"Who is in charge here?"
The shrill voice of Gao Qiqian echoed across the walls of Jinzhou, sharp enough to cut through the noise of soldiers and steel alike, and after he shouted a few more times, a figure finally pushed through the crowd of onlookers, parting the soldiers as if they were reeds in water.
Li DaoXuan stepped forward with a relaxed grin, looking at him as if this whole scene was nothing more than light entertainment.
"I suppose I can barely count as someone in charge."
"It is you!" Gao Qiqian's face twisted with anger as recognition hit him. "So it was you all along!"
His mind spun rapidly, calculating, analyzing, trying to piece together the logic behind what he was seeing, because in his understanding, this man was nothing more than a merchant, so how could he possibly command so many troops unless there was only one answer.
Money.
It had to be money.
These soldiers had gone unpaid for years, and this merchant had taken advantage of that weakness, using wealth to buy their loyalty wholesale.
Yes, that must be it.
Gao Qiqian raised the imperial sword high, his voice trembling with forced authority. "You… you have quite the nerve."
Li DaoXuan spread his hands, his tone mockingly light. "My nerve is not that big. You waving that sword around is quite scary. I am trembling, you see."
"You are afraid, are you not?" Gao Qiqian suddenly felt a surge of confidence, because the sword in his hand represented imperial authority, and no matter how arrogant rebels might be, they should still fear the will of the Emperor.
That was what he believed.
Before that thought could fully settle, Li DaoXuan had already closed the distance in a single smooth motion.
Gao Qiqian jumped back slightly. "What are you doing?"
He wanted to swing the sword, but he hesitated, because if he struck first, the so-called rebels around him might respond instantly, and he would be the one to suffer the immediate consequences.
Even a eunuch understood the value of avoiding immediate losses.
His hand trembled slightly.
Then Li DaoXuan reached out and grabbed the blade.
Barehanded.
His palm closed around the sharp edge without hesitation, as if he were gripping nothing more dangerous than a wooden stick.
Gao Qiqian yelped in shock.
Was this man insane?
Did he not care about his own hand?
But there was no blood.
Not a single drop.
Before he could process that, Li DaoXuan applied a slight pull, and the imperial sword slipped cleanly out of Gao Qiqian's grip.
"You dare seize the imperial sword?" Gao Qiqian's voice cracked.
"I just want to see whether the Emperor's sword is actually sharp," Li DaoXuan said casually.
Then, without warning, he drove the blade straight into his own abdomen.
A dull, wet sound echoed.
The sword went in from the front and pierced out through his lower back.
Gao Qiqian nearly lost his mind.
"That was not me!" he shouted at the surrounding soldiers. "He stabbed himself! Do not misunderstand! Do not act rashly!"
But something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The soldiers did not react with fear or anger.
They were calm.
Some were even grinning, watching as if this were an amusing performance rather than a life-threatening incident.
Only Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army, Yang Guozhu's forces, and the pampered capital troops showed signs of shock, and the distinction was obvious, because those were the only forces not fully part of this system.
The atmosphere turned strange.
Li DaoXuan stood there with a sword through his body, smiling as if nothing had happened.
"Eunuch Gao, your imperial sword is not very impressive. It cannot even kill a man."
Gao Qiqian's lips trembled. "You… what… what kind of monster are you?"
Li DaoXuan only smiled.
Before he could respond, Lao Nan Feng stepped forward, his expression dark with irritation. "Watch your mouth. Who are you calling a monster? Say one more word and I will skin you alive."
When Lao Nan Feng truly got angry, even Chen Qianhu would crouch on the ground and shut up, and this single roar forced Gao Qiqian to stagger back three steps before barely regaining his footing.
With a smooth motion, Li DaoXuan pulled the sword out of his body.
The blade came free, clean and bright, without a trace of blood.
He tossed it back. "Take it."
Gao Qiqian caught it instinctively, still dazed, unable to understand why something so terrifying had just been returned so casually.
Li DaoXuan reached out and tapped his head, pressing his palm lightly against the top of it, and Gao Qiqian did not even dare to dodge.
"You may be a useless supervisory eunuch," Li DaoXuan said calmly, "but the system itself is not useless. The army must be supervised. An army is a machine of violence, and without oversight, it will become a disaster."
Gao Qiqian stood frozen.
"Watch over the Xuanfu troops, the capital garrison, and the imperial guards you brought," Li DaoXuan continued. "Do not let them harm the civilians who have only just returned to live in Jinzhou. If even one commoner is abused by your soldiers, it will be your responsibility, and I will deal with you personally."
Gao Qiqian stammered. "How can I control them? Those soldiers are all… rogues…"
"I do not listen to excuses," Li DaoXuan cut him off. "Fail, and I will hang you on the city wall to dry for a month."
Gao Qiqian's face turned pale instantly.
A month?
He would not even survive three days.
Li DaoXuan did not waste another word. He turned and disappeared back into the crowd, his tone shifting completely as he shouted.
"Kitchen team, where is the kitchen team? Logistics just delivered seafood. Make me a seafood feast."
A group of cooks rushed over, smiling brightly. "What flavor would you like today?"
"I am tired of spicy. Make it savory this time."
"Understood!"
They beamed with pride, because among all the low-ranking soldiers, they were the ones who interacted most frequently with Dao Xuan Tianzun, and that alone was a kind of glory.
Gao Qiqian stood there, his body trembling faintly.
The crowd slowly dispersed.
Lu Xiangsheng walked past him and patted his shoulder, preparing to leave, but Gao Qiqian suddenly felt a strange sense of shared fate, as if they were both trapped in the same situation, and hurried after him.
"Lord Lu," he whispered, "we are on the same rope now, held hostage by these rebels. We must work together if we want to return to the capital alive."
Lu Xiangsheng almost laughed.
Return to the capital?
What would that even change?
If the capital could control them, would they dare to launch a campaign against the Qing?
But he had no interest in explaining reality to a useless eunuch.
"You would be better off doing your job properly," he said flatly. "Especially your capital troops. Their discipline is worse than the so-called rebels. Give it a few days and they will start harassing civilians, and when that happens, I will be watching your corpse hanging from the city wall."
Gao Qiqian's courage dropped sharply.
Perhaps now was not the time to think about escape.
Perhaps now he really needed to control those useless troops first.
The small farce ended quickly.
Jinzhou continued its transition into full war preparation.
Reinforcements arrived from every direction, setting up camps in ordered formations, while supplies flowed in endlessly from the sea, cart after cart rolling into the city loaded with grain, weapons, gunpowder, and countless strange devices that Gao Qiqian could not even begin to understand.