Shentu Yang was a man of his word. As expected, he rushed to Sishui Pass through the night and personally led two hundred thousand troops out of the pass to suppress the rebellion. The other eighty thousand troops remained stationed at Sishui Pass to prevent anyone from cutting off his retreat while he was out putting down the uprising. In addition, Shentu Yang left Zhou Tai and three thousand Imperial Guards behind to protect the Emperor’s safety.

After Shentu Yang left, Grand Marshal Huo Quan immediately entered the palace to seek an audience. Zhou Tai, who was guarding the entrance of Chongde Hall, stopped him and signaled for him to take off his shoes and unbuckle his sword.

Huo Quan slapped his own head, and just as he was about to unbuckle his sword, he heard the Emperor’s voice coming from inside the hall, “Let him in.”

Huo Quan and Zhou Tai were both stunned upon hearing this. The two of them looked into the hall together, and then Zhou Tai glared at Huo Quan before stepping aside resentfully.

Huo Quan walked into the hall somewhat stiffly, only to see the Yin Emperor standing before a map of the Yin Dynasty with his hands behind his back, looking thoughtful. “In this rebellion, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou are making the biggest fuss. They all claim that I and the Chancellor forced the local powerful gentry into rebellion. Does the Grand Marshal agree?”

Huo Quan said with utmost respect, “The local powerful gentry have long ignored the imperial court’s coordination. Now, out of dissatisfaction with the court’s verification of land surveys and strict population censuses, they have revolted in anger. This is all due to their insatiable greed and obsession with profit. How can they blame Your Majesty?”

“Furthermore, the population census and land survey are ancestral systems of our Yin Dynasty. Ever since the Supreme Ancestor Emperor founded the country, it has been done this way every single year. Who doesn’t know that cultivated land and population concern the very foundation of our country? The local powerful gentry committed fraud first and harmed government officials later. This is clearly the behavior of rebellious traitors. Everyone has the right to punish them.”

“If only everyone thought like the Grand Marshal.” Yin Shuhuai turned around, looking at Huo Quan with a deep gaze. “Grand Marshal, do you think I haven’t been good enough to them?” The “them” he referred to naturally meant those meritorious aristocratic families.

Huo Quan hesitated slightly, then clasped his hands and said, “As the old saying goes, a greedy person is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. It’s not that Your Majesty hasn’t been good to them, but rather that you’ve been too good to them. Your Majesty, this minister has a few words from the bottom of my heart, though I don’t know if I should say them.”

A flash of amusement crossed Yin Shuhuai’s eyes, and he quickly assumed a serious expression, saying, “Between you and me as ruler and minister, what is there that shouldn’t be said? Just speak your mind.”

Huo Quan then said, “Right now, Qingzhou, Jizhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou are all involved in the rebellion. At court, many ministers also have their ancestral homes in these four provinces. This minister worries…”

Huo Quan stopped here, leaving his words unfinished.

Yin Shuhuai caught the underlying meaning immediately and took the initiative to finish the sentence, “Are you worried they will collaborate from the inside and outside?”

Huo Quan bowed and said, “No one is wiser than Your Majesty.”

Yin Shuhuai smiled faintly. He hadn’t expected an honest man like Huo Quan to be so good at flattery. It seemed that his repeated efforts to show favor to the Huo family had not been in vain.

Of course, the fact that the bandits in the four provinces of Qing, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou indiscriminately executed local chief officials when they raised the rebellion might be the crucial reason why Huo Quan directly sided with the Emperor. After all, those rebellious traitors killed the trusted aides recommended by Huo Quan and Zhao Bushi.

No matter how mediocre or incompetent Huo Quan might be, he was still the leader of the Huo family’s current generation and the Grand Marshal, one of the Three Ducal Ministers of the court, controlling the two hundred thousand troops of the Northern Army inside Luoyang city. It would be strange if he could swallow this insult!

Yin Shuhuai did not want to dwell on whether Huo Quan’s suggestion to guard against the aristocratic families in Luoyang whose ancestral homes were in those four provinces was out of personal spite or public duty. No matter what considerations Huo Quan had, the proposal itself perfectly aligned with Yin Shuhuai’s interests.

“Your concern is not without reason.” Yin Shuhuai pretended to ponder, and after a moment, he spoke, “Immediately send troops to surround the residences of the officials whose ancestral homes are in Qingzhou, Jizhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou.”

