Chapter 635 "Greetings, General! The General is invincible!"
The private armies of the nobles in the city were no match for the well-trained and well-equipped Zhenhai Army.
The streets of the city were littered with abandoned weapons, overturned oxcarts, and people running in panic.
Cries, the clatter of horses' hooves, the clash of weapons, and sporadic cannon fire mingled together, heralding the fall of Heian-kyo.
Surrounded by his personal guards, Li Shiyue rode into this ancient capital with a history of over a thousand years.
Her gaze swept calmly over the low wooden buildings on both sides of the street, the panicked Japanese civilians fleeing for cover, and the corpses lying on the ground.
The air was filled with a strange smell, a mixture of gunpowder smoke, blood, and a musty sandalwood scent.
Is this the center of power in Japan?
In her view, apart from the beautifully constructed temples and noble mansions, the whole city appeared dilapidated and crowded, far inferior to the Jinzhou Prefecture City of Andong.
Li Shiyue's goal was clear: the Imperial Palace—Ping An Palace.
Soon, the main force of the Zhenhai Army had completely surrounded Ping'an Palace.
The last resistance force in the palace was a group of royal guards and private soldiers of nobles who were loyal to the emperor. They put up a futile resistance in front of the main gate of Heian Palace.
After a close-range salvo from the "Thor Cannon," the palace gate, along with the resistance fighters behind it, was torn to pieces.
Li Shiyue stepped over charred wood chips and mangled corpses and entered the interior of the Japanese imperial palace.
Unlike the magnificent imperial residence she had imagined, the buildings here, though exquisite, exuded a sense of pettiness and antiquity.
The surviving palace maids and eunuchs in the palace knelt in terror on both sides of the road, heads bowed and trembling.
Li Shiyue stepped up the stairs one by one, heading straight for the tallest main hall in the Heian Palace—the status of this hall was probably equivalent to the Golden Palace in the capital of Dalong.
Inside the palace, the young emperor, wearing a black crown, sat on his throne, trying to appear calm.
To his left and right were several elderly men with ashen faces and gorgeous clothes, who looked like members of the imperial family or nobles loyal to the emperor.
They tried to maintain their last shred of dignity in front of Li Shiyue, the intruder, but the fear in their eyes betrayed them.
Li Shiyue walked up the palace steps one by one, her combat boots making a crisp echo on the smooth wooden floor.
Sun Xiaoliu, Chen Yong, Li Qiutian, and Ding Haisheng followed closely behind, their armor clanging, and a heavy stench of blood and gunpowder filled the solemn hall.
Li Shiyue stopped in front of the throne, her gaze calmly scrutinizing the nominal supreme ruler of Japan.
The emperor looked very young, even somewhat immature, with a pale face, tightly pursed lips, and eyes filled with fear and a hint of stubbornness.
"You...you are the demon from Dalong?"
The Emperor's voice trembled uncontrollably as he asked Li Shiyue, who was looking at him, in broken Chinese.
Li Shiyue did not answer his question, but spoke indifferently, her voice cold: "Japan has repeatedly violated the borders of Dalong in the past, plundering the people on the frontier, and its crimes are heinous."
Today, I, Li Shiyue, act on behalf of Heaven to carry out punishment.
Li Shiyue slowly drew the long sword from her waist, the blade gleaming with a cold light.
"etc!"
An elderly man standing beside the Emperor shouted hoarsely, "We can surrender! We can offer up all our wealth! We only ask for..."
His words came to an abrupt end.
A flash of light!
Li Shiyue's movements were as swift as lightning, and his long sword precisely sliced across the Emperor's neck.
The young monarch stared wide-eyed, seemingly unable to believe what was happening. Blood gushed out like a fountain, staining his silk robes red. In an instant, his body slid from the throne to the ground.
Almost at the same time, Sun Xiaoliu and the others behind her also made their move.
With each swing of the blade, the remaining people in the hall were slaughtered in an instant. Blood stained the clean floor, and the heavy stench of blood was nauseating.
Li Shiyue looked at the Emperor's corpse lying dead at her feet, her face expressionless.
She lifted her foot, stepped over the still-warm corpse, then turned and sat steadily on the throne, which was still stained with blood.
The throne was cold, and in her opinion, its craftsmanship was not particularly exquisite.
She looked around the empty, deathly hall, and what welled up in her heart was not the pride of a conqueror, but an indescribable...absurdity and emptiness.
"Is this the ruler of a country?"
Li Shiyue muttered to herself, her voice echoing in the silent hall, "Ruling this tiny land, clinging to the pitiful bloodline of inbreeding, calling themselves the children of gods... How utterly meaningless."
She recalled the intelligence she had gathered: in order to maintain the so-called purity of bloodline, the Japanese royal family practiced inbreeding for generations, resulting in difficulty in producing offspring and a large number of people being weak and sickly.
By killing them, Li Shiyue felt she was acting on behalf of heaven, eradicating a gene that should never have existed in the first place.
At that moment, Sun Xiaoliu, Chen Yong, Li Qiutian, Ding Haisheng, and others knelt down on one knee in unison, their armor rubbing together in a synchronized sound.
They faced Li Shiyue, who sat upright on the throne of the Japanese emperor, clasped their hands in salute, and said in a loud voice, "Greetings, General! The General is invincible!"
The voices of the group echoed in the hall, drowning out the faint sounds of fighting and cries that could be heard outside.
Li Shiyue sat there, accepting the salutes from his subordinates.
At this moment, she stepped to the pinnacle of power in Japan and sat in their most prestigious position.
But she knew in her heart that this was not her end point, nor the final result she wanted.
Occupying this place is pointless; this city, this throne, and the corrupt order it represents have no reason to exist.
She slowly stood up, stepped down from the throne, and walked over the sticky pool of blood.
"Issue the order," her voice regained its usual calm and decisiveness, "to loot the palace, all the noble residences, and all the major temples in the city!"
Pack all valuables, including gold, silver, and jewelry, and ship them back to our ship! Be quick!
"Yes!" Sun Xiaoliu and the others accepted the order and left.
Over the next two days, Heian-kyo experienced an unprecedented devastation.
The soldiers of Zhenhai Army combed through the ancient capital countless times, like combs.
The palace treasury was emptied, the wealth accumulated by nobles over generations was unearthed, and gilded Buddha statues in temples were taken away... Countless treasures were loaded onto carts and continuously transported to the fleet of ships anchored at the port outside the city.
Those who resist will be killed without exception, and those who attempt to hide valuables will be executed on the spot.
The entire city groaned and wept under the violent plunder, yet was powerless to resist.
The wealth was concentrated in such a large quantity that even Li Shiyue, who was used to seeing silver, was slightly moved.
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