Guo Xiu was beaten to death.
Aside from his two young sons, all seventeen members of his party were beaten to death at the north gate of the city.
The first to receive the news was Tian Hu.
After all, it was he who had rallied the common people—he could be considered the leader of this “Commoners’ Avengers Alliance.”
When he heard Guo Xiu had been beaten to death, Tian Hu felt a little guilty, but not the slightest bit of regret or remorse.
After all, he himself had been a victim of Guo Xiu’s oppression.
Guo Xiu had always looked down on people like them, the commoners—but now he had been beaten to death by those very people he scorned.
Heh, how satisfying.
Utterly satisfying!
Tian Hu only regretted not being able to personally take part in such a delightful event. And his guilt? It stemmed from not informing the Second Prince and others about this in advance…But then again, they weren’t really his masters—so it probably wasn’t a big problem, right?
Big problem or not, the man was dead anyway.
Beaten to death by the people—an undignified end, but one that surely appeased public anger. The Second Prince only furrowed his brow at first, then showed no further reaction.
The man was dead—what could be done?
Besides, if Guo Xiu was gone, there was still Liu Wu, wasn’t there? The two of them were clearly in cahoots and likely knew quite a bit about each other. Even without Guo Xiu, Liu Wu was still enough of a malignant representative.
Thus, the entire city of Yuanyang officially came under the Second Prince’s control.
During the cleanup, those who had helped open the city gates that night were also identified by the Second Prince.
This time, he was truly surprised by Tian Hu’s actions.
It turned out that the ones working with them from within weren’t Wei Yu’s people—but rather just the commoners that Tian Hu had gathered himself!
The Second Prince greatly admired Tian Hu. When Tian Hu came to take his leave, the prince hinted at whether he’d consider following him instead.
At first, Tian Hu was quite surprised.
But he didn’t hesitate for long—he shook his head and refused outright.
“Second Prince, your offer is generous, but I cannot accept it. I’m no different from anyone else—it was my master who gave me a second chance at life. For that, I, Tian Hu, will never leave his side for the rest of my days.”
After Tian Hu left, the Second Prince remained silent.
Gongsun Yi emerged from behind the screen, looked at the departing man, and said slowly, “There are many debts of gratitude in this world that are hard to forget. For someone like Tian Hu, the Ninth Prince gave him a chance for revenge, gave him hope—such grace is like being reborn, like the love of parents. He would never betray the Ninth Prince.”
Gongsun Yi looked at the Second Prince. “Cousin, Tian Hu is indeed a capable man. With him as the Ninth Prince’s loyal subordinate, he might be even more troublesome than the Eighth Prince.”
The Second Prince still said nothing, his eyes downcast as if deep in thought.
After a moment, Gongsun Yi couldn’t help but ask, “Cousin, what are you thinking?”
The Second Prince finally looked up from his thoughts.
But his expression wasn’t as heavy as Gongsun Yi had expected—instead, it held a kind of confused uncertainty.
The Second Prince asked in a drifting tone, “Do you think my Ninth Brother has ambitions for the throne?”
Isn’t it obvious?
Gongsun Yi blinked slowly. “Cousin, are you saying…”
The Second Prince meant he wasn’t sure.
If you compare it to someone who’s fighting for the throne—say, the Eldest Prince—there’s just no comparison. That guy wouldn’t have handed over the Oxhead Army for someone else to lead. If he had taken Yuanyang, he would have been the first to claim all the credit!
But someone like Wei Yu—saying he’d quit was enough for him to actually quit. Saying he was going to Ziyang meant he really didn’t care about the aftermath here. Ask him to hand over a man, and he just hands him over without the slightest worry about arousing suspicion or fear. The Second Prince had never seen anyone like that before.
It was like he had ambition, but also like he desired nothing.
He was capable, cunning, and seemed to have no small amount of charisma!
But he behaved like a skittish grasshopper—startled, fleeting, always holding something back.
The Second Prince couldn’t understand Wei Yu. He genuinely had no idea what his Ninth Brother was thinking.
Ask him directly?
No—things weren’t at that level between them yet.
Since he couldn’t figure Wei Yu out, the Second Prince decided to just wait and see. Eventually, even the slyest fox shows its tail.
—
Half a month later, Yuanyang.
By now, Yuanyang was completely under the Second Prince’s control.
On the third day after the city fell, once his men had stabilized things, the Second Prince made his identity public to avoid panic among the people.
Everyone was shocked.
Especially the Oxhead Army bandits.
After the shock came a whirlwind of emotions—delight, fear, anxiety—they all experienced it in waves.
Holy crap!
The Second Prince of the current emperor?
This was the strategist their boss had invited?
Did the boss even know?!
Anyone who’d ever been a bandit instinctively feared anything related to the imperial court or government.
Though they’d followed the strategist through many campaigns—even if there wasn’t deep affection, there was shared hardship and achievement—at the end of the day, this man was a prince!
A high-ranking official sent by the court to punish corrupt officials!
With that kind of status, what good could come to them, former bandits?
The Oxhead Army was nervous, afraid they’d end up like those corrupt officials. Fortunately, the Second Prince understood their fears and had already made arrangements.
He had Du Rulin inform the Oxhead Army: the court understood they had been forced into it and had their reasons. Since they had turned over a new leaf and helped purge Ji Prefecture, not only would the court not punish them—they’d be rewarded according to merit…
Well, that promise was aimed specifically at the five thousand Oxhead Army soldiers in the city.
After all, five thousand people had taken part in rebellion—if they were pushed too hard and started another uprising, what then?
More importantly, when the Eighth Prince first organized the Oxhead Army, he had screened all the recruits.
Anyone with a criminal record wasn’t allowed to join. If any slipped through, the Eighth Prince had them publicly executed before the entire army.
So even if they were rewarded for their service, these five thousand men—though lacking official household registration—could all be considered clean.
With the Oxhead Army handled, the city’s populace was even easier to manage.
They had long hoped the court would punish corrupt officials, and now someone had finally come. The people were overjoyed.
The fear they’d felt when they heard bandits had surrounded the city vanished. They all assumed the Oxhead Army was a regular military force and greeted them with great enthusiasm.
This embarrassed the Oxhead Army, who were real bandits pretending to be soldiers.
Over the next half-month, the Second Prince handled wrongful cases and city affairs smoothly and methodically, without any obstacles.
Since everything went so well and he had troops at his command, the Second Prince, after organizing the crimes of Guo Xiu and Liu Wu, sent men to the counties of Ji Prefecture to arrest other offenders—and personally wrote a letter to be delivered to Emperor Wei in the capital.