A look of surprise flashed across Huo Quan’s face, as if he had not expected Yin Shuhuai’s actions to be so decisive. However, after the surprise, Huo Quan’s mood immediately turned into excitement, “This minister obeys the command!”

Yin Shuhuai watched Huo Quan’s resolute departing back and smiled slightly.

That night, who knows how many people were scared out of their sleep by Huo Quan’s actions. The hot-tempered children of the aristocratic families certainly could not tolerate Huo Quan sending troops to surround their family residences. They immediately led the house guests and private troops out of the mansion, attempting to argue with the soldiers. However, they were brutally smashed back by a sword hilt from an imperial guard standing outside the door.

“We are stationed here by His Majesty’s order, and no one is allowed to enter or leave the residence. Anyone who dares to disobey will be dealt with as a rebel!”

Before the voice could fade, the Northern Army soldiers surrounding the residence flashed their swords and spears in unison. Seeing that the soldiers were playing for keeps, the habitually arrogant children of the aristocratic families finally grew afraid. They all slunk back inside the residence.

“What is the meaning of this, Your Majesty?”

“Could it be that because of the rebellion in the four provinces of Qing, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou, His Majesty treats us as rebels too?”

Recalling how Huo Yan had also executed seven major aristocratic families on charges of rebellion when he served as Chancellor, the stuck-up aristocratic officials finally grew terrified. “His Majesty couldn’t possibly want to wipe us all out in one go, right?”

“His Majesty is inherently kind and soft-hearted; this definitely isn’t His Majesty’s idea. In my opinion, it must be that Huo Quan resents the rebellion in the four provinces for killing his trusted aides, and he is using His Majesty’s decree to retaliate against us!”

Thinking of this, the aristocratic officials surrounded by Huo Quan’s troops were suddenly filled with grief and despair.

With great difficulty, they endured until the regular morning audience the next day. The aristocratic officials, who had been living in fear all night, were terrified that the Emperor had been deceived by a traitor, so they took turns impeaching Huo Quan during the audience. They unanimously agreed that Huo Quan sending troops to surround the residences of court officials for no reason whatsoever was utterly rebellious.

“This is my decree,” Yin Shuhuai, sitting gracefully at the head of the hall, said directly. “The rebellion in the four provinces of Qing, Jizhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou has truly alarmed me. If you gentlemen have any complaints, do not blame the Grand Marshal; just blame me.”

As soon as these words came out, the entire hall was shocked. Someone said resentfully, “What is the meaning of this, Your Majesty? Are you suspecting that we will collaborate with the rebels from the four provinces?”

“How can Your Majesty act like this? As the saying goes, a scholar can be killed but not insulted. If Your Majesty suspects your ministers of disloyalty, you can simply execute us to eliminate future trouble. Why humiliate us like this?”

“What does the rebellion in the four provinces of Qing, Jizhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou have to do with us? Just because our ancestral homes are all in those four provinces, Your Majesty sends troops to surround our residences? For Your Majesty to act so absurdly, haven’t you heard that if you want to frame someone, you can always find a pretext?”

“Truly absurd. We are not afraid of death, so why use death to terrify us?”

Yin Shuhuai looked coldly at the self-righteous ministers, his gaze landing on Censor-in-Chief Zhao Bushi, who had remained completely silent throughout.

The Censor-in-Chief stared at his nose and his heart, still not uttering a single word.

“The words of you gentlemen seem to make sense. Except for one thing: the crime of rebellion requires the execution of all nine generations of a family.” Yin Shuhuai’s face was as calm as a peaceful lake. His gaze pulled away from Censor-in-Chief Zhao Bushi, and then he looked leisurely at the many high officials in the imperial hall, his tone equally gentle and natural. “Are you gentlemen sure you want me to execute people to eliminate future trouble?”

Hearing this, the ruler and ministers looked at each other. They stared open-mouthed at the Yin Emperor sitting high up in the bright hall. They saw that the Emperor had a gentle face and a faint smile with lowered eyes, looking exactly like a divine statue on a temple altar, showing neither joy nor sorrow.

The civil and military officials, who had just been making a fuss about how a minister must die if the ruler is insulted, all shuddered together. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads, snapping them completely awake. “This minister lost his head in a moment of panic and spoke without thinking. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me.”

