowered her voice, "from now on, when we're out, call him 'Duke of Qin'."

"Don't keep calling me 'Brother Yi the Third,' it sounds like you're trying to claim kinship."

"No!" Xue Pan retorted, "Calling me 'Third Brother Yi' sounds too intimate! Everyone will know my Xue family has connections!"

In the midst of the argument—

Rumble!

The sound of horses' hooves was like rolling thunder, pressing in!

At the end of the street, dark clouds loomed over the city.

Jia Yi arrived with his personal guards, their armor imposing and their killing intent palpable.

He sat on his horse, expressionless, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"The Duke of Qin has arrived!"

"This humble official pays his respects to the Duke of Qin!"

"This humble servant greets Your Excellency the Duke!"

Officials swarmed forward, smiling and fawning over him.

But when you see Jia Yi's face, which is covered in frost—

Everyone's smiles froze.

The air condensed.

This isn't a visit to relatives; it's an interrogation!

This is a reckoning!

Jia Yi's gaze swept across the entire room, a secret joy in his heart.

Great, everyone who's here is a shrewd and clever person.

Not one is missing.

I was just worried about how to make a big fuss, but now things have been saved—

You yourselves have come to our door to be our witnesses!

The elders of each branch of the Jia family in Jinling stood below the steps, their faces pale.

This isn't a welcome; it's clearly a prelude to a denunciation rally!

"Have all the elders of each branch of the clan arrived?" Jia Yi asked, his voice not loud, but each word as firm as a hammer.

"We're...we're here..." everyone responded meekly, their legs trembling.

"Very well." He dismounted and stepped onto the stairs, his voice as cold as ice.

"Tell me—what happened with Zuda?"

One sentence, like a thunderclap!

The elders' legs went weak on the spot, and they almost knelt down.

How did he know?!

Even the account books were burned, so where did he dig them up from?!

Zhen Yingjia and the others then suddenly realized—

It turns out they weren't there for outsiders.

It's like someone else's bones are rotten, so they come back to scrape the bone to remove the poison!

Having learned the truth, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Hey, it turns out it's a family feud.

That would look even better!

One by one, they retreated to the side, some serving tea, others watching the show, waiting to see how the Jia family would turn on each other like dogs.

"Your Excellency..." an elder forced a smile, his face more like a grimace, "Why don't we go inside... and talk things out?"

Standing here now, I feel like a monkey being performed, surrounded by onlookers pointing fingers. I've completely lost face!

Jia Yi sneered, his gaze sharp as a blade, slowly sweeping over everyone.

"No rush."

"Today, let's settle the score in front of everyone."

This is absolutely humiliating!

A surge of anger rushed to the top of my head, making me feel incredibly frustrated.

It's just that we secretly sold a few plots of ancestral land. Didn't we buy some back later? Why make such a big fuss about it?

"Say it right here."

"I don't have time to waste with you guys, I have to rush back to the Jiangnan camp to report for duty."

Jia Yi's words were like a bucket of ice water poured on boiling oil, and the entire room fell silent instantly.

He's leaving?!

Several clan elders, their skin thicker than city walls, immediately plastered on smiles and stepped forward: "Lord Duke, there's nothing wrong with the ancestral fields!"

"A full 120,000 mu, not a single mu less, crystal clear!"

"Heh." Jia Yi sneered, his eyes sharp as knives. "Then let me ask you—how come all the top-grade land has become bottom-grade land?"

One sentence exposes the deception.

The output difference is more than three times; do you think he's blind?

"Let's do it!"

Too lazy to waste words with these parasites, Jia Yi simply raised his hand.

The guards stepped forward in unison, their iron armor clanging, exuding a murderous aura.

"Jia Yi! We are your elders! How dare you lay a hand on us?"

The elders stood there with fierce expressions, blocking the way, trying to use their seniority to intimidate others.

"Bang!"

Their answer was the dull thud of the back of a knife striking their shoulder.

He was in so much pain that he knelt down on the spot, tears and snot streaming down his face.

[Ding! The host has ordered his personal guards to punish his elders, gaining five thousand elite archers!]

The system notification exploded in my mind.

Jia Yi's pupils contracted, then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Even a distant clan elder can amass an army of 5,000...

What if one day they were to target those "closest elders" like Grandmother Jia...?

Wow, we've struck it rich!

"This Jia Yi is the epitome of madness!"

"He even beats up his own family elders without hesitation; his brain must be fried."

"Don't worry, this kind of hothead can't cause any trouble."

"Just keep a close eye on him. As soon as he leaves the Jiangnan camp, we'll restart the plan immediately. With his pig-brain, he's got no chance of finding anything!"

The crowd chuckled softly and dispersed.

The Qianlong Emperor ruled the country with filial piety in mind, and beating one's elders was a heinous scandal.

Who in their right mind would dare to do that?

But Jia Yi is different.

He doesn't follow the rules at all!

The guards acted without blinking an eye, swift and decisive.

Even Zhen Yingjia breathed a sigh of relief: This person is no good.

What's there to be afraid of if he's a madman?

As long as you keep track of his daily movements, you'll be fine.

"Keep working!" Zhen Yingjia waved his hand. "Don't ruin Prince Zhongshun's 'rebellion plan'."

Over here, the beaten tribesmen, their faces bruised and swollen, knelt on the ground, crying and begging for their parents.

"Your Excellency, spare us! We were wrong!"

"It's all because of the second wife that we've been forced into this situation!"

"Yes! She came up with the idea! She also took the lion's share of the money! We were all misled!"

Everyone was scrambling to shift the blame, afraid of being slow and getting hit harder.

The mastermind behind it all—Madam Wang—was exposed on the spot.

"Mother, this second wife... could she be Auntie?" Xue Baochai turned her head to look at Aunt Xue, her tone full of disbelief.

Even Xue Pan frowned.

Aunt Xue's face turned deathly pale, and her lips trembled.

She never imagined that her own sister would do such a stupid thing!

"Jia Yun, take this message back to Rongguo Mansion," Jia Yi coldly ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Jia Yun clasped his hands in greeting, turned around, and strode away.

Jia Yi glanced around at the worthless people kneeling and begging for mercy, his voice low but tinged with bloodlust:

"You have one month—to buy back Zutian exactly as it is."

"If even a single acre doesn't recover, I'll come with my knife and chop them all down, leaving no one alive!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his iron boots stomped on the ground, and he led his personal guards away.

All that remained was a scene of wailing.

"Waaah... Jia Yi even dares to hit his elders..."

"It's all over! We'll have to sell everything we own to buy back our land!"