The Rules That Must Be Kept and Those That Needn't Be

Yang Wenqing returned to the Governor-General's Mansion. After exchanging a few brief words with Jiang Wan, he headed to the office in the front courtyard to handle government affairs and had the Secretariat summon the commanders of the two personal guard battalions stationed outside the mansion's left and right wings.

Though they were called battalion commanders, both were actually Entry Realm cultivators of exceptional standing. One was Zhao Ze, Yang Wenqing's eldest disciple, who had entered the realm two years ago; the other was Zhong Shuo, Zhuang Yue's disciple.

The two personal guard battalions under their command consisted entirely of cultivators. One-third were Foundation Establishment Cultivators, while the remaining two-thirds were Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivators. Most came from the Yang Family and the Sun Family, making them Yang Wenqing's most trusted trump card in the Redstone Region.

When the two battalion commanders appeared in the office, Yang Wenqing gave his orders directly. "Proceed with this year's first routine crackdown. Focus on smuggling and rogue cultivators concealing their identities. Anyone with a criminal record is to be detained and interrogated immediately."

Zhao Ze answered at once, "Yes, Master."

Zhong Shuo followed with, "Yes, Governor-General."

Yang Wenqing added, "Make a bigger show of it. Let everyone know that the Governor-General's Mansion is moving."

Since taking office, this had been one of Yang Wenqing's preferred methods. Whenever there were signs of unrest, he would stabilize the situation with a round of harsh crackdowns. The results had always been good, and there were often unexpected gains as well. The rogue cultivators they arrested could always be pried for useful clues.

After the two battalion commanders accepted their orders and left, Yang Wenqing turned back toward the office area and instructed Yang Yuan, "Send an order to the Government Affairs Council. Have them begin the