Killing Officials and Raising the Banner of Rebellion
Attacking the government office was surprisingly easy. Once the city fell, everyone in the office had already fled. Hu Tieniu, carrying a submachine gun, led his men up, only to find the gates open and the place completely empty. They barely fired a single shot.
The Prefect Zhang had vanished without a trace, and no one knew where he had escaped to in the chaos.
By dawn, the entire city wall and all four city gates were under their control. The garrison camps inside the city were already empty, and all the government offices, armories, and granaries were taken over one by one. The few soldiers who hadn't managed to escape obediently surrendered their weapons.
Immediately following was the inventory and confiscation. The Wang, Li, Pan, and Huang families, along with their treasuries, had their gold, silver, valuables, silks, and medicinal herbs moved out by cartload. The largest quantity was grain, which was moved from warehouse to warehouse, resulting in a substantial confiscation.
The grain warehouses of all the grain merchants in the city, large and small, were also seized and confiscated, on the charge of hoarding, price gouging, and profiting from the national crisis.
The next day, Hu Tieniu ordered notices to be posted all over the city.
The notice read, "Naturally, natural disasters have struck year after year, yet the government officials are incompetent and sit idly by, watching the people starve to death; grain merchants and local bullies are hoarding grain and driving up prices."
Even worse, some officers and soldiers, instead of defending themselves against the enemy, broke into civilian homes and looted money and grain, behaving like bandits. The Rebel Army has come here to act on behalf of Heaven, to bring peace to the people and eliminate this scourge.
Hu Tieniu considered that if all the disaster victims outside the city were allowed into the city at once, the large and chaotic population would easily lead to an epidemic and make it difficult to maintain order. However, he could not ignore these people.
Instead of distributing grain in the city, he set up dozens of large pots outside each of the three city gates (east, west, and south) and started fires to cook porridge.
The porridge they cooked was so thick that chopsticks could stand upright in it, and every disaster victim was given a large bowl.
Next to the notice, another recruitment sign was erected. Any able-bodied young man willing to join the army would be given rations and a resettlement allowance on the spot, and would be incorporated into the camp, where food and lodging would be provided.
Several large cauldrons were lined up outside the city gate, the firewood roared, and the aroma of rice wafted far and wide. Starving refugees held large bowls, drinking porridge while shedding tears. More and more able-bodied men gathered around the recruitment sign.
Shen Jingchuan never showed himself, only watching from a high place at a distance. He didn't interfere at all in how the battle was fought or how the city was governed, leaving it entirely to Hu Tieniu and the Lin Household brothers to decide.
The battlefield at the foot of the mountain was cleaned up until the morning of the next day.
The dozen or so riders who had been shot off their horses by submachine guns lay dead amidst the chaos of battle, initially going unnoticed.
Upon closer inspection, they found a corpse dressed as a personal guard with a dragon-patterned waist token tucked into its body, and another young man dressed in a python-patterned royal robe, bearing the seal of the Prince Jing's residence.
The foreman in charge of the inventory broke out in a cold sweat and, not daring to delay, hurriedly ran to report.
When Hu Tieniu, Lin Shan, and Lin Yue arrived, the two items were already laid out on the ground, supported by cloth.
"Your Highness... Prince Jing's Heir..." Hu Tieniu picked up the dragon-patterned waist token, examined it over and over, and his face twitched.
These two had been in the Black Armor Army's camp the whole time. Last night, when the camp was breached, the two, along with their personal guards, tried to escape on horseback, but they ran into three submachine guns and were swept away by the gunfire, losing their lives instantly.
Lin Shan whispered from the side, "These two were quite the schemers against my brother-in-law back then."
Hu Tieniu tossed his waist token onto the cloth, grinned, but the smile was cold:
"So, in a way, we've indirectly avenged the young master."
Despite the absurdity of the situation, everyone knew the enormity of the mess they had made. Killing a prince and a prince's heir was a heinous crime that would implicate nine generations of their family. There was no turning back then, and even if they knelt down and surrendered, the court would have no reason to spare their lives.
Hu Tieniu stood with his hands behind his back in front of the corpse for a long time, then suddenly stomped his foot.
"We've rebelled! We've completely rebelled!"
He turned around, his eyes no longer showing any hesitation.
