"Have mercy, my lord prince, I beg you... Pang Zhuo is young and foolish. He let himself be led astray and made a terrible mistake... Please, for the sake of the Xuanwu City this official is building for you, spare his life!"

Pang Yuande pleaded with everything he had.

Ning Chen gave a cold snort. "If I spare him, what about the women who were kidnapped and sold? Who spared them?"

He pointed at Young Master Pang, his voice hard. "Guards! Seize him. He is to be cut apart by inches!"

"Pang Yuande couldn't keep his own family in line, and he's no model of virtue himself... Take him too. He goes back to the capital under guard, and His Majesty will decide what to do with him."

Young Master Pang's face went the color of ash.

Pang Yuande went limp and slid to the ground like so much wet mud.

Yuan Long stepped forward with his men and took uncle and nephew both into custody.

Cheer after cheer went up from the crowd.

Everyone had children, and nobody could stand human traffickers, those heartless vermin.

Human traffickers were bad enough. The son of a bitch who'd smoothed the way for them was worse.

As for Young Master Pang's lackeys, killing them outright would have been letting them off easy. Every last one of them was hauled off to do hard labor.

Ning Chen gave orders for them to get some special attention... In other words, if they died, they died.

He turned to the townspeople around him. "Xuanwu City welcomes everyone who comes here to do business. But when it comes to breaking the law, we have zero tolerance. I hope all of you will stay honest and do things by the book... And last of all, this prince wishes you all a booming business!"

Afterward, Ning Chen led Diaochan to the lodge.

A middle-aged man in a crimson official's robe hurried out to meet him, a group of people at his heels.

"This official, Jiang Hui, Vice Minister of Revenue, greets my lord prince!"

Ning Chen lifted a…