Chapter 49: World Three [9] Part 1

The future sovereign and her subject were utterly frank with each other in the bath in various senses. By the time they had bathed one after the other and emerged, Li Jianwei’s gaze had long since returned to clarity.

However, Li Jianwei did not treat the suggestion of sleeping together as a joke. She pulled the fully dressed Shu Heng toward her own room, giving her no chance whatsoever to refuse.

Li Jianwei’s bed was relatively spacious, but there was only one quilt. If Shu Heng did not want to catch a cold during the big New Year festivities, she had no choice but to snuggle tightly into Li Jianwei’s embrace.

“Little Shu Daren, you shouldn’t mind sharing a bed with me, right?” Only after securely locking Shu Heng in her arms did Li Jianwei drawl out the question.

“This is this subordinate’s honor.” Shu Heng’s face flushed red, but she showed not the slightest hint of shyness in her words.

In Shu Heng’s view, this was a sign that her general truly valued her. The general must have considered that she was all alone, so she had deliberately kept her behind at this special time.

“Excellent. From now on, Little Shu Daren, you’ll sleep with me. It’s cold out—having another person makes the bedding warmer.” Li Jianwei pushed her luck.

Li Jianwei could not tell if her fondness for Shu Heng stemmed from a sovereign’s appreciation for talented subjects, or from some more complex emotion.

But not knowing did not mean Li Jianwei could not act on it. Whether the former or the latter, keeping Shu Heng by her side was the right move.

If it turned out later that she truly harbored no such feelings for Shu Heng, she could always let her go then.

Shu Heng had no idea that Li Jianwei was already scheming about her from every angle. She only felt that her general was exceptionally good to her, and she let her guard down completely.

In her next-next life, she too would follow the general to the death!

–

Snow fell again and again, filling the hearts of many farmers who lived off the land with hopes of an auspicious snow heralding a good harvest.

Of course, they yearned even more for an enlightened and martial sovereign to deliver them from endless taxation, allowing them to live out their days in peace and stability.

After the Beginning of Spring, the ice and snow melted, and all things revived.

Li Jianwei transferred Miao Yun and General Han back to Taiyuan. During the Awakening of Insects, she set out from Taiyuan with her elite troops. After a brief rest in Huaiqing, she aimed straight for the capital.

The emperor showed some backbone. He did not flee the city at this juncture, nor did he force the common folk to take up arms in its defense. Instead, in a rare move, he donned armor and personally climbed the walls with his two sons to rally the troops.

The gesture had some effect—the demoralized army perked up in an instant, with some even bold enough to charge the cavalry.

But one surge of hot blood could not change much. Those willing to charge out were the emperor’s diehards, the well-fed Capital Three Great Camps.

The soldiers drafted from the outskirts, who did not even know if their families had enough to eat, remained utterly unmotivated.

What did the emperor’s personal presence matter? It neither put more grain in their homes nor revived their loved ones starved to death by crushing taxes.

They had no desire to serve such a sovereign. Were it not for being trapped in the capital with nowhere to go, these soldiers would have scattered long ago. They could barely muster the will to pick up their weapons.

Li Jianwei still led from the front, charging ahead with her personal guards and forcefully tearing the enemy lines in two before encircling and annihilating them.

The capital boasted two hundred thousand troops on paper. Stripping away logistics, temporary drafts, and the utterly unmotivated left only fifty thousand with any real fighting spirit.

Li Jianwei did not get complacent in this nominal final battle. She committed all twenty thousand of her cavalry, with another hundred thousand elites handling the encirclement. Siege engines were dragged up as well, all to take the capital in one decisive push.

Clad in dark armor, the deep hue made the red blood splatters unnoticeable—no one could tell just how much blood had splashed onto it.

Li Jianwei wielded her long spear with ferocious might; every swing claimed at least one life. In half a shichen of combat, at least several hundred fell to her hand.

Li Jianwei’s face showed no expression, dried blood crusted on her skin.

Unlike slaying the Xiongnu, she felt no thrill in killing here. She only wanted it faster—faster still—to seize the capital, storm the Imperial City, execute the emperor, and end the battle.

The capital’s citizens barricaded their doors and windows. The shouts rang on without cease all day, mingled with chaotic footsteps and the clip-clop of hooves, twisting their hearts over and over.

“General Li, hurry into the city! Topple the tyrant so we can have a hot meal!”

“My son—will I ever see my son again? Stop fighting, please…”

“General Li’s troops have iron discipline. As long as we stay home obediently, we’ll be fine.”

“Will General Li give us grain? We haven’t cooked for three days—the last seed grain is gone!”

The people huddled anxiously in their homes, waiting from dawn till dusk.

–

By deep night, Li Jianwei had seized more than half the capital. Only the Imperial City held out.

The Imperial Guards in the Imperial Palace mounted their final stand. The ministers, knowing their doom, still urged the emperor to slip out a side path.

The Imperial Guards numbered three thousand still. Fighting to the death, they could escort some to safety.

“Your Majesty, as long as you live, Great Jin endures! You can make a comeback from the east mountains!”

“Your Majesty, the guards at the eastern gate are weakest. It’s not too late to go now! As long as Your Majesty lives, we can retake the capital one day!”

“This minister has contacted the garrisons in Xuzhou and Runing for support outside. If Your Majesty breaks out successfully, we can fall back there and await a future restoration!”

The ministers chimed in one after another, urging the emperor to flee with Prince Zhou and Prince Rui while he could—survival meant hope.

Prince Zhou was tempted. He still believed Great Jin had supporters everywhere; they just hadn’t arrived due to mishaps.

