Tan Hua - Chapter 110: Do You Think You’ve Won?

Chapter 110: Do You Think You’ve Won?

The siege didn’t last long. As soon as the Northwestern Army charged into Loulan City, they swept through the enemy like a torrent. The Xiao family army wasn’t a match for them at all. Moreover, with Jun Qiyu’s prior declaration that those who surrendered voluntarily would not be killed, their will to resist diminished significantly, and many chose to surrender.

The sounds of battle gradually subsided.

“It’s over,” Jun Qiyu said.

He and Song Liqing were hiding in one of the palace buildings when General Yuchi found them.

“Your Highness!” General Yuchi walked in with a wide grin. “A complete victory! Our casualties were minimal, and aside from the diehards who were executed, the rest of Xiao’s forces surrendered.”

“Well done. Have a grape.”

Jun Qiyu plucked a bunch of grapes from a fruit platter and tossed them to him.

“Perfect timing; I’m parched,” General Yuchi said, opening his mouth wide to bite down on half the bunch, chewing and swallowing the skins and seeds together.

“Say what you will, but the grapes grown here in the western regions are outrageously sweet,” Yuchi praised. “Must be something about the soil here. The sandy soil is remarkably easy to dig, with hardly any stones. I thought it would take three days to dig out the old tunnel we abandoned, but a few strokes of the shovel and we were done in two days!”

Hearing their conversation, Song Liqing finally understood. It turned out that during Jun Qiyu’s previous campaign against Loulan, they had begun digging a tunnel to catch the city by surprise. However, when the King of Loulan surrendered, the half-finished tunnel was abandoned.

Only a handful of people knew about this.

“Who would have thought it would come in handy one day?” Jun Qiyu said, peeling a grape and popping it into Song Liqing’s mouth.

“Liqing, have more. Grapes are the best this season.”

The sweet, juicy taste was indeed delightful, but Song Liqing was in no mood to enjoy them.

“What about Crown Prince Xiao… Xiao Yu?” Song Liqing asked.

Yuchi replied, “Still outside the palace gates. When we captured him, he didn’t even try to escape. He just kept mumbling about being the Emperor. I think there’s something wrong… here.” Yuchi tapped his own head.

“Let’s go interrogate him.”

Jun Qiyu pulled Song Liqing along, heading for the palace gates. General Yuchi had no choice but to follow, taking the platter of grapes with him.

Walking through the streets, Song Liqing saw many corpses. There weren’t many fallen soldiers; instead, it was civilians who had suffered.

When Xiao Yu ordered his archers to fire, hundreds of innocent lives were taken. The ground was littered with bodies. Song Liqing had to step over them, pressing his palms together in guilt.

He murmured, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. May you ascend to paradise.”

Xiao Yu was indeed still at the high platform outside the palace gates. He wasn’t visibly injured but sat limply on the ground. His proud dragon robe was wrinkled and torn in several places. His crown lay discarded nearby, with broken strands of tassels dangling pitifully.

When Jun Qiyu and Song Liqing arrived, Xiao Yu stared blankly into space, not even moving his eyes.

It wasn’t until Jun Qiyu picked up the battered crown, smoothed out the tassels, and placed it back on Xiao Yu’s head that Xiao Yu cast him a sideways glance.

“What are you looking at me for? Don’t you like wearing it? Let’s keep this dignified,” Jun Qiyu said innocently.

Xiao Yu remained silent, his lips curling into an inscrutable smile that conveyed neither joy nor sorrow.

“Why didn’t you run, Xiao?”

“Spare me your disgusting gloating.” Xiao Yu’s voice was hollow. “Fine. Victory goes to the king, and defeat to the vanquished. Just kill me already.”

“Victory to the king, defeat to the vanquished… so you know that phrase,” Jun Qiyu chuckled. “If your Xiao family could claim the throne, why couldn’t someone else? Someday, even our Jing dynasty may decline and be replaced. ‘Everlasting rule’ is nothing more than wishful thinking.”

Xiao Yu snorted disdainfully.

“What does a callow, ignorant child like you know?”

“Fine, you have your grand ambitions, and I wouldn’t understand. But think about it—throughout history, how many people proclaiming they’d restore the previous dynasty actually succeeded?”

Jun Qiyu’s words seemed to strike a nerve. Xiao Yu’s eyelids twitched.

“What’s the point of saying all this? Are you trying to break my will, make me beg for mercy?” Xiao Yu lifted his chin. “Don’t worry, I won’t flee, nor will I grovel.”

Jun Qiyu simply sat down cross-legged across from him.

“What’s this? You’re so eager to die, don’t you want to restore the previous dynasty and fulfill your grand ambitions?”

“Restore the previous dynasty? Heh… heh-heh-hahaha!”

Xiao Yu laughed wildly, his laughter sharp and unrestrained. He laughed so hard he choked and had to stop, gasping for air.

Jun Qiyu watched silently, unsure what he found so amusing.

“You really think I wanted to restore the previous dynasty? Your Jing dynasty spans ten thousand miles and receives tribute from countless nations. I’m just one man with limited means. No matter how much I struggle, all I can gather are a few incompetent fools willing to follow me. With what could I restore the previous dynasty? With what could I fight against you? I just wanted…”

Xiao Yu’s gaze drifted toward the throne atop the high platform.

“I just wanted to be Emperor. Even for a single day.”

Even General Yuchi couldn’t help but comment, “Madness.”

“Madness? These things should have been mine. It’s only right that I get to taste what it’s like to be Emperor, don’t you think? After my mother and I fled to the western regions, she taught me every day that I was the legitimate heir of the Xiao family, the true emperor’s bloodline, born to inherit the throne. She secretly took me to Jing’s capital to see your Xuandi during a grand procession. Such pomp and circumstance… everyone bowed before him. The entire nation celebrated your birth…”

Xiao Yu’s laughter now carried bitter sarcasm, as though he still couldn’t accept the truth.

“Jun Qiyu, you were just a baby in swaddling clothes back then, yet you effortlessly received the adoration of the world. Is that fair? My mother told me that the one who should have been revered, the one destined to be exalted, was me. She taught me to become strong, to overthrow Jing, to restore our dynasty, to sit on that throne, to become the sovereign of all… I waited and waited for my chance. But I couldn’t wait for Xuandi to grow old and weak. I even dabbled in witchcraft and curses to cut your life short, thinking that if you died young, Jing would have no heir, and I’d have my chance. But your fate was too strong, and I couldn’t wait any longer. How many more years would I have to remain a crown prince? Until I was in my grave?”

Xiao Yu’s chest heaved with emotion, his breaths ragged as he calmed himself.

Jun Qiyu shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe a few more years, and those curses would have worked.”

“Don’t act so smug as the victor, Jun Qiyu. Do you think you’ve really won?”

Xiao Yu’s grin turned sinister. Jun Qiyu had a bad feeling.

Turning his head, he saw a massive flame erupt from a nearby building.

One after another, fires began blazing across the Loulan royal city, accompanied by the acrid stench of oil and gunpowder!