Cheng Shouyan is gone.
Following Jing Zhe's instructions, he withdrew all the soldiers from the eastern city wall of Jingzhou, leaving only a few scouts on the wall to keep watch in case the Southern Qi dynasty acted recklessly and took action prematurely.
Although it's already the end of March and many willow trees outside have sprouted new buds, Jingzhou is located in the northernmost part of Anguo, and its climate is much colder than that of Jiangling, a southern city. When Jing Zhe was in Jiangling half a month ago, he could wear a single shirt, but now that he's in Ruzhou and Jingzhou, he needs to wear several layers. The spring chill is still in the air, and it's quite cold in Jingzhou in the early morning and evening.
The entire Southern Qi army was stationed outside the city, lying on the cold ground. Sleeping at night was an ordeal. Every extra day they stayed there was more discomfort for them, so Jing Zhe was not in a hurry.
Jing Zhe is not in a hurry to go outside the city, because he has many things to do. After parting ways with Cheng Shouyan, he plans to go to Xiangyang Prefecture.
Although Prince Jin and Su Lichen had both perished, and Jing Zhe and Su Mochen had entered the city, the streets of Jingzhou City had not returned to their former liveliness due to the prolonged turmoil.
The vendors remained at home, no one wanted to go out and set up stalls at this time, and the shops were also closed. The people who had come out to welcome them into the city went back home. Perhaps they also knew that the Southern Qi was just outside the city, and now was not the time to cheer.
The streets were deserted and desolate.
Looking at this scene, Jing Zhe recalled the bustling scene he witnessed when he first came to Jingzhou. It all seemed like yesterday, and he couldn't help but sigh.
Before long, he arrived at the Prince of Xiang's residence.
When the Yu and Zhu families saw Jing Zhe, they couldn't hide their excitement. Although Su Limin had taken them all to the Prince of Xiang's residence, they weren't stupid and knew that Su Limin didn't mean any harm.
So even though Su Limin didn't do anything to them, they still felt uncomfortable living here. But now that they saw Jing Zhe, they were certain that this kind of life was over.
After calming them down for a moment, Zhu Tong and Jing Zhe went into the front hall. Seeing this, the others wisely closed the door and left, leaving the two of them a chance to talk alone.
"Uncle, we've made you suffer!"
Jing Zhe said apologetically.
Zhu Tong smiled and shook his head, saying, "Compared to Bai Qingyuan and the others, I am already very content."
It turned out that as soon as the news of Emperor An's death came out, Zhu Tong sensed a conspiracy. The next day, Zhu Tong found an excuse to resign from his post, thus avoiding a round of purges in the court.
Bai Qingyuan, for example, failed to grasp the situation, so the first thing Su Lichen did upon taking office was to find a pretext to kill him. Other officials were all in a state of panic, and Su Lichen replaced all the key positions with his own people. Zhu Tong explained this to Jing Zhe so that Jing Zhe could be prepared and know who could be used and who could not.
After listening, Jing Zhe exchanged pleasantries with Zhu Tong for a while and also told him about meeting Lin Changjun in Jiangling. Zhu Tong was very moved to hear that his old friend was concerned about him.
"Once you've dealt with the Southern Qi affairs and sorted out everything in the court, I'll have nothing to worry about. Then I can return to Jiangling and catch up with Changjun!"
Having said that, I wish you all the best.
Afterwards, Zhu Tong inquired about the Southern Qi. Upon hearing that Jing Zhe was confident of defeating them, Zhu Tong only instructed Jing Zhe not to be careless and said nothing more.
Because Zhu Tong was a civil official, he knew nothing about martial arts. He had only heard of grandmasters or various martial arts realms. Even so, he was still willing to believe that Jing Zhe could defeat the Southern Qi, not for any other reason than that he was Jing Zhe.
Upon hearing that Jing Zhe planned to let Southern Qi linger for a few days before attacking them, Zhu Tong pondered and said, "If that's the case, my nephew, you'd better take advantage of these few days to appease the people. That way, once Southern Qi is defeated, you can take the opportunity to push Prince Mo Chen to the throne!"
Jing Zhe nodded in agreement, because as he walked along, he saw that the people were all staying indoors and the streets were desolate and bleak, which made him feel bad.
After chatting with Zhu Tong for a while and arranging for the Yu and Zhu families to return to their residences, Jing Zhe left the Prince of Xiang's residence.
The shops on both sides of the street were all closed. As for Wenxiangju and Zhangjia Winery, which were owned by Jing Zhe, they had also been closed long ago. As for Da'an Newspaper, since the people working there were all Jing Zhe's confidants, Su Lichen had closed it down long ago for fear that they would write nonsense after he ascended the throne.
Jing Zhe first gathered the people from the Da'an Newspaper Office, and then told them everything that had happened outside and what he wanted to write.
These newspaper staff members felt the same way as ordinary people. They had been suffering these past few days, worrying about their own and their families' future. How could they care about anything else?
Now that they saw Jing Zhe return and heard the truth and future developments from him, everyone became energetic and full of enthusiasm, and the Da'an Newspaper reopened.
The next morning, the newspapers printed by the Da'an Newspaper Office, which worked overtime, were fresh off the press. Since most people were staying at home, Jing Zhe sent people to deliver them door-to-door, trying to make sure that everyone knew the truth.
At the same time, Zhangjia Winery and Wenxiangju opened in a high-profile manner, which led to the resumption of business in the surrounding shops. By the evening of the third day, the scene that Jing Zhe had been looking forward to appeared.
Since most people had read the newspapers and had a clear and objective understanding of what had happened, as well as knowing about Jing Zhe's plan, they were no longer afraid.
With shops gradually reopening, people finally let go of their worries and came out of their homes to the streets, making the streets of Jingzhou City lively again.
...
Outside the eastern city wall of Jingzhou.
Because Su Limin was first arrested and then killed, there was no one left to inform Qi Junguang. Qi Junguang had not received any news from Jingzhou City for many days, and he had no idea what the situation was like in the city.
At this moment, Qi Junguang was not in a hurry at all.
However, his generals grew impatient and pressed him for his next move. Qi Junguang waved his hand and laughed, "What's the rush? Don't I have a seven-day agreement with the Prince of Jin? There are still four days left, what's the hurry?"
"Your Majesty, what if Prince Jin fails to deliver the Immortal Transformation Pill after four days? Or what if Prince Jin secretly runs away? What should we do then?"
The general asked worriedly.
Qi Junguang, however, was not worried at all. Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up and he said, "He ran away secretly? He can run away, but he can't hide. If he really ran away, then we'll have the Thunderclap Army bombard Jingzhou City and make Jingzhou City and all its people pay the price!"
"..."
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