Zhu Youjian broke down completely, crying out loud without restraint, the sound raw and unfiltered, no longer carrying even a trace of the dignity he had once clung to as emperor.
Wang Chengen stood beside him, wiping his own tears again and again, because this loyal eunuch had already made up his mind long ago that if his master chose to hang himself from that crooked tree, he would follow without hesitation, yet now that Zhu Youjian had abandoned the idea of suicide, a heavy weight in his chest finally loosened, leaving behind a complicated mixture of relief and sorrow.
At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed along the mountain path as another figure rushed upward in panic, shouting before he even reached the summit.
"Your Majesty, do not act rashly!"
The man who arrived in such a flustered state was none other than Jin Yiwei Qianhu, Mi Qingli.
When he reached the top and saw Zhu Youjian and Wang Chengen in tears, while Li Daoxuan stood calmly in front of the waterworks facility, everything became clear to him in an instant, and his face lit up with relief as he quickly cupped his fists.
"Many thanks to Dao Xuan Tianzun."
Zhu Youjian turned his head sharply, staring at him with disbelief.
"So it is you, a Jin Yiwei, and yet you have…"
Mi Qingli's expression turned bitter as he lowered his head.
"Your Majesty, I joined the rebels only to preserve your life."
Zhu Youjian fell silent.
Li Daoxuan waved his hand casually and said, "Mi Qingli, Zhu Youjian and Wang Chengen will temporarily be placed under the custody of the Sky Shield Bureau, and his family members will also be taken under their protection, after matters here are concluded, they will be transferred to a designated reform through labor facility for management."
Mi Qingli hesitated for a moment before asking carefully, "May I ask, how many years has His Majesty been sentenced to?"
Li Daoxuan only smiled without answering.
Wang Chengen, however, spoke up from the side, "The immortal just said… ten years."
Mi Qingli's face immediately showed joy.
"Ten years is not much, that is truly good news."
Zhu Youjian looked at him in confusion, unable to understand how such a thing could be considered good.
Mi Qingli continued earnestly, "Your Majesty is not yet thirty years old, so even after ten years, you will still be under forty, and moreover, reform through labor is not necessarily fixed in duration, as long as your performance is good, your sentence can be reduced and you may be released early."
Zhu Youjian was stunned.
Mi Qingli then added, "This humble servant is willing to accompany Your Majesty into the labor camp and assist you, so that you may regain your freedom sooner."
Zhu Youjian's expression turned dazed, and after a long pause, he spoke slowly, "All the officials of the court have abandoned me, and yet the one willing to accompany me in the end is a traitor who has already joined the rebels."
Wang Chengen immediately added, "This servant is also here."
Zhu Youjian let out a long sigh, raised his head, and stared into the distance with empty eyes.
…
The gates of the capital were opened.
Of course, they did not open on their own, but were opened by Cao Huachun.
However, the scene that people had imagined, where rebel forces would surge into the city like a flood, did not occur.
"To prevent disturbance to the people, the army is not to enter the city in full."
"Each unit will send only five hundred men into the city to maintain order."
"Soldiers entering the city are strictly forbidden from entering private residences."
"Looting is strictly prohibited."
"No one is allowed to take even a single item without authorization."
Commanders of each force repeated these orders again and again to their troops, emphasizing discipline without pause.
Although the Gao Family Village regional militia had already undergone strict ideological training and moral education, this was still the capital, where officials and nobles were everywhere and wealth was abundant, and the greatest danger was that soldiers might be tempted by what they saw.
Li Daoxuan understood this clearly, because in the original course of history, when Chuang Wang Li Zicheng entered the capital, everything had collapsed almost overnight.
Why did it collapse?
Because power and wealth blinded them.
After enduring long hardship to seize the world, a thought would naturally arise in people's minds, that from this day forward, no one could destroy their clan, and instead they would be the ones deciding the fate of others, and once that thought took root, everything would fall apart in an instant.
Before success, people unite around ideals and struggle together toward a shared vision.
After success, unity dissolves, and those ideals are easily twisted by desire.
For this reason, Li Daoxuan had to firmly control the situation and prevent the people of Gao Family Village from following the same path of rapid corruption.
He opened the lid of the sandbox and allowed his signature low-hanging cloud to hover above the capital, while deliberately extending one hand into the world, wearing the Infinity Glove, letting part of his golden hand remain visible in the sky.
As a result, everyone in the capital could see an immortal cloud floating overhead, within which a faintly visible golden hand appeared like a divine presence watching over everything.
People from Gao Family Village immediately erupted in cheers.
"That is Dao Xuan Tianzun's hand!"
"Dao Xuan Tianzun is personally overseeing the capital."
"With Dao Xuan Tianzun here, everything is safe."
With such a presence above them, no one dared to violate orders or act out of line.
The forces of Gao Family Village entered the city in organized groups, maintaining strict discipline.
Inside the capital, silence filled the streets.
Officials, guards, merchants, and commoners who had previously gathered at the city walls to watch had all retreated into their homes, fear still lingering in their hearts.
But that fear did not last long.
The army of the Public Governance faction proved to be far better than they had imagined, because not only did they refrain from causing disorder, they actively maintained it, with squads stationed at every street corner and temporary assistance stations set up at intersections to help the people.
At one point, a militia soldier, accustomed to speaking loudly, accidentally frightened a civilian while talking, and was immediately reprimanded by his squad leader, who scolded him on the spot, which instead caused the civilian to feel embarrassed and step in to defend the soldier, insisting that it was only his own timidity and not the soldier's fault.
Meanwhile, Zhu Yujian, Zhu Youzhong, Zhu Cunji, Zhu Youxu, Chen Qianhu, and Flat Rabbit, along with several others, hurried toward the imperial palace as representatives.
The guards at the gates had already fled, leaving the palace wide open.
They entered without resistance.
Inside, the corridors and pathways were in disarray, with items scattered everywhere, belongings dropped by fleeing eunuchs and palace maids, many of which were valuable treasures.
Zhu Cunji bent down and casually picked up a piece of jade, weighing it in his hand before shaking his head with a faint smile.
"This piece alone would be worth at least a hundred taels of silver, and yet it has been discarded here so carelessly."
Zhu Yujian replied, "It was likely taken by a palace maid from her master's chambers in hopes of escaping with it, but she carried too much and dropped it along the way."
Zhu Youzhong added, "The eunuchs and maids have it hard as well, if they can take some wealth and start a new life outside, that would not be a bad outcome."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Flat Rabbit suddenly leapt forward and snatched the jade from Zhu Cunji's hand, grinning as it spoke, "You may have picked it up, but now it belongs to me."
Zhu Cunji laughed and scolded, "Gao Family Village strictly forbids the private possession of spoils, if you take that, Dao Xuan Tianzun will deal with you."
Flat Rabbit grinned wider and replied, "Who said I am keeping it for myself, I am going to distribute it to the poor."
Zhu Cunji shook his head and said, "Even if you intend to give it to the poor, you cannot just take it like that, you must first register and submit it to the village treasury, then apply for its allocation before distributing it, otherwise you are violating procedure."
Flat Rabbit blinked and said, "Is that not just making things more complicated for no reason, going in a circle only to reach the same result?"
Zhu Youzhong smiled and explained, "Such procedures are necessary, because not everyone is like you, you may act without selfish intent, but others may not, and if this item passes through the hands of someone else without proper process, it may never reach the poor in the end."