The battle ended, and Jiang Yu was captured.
Jiang Yan's command to "seize him" had made his position clear.
Once the interrogation was over, Eastern Yu would certainly receive an answer. To placate Eastern Yu and prevent rebellion, the third prince, who had committed one grave crime after another-treason, attempted regicide, and the poisoning of a territorial lord's heir-was now certain to die. There was no room for reprieve.
With that settled, Eastern Yu's towering resentment finally received some small measure of appeasement.
Next came the true purpose of this grand court assembly: reporting on their governance.
The Deathless Kingdom's Sexagenary-Cycle Reporting was little different from the feudal lords' court audiences in the Central Lands.
The four territorial rulers would attend court, present tribute and gifts, and report on their countries' registered populations, taxes, granary reserves, land reclamation, and construction over the past sixty years. The king would then distribute rewards according to custom and merit. Finally came a grand banquet where ruler and subjects celebrated together, hosts and guests drank their fill, and everyone could return to their own countries the following day.
This occasion was no exception.
But with the shocking crime of a prince secretly plotting against territorial lords, the Jiang clan had to bleed heavily to soothe the resentment and alarm of the four rulers. Every reward was doubled.
The old custom of granting each ruler one Ageless Elixir and one Deathless Elixir became two of each this time. Lu Changfeng, too, received the exceptional reward of one Deathless Elixir and one Ageless Elixir for exposing the hidden enemy within the Deathless Kingdom, crushing the traitor, and slaying a great threat-a towering achievement. Or perhaps the reward also carried Jiang Yan's deeper intention to draw Southern Mo closer and soothe its people, lest the day the