...
Great chaos was followed by great order.
Less than three days after Mount Siming breached Shenjing, order within the capital was restored. Thieves and robbers who had taken advantage of the chaos were all dispatched to the prisons in Fuzhou, filling them to overflowing. Hundreds of thousands of refugees received grain from the righteous granaries, Taicang, and the official granaries. They were also granted hos, allowing them to settle down and live peaceful, productive lives...
Those with stable livelihoods possess steadfast hearts.
After a dozen imperial edicts were issued from the Imperial Palace, Shenjing was imdiately revitalized from top to bottom.
There were no more disheveled, rank-slling beggar throngs.
Taking advantage of this, the common people also began to hold temple fairs, now with a little spare cash in their hands and a desire to purchase goods. So well-aning individuals petitioned the Imperial Court, proposing to designate this day as the Heavenly King Festival, in commoration of King Xing Tian’s righteous deeds.
"Morality looks to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors; great deeds to the Xia, Shang, and Zhou. The Five Hegemons and Seven Warring States stirred up the Spring and Autumn period; in an instant, their rise and fall passed before one’s eyes..."
"A few lines of nas in the annals of history; countless barren mounds on the northern hills. What those before sow, those after reap—it is nothing more than the struggle of dragons and tigers..."
In the West Market of Divine Capital City, under the Great Locust Tree, a storyteller first recited a few opening verses to set the scene, then drank a cup of hot tea.
He finished it in one gulp.
Reluctantly, he set down his tea cup, retrieved the white paper fan tucked into the back of his robe, gave it a flick, then slapped his wooden clapper on the table and began his tale.
"It is said that thirteen days ago, as Shenjing teetered on the brink of capture, a white-haired immortal leaped from the city wall. His long sword transford into a streak of rainbow light, shooting straight towards King Xing Tian, who stood beneath the ramparts..."
"But what manner of man is King Xing Tian? He is chosen by the Heavenly Order, the Reincarnation of Bright King!"
"With a re clench of his hands, he shattered that Flying Sword to pieces!"
"Afterwards, King Xing Tian ascended into the air, walking step by step towards the sky above the city. Invisible stairs materialized beneath his feet. At that mont, Old Man Chongming and King Xing Tian were but an arrow’s flight apart."
"The Last Emperor confronted the new Emperor."
"King Xing Tian enurated the failures of Old Man Chongming’s governance and recited the Call to Arms..."
"Each sentence spoken... filled the common people with righteous indignation. The Forbidden Army listened in dismay, civil officials were moved to tears, and warriors, hearing his words, tumbled from their horses... None dared harbor the thought of fighting again."
"King Xing Tian declared, ’I, the condemned official Xu Xing, today wish to offer my life for the National Dynasty. I hope you all will grant this!’"
When the storyteller reached this point, his tone grew animated, his voice ringing with far more passion than before.
The common people gathered under the Great Locust Tree, hearing these words, couldn’t help but vividly imagine King Xing Tian’s heroic deanor outside Shenjing: pointing at Old Man Chongming, condemning his unjust acts. What a thrilling, satisfying feeling that must have been!
"A tip!"
"A reward! Even though I, Li Lao’er, don’t have much money, just for your praise of King Xing Tian, I must toss you at least a few copper coins!"
An old Han man with a red, wine-blotched nose fished out a handful of coins from his sash.
He weighed the copper coins in his hand, seemingly reluctant to part with them. But then, as if recalling sothing, his resolve fird, and he quickly tossed them into the big teacup placed before the storyteller.
"A tip from too!"
"I’ll give a tip as well!"
"King Xing Tian is the foremost hero in the world, a man whose claim to the throne is utterly righteous! All other heroes under the sky are not even one ten-thousandth of King Xing Tian; he is a living Buddha to countless families!"
The onlookers, stirred by this rousing account, willingly opened their purses to offer tips.
In no ti, the tea bowl was piled high with gleaming new copper coins.
Presently, a luxurious carriage stood parked on the wide street of the West Market.
Beside it, a group of elite soldiers stood guard.
The soldiers’ uniforms were unlike those of the Siming Mountain Righteous Army, resembling instead the attire of the forr Imperial Court Soldiers. A closer look revealed the two characters ’Zhenbei’ branded on the rumps of the warhorses that accompanied them.
"What happened next?"
The reed curtain of the horse carriage was lifted by a delicate hand, and a young woman in mourning attire, assisted by her maid, slowly descended from the carriage.
Her beauty was ethereal, her jade-like face tinged with a hint of sorrow.
Such a gentle, lancholic question naturally evoked pity.
When regis rise, the common people suffer.
When regis fall, the common people suffer.
In the battle for Shenjing, casualties numbered well into the tens of thousands. The great chaos following the entry of the Siming Mountain forces into Shenjing saw many prominent families looted by brigands, and many of their kinfolk slain.
It was no exaggeration to say that in Shenjing, one in every five households had hung prayer flags and set up a fire basin by their door to burn spirit money and paper horses.
The entire land was in mourning!
Thus, the appearance of this woman in mourning beneath the Great Locust Tree in the West Market did not strike the onlookers as odd; they rely marveled at her beauty.
"Later..."
The goateed storyteller’s gaze shifted to the mourning woman’s face. He did not speak imdiately, but instead held his tea cup and took a slow, leisurely sip of the scalding tea.
CLATTER!
A dozen or so gold lon seeds tumbled from the maid’s silk pouch, scattering around the rim of the large tea bowl.
"’Later,’ the storyteller slapped his wooden clapper and gave his white paper fan a flick. ’Later, King Xing Tian unleashed two yellow serpents from his sleeve. These were no ordinary serpents, but manifestations of the Great Imperial Court Sword Qi.’"
"’The mont the Great Imperial Court Sword Qi appeared, heaven and earth themselves seed to grow still in awe...’"
"’This single sword strike was enough to slay an immortal!’"
"’The white-haired immortal’s arm was severed by King Xing Tian’s sword, blood spraying across the ground then and there!’"
"’And this sa sword strike plunged Old Man Chongming into utter despair, causing him to abandon the outer city and flee to the Imperial City.’"
He delivered these dozen or so sentences in a single breath.
"Bravo!"
"Bravo!"
"Bravo!"
"..."
Cheers erupted from the surrounding crowd.
Seeing the dog Emperor and this immortal, who disregarded all worldly justice, et their downfall thrilled the crowd to their core; they were overjoyed.
Hero!
King Xing Tian was the great hero, the great champion who, as a mortal, dared to strike down an immortal!
Executing justice on behalf of Heaven!
"What happened next?"
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