NOVEL NEXT Ch. 16
Chapter 16: Beheading
Dusk deepened.
Beneath the walls of Kuqa City, Jiang Zhaoming rode slowly on horseback, followed by the fully armed Prefecture Army and Luntai Army.
Upon the city wall, the defenders of Kuqa gripped their weapons tightly, gazing down at the army below with conflicted expressions.
Jiang Zhaoming raised his hand, signaling the troops to halt.
He stepped forward a few paces, lifted his head toward the battlements, and said in a clear, steady voice:
“Soldiers of Kuqa!”
His tone was not loud, yet it was steady and forceful, resounding clearly across the silent battlefield.
“You are not rebels. You are merely following orders.”
On the wall, many soldiers’ eyes flickered, and the hands holding their blades loosened slightly.
“This war should never have happened.”
Jiang Zhaoming’s gaze swept across each weary face.
“You defend this city to protect your families behind you, not to die for the ambitions of a few.”
He paused, then spoke even more firmly:
“I, Jiang Zhaoming, Prince of Anxi, swear here and now—if you lay down your weapons and open the city gates, the Great Zhou army will not harm a single innocent! Moreover, I will allocate grain to help the people of Kuqa survive the winter!”
As soon as his words fell, a deep rumbling sound echoed from afar—the dull roll of wheels over the earth.
Everyone turned toward the sound and saw the militia of Luntai County pushing forward thousands of grain carts.
The carts were piled high with burlap sacks, and faintly, grains of wheat spilled through the seams, glinting golden in the setting sun.
“Grain… it’s real grain!”
A soldier atop the wall gasped softly, his eyes filled with longing.
This year, Kuqa’s harvest had been poor.
The army’s provisions were long exhausted, and many soldiers’ families were already starving.
Now, with food right before their eyes, the will to resist faltered in many hearts.
“Milord, we…” A centurion could not help but glance at the chiliarch beside him, his voice trembling.
However, at that very moment—
“Who dares surrender?”
A furious roar exploded, and the soldiers on the wall all changed color.
A blood-covered figure climbed atop the battlements—Kuqa’s General, his face twisted with fury, his long blade glinting coldly.
“Any who rebel—die!”
With a sudden swing, the blade flashed, and the head of that hesitant centurion flew through the air, blood splattering across the parapets!
“Anyone who dares waver and shake the army’s heart—kill without mercy!”
The wall fell into deathly silence.
The soldiers looked on in horror—at the general, and then at the mountains of grain below—torn between fear and temptation.
Jiang Zhaoming’s gaze turned cold as he commanded sharply: “Yan Chen, Qin Wei, Ma Fei, Cheng Yaojin—execute this traitor!”
The four Divine Power Realm generals rose into the air at once, charging straight toward the city wall!
Seeing this, the Kuqa General roared, blood-red energy surging around him as he forcefully ignited his wounded body to fight back!
However, he was already gravely injured.
Against four experts of equal realm, he fell into disadvantage within mere exchanges.
“You cowards! You dare betray me?” he shouted as he struggled, raging at the soldiers around him.
But this time, silence did not answer him.
“Enough!”
A chiliarch suddenly drew his sword, glaring furiously at the Kuqa General.
“For your selfish desires, you’ve driven us to die! The food is right before us, yet you still want us to starve and fight for you?”
“That’s right! We’ve had enough!”
“Open the gates! Welcome the Prince’s Army!”
In an instant, fierce fighting erupted