“Your Majesty is clear-sighted. Although this minister is a native of Jizhou, I have absolutely no connection with the rebels who killed the officials and revolted…”

“Your Majesty…”

In an instant, the imperial court, which originally had a somewhat tragic and solemn atmosphere, suddenly degenerated into a noisy chaotic market. Cries for mercy and pleas for forgiveness were endless. Yin Shuhuai looked calmly at the panicked crowd of high officials, remaining completely silent throughout.

In the end, it was Censor-in-Chief Zhao Bushi who could not bear to watch any longer. He stood up and shouted down the ministers who were roaring loudly during the audience, “You gentlemen ought to strictly maintain the proper etiquette for an audience with the Emperor and must not be rude.”

Only then did the ministers snap back to their senses, sheepishly sitting back in their original places.

Now that things had reached this point, no one dared to criticize the Emperor’s decree to have people surround the officials’ residences anymore.

Right at this moment, Grand Marshal Huo Quan rushed back, looking travel-worn. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he took off his shoes, unbuckled his sword, and stepped up to the hall, saying solemnly, “Reporting to Your Majesty, this minister was ordered to strictly investigate the vigilantes and petty criminals in Luoyang city. We have now discovered over sixty people who have correspondence with the four rebelling provinces. I have already sent these people to the judicial prison and await Your Majesty’s instructions.”

Yin Shuhuai smiled upon hearing this, his gaze looking gently at the ministers whose eyes were flickering, “It seems my concern was not without reason. This Luoyang city is indeed leaking like a sieve.”

The court ministers looked at each other, only able to clasp their hands and say, “Your Majesty is wise.”

Whether he was wise or not did not matter. Yin Shuhuai now held the Twelve Branches secret service in his hands, so there were not many things under heaven that could be hidden from his eyes and ears anyway.

Take this time when Shentu Yang personally led the grand army to the four provinces of Qing, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou to suppress the rebellion. Yin Shuhuai had handed over the topographic maps detailing the mountains, rivers, roads, valleys, ditches, bridges, and even passes and storehouses of the four provinces, which had been secretly investigated and drawn by the Night Owl Guards, to Shentu Yang. As long as Shentu Yang wasn’t completely directionally challenged, he would definitely be able to settle it quickly.

However, what Yin Shuhuai and the entire court of civil and military officials did not expect was that Shentu Yang’s campaign to pacify the four provinces could indeed be described as quick and decisive, but it wasn’t accomplished by his strength alone.

When Shentu Yang led the two hundred thousand troops into Yanzhou, the two provinces of Youzhou and Bingzhou located in the State of Yan actually mobilized their troops simultaneously to surround and wipe out Jizhou. The Jizhou rebel army fought desperately but was still no match for the Yan iron cavalry. In just three days, the Yan troops actually captured ten cities in a row, fighting directly to the border between Jizhou and Qingzhou.

At the same time, Shentu Yang’s two hundred thousand troops also quickly took down Yanzhou and advanced toward Xuzhou.

Because the chief officials of the four provinces had all been executed by the rebels during the uprising, to prevent the positions of grand administrators of Jizhou and Yanzhou from being vacant for too long, Shentu Yang directly appointed Gao Jingde and Zhang Yan to serve as the grand administrators of the two provinces in the name of the Chancellor. He left thirty thousand troops in Jizhou and Yanzhou respectively to help the two of them guard the provinces.

As for the powerful gentry of the two provinces who had committed the crime of rebelling against their superiors, Shentu Yang did not execute them all either. Aside from those who died in the war, the remaining rebel leaders and their families were all escorted back to Luoyang by Shentu Yang to be handled by the Emperor.

These powerful gentry from the aristocratic families didn’t forget to cry out against the injustice even after arriving in Luoyang. They repeatedly claimed that they had not rebelled, and that it was all Chancellor Shentu Yang who, as soon as he arrived in the two provinces of Yanzhou and Jizhou, indiscriminately framed them for harboring bandits, intending to eliminate political rivals and slaughter innocent people to claim military credit!

Was that truly the case?