If they escaped the capital, promises of high office and riches would draw great clans to their side and retake the city!

“Report! Your Majesty, the rebels have breached Chengtian Gate! The Imperial Guards have fallen back to Meridian Gate. If they hold there, the enemy will be upon us in a quarter shichen at most! Your Majesty, please relocate!”

The battle report from the Imperial Guards dashed the emperor’s hopes. The anxious ministers, beyond caring, tried to drag him away by force.

“Men, seize these loyal retainers of mine!” the emperor ordered, a glint of resolve in his eyes. “Pour oil around us. We will martyr ourselves together and hold Supreme Pole Hall to the death!”

“Imperial Father, this son is willing to die with you!” Nine-year-old Prince Rui spoke up first.

Prince Zhou was reluctant, but seeing the drawn blades of the Imperial Guards, he could only kneel and pledge his loyalty.

The ministers had no wish to die, but the Imperial Guards ignored their pleas. They could only feign composure, hoping to etch their names in the histories.

Just as the emperor prepared to ignite the palace, thunder cracked in the already dark sky. In mere breaths, heavy raindrops pelted down.

The emperor broke completely. “I am the Son of Heaven! Why does Heaven send rain now? Does it forbid me from burning the palace? Why is Heaven so heartless!”

He had planned to torch Supreme Pole Hall, the hall for court audiences. It would not stop Li Jianwei from claiming the throne, but it would brand her a traitorous usurper and vex her for years.

Yet rain fell now—heavy rain that even oil might not overcome.

“Imperial Father, this is Heaven’s will! Heaven wants you to preserve the imperial body and retreat to Runing!” Spotting a chance at life, Prince Zhou shouted excitedly.

But what met him was not the emperor’s change of heart, but a blade flashing cold.

The emperor seized a guard’s sword and lopped off his legitimate son’s head.

The emperor had not begun as a muddleheaded ruler; he was as clear-minded as ever. Knowing Prince Zhou unwilling to die, he helped him along.

“Your Majesty, the rebels are at the hall gates…” The pale Imperial Guard commander spoke up, a gaping hole in his chest armor, blood surging with every breath.

The emperor dropped the blade and shoved open the half-closed doors. The downpour extinguished all torches, leaving only moonlight on the outer hall.

Strange—why was the moon so bright amid such rain?

Did Li Jianwei truly have Heaven’s blessing, fated to ascend the throne?

“I stand here. Harm no other innocents in the Imperial Palace.” The emperor stepped from Supreme Pole Hall and looked up at Li Jianwei on horseback.

Rain washed over Li Jianwei’s armor, rinsing away old and new bloodstains. In the lightning’s glare, her figure loomed immense in the emperor’s eyes.

“Innocents? Who are the innocents? My wrongly slain father and brothers? The commoners crushed by taxes? Or the soldiers forced to die on your word, you tyrant?”

Li Jianwei sneered. “Whether innocent or not, I will investigate in due time. For not abandoning the city, I grant you the time it takes one incense stick to burn. Name those to join you in death.”

“I will leave them intact whole corpses for burial. As for the survivors—their cleanness will be judged.”

Li Jianwei left the choice to the emperor. She did not mind using this last shred of mercy to let the Previous Dynasty’s emperor take future troubles with him.

The emperor seemed to grasp her intent. He looked to the sky, lightning and moonlight alike illuminating his face.

“Ha, haha—” The emperor laughed wildly, then took the long sword from the Guard commander’s hand and eyed the cowering ministers within.

If court factions had not been so vicious, if he had not turned a deaf ear—would things have differed?

In that fleeting moment, the emperor thought much. Again and again, blade rose and fell. He grew winded but persisted, beheading the twelve heavy ministers in the hall.

Finally, his gaze fell on his youngest son. Prince Rui said nothing, picked up the discarded sword, and slit his own throat cleanly.

“Li Jianwei, I hope you do not repeat my mistakes.” With those final words, the emperor slit his own throat decisively, ending his life—and proclaiming Great Jin’s fall.

Li Jianwei’s face remained expressionless as rain scoured her armor. “Surround all Imperial City exits. Let no one out.”

“Yes!” Miao Yun, attending at her side, acknowledged and led cavalry to seal the Imperial Palace gates.

Li Jianwei: “Han Shuo, take troops to hold the capital’s gates. From dawn, seal the city for ten days. None may leave without my order—only enter, not exit.”

“Yes!” General Han’s response was equally crisp.

With the capital surrounded and the Imperial City sealed, the great purge began.

Li Jianwei did not forget Song Kuai’s family. Though the Previous Dynasty’s emperor had already ordered them softly confined, she still dispatched two hundred cavalry to guard them and hand them over to Shu Heng.

As for the capital’s officials with doors barred tight, Li Jianwei did not move against them at once. Instead, she had Shu Heng draft an edict for her, summoning all officials fourth rank and above to Supreme Pole Hall at dawn for council.

No one could sleep at such a time. When soldiers knocked, these former high officials nearly collapsed in terror, barely standing upon receiving the edict.

“W-we just need to attend court on time?” One official asked tremulously.

Was this truly morning court, not a death summons?

The herald reading the edict offered no explanation, only stressing punctuality—or be deemed rebels with families executed.

The high officials slept even less, but with estates rooted here and no escape, they donned official robes and headed to the palace with grim resolve.

When some arrived at the palace gates in court attire, they spotted a few colleagues whose wits had turned quickest—not in robes, but plain cloth signifying commoner status.

What did that mean? A sly show of submission to the new emperor, leaving their posts to her whim!