Following the battle of Yin, Maximus signed an agreement with Emperor Gai to extend the deployment of a small portion of the Imperial Army for 8 months. This small portion would consist of 200,000 soldiers and would mainly be a defensive force while the Golden Empire regrouped their army and reorganized. Numerous of their Generals were killed during the push for the capital by the rebel forces, leaving them with only 4 active generals which was not enough to cover the vast territories of the Golden Empire.
They would need to train up new warriors while also hunting down the remaining rebels who fled the battle. While Pol Qo and Lord Jiang were dead, their subordinate officers were still active and would not simply surrender just because of one battle.
Maximus knew this and decided to offer them some long-term help, in exchange for some precious resources that the Golden Empire had and the Imperial Union didn't. After that, the Golden Empire would also pay the Imperial Union 10 million Imperial Coins over the course of five years. This was one of the harsher things that Maximus had forced upon Emperor Gai who had no choice but to accept.
If he refused, then even he knew that they wouldn't survive this battle. Besides, the Golden Empire is still very rich. This Civil War may have taken its toll, but the economy was still strong despite losing a lot of its value. This was because the rebel forces mainly avoided doing too much damage to the trade centers of the Golden Empire. They were the money makers after all, and if it was one thing that kept war moving, it was money.
A few days after the agreement was signed, Maximus was about to return to Heaven's Reach, when he was stopped by Zhenyi who bowed her head in front of him and thanked him. "Thank you once again your highness."
"Think nothing of it Princess. These rebels were causing a few problems anyway, so I just came to solve that problem directly by force."
"Even so, we were on the brink of being overrun. As a result, I want to give you this." one of her servants brought up a box and opened it while handing it to Maximus. Inside the box was a Jade Seal, something that recognized the holder of the item as the most trusted friend of the Golden Empire.
Maximus turned the Jade Seal over in his palm, studying the intricate carvings. It was cold, dense, and heavier than it looked. "You do realize," he said after a pause. "That gestures like this are not necessary. But I suppose it would offend you to refuse?"
She smiled, "It would, your excellency. Consider a great gift from the people of the Golden Empire to you the Emperor of the Imperial Union. The histories will remember that you saved us from fire and darkness." She bowed her head one last time before she turned to leave followed by her attendants.
Standing next to him, Hela looked at this gift and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "She should have given herself as a gift, I think that would have made for a much better gift then this Jade Seal."
Maximus turned to look at her and saw the mischievous smile on her face. This was part of her normal antics, so he ignored her and turned around to leave the Palace.
"Come on, at least give a reaction. They used to be so funny before." but no matter what she said Maximus ignored her and kept walking. A few minutes later they boarded his airship and departed for Heaven's Reach.
Remaining in the city with the 200,000 soldiers would be Achilles and Alexander alongside a few dozen subordinate officers to form a decentralized command structure for the massive army.
Food would be provided via airship transport due to the food situation in the Golden Empire. They were permitted to create their camp outside of the city walls and patrol the surrounding region to ensure another rebel army doesn't sneak up on them.
———
A few miles away from Yin, the officers under Pol Qo who survived the battle were gathering their warriors to form a new army. However, not everybody agreed with this, resulting in new Warlords being born from the midst of Pol Qo's army. The Witch-Marshall had decided to take her forces and go into hiding until the rebellion was over. She only joined because she thought Pol Qo was going to win, so now that he is dead, she didn't have any motivation to fight with them.
Further to the North of Yin, General Lu Shan, a veteran with decades of campaigning, planted his halberd into the dirt and addressed the officers. "We march south, regroup with the Orange banners, and strike again when the Imperial dogs return home."
His words were met with praise from the younger captains. One of them, Zao Feng, spat into the fire. "You talk like a man who still serves Pol Qo. He's dead. The men fight for food and silver now, not for ghosts."
Lu Shan eyed the man as the two of them sized each other up. Within moments, Lu Shan drew his sword while his own guards cut down two of Zao Feng's companions, while Zao himself fled from the tent and hopped on top of his horse. Followed by other loyal warriors to him, he fled into the hills with a portion of the army. By the next morning, there were two armies instead of one: Lu Shan's disciplined army heading south to rebuild, and Zao's marauding riders striking toward the riverlands of YiTi to plunder.
From the western marches came news of an ambitious captain named Wei Yun, who had served under Pol Qo only briefly but now called himself the "Iron Tiger."
His men wore scraps of orange armor scavenged from the dead, and he promised "the continuation of the true Emperor's war" — though in practice, his troops were raiding grain stores and selling captured peasants to slavers.
Lord Jiang's death did not bring order to his followers, either. His surviving admirals sailed from Yin's harbor in a chaotic retreat, scattering across the Eastern Sea. Some returned to Carcosa and declared Jiang's nephew, Jiang Fei, the new Lord of the Eastern Shores, though this claim was challenged within days by two other commanders. Sea battles erupted almost immediately, with ships burning at ports and whole crew turning pirate rather than serving a weakened claimant.
One of Jiang's most dangerous lieutenants, the assassin known as Black Willow, vanished entirely during the retreat. Her name began appearing in reports across the countryside — governors found poisoned in their sleep and rebel leaders slain by daggers. Whether she acted for a cause or for her own amusement, no one could say.
By the month's end, the Golden Empire's map looked like a shattered porcelain — dozens of small warbands and self-proclaimed lords carving out scraps of territory. Each claimed to fight for the memory of Pol Qo or Lord Jiang, but their banners hid nothing but hunger and greed.
In Yin, Emperor Bu Gai read the reports grimly.
"This is worse than rebellion," he said to his gathered council. "This is the birth of a hundred new tyrants."
And beyond the palace walls, the sound of war drums began again, not in the distance this time, but in the neighboring provinces. The civil war was far from over.
Within a week of Maximus's departure, the first reports reached the Imperial camp outside Yin.
Achilles stood over the campaign table as he studied the markers representing rebel movements. "Zao Feng's riders are already burning villages along the eastern river," he said, "If he reaches the grain stores at Huai'an, half the capital will starve before the next harvest."
Alexander traced his finger along the map. "And Lu Shan marches south. If he combines forces with Wei Yun, they'll have somewhat of a professional force again. We can't allow them time to become a major problem again."
The command structure was simple: the 200,000 Dawnborn and other units were divided into independent legions, each led by a trusted officer. Orders were delivered daily via enchanted message crystals, allowing Achilles and Alexander to react instantly to rebel movements.
The first to be unleashed was the 9th Dawnborn Legion, under Centurion Kaeso. Moving by forced march, they caught Zao Feng's cavalry in the act of stripping Huai'an's storehouses. The rebels expected farmers with pitchforks; instead, they met a wall of Imperial shields.
Kaeso's archers cut down a few riders before they could form for a charge, while the Dawnborn heavy infantry advanced street by street. Zao himself escaped with only a handful of retainers, abandoning his loot and leaving over three hundred dead. By dusk, Huai'an's gates bore the Golden Empire's sigil, and its grain was under guard.
Far to the west, Alexander led a direct strike against Wei Yun, the self-styled Iron Tiger. The rebels had fortified a riverside market town, using its stone wharves to resupply from river barges. Alexander's approach was swift: Wyvern riders attacked the walls, collapsing two towers in seconds. The Dawnborn stormed the breach before Wei's men could recover, while Alexander himself carved through the defenders in the marketplace. Wei Yun was captured alive, and a public hanging was scheduled for the next day.
Lu Shan proved to be a much harder prey. His force avoided open battle, hiding in forests and hills at the first sign of pursuit. Achilles, unwilling to be drawn into a war of attrition, ordered a cordon of forts and watchtowers along the southern roads, cutting Lu Shan off from potential allies. Patrols rode day and night, seizing supply wagons bound for the rebels and forcing Lu Shan into desperate raids.
By the second month, the Imperial garrison had secured Yin's surrounding provinces, reopened three major trade roads, and forced surviving splinter factions into the outer fringes of the empire. Yet Achilles knew they were fighting the symptoms of the rebellion, not the disease.
———
Back in Heaven's Reach, Maximus was swarmed with a ton of paperwork and other things that required his attention. The integration of Westeros brought new problems that he had to solve which involved money. After that was the granting of new titles to the lords of Westeros. These titles while sounding fancy didn't give them as much power as they had before. There was an Imperial Garrison at each major city and castle of 5,000 soldiers which would ensure that any thoughts of rebelling were crushed.
After that was the massive feast that was being planned. To honor and celebrate the victory of the war and get all the lords of the Imperial Union together, Maximus planned to host a feast in Myr. The feast would serve numerous purposes but would ultimately be to recognize the reorganization of the Imperial Union after the integration of Westeros.
The feast was to last three days and nights, each with its own theme and purpose, hosted in the newly renovated Grand Hall of Myr's Sapphire Palace. The city itself would serve as both a neutral ground for the many lords of the Imperial Union and a showpiece of Imperial wealth and unity.