New Policies Deployed, Territories Assigned; Whispers at the Cauldron's Mouth Shock the Gentry

The blood and carnage in Lieren City seemed to have grown wings; within days, the news had reached neighboring Fukou City.

For a time, Fukou City's streets and alleys were filled with alarm, as if every rustle of wind and cry of a crane signaled danger. At tea stalls and taverns, commoners gathered in tight groups, speaking in hushed voices, their faces full of shock.

"Have you heard? Those people in Lieren City led the common folk in blocking Lord Wuwei from entering the city to distribute land. In the end, that lord killed until heads rolled and blood flowed into rivers!"

Beside a tea stall, a man in coarse short clothes cradled a rough porcelain bowl. His voice was exceedingly low, yet he could not hide the terror in his tone. "I heard more than half the city's people were slaughtered. As for those wealthy gentry and nobles, not a single one escaped. Their entire families were beheaded—not even three-year-old children were spared!"

"Ha, I heard about that ages ago!"

An old farmer beside him set down his hoe and sighed. "Come to think of it, those Lieren City folk really were fools. Did they have no idea who sincerely wanted to help them, and who had oppressed them for years?

"Lord Wuwei wanted to give them a hundred mu of good farmland, but those gentry tricked them with fake deeds for ten mu. And they actually turned around and helped those gentry block his path. If that wasn't courting misery, what was?"

"If you ask me, the title 'Blood Butcher Yama' isn't exaggerated in the slightest!"

A scholar-like man in a long robe frowned. "He kills without even blinking. The people of Lieren City would have been his subjects sooner or later, yet he could bring himself to