A Tacit Understanding

After arranging everything properly from beginning to end, Di Xin rose from the throne in satisfaction.

"Go back and make your preparations!" Di Xin swept his broad sleeve, his heroic spirit soaring to the clouds. "Pass down the order: the entire army is to stand ready, and grain and fodder go first! Three days from now, all generals will follow Grand Tutor Wen on campaign to put down the rebellion! Court dismissed!"

"We take our leave!" the civil and military officials throughout the court shouted in unison, then withdrew from the hall in orderly fashion.

After the court assembly in Nine-Room Hall ended, word of Xi Qi's rebellion and the contents of that "Declaration of War Against Zhou" spread swiftly through all of Chaoge as if they had grown wings.

Xi Qi had originally hoped this declaration would shake the people's faith in Great Shang, but the result was the exact opposite.

Not only did the whole of Chaoge fall into no panic, it instead set off an unprecedented uproar!

In streets and alleys, countless commoners were filled with righteous indignation.

A butcher brought his pig-killing knife down hard on the chopping block, eyes red as he cursed furiously:

"Screw his damned Xi Qi! His Majesty abolished human sacrifice—that means he treats us plain common folk as human beings! My great-grandfather was tied to a sacrificial altar back then and bled dry! That bastard whelp Ji Fa says His Majesty is defying the ancestors—he's trying to force us back into being oxen and horses for other people again!"

"Exactly! His Majesty struck off the slave registries and gave everyone land to farm. What kind of great kindness is that? Those bloodsucking noble lords of Xi Qi don't like it, so they make up stories calling His Majesty a muddleheaded tyrant?