Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

This happened so fast that many people present hadn't even reacted.

By the time they came to their senses, Cui Zhu had already been subdued by the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Western Depot and pinned to the ground.

The garrison soldiers around, seeing their leader captured, grew anxious and took a couple of steps forward.

Gao Shun saw all of this, glared around fiercely, and shouted sternly: "Anyone who moves without permission will be executed!"

Instantly, the originally restless crowd stopped in their tracks, not daring to move.

"Lord, you have no evidence! You can't just arrest me like this!"

"This is an abuse of power! You're not qualified to arrest me!"

Cui Zhu shouted in panic, his expression agitated.

Hearing Cui Zhu's terrified roar, the heads of the four great families were first stunned, then grinned with their blood-filled mouths, cackling strangely.

Their eyes were filled with vicious light, and their wanton smiles mocked Cui Zhu's ridiculous end.

So what if you sold out our four great families? Won't you, Cui Zhu, be buried with us too?!

At this moment, the four patriarchs felt a sense of satisfaction from revenge being served.

They perfectly demonstrated what it meant that their own survival didn't matter, they just wanted Cui Zhu to die!

Cui Zhu's panic was justified. When Wang Yan and Tan Lu were surveying the land in Xuzhou Prefecture, they hadn't had time to investigate the garrison soldiers' military farmlands.

In principle, without solid evidence, the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Western Depot had no right to take down a third-rank commander like him!

"There isn't a single clean garrison commander in the entire Ming Dynasty!"

Wang Zhi's words were like a bucket of ice water, making Cui Zhu's whole body cold. Cold sweat poured down, and he no longer had any hope.

"Do it!"

"Yes, Director Wang!"

With Wang Zhi's order, a great purge that would affect the entire Xuzhou Prefecture officially began.

Tan Lu waved his hand, and immediately, Embroidered Uniform Guards with knives stepped forward.

Amidst the terrified gazes of the four patriarchs, they didn't explain anything, drew their blades, and struck!

As four streaks of blood soared into the sky, the heads of the four great families, who had been entrenched in Xuzhou Prefecture for decades, fell to the ground!

Before they went south, Zhu Youcheng had already personally defined the nature of this war.

This was a war to quell a rebellion, the enemy was the rebellious army, a mortal enemy that threatened the foundation of the Zhu family's rule!

Anti-corruption requires evidence, but quelling a rebellion only requires coordinates.

Once it's clear who the enemy is, the remaining task is just to kill all the enemies.

Tan Lu cleanly executed the four patriarchs and immediately led the Embroidered Uniform Guards to the old residences of the four great families in Xuzhou Prefecture.

"Bang!"

Under the force of the impact, the gate of the Li family's old residence shattered, startling the Li family members, who erupted in a chorus of screams.

Hundreds of Embroidered Uniform Guards, filled with murderous intent, rushed into the Li residence, killing anyone they saw, leaving no one alive!

"Ah! Please, spare me! I don't know anything!"

"Ah! Don't! Masters, please have mercy and spare my life!"

"Ah! Murder! Murder!"

"…"

Inside the Li family's mansion, the Embroidered Uniform Guards shuttled back and forth, chopping and killing, wiping out everyone in the Li family's residence.

Anyone who disobeyed His Majesty's will and opposed him would face only one consequence: confiscation of their property and extermination of their clan!

In just a short time, the once prosperous and harmonious Li family mansion had been transformed into a hell on earth.

The ground, the walls, the rooms, the ponds, were all covered in blood and piled with corpses.

Not only the people of the Li family, but even the four dogs the Li family kept were hacked to death by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, truly leaving no one alive.

The Li family's mansion, which had been bustling with noise and filled with screams and wails just a moment ago, was now silent, without even the sound of a dog barking.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the sound of wind blowing through the leaves.

Hundreds of Embroidered Uniform Guards searched the Li family's mansion, carefully rummaging through everything, guarding against any surviving members of the Li family who hadn't been killed.

The sound of the Embroidered Uniform Guards' feet on the ground was soft, extremely faint, but to Li Lin's ears, it sounded like thunder.

Each sound seemed to step on his heart, making him dizzy, weak in the legs, and on the verge of suffocation.

He was breathing carefully, not daring to make the slightest sound.

Li Lin was only seven years old this year, a direct descendant of the third generation of the Li family, the eldest grandson of the Li family patriarch.

At this moment, he was hiding in the wall cabinet of the canopy bed, covering his mouth with both hands, looking out at the comings and goings through the cracks in the cabinet.

Just now, he had witnessed with his own eyes these ferocious villains rushing into his home.

They drew their blades and chopped without explanation, killing his parents, brothers, uncles… all of them!

He was terrified, standing there in a daze, until his mother picked him up and put him in the wall cabinet.

And tearfully instructed him that no matter what happened, he must not make a sound or come out of the wall cabinet.

After that, he heard the continuous screams of the Li family patriarch.

Even now, Li Lin could still hear the pleas of his parents and uncles in his ears.

Through the cracks in the cabinet, through the windows of the room, he saw the Li family's blood splattered all over the courtyard, and the ground was covered with the corpses of the Li family members.

He saw his mother deliberately exposing her whereabouts in order to protect him, leading the Embroidered Uniform Guards to other courtyards.

Until the end, he didn't see his mother's last face.

Li Lin wept, biting his teeth tightly, suppressing the grief in his heart.

Suddenly, a pair of feet appeared in his vision!

The feet walked straight towards him, causing Li Lin's heart to beat wildly, and the fear in his heart reached its peak. He couldn't help but close his eyes.

But strangely, the wall cabinet hadn't been opened for a long time.

Li Lin quietly opened his eyes and saw that the pair of feet seemed to have disappeared from his sight.

Li Lin breathed a sigh of relief, and his heart, which had been in his throat, finally fell back into his stomach.

It turned out to be a false alarm.

Just then, the door of the wall cabinet was suddenly opened, revealing a face as cold as ice.

"Found you."

Cui Zhu, the Xuzhou Prefecture Military Commander, was taken away by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and imprisoned.

Even the garrison soldiers of Xuzhou Prefecture were ordered to disarm and were all locked up in the Xuzhou Prefecture garrison training ground.