Countless people surged into the Imperial Palace, but as they watched the hall being swallowed by flames, there was nothing they could do. Even a torrential downpour from the heavens would have been useless now.
Eunuchs and palace maids stood about, bereft of their senses. Some were already weeping aloud. Several eunuchs looked utterly lost, thinking that the thing they had been best at all their lives was washing away the bloody water His Majesty left in this hall. Now the hall had burned away just like that, and he had gone just like that-what could they still do?
The fire was enormous and could not be extinguished. It burned for three full days and nights before subsiding. Soldiers immediately rushed into the ruins to search, only to find that even the gold and silver inlaid in the beams and pillars had melted into something like solidified lava. How could they possibly find the Chu Emperor's body?
Overnight, white mourning banners went up in countless homes, and the entire capital looked as though snow had fallen.
When the White Emperor learned of this, he ordered a lavish funeral with the rites due a sovereign.
Grand Academician Zhou fell gravely ill. As soon as he recovered, he resigned his office, and thereafter his whereabouts were unknown.
Before that, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Minister had already moved back to his hometown with the entire household of the late academician.
No one had the heart to condemn His Majesty's incompetence and cowardice anymore.
A sovereign had died with his country. What more could anyone ask of him?
Many commoners gradually recalled what things had been like when His Majesty and Grand Academician Zhang governed, and their longing grew all the deeper.
How many emperors had been like His Majesty, never leaving the