Who Comes Calling

After talking with Old Su for a good while longer, Su Che took his leave of the newly minted Grand Preceptor and Duke of Yong. He left Jiankang City and headed straight back to Ci Prefecture.

He had arrived in Jiankang full of anger, never expecting to witness a change of dynasty. Being caught in the midst of it gave Third Young Master Su a deeper sense of the world.

Immortals in the Nine Heavens Beyond the Domains had their own ideas, and mortals in the dusty world had theirs. The difference between them was hardly so great.

In the end, Old Su and Grand Preceptor Yuwen had reached the same destination by different roads. Hand in hand, they had set off down the glorious path of usurping the throne sooner or later. It left Su Che with no end of feelings.

But now that the south had changed hands, he would have to see how its new rulers governed.

From Jiankang to Ci Prefecture, the scenery remained as it had been yesterday: fields linked by crisscrossing paths, carts and boats coming and going. Though the court was in upheaval and the banners atop the city walls had long since changed, the human world was still the human world.

Diligent clerks had already posted the court's newly drafted proclamations, drawing groups of idlers to gather around and talk.

Well-informed merchants, meanwhile, were already on the road.

By custom, a new ruler's accession brought no shortage of ceremonies. Officials at every level would also be paying calls, and new business opportunities were bound to follow.

At the Cizhou Branch Censorate, the mood was especially warm and harmonious.

General of the Mighty Crossbows Wu Sheng and Cloud-Pennant General Li Liang took turns toasting Du Ling, head of the Ci Prefecture Circuit Censorate