"Since we've already started, let's go all the way. Issue the order: begin recruiting soldiers immediately. Send men to the countryside to provide food and resettlement allowances to any able-bodied young man willing to join the army."
"Rewrite this notice for me, and make it clear: the government turns a blind eye to natural disasters and disregards human life; grain merchants and local bullies hoard and speculate on grain; and government troops are more ferocious than bandits when they pass through. Azure Cloud Stronghold is acting on behalf of Heaven! Those who can't survive, come and join us!"
This time, they were no longer bandits who ruled the mountains, but openly and proudly raised the banner of rebellion.
Shen Jingchuan gazed at the view from his vantage point for a long time, thinking to himself, "There's nothing to worry about in Yuxi Prefecture for now."
Even if the government wanted to send people to suppress the rebellion again, it would take some time to mobilize troops and gather supplies; it wouldn't be possible to move for at least a month or two. Besides, this place is over a thousand miles from the Capital, and with a large army pressing in, it would take even longer.
I should go to the market.
He flew back to Azure Cloud Stronghold on his sword, landed in his own courtyard on the back mountain, greeted Lin Qingyao and Bai Ruoli, said that he would be away for a few days, and then rode his sword down the mountain and landed on the official road.
With a thought, he released Big Black from the Ring's space.
As soon as Big Black saw him, it snorted and came over, nuzzling its big head into his arms, being incredibly affectionate. Shen Jingchuan also missed it, so he hugged the horse's neck and rubbed it for a while, then took out a few apples from his Storage Ring and fed them to it. Watching it happily munching on the apples, he finally mounted his horse.
These days, Big Black has been cultivating and evolving in the space. The horn on its forehead is becoming more and more prominent and harder, and the two fleshy bumps on its shoulder blades are also bulging larger, showing a hint of wings about to grow. This time, it ran faster than before, and most remarkably, it showed little signs of fatigue during the long run.
One man and one horse galloped towards Spirit Creek Market, and in just over a day, they arrived at the market entrance.
Shen Jingchuan reined in his horse, whispered a few words to Big Black, patted its neck, then put it back into his Ring space. He walked into the market, winding his way through the streets until he arrived at the courtyard where they had settled down.
Shen Jingchuan opened the gate's protective barrier and went inside.
The courtyard was filled with Spiritual Qi and very quiet. A few slender bamboos and a stone table made him unconsciously walk lightly. He had just come from an environment of mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and the cries of starving people. Stepping into this place, he felt an indescribable peace, as if he had been transported to another world.
He entered the cave abode and probed inside with his Divine Sense. Xiao Mingshu and Huan'er were both there, cultivating in seclusion, their breaths deep and resonant.
He wasn't in a hurry to disturb them. He went back to the courtyard, sat down at the stone table, and waited patiently.
This wait lasted for half an hour.
Light footsteps came from the direction of the cave abode. Xiao Mingshu finished her cultivation and came out. When she saw him in the courtyard, her eyebrows curved into a smile.
"My little rascal, you're finally back! How's everything at home?"
As she spoke, she sat down next to him with ease.
Shen Jingchuan didn't mince words, recounting the key events of the past few days at Azure Cloud Stronghold: the night raid, the clash with the Black Armor Army, the capture of the camp at the foot of the mountain, and the overnight raid that even led to the capture of Yuxi Prefecture. In short, it was a complete rebellion, a massacre of officials, with no turning back.
Xiao Mingshu's smile gradually faded, and her expression changed.
"Don't underestimate this." She stared at him, her voice deep. "The royal family will never let this go. With your small force and limited firearms, you won't succeed."
"That's because you didn't see the terrible scene outside."
Shen Jingchuan leaned back on the stone bench. "People have started eating each other. The imperial Government Army sent by the court aren't doing disaster relief; instead, they're looting grain, money, and women everywhere. This year there's already a drought, and the harvest is completely gone. If you go outside Yuxi Prefecture, you'll see what's going on. People are eating clay, selling their children, exchanging babies to eat—you name it. I just can't stand it anymore."
Xiao Mingshu frowned, and after a long while, she uttered a sentence.
"Instead of focusing on your cultivation, you're always meddling in the affairs of mortals." Her tone was tinged with exasperation. "What business is it of yours?"