Everyone else was demoted, stripped of rank, or transferred to idle posts for the fall of Peace Prefecture and the collapse of its defenses.
Their authority and responsibilities were greatly diminished, their futures bleak.
Though unwilling and bitter at heart, they knew they were guilty of losing the city. All lowered their heads and accepted the decree; none dared raise an objection.
The harshest and most cruel punishment of all fell upon Pei Hongwen.
Chief Eunuch Wang's gaze was cold and stern as he read aloud, "Pei Hongwen, formerly Prefecture Vice-Governor of Peace, is relieved of his current post and appointed Commandery Governor of Origin Forest Commandery."
That short sentence struck Pei Hongwen like a thunderbolt from the nine heavens.
Everyone else was stunned as well, looking at Pei Hongwen with sympathy and mockery in their eyes.
Origin Forest Commandery lay in the far southwestern reaches of the Great Flame Dynasty, the most remote, impoverished, and desolate border commandery.
The land was barren and the people poor. For a thousand li, it was isolated wilderness; official roads were cut off, and trade had vanished without a trace.
Demons flourished within its borders, evil spirits covered the land, and forest fiends ran rampant.
Local martial sects carved up the territory, while powerful clans stood everywhere.
The government's authority had been utterly hollowed out, and imperial decrees could not travel beyond the county yamen's gates.
Though called a commandery, it was in truth a dead land without law or order, where Demons ruled and the martial world held power.
Calling him Commandery Governor was merely a prettier way of saying he had been exiled and cast into a hopeless place to fend for himself.
This was the court's severe punishment for guilty officials, no different from exile.
Pei Hongwen stood rooted to