Centralization of Power

"No, no, I don't want to go mine coal! You can't do this to me, I'm the eldest daughter of the Qian family!" Mia Qian screamed and tried to rush forward, but was stopped by Su Li's guards.

Mia Qian's eyes were bloodshot as she struggled, flailing her arms. "I'm the eldest daughter of the Qian family! The eldest daughter of the Qian family!"

"Alright, we get it, you're the eldest daughter of the Qian family. Take her away." Su Li clicked her tongue at Mia Qian. "There are plenty of your relatives at the coal mines. You can keep being the Qian family's eldest daughter there."

"No... let me go, let me go!" Mia Qian shouted as the guards ruthlessly dragged her out. In the next room, two other Qian family daughters were also brought out.

The two girls had no idea what was happening, their eyes wide with fear as they looked at Mia Qian, whose hair was a mess.

"Grandpa... Where's Grandpa?" Chloe Qian nervously grabbed Vivian Qian's hand, her gaze turning to Su Li inside the room.

Su Li turned to look at the twin sisters. At that moment, Mia Qian also turned back and shouted loudly, "What are you going to do with my grandpa?"

"Your grandpa? He's the patriarch of the Qian Clan." Su Li pursed her lips and glanced at Quentin Qian.

Quentin Qian's face was ashen, as if he already understood his fate.

Su Li smiled faintly at Quentin Qian. "It seems Lord Qian is a man who understands the situation."

But alas, he realized it far too late.

With that, Su Li strode out of the room. The guards carried Lord Qian past Mia Qian and her sisters. Su Li turned and said, "The Qians have broken too many laws. Your grandfather, as the clan patriarch, bears the greatest guilt. By the laws of Qin, he will be executed—by beheading."

"Beheading..." The three Qian sisters' knees buckled and they sank to the floor, forced to watch as Quentin Qian was carried away.

The charges against Quentin Qian had already been listed—thirty-four in total.

Alexander Hayes, as King of Qin, issued a decree: Lord Quentin Qian was stripped of his noble title and sentenced to death by beheading.

Everyone else in the Qian family who deserved punishment had already been executed. Qian Tang was the last. When his head fell, the rest of the Qian clan was sent to the coal mines. The once-prominent Qian family was utterly destroyed.

Of the four great families in the southeast—Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li—two had quickly fallen from power within a year of King Qin's reign, leaving only the Sun and Li families.

After learning of the Qian family's fate, the Sun and Li families were terrified. They immediately brought gifts and land offerings, with their clan leaders and key members traveling together to Chang'an to pay respects to King Qin.

The Sun and Li families, realizing the situation, stopped secretly opposing the royal palace. Their relatives who held government positions across the country resigned for various reasons, resulting in a sudden wave of vacancies.

Meanwhile, the talented individuals who had responded to Su Li's call and come to Qin had already gathered in Chang'an, ready to fill these vacant positions.

With this, Xiao Zetian finally grasped control over all the territories under Qin.

The four great families of the southeast faded from the stage of history. From this point on, Qin began its centralized rule, with Xiao Zetian's power more concentrated and formidable than ever before.

At this moment, it had only been a year since Xiao Zetian and Su Li arrived in Chang'an.

No one had expected that the four southeastern families, entangled in power for years, would be completely wiped out in just one year by this young royal couple, with such iron-fisted methods.

News of this quickly reached the Jin and Chu kingdoms. Emperor Li Yanhao of Jin and Prime Minister Gu Liangzhe of Chu were both shocked. They had thought Xiao Zetian and Su Li would be embroiled in conflict with the southeastern families for at least ten years. Who could have imagined that in just one year, this couple would achieve so much? Truly terrifying!