"Leave your belongings, and we might spare your life, leaving your corpse intact. Otherwise, you'll die without a burial place."
Several men, tightly wrapped in black armor, blocked Wang Linchi's path.
They wore iron armor and wielded crossbows and long knives. If this equipment were discovered, the lightest punishment would be the confiscation of all their property and the annihilation of their entire family. Not even a Great Family would be exempt. Possessing complete sets of crossbows and armor was tantamount to rebellion, especially since it wasn't just one set, but enough for all dozen or so of them.
The Great Families abided by the rules, and the Court played by those rules with them. If you directly rebelled, why would the Court still bother with rules for you?
Therefore, Great Families rarely touched these items. Even if they did, they would only have one or two sets, and they would be hidden extremely well.