The aristocratic powerful gentry crying out against injustice and the civil and military officials listening to them actually all knew that the rebellion raised in the four provinces of Qing, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou was instigated by these very gentry and aristocratic families. Even if they weren’t the rebel leaders in name, they must have supported the rebel army in the dark. They just hadn’t expected Shentu Yang to be so overbearing that he wouldn’t even listen to their excuses at all. The moment he arrived in Yanzhou, he arrested every single one of them on charges of connecting with the rebel army and harboring bandits. Then he replaced all the provincial officials, from grand administrators to commandery governors to provincial governors, with his own people. He even confiscated the public storehouses of each province and the private treasuries of the local powerful gentry, and even their private troops, taking everything as his own.

How was this putting down a rebellion? This was clearly coming to confiscate family estates!

The aristocratic families who had been forcibly relocated all the way back to Luoyang by Shentu Yang were full of complaints, wishing they could label Shentu Yang as a bandit himself.

However, Shentu Yang possessed hundreds of thousands of troops and was currently under the buff of “a general out in the field is not bound by the sovereign’s orders.” Even if the aristocratic families whose family fortunes had been plundered felt deeply unreconciled, the powerful gentry, who had already been utterly terrified by the Yan iron cavalry and Shentu Yang himself, did not dare to start another war—nor did they have the capability anymore. They could only look eagerly at the Emperor, trying to get the inherently generous, kind, and soft-hearted Emperor to seek justice for them.

Did Yin Shuhuai have the leisure for that? Of course not!

He merely issued a decree to relocate all these aristocratic families to commanderies like Henei and Nanyang, and even rewarded them with money and rice in the name of the imperial court to ensure that these powerful gentry would not starve to death due to a lack of food.

These aristocratic families had been forcibly moved away from their home bases, which they had managed for hundreds of years, by a bandit like Shentu Yang. What they lost was far more than just money, grain, and rice. To put it another way, as long as the imperial court could issue a benevolent decree allowing them to return to their places of origin, why would they worry about not being able to recover their strength?

Unfortunately, Yin Shuhuai was no fool, and that Chancellor, who occupied the place like a squatter under the guise of suppressing a rebellion while actually confiscating family estates, would never allow them to do so either. They could only move to the commanderies like Henei arranged for them by the court with tears in their eyes, accepting the luxury houses and fields rewarded to them by the Yin Emperor—which amounted to less than one percent of their original family properties and they even had to feel deeply grateful to this dog emperor!

The news that the court treated the powerful aristocratic families of Yanzhou and Jizhou with favor spread quickly under the promotion of people with ulterior motives, and the powerful gentry of Qingzhou and Xuzhou, who had still been resisting fiercely, also surrendered and laid down their arms one after another. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to keep fighting, but rather that the combat effectiveness of Shentu Yang and his Yan iron cavalry was simply too abnormal.

Only at this point did the aristocratic families, who had been beaten until their faces were covered in blood, finally seem to remember that the army led by Shentu Yang was a veteran force that had beaten both the northern and southern Xiongnu into fleeing at the mere sight of them using the strength of a single state! How could the private troops of the powerful gentry in the Central Plains, who hadn’t fought a war in so many years, possibly be their match?

Except that just because they couldn’t win didn’t mean the aristocratic officials still sitting high in the court could tolerate Shentu Yang using the banner of putting down a rebellion to smoothly execute such a shady operation of confiscating estates and expanding his territory by imperial order.

Seeing that the four provinces of Qing, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou had been completely suppressed by Shentu Yang and the Yan iron cavalry in just a few days, the civil and military officials far away in Luoyang and the wealthy elites who had been forcibly relocated to Henei and other places could no longer sit still. They took turns impeaching Shentu Yang in front of the Emperor.

“Without an imperial decree from the court, he arbitrarily mobilized the troops of a vassal state to annex the four provinces of Qing, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou. This action is equivalent to usurpation, and Your Majesty absolutely must not tolerate such behavior!”

“The State of Yan is a vassal state enfeoffed by our Yin Dynasty. The Duke of Yan, Shentu Yang, used a vassal state to annex the court’s provinces and commanderies, which is truly a rebellious act against his superiors. His crime deserves the execution of his clan and the abolition of his state!”

“Shentu Yang has an unfaithful heart, a fact known to every man on the street. We hope Your Majesty will investigate clearly!”

Yin Shuhuai committed himself to nothing on the surface, and the very first thing he asked Shentu Yang when the latter led the army back to court was, “Where is my money?”