Chapter 667 – A Cleaning Rag (1/2)
Chapter 667 – A Cleaning Rag
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Three days later, the capital had already returned to peace.
The Imperial Palace was heavily guarded by the Imperial Guard, their expressions as cold and resolute as ever. Only the most careful of observers might be able to notice the exhaustion and slight frustration on the faces of these soldiers. Under strict orders, the soldiers of the City Gate Department constantly patrolled the markets of the city, arresting many traitors who wished to take advantage of the chaos to rebel, so there was no problem with regards to safety and security.
The populace began to once more busy themselves with their lives. In their leisure, they no longer favored going to tea houses to discuss politics while secretly cursing the Demon Empress for her mismanagement of the country. Instead, they returned home early and locked the doors to their courtyards, treating all the storms outside their little courtyards as having nothing to do with them. The people of the capital had seen far too much, heard far too many stories. Without even mentioning the coup of the Hundred Herb Garden, in that bloody incident of the Orthodox Academy in the capital twenty years ago, many people had personally witnessed even more gruesome scenes. Whether it was a coup, rebellion, an extermination of evil ministers at the emperor's side, or the advent of a new era, they had experienced far too much. Thus, these matters had absolutely nothing to do with them, and they would silently wait for the initial crises to dissipate.
The weather over these past few days had also been particularly good. In the clear and refreshing autumn atmosphere, the bright sun hanging over a clear sky and the gentle rustling of fallen leaves, it was like nothing had happened at all. But there were no pedestrians on the street and the quiet capital could not be described as serene, only with a deathly stillness. Ultimately, a lot had changed.
On the morning of the Tianhai Empress's death, a young Daoist, accompanied by Shang Xingzhou, the previous Principal of the Orthodox Academy, the princes of the Chen clan, and countless ministers, proceeded from the Mausoleum of Books into the Imperial Palace. Then, in the Imperial Court, he once more received the obeisance of the ministers and formally ascended to the throne.
It was said that this young Daoist was precisely the Crown Prince Zhaoming who had escaped from the palace many years ago.
The first thing the new monarch did upon ascending to the throne was to issue an edict. This edict had many words and was very complex. Not even the officials of the Ministry of Rites could remember all the details, but even the clumsiest fool could understand the basic intentions of this proclamation: everything the Tianhai Divine Empress had done in the past few years had been wrong. Everyone she punished had been innocent. Following this were rewards and naturally punishments as well.
All those rewarded were officials of the Imperial Court. In any case, all those ministers loyal to the Tianhai Divine Empress had been imprisoned. Divine Generals were also honored, as those Divine Generals loyal to the Tianhai Divine Empress were either dead, heavily injured, or had changed sides. Punishments were much simpler: just the word 'kill'.
It was said that autumn winds and autumn rains were excellent for killing people. In this clear and cold autumn of the past few days, there were no bleak winds and no miserable rains, but many people had still died.
After all the people that should be killed and had to be killed were killed off, many people began to cast their gazes to a certain place. Logically speaking, everyone's gazes should have been falling upon the Imperial Palace and the Li Palace, but everyone just could not help but look towards that place, all carrying different sorts of feelings.