Inside the Capital of Chu!
The whole city is under martial law!
There are traces of fresh blood everywhere in the city; corpses lie all around.
Daqin Elite Soldiers patrol the city, dealing with any remaining enemies inside.
As for the bodies, after the Elite Soldiers broke through the capital, the Logistics Army would soon enter to clear the corpses.
And there are hundreds of thousands of people of Chu in the capital; as a nation’s capital, it is naturally heavily populated.
Facing the Qin Army’s breach of the city.
Countless people of Chu hid in their homes, tightly shutting doors and windows, not daring to go out.
They feared what the Qin Army might do to them.
But as Zhao Feng’s orders were delivered,
Throughout the city, besides the Elite Soldiers still searching for remaining Chu Army resistance, a large number of patrolling Elite Soldiers also appeared beating gongs and drums.
"By order of Lord Wu’an."
"Civilians in the city, do not panic or cause chaos."
"The capital of Chu has fallen, the Hundred Officials have already surrendered; Qin now controls the entire city."
"The command has been given."
"Qin’s Elite Soldiers will not harm ordinary civilians at all."
...
All over the city, Daqin Elite Soldiers patrolled, beating gongs and drums to proclaim the news to the people of Chu.
Hearing the announcement of the Qin Army,
The thoughts of the people inside the city varied.
"It seems the Qin Army truly doesn’t intend to massacre the city."
"They really haven’t broken into our homes."
"The Imperial Court said the Qin Army is as fierce as wolves, but now it seems that’s not really the case."
"It’s been so long since the Qin Army took the city, yet they haven’t laid hands on us common people."
"Thank heaven, the Qin Army isn’t the city-massacring army reported in the rumors. If they truly wanted to slaughter the city, we’d all be finished."
"The food in my house is almost gone. Now that the city has fallen, can we really go out? I suppose those merchants and grain shops are still closed, aren’t they?"
"Alas."
"Damn this war..."
The people hiding at home could not help but discuss in hushed tones; the pacification measures of the Qin Army did have some effect, but after all, to them the Qin Army was an invader. They were still afraid. Except for the bold few, no one dared leave their homes.
For the capital of Chu to return to its previous order would take at least ten days to half a month.
Inside the Royal Palace!
"The treasury of the Chu King’s Palace is truly the most impoverished among all the various nations’ treasuries."
"There’s not a piece of gold, silver, or jade artifact left—only some medicinal herbs and so-called spirit pills."
"No wonder power-hungry ministers run rampant in the Chu State."
After taking over the palace treasury of Chu, Zhao Feng still felt somewhat disappointed.
He had expected the Chu Royal Palace to be poor, but not this poor.
Other royal palace treasuries at least had weapons and the like.
But this Chu Royal Palace—even the palace’s secret chambers—were all empty, not a single weapon or piece of battle armor to be found.
Perhaps the secrets that originally belonged to the royal family had been discovered by the powerful ministers.
And so, men like Huang Xie and Li Yuan knew about the secret treasury and chambers of the Chu Royal Palace; the heritage left by successive Kings of Chu had naturally been cleaned out.
In this era of supreme royal authority, without an enlightened monarch to govern, it spells disaster for the kingdom.
Inside the Royal Palace!
"Your Majesty."
"Military orders have already been issued, and the armies are actively pacifying the people, but with little success; the majority of city’s citizens still dare not come outside," Tu Sui reported.
"That’s to be expected."
"After all, to these people of Chu, our Qin Army is the enemy, and our hands are stained with blood. If we lay hands on them, they would be lambs to the slaughter; of course, their hearts are filled with fear, and they dare not come out," Zhao Feng said calmly.
"What should we do then?" Tu Sui asked.
"We are an army; issuing orders for peace is enough. As long as we refrain from harming civilians over time, they will naturally stop fearing us."
"Once the Imperial Court sends Civil Officials to govern, all will be resolved."
"What the army needs to focus on now is advancing further," Zhao Feng said gravely.