The cavalry entered the capital like a storm descending from heaven.
Luo He had already given orders to his 4,000 cavalry commanders before they even leave the Jin mansion.
Precise, calculated instructions on what each unit would accomplish. Confused, the emperor of Yue himself barely had time to comprehend what was happening, let alone issue commands.
But he didn't need to. Luo He had already thought three steps ahead. The moment the cavalry penetrated the capital, they moved with surgical efficiency.
Resistance at the gates was met with immediate, lethal force. Soldiers loyal to the Crown Prince were cut down without hesitation. But this was only the start.
The cavalry spread out along all the city roads like blood through veins, and they began their true purpose, systematic elimination.
Ruffians who had terrorized civilians for days fell before the horses. Smugglers who had been hoarding grain while children starved were beheaded mid stride.
The cavalry didn't even slow down, didn't stop to perform formal executions. The swords simply rose and fell as the riders passed, heads rolling in the dust.
Thieves. Arsonists who had set fires throughout the district. Adulterers who had destroyed families. Rapists who had preyed on poor women in the chaos of rebellion.
All of them died the same way. Swift, brutal, final. For Luo He, this wasn't justice. This was control. This was order imposed through violence.
The kind of control necessary when systems had collapsed and lawlessness reigned. This was cold, calculated pragmatism.
But for the people of the capital who had lived in terror, who had watched their daughters stolen, their food hoarded, their homes burned, this was justice in its purest form.
The people began to gather around the cavalry troops. At first in shock, then in gratitude. They watched as criminal after criminal fell, and with each death, a burden lifted from their shoulders.
The cavalry wasn't just soldiers. To them, these were gods descended from the heaven to save them. Soon, Luo He's commanders were shouting as they rode through the streets of the capital.
"We are men of the emperor! We are here to save the capital! We eliminate the cancer called the Crown Prince and his criminals! Who drain the people dry for their cause while they grow fat."
The message was clear, consistent, repeated until it echoed through every street. The remaining 13,000 troops, witnessing the effectiveness of the 4,000 cavalry the moment they entered.
Immediately they themselves adopted the same tactics. They spread through the capital, swiftly executing criminals, driving home the message.
Within three hours, the transformation was visible. Bodies lay in the streets, a grim testament to swift justice, but the capital was being purified.
Then came the granaries.
The cavalry broke open the grain stores and began distributing food to the starving masses. Not all the granaries, Luo He had calculated carefully, leaving enough for military operations.
But enough to feed the thousands of desperate people. The Emperor of Yue watched this unfold and felt a moment of genuine shock.
Why are they opening my granaries? He thought, his mind briefly spiraling toward the old greed that had served him so poorly during his reign.
Where will my palace acquire new grain? For the military rations, we'll need everything for the coming war against the Crown Prince.
But he caught himself. He understood immediately what was happening. This was Luo He's strategy, playing out in real time. The Emperor couldn't openly object.
Not when the people were already shouting his name, already showering him with praise as he rode through the streets on horseback.
If he stopped the distribution now, if he revealed his concern about palace stores and military supplies, everything would collapse.
The people would turn against him. The moment of goodwill would shatter. So he sat on his horse, watching as his grain was given to his people, he understood the brilliance of it.
With the people's support, with the capital openly declaring their loyalty to him, the news would spread. It would reach the Crown Prince's ears like a death knell.
The eunuchs would switch sides immediately. The loyal ministers would abandon the rebellion. The Crown Prince's power would evaporate the moment word arrived.
The Crown Prince wouldn't need to be sieged in the palace. He wouldn't need to be dragged from the throne room. He would collapse under the weight of lost support.
He would flee rather than face the inevitable. This was the strategy, win the people, and the Crown Prince wins nothing but looses everything.
The cavalry continued their work, riding through the capital with Luo He's 4,000 elite troops at the center.
They shouted the emperor's name. They cursed the Crown Prince's name. And gradually, the people joined in.
