On May 4, almost the entire Jiangnan Commandery City was draped in white mourning cloth.
In particular, in the districts near the naval camp in the north of the city, more than three thousand households had raised white mourning banners.
There were few pedestrians on the streets, and business was bleak.
When people happened upon one another in the streets and alleys, their faces were clouded with worry.
In the city's taverns and teahouses, and before the many noticeboards erected by the authorities, the gathered crowds spoke of nothing but Chu Xisheng and the Iron Banner Gang.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the main hall of the Governor-General's residence was oppressive and subdued to the extreme.
Eastern Province Governor-General Wang Sheng sat solemnly at the head of the hall.
He was a vigorous middle-aged man of around eighty.
He was indeed "middle-aged" now. For someone like Wang Sheng, whose cultivation had reached the third rank and whose lifespan extended to three hundred years, eighty years amounted to only a third of his allotted years.
Not only was he long-lived, he was also well versed in preserving his youthful appearance. He looked only about thirty, with handsome features and a bearing as fine as jade.
Only Wang Sheng's face was so dark and cold that it almost seemed about to drip water.
His voice, too, carried endless chill. "Didn't the Jiangnan Commandery Naval Camp just report a victory to the Governor-General's Office? They said they had routed the Iron Banner Gang and were advancing downstream toward the Eastern City Eastern Wharf. How did they suddenly suffer a crushing defeat? Not only did they lose more than four thousand officers and men, they also lost sixty-seven warships? Did Dong Tianyue falsify his military achievements?"
Dong Tianyue was the Commandant of the Jiangnan Commandery