What He Saw and Heard

Great Zhou's secondary capital.

The city gates stood wide open, and all the officials knelt to welcome her. A clash of arms had been dissolved before it could begin, and Wu Zhi had been granted immense prestige.

Wu Ming remembered the scene as if it had happened yesterday. Several days had passed since the army entered the city. Now, dressed in ordinary clothes, he wandered along the imperial avenue, enjoying a different kind of experience.

Though the court had declined, it had not yet fallen. Even the secondary capital retained a certain grandeur. Its streets crisscrossed one another, the ground was relatively clean and orderly, and shops lined both sides in close succession. In terms of bustle and noise, it was actually livelier than Dingzhou City by several degrees.

With King Ding's army now in charge of the city's defenses and no great battle underway, the city had become even safer than before. The rats and vermin of the city had gone into hiding, and many commoners poured into the streets to buy wine and meat, or measure out a few yards of cloth for new clothes. It seemed they wanted to give full vent to their joy at having survived the calamity.

"As expected of the Son of Heaven's doorstep. The commoners here have more spirit than those elsewhere, and they seem to live quite well!"

In ancient times, the differences between regions were enormous. The people of the secondary capital could be counted among the most comfortably situated city dwellers in the entire realm.

After wandering around for a while, Wu Ming entered a tavern and found himself a seat.

"Great Zhou has nurtured scholars for three hundred years. Today is the day to die for righteousness!"

Just then, a brawny voice rang out from a private room