Those who had been fed, those who had been protected, those who had watched criminals fall. They began to cheer the emperor's name and curse the Crown Prince's.
Princess Ning Luo received the news in her camp some distance from the east gate, hidden somewhere within the capitals walls themselves.
"The Emperor has returned alive," her scouts reported. "He breached the eastern gate. The capital is opening granaries. The people are rallying to his side like dogs given meat."
She felt a complex mixture of emotions. Surprise that her father had survived, amazement that he'd managed to easily reclaim the capital so quickly, and clearly confusion on what he's doing.
If they're giving away all the grain, she thought, what will the armies eat? After a civil war, there will certainly be external war. We'll need reserves. We'll need rations for our soldiers.
But she didn't have time to fully process the strategic implications. She gathered her generals immediately. "We march to see my father." She commanded.
"The emperor has returned. We pledge our allegiance to him." What remained of her contingent, thinned to approximately 7,000 from her original forces, mobilized and moved toward the city.
When they arrived, they found the emperor riding through the capital on horseback, surrounded by Luo He's cavalry, with grain being distributed to cheering crowds.
The transformation was remarkable. From rebellion and chaos to order and celebration. Princess Ning Luo rode directly to her father and dismounted, falling to one knee before him.
"Imperial Father!" She said, her voice steady and clear. "I pledge my allegiance and my life. I bring 7,000 soldiers to your service." The Emperor descended from his horse.
He walked to his daughter and lifted her to her feet, and for a moment, his expression softened in a way that revealed something genuine beneath the political calculations.
"My darling daughter." He said, pulling her into an embrace. "You are the only loyal one I have." He held her tightly, and when he spoke again, his voice carried genuine warmth.
"I am very proud of what you did. You will be rewarded generously for your loyalty."
He said proudly.
While his other children had hidden, surrendered, or actively aided the rebellion, Ning Luo had stood with him. She had fought. She had bled.
She had maintained her contingent against impossible odds. The Emperor made a mental note, this daughter would be remembered when rewards were later distributed.
This daughter would receive honors and recognition that would elevate her family for generations. Together, they rode toward the palace.
Ning Luo's contingent merged with the emperor's forces.
Duke Bian, the emperor's sworn brother, led a detachment into the palace to secure the entrances and to ensure that no traitor escaped, that no one who had committed treason would survive.
The palace was surrounded. Secured.
And the Emperor was formally guided to the throne. But by then, the Crown Prince was already gone.
He had gathered what loyal ministers remained and made his decision, flee or die. There was no middle ground now.
He escaped through the western gate with 13,000 troops.
Soldiers still loyal to him, commanders who believed in his claim, and his grandfather, the Shia clan elder, who had orchestrated much of the rebellion's strategy, all fled with him.
He left behind members of his maternal clan, those he deemed expendable. And he left behind his own mother.
Consort Shia remained in the harem as the Crown Prince fled toward the western territories. He hadn't had time to retrieve her, and frankly, he had no inclination to try either. Because she was replaceable in his eyes and his grandfather's eyes.
His mother was nothing to them. She was a piece on the board, a political tool that had served her purpose. Now that the game had shifted, she was simply another casualty.
The Shia clan elder agreed, even his own daughter was expendable when survival was at stake. Better to leave her behind than risk capture or slow the escape.
The Crown Prince rode hard toward the Duke of Yue's mansion, a stronghold where he might gather additional forces and mount a counter-offensive.
He refused to accept defeat. Refused to acknowledge that his rebellion had failed. The throne was his. He would reclaim it.
But as he rode through the night through the Yue territories, he didn't yet understand the full scope of what had happened.
He didn't yet comprehend that Luo He had systematically dismantled his position not through military force, but through the hearts and minds of the people.
By the time he learned the truth, it would be too late. The capital belonged to his father now. The people belonged to his father. And his options were rapidly disappearing.