Chapter 99: Gongzi Yu's schemes
With the West Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard contingents returning to the Capital, the campaign to bring Jianghu to heel, sparked by the Tianqi Emperor's fall into the water, came to a close.
From the destruction of the Mount Song Sect and the failed ambush on the West Depot's forces by four top factions, to the annihilation of the Bright Moon Cult's senior members, including Zhang Wuji, then Shaolin Temple's submission, the destruction of the Tang Clan, and finally the destruction of Wen Family Fort and Yu Huatian leading his men up Wudang Mountain.
Every one of these events that shook Jianghu had been the work of the West Depot Eunuch, Yu Huatian.
Especially in the final battle at Wudang, it was said that even Zhang Sanfeng, who had spent years in seclusion, had appeared in person. Yet he, too, had been forced to bow to the Imperial Court and ultimately reach a settlement with it. This West Depot Eunuch had even been invited to stay as a guest on Wudang Mountain.
Once these reports spread, all of Jianghu fell silent.
First came the destruction of top factions such as the Tang Clan, the Money Gang, the Green-Clothed Tower, and the Bright Moon Cult, followed by the submission of Shaolin Temple and the Wudang Sect, those two Northern Dipper pillars of Wulin, to the Imperial Court.
This meant that, from then on, Ming's Wulin and Jianghu had bowed completely before the Imperial Court.
Since ancient times, the Imperial Court and Jianghu had stood opposed. Though martial artists were unwilling to provoke the Imperial Court, they had never held it in any regard, either. Thus, cases of "knights violating the law through martial prowess" were commonplace in Ming. To keep the peace, the Imperial Court had