Nine Princes Struggle for the Throne: The Mad Prince

Chapter 131 Blood Moon Tower, A Family of Madmen

time flies.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and the capital of Southern Qi finally calmed down.

After more than twenty days of darkness, the surviving people finally dared to venture out of their homes.

For the people of Nandu, those twenty-odd days were like living in hell.

They lived in constant fear, terrified that they might be implicated and meet a tragic end.

After all, this has happened before; many people have had their homes inexplicably stormed in and indiscriminately killed, resulting in the deaths of their entire families.

There are even quite a few people who were accidentally injured or killed when two powerful people fought.

It can be said that in these twenty-odd days, the population of the entire Southern Capital has decreased by one-third.

The entire city was gripped by panic.

Fortunately, the Eastern Qin captured Nandu, thus ending Nandu's darkest period.

However, Qin Wu also dealt with all the powerful clans in Nandu, and now there are no powerful forces left in Nandu.

Qin Wu also acquired an immeasurable fortune, several times greater than his previous accumulations over the past decade.

Qin Wu didn't hesitate to take half of it, and planned to take the other half back to the Qin capital as an explanation to the court.

As for whether anyone would dare to make a fuss about this, Qin Wu wasn't worried. To him, anyone who dared to reach out would have their hand chopped off.

"Your Highness, the entire Southern Capital has now been cleared, and we are just waiting for the other four armies to take over the other cities of Southern Qi."

Qi Ye reported to Qin Wu on what he had accomplished during this period.

And the losses of the army, and the arrangements made afterward.

"Well, nothing much is happening here right now. Has the news reached the capital?"

After listening to Qi Ye's report, Qin Wu didn't say much.

The Southern Qi has now been conquered by Qin Wu. He is just waiting for officials from the capital to take over the affairs of the Southern Qi before he can return to the capital.

"The message has already been sent back, and it should arrive in the capital soon."

Qi Ye sent the battle report back immediately after capturing Nandu.

"Alright, let's send people back now! By the way, how's the bandit suppression going with Liu Qiu?"

Qin Wu inquired.

He had not forgotten the bandits who dared to block his path and steal his provisions.

In Qin Wu's view, those people were definitely not simple robbers; they must have local forces supporting them.

Otherwise, how would some bandits dare to rob them?

Isn't this just courting death?

“News comes in every day that Liu Qiu has been suppressing bandits and investigating along the way, killing many local forces. The blood has flowed like rivers. Now many generals have opinions about him, feeling that he should not have killed so many people and that it would have been enough to only kill the ringleaders.”

Qi Ye said.

Many generals have mentioned this to him.

He didn't care, though, since he knew very well why his lord had sent Liu Qiu there.

That means killing until everyone is terrified, so that those with wicked intentions will never dare to have any more wicked thoughts.

He wanted to intimidate the people of the entire Southern Qi so that it would be easier for them to rule the entire Southern Qi in the future.

"Don't bother."

Qin Wu didn't care about any of that.

You have a problem with that? Keep it to yourself.

"The previous battle was alright, but now that the battle is basically over, the generals have finished their work and come to me almost every day, hoping that I can persuade the prince to order Liu Qiu to withdraw his troops. They are willing to take Liu Qiu's place to suppress the bandits."

Qi Ye said helplessly.

Now that the war is basically over, the generals have nothing to do and want to make a name for themselves elsewhere.

This made it inconvenient for them to set their sights on Liu Qiu's job.

"Trying to steal military merits from me? They're dreaming. Nothing's wrong, is it? So many spoils of war, arrange for some to be escorted back."

Qin Wu sneered.

How could he not know what those people were up to?

Do you really think he's a fool?

Suppressing bandits not only brings military merit, but also a lot of lucrative rewards.

"Your Highness, even so, it's impossible to send them all back!"

Qi Ye felt somewhat helpless.

The main problem is that there are just too many people with nothing to do these days.

"Forget it, we've taken over so many places, there are too many areas where we need to suppress bandits, let them go!"

Qin Wu thought for a moment. The entire Southern Qi had just been conquered, and bandits were rampant. There were too many places where bandits needed to be suppressed.

After all, the officials of Dongqin have not yet taken over, and many people blinded by self-interest will not let go of such a good opportunity.

"By the way, has there been any news from the capital lately?"

"Is everything alright at the Prince's residence?"

Now that Qin Wu had some free time, he turned his attention to the capital.

"Nothing happened at the Prince's residence, but His Majesty has run into trouble. After the Prince left, the Empress Dowager reappeared and stirred up trouble in the harem."

"I received a message from Yushu this morning that the Empress Dowager has recently set her sights on your maternal clan, Your Highness."

As Qi Ye spoke, he took out a letter and handed it to Qin Wu.

Qin Wu took the letter and read it.

"I've only been away on campaign for a few months, and this old hag has already popped up again, still trying to scheme against my maternal clan. Does she think she should go and serve the late emperor?"

Qin Wu said with a gloomy expression.

He never expected that the Empress Dowager would actually try to place someone in his uncle's room.

He even set his sights on his own cousin; he's practically asking for death.

Does he really think that Qin Wu is powerless to control anything just because he left the capital? That he can't do anything about her?

They dared to plot against his mother's clan. These were his mother's last remaining relatives. As long as they didn't do anything to harm him or betray him, he would ensure their lifelong prosperity.

These people dare to make a move against them; they're touching Qin Wu's sore spot.

"There's nothing we can do. As one of the six major clans in Dongqin, the He family hasn't had any promising young talents in recent years. The old patriarch is getting older and older, and I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on for much longer. Once the old patriarch passes away, the He family will probably decline."

"The He family has been looking for a way out all these years. Now that they know that Your Highness has found your maternal clan and values ​​it very much, they have set their sights on your maternal clan."

"Actually, the He family also planned to send someone to you, Your Highness."

Qi Ye finished speaking with a meaningful smile.

"The He family, they certainly know how to scheme against me?"

Qin Wu sneered.

In fact, before Qin Wu led his troops to Southern Qi, none of the six major clans had paid any attention to him.

To the six major clans, Qin Wu was nothing more than a powerless brute.

So what if they are Grandmasters? Grandmasters are not invincible; they all have trump cards to kill them.

But things are different now. Qin Wu led his troops and quickly conquered many cities in Southern Qi.

Only after receiving the news did the six major clans begin to take Qin Wu seriously.

Previously, Qin Wu had only managed to defend Jubei City, and in their view, defending against the invasion of the Northern Barbarians was not difficult.

But things are different now; Qin Wu's ability to lead troops has exceeded their expectations.

Marquis Zhennan, a famous general of Eastern Qin, spent nearly a year but only managed to conquer one-fifth of Southern Qi's territory before halting his advance.

Qin Wu's ability to quickly seize one-third of Southern Qi's territory upon his arrival was something they had to take seriously.

This cannot be resolved by force.

They also need to understand military tactics, strategy, and all sorts of calculations...

So the He family set their sights on Qin Wu.

"Your Highness, recently the Princess Consort and her two concubines have been dealing with quite a few people in the capital because of Miss Cousin, and they've offended quite a few people. News has come from Blood Moon Tower that someone wants to kill the Princess Consort and her two concubines."

Qi Ye said awkwardly to Qin Wu.

Blood Moon Tower was an assassin and intelligence organization established by Qin Wu to amass wealth.

Qin Wu rarely paid attention to the affairs of the Blood Moon Pavilion, and almost always let the Blood Moon Pavilion operate on its own.

The Blood Moon Tower was also managed by three deputy tower masters.

"What did they do to warrant hiring assassins to kill them?"

Qin Wu was speechless. You see, unless there's a deep-seated grudge, most people wouldn't hire an assassin.

Especially top-tier assassin organizations like Blood Moon Tower, which are avoided by all factions when not needed.

"Well, Your Highness, I must say, birds of a feather flock together. Your Highness is crazy, and your women are just as impressive. I don't know what to say. You see for yourself."

Qi Ye truly didn't know how to describe it.

All he could think was, "What a crazy family!"

Qin Wu took the thick booklet that Qi Ye handed him and opened it with some curiosity.

Upon closer inspection, wow, this is incredible! When a woman goes crazy, it's truly unbearable for most people.

Sure enough, in just a few months since he left, his three women have supplied the palace with hundreds of eunuchs.

It ruined the lives of over thirty young ladies from prominent families and assaulted over fifty officials...

Even Qin Wu had to admire this record...

"Indeed, she is worthy of being my woman, especially this Concubine Xin. She looks gentle and virtuous, but she can be ruthless when she gets going!"

Qin Wu couldn't help but admire it.

Qi Ye's forehead creased with annoyance upon hearing his lord's praise.

As expected of their crazy prince, he actually praised his own woman for being so ruthless.

If it were anyone else, they'd probably be having a headache right now, wondering how to deal with all this trouble.

And their prince...

Oh well, these things are minor matters to their prince anyway.