Proclaim to the realm and all its people: I should claim the summit of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Midnight.

At Ningguo Mansion, the lights burned low.

The two stone lions before the gates looked savage and fierce. On the ground, Jia Zhen's eyes bulged as though their corners would split.

He roared shrilly:

"You're brutalizing your elder! Do you have any humanity left?"

"If you don't make the Embroidered Uniform Guard withdraw, you've lost every shred of conscience!"

Terror made Jia Zhen's hands and feet tremble.

Jia Mu, Jia Zheng, and Jia She hurried over, all of them pale with shock.

"Huan'er, why take it this far?" Seeing that her grandson meant business, arresting people the moment he returned to the capital, Jia Mu hastened to reason with him:

"Since ancient times, the law has allowed relatives to shield one another and conceal their kin's crimes. Jia Zhen is your elder, after all. You share the same blood!"

With an outer robe draped over him, Jia Zheng ran over in great strides and said agitatedly:

"Huan'er, you're about to establish a Duke's Estate of your own. You mustn't give anyone a handle against you!"

Those words, blurted out in desperation, reflected Jia Zheng's state of mind.

He desperately wanted his son to accept the title of Dingguo Duke. Until it was safely in his pocket, he could not afford to become mired in hostile public opinion.

As though clutching at a lifesaving straw, Jia Zhen kowtowed to the Old Madam until his forehead was a bloody mess, sobbing until he was drenched in tears.

Jia Huan's expression was grim, his voice calm:

"No one can trample my bottom line and walk away unscathed."

"The moment you submitted that memorial, you challenged me before the entire world. If I don't slaughter you, what becomes of my authority?"

With that, he waved a hand coldly:

"Take him away at once!"