Chapter 1128: A Child Delivers the Letter of Surrender

The October snow melted quickly.

Before Prince Yu even reached Shangjing, the imperial court had already fallen into chaos.

The Crown Prince was missing, Chancellor Yun was nowhere to be found, and the Human Sovereign had vanished on the battlefield.

The court was entirely leaderless.

In an instant, the court lost its backbone.

Under these circumstances, the civil officials wanted to prop up another princely heir to stabilize the situation. But no one would agree to it; no one was willing to sit on a throne doomed for destruction.

Ultimately, the ministers forced a child onto the throne—Prince Xian's heir, a boy only six years old.

They thought this would steady the situation enough to mount a counterattack.

Their hopes fell flat. The situation refused to stabilize, and the high-ranking ministers had already lost their will to fight. Whispers of surrender rippled through the court; stubborn resistance would only lead to a dead end.

The city guards had already fled. With their remaining forces, blocking Prince Yu's iron cavalry was impossible.

Three continuous months of bickering finally passed.

Prince Yu's great army arrived at the city gates.

On that day, the gates of Shangjing City opened wide. The young emperor, wearing a Dragon Robe, walked step by step until he stood before Prince Yu.

His eyes were full of doubt and confusion. He looked around blankly, clutching an Imperial Decree in his hands.

Yan Nantian stepped out from the ranks of his army and slowly approached the little emperor.

The little emperor felt an inexplicable fear of the man before him.

The massive, swarming army terrified him as well.

His legs trembled. Tears spilled over, and he burst into a loud wail.

Yan Nantian crouched down and asked, "Who told you to come?"

The little emperor shook his head, wailing so hard his words were an incoherent babble.

He merely held out the Imperial Decree in his hands.

Yan Nantian took it with both hands and unrolled it.

It was a letter of surrender.

Yan Nantian let out a long sigh. The little emperor's cries were grating, yet they also stirred a deep sense of pity.

Exhaling softly, Yan Nantian put away the Imperial Decree and patted the boy's head.

"Don't cry."

He suddenly understood what Mister Zhu had meant.

Zhao Lingjun truly had been completely disappointed in Great Xiang. Otherwise, why would he have left?

To think these officials would place a child under ten on the throne, only to push him out all alone to deliver the letter of surrender.

Were the hundreds of officials hiding behind those city gates really that afraid of death?

Yan Nantian picked Zhao Long up and reached out to wipe the tears from his face. "Don't cry. Come into the city with Uncle in a bit. Uncle will kill everyone who bullied you. How does that sound?"

Zhao Long kept crying, not even hearing Yan Nantian's words clearly.

Yan Nantian turned his head, fixing his gaze on Shangjing City.

"Follow me into the city! Arrest and imprison every official of Great Xiang you see. Do not let a single one escape!"

The iron cavalry of the Yu Army broke through the gates.

The great army marched directly into Shangjing.

Once again, this city's doors had been forced open by iron cavalry.

This bloodline belonged to the Jing people. That glorious character for 'Jing' rose across the land once more, reclaiming its dazzling honor.

Without exception, every official of Great Xiang was captured and thrown into the grand prison.

The people of the world all said that Prince Yu was a benevolent ruler.

Along his entire campaign, he had never mistreated prisoners of war.

Yet on the day he entered Shangjing City, he did the exact same thing that had been done all those years ago.

He arrested the hundreds of officials, declaring: Execution after autumn!

The evil sown back then came crashing back down upon them.

Yan Nantian remembered Zhao Zhen's tyranny, and he returned it all, piece by piece, to these officials.

Zhu Sheng had once advised him, "Your Highness, a new dynasty has just been established. It is ill-advised to commit too much slaughter."

Yan Nantian replied, "That is why I ordered their executions for after autumn. Whether they are hanged or left with an intact corpse, it is the final shred of dignity I will afford them. Leaving these people alive in this world would only bring disaster."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the cowering Zhao Long standing nearby.

"This child is only six, yet those cowards pushed him out of the city all alone to deliver the letter of surrender. They cling to life and fear death, so I absolutely refuse to let them live. Furthermore, this is exactly what Zhao Zhen did in the past. He never once treated the officials of my Great Jing kindly."

Hearing this, Zhu Sheng offered no further rebuttal. He had already done what he needed to do.

This was also his final period of assisting Prince Yu.

"Your Highness, Zhu Sheng must leave now."

Yan Nantian was visibly stunned by these words.

He stood up and asked, "Why must Mister Zhu leave me? If you go, who will govern the Demon Market?"

Zhu Sheng took a Painted Scroll from his robes and said, "In the early years, I never mentioned this to Your Highness. My master goes by the title Mister Zhulan. He was the former King Yu. My master foresaw Great Jing's tribulation and ordered me to assist you along the way. My master has passed on, and my mission is now complete. This Painted Scroll is a relic he left behind, and it is also where Zhu Sheng once resided."

Yan Nantian opened his mouth to urge him to stay.

But Zhu Sheng only offered a faint smile. "Your Highness possesses great talent. You have a ruthless heart, but you also possess benevolence. The arts of a ruler have long been ingrained in your mind. This Zhu does not have the talent to govern the world, so there is no need for Your Highness to keep me here."

On that day, Zhu Sheng took the Painted Scroll and departed from Shangjing City.

Yan Nantian escorted him out of the city, watching his retreating figure until he disappeared into the distance.

His eyes were full of reluctance as he said, "If Mister Zhu is not busy, please visit Shangjing often, even if just to chat with me for a few words. Once I sit upon that throne, I will truly become a solitary sovereign."

Hearing this, Zhu Sheng merely smiled but gave no answer.

The slanting rays of the setting sun spilled down.

Zhu Sheng let out a long breath. He had completed what he was supposed to do.

Striding forward, his freedom lay right beneath his feet.

...

The enthronement ceremony, however, was not urgent.

The Imperial Court of Great Xiang had left behind an overwhelming number of problems. The countless corrupted accounts and the rampant embezzlement among officials were especially severe. Confiscating their estates alone took two full months, recovering a total of over four million liang of illicit silver.

After entering the national treasury, this money was transferred to the Six Ministries to fund post-war reconstruction. The world needed to rest and recover, and the financial cost would be astronomical.

Yan Nantian busied himself day and night, endlessly reviewing imperial memorials.

How to arrange the military generals under his command, and how to allocate the positions of civil and military officials—this was the most troublesome matter. Though they spoke of rewarding based on merit, in reality, it was never that simple.

If this matter wasn't resolved, the enthronement ceremony would have to be delayed.

The matters at hand had yet to be sorted when news suddenly arrived from the north.

They had only just beaten back the North Desert People a few years ago, yet now they were causing trouble again.

Yan Nantian had intended to summon the defending generals of the Border Pass back for rewards. Now, none of them could return, and they were all nursing chests full of pent-up anger.

They were right in the middle of preparing for a grand event, and the Northern Desert chose this exact moment to look for trouble.

When the military generals heard about this, every single one of them was utterly enraged. They declared they would beat those North Desert People until they thoroughly submitted, or even wipe them out completely! These men were all fierce and belligerent figures who only feared having no battles to fight. Now that the Northern Desert was offering themselves up, they were more than eager to earn some extra military merit.

Troops were immediately mobilized, with fifty thousand soldiers led straight toward the Border Pass.

They intended to take advantage of this favorable timing to completely grind down the last of the North Desert People's spirit, ensuring they would never dare to covet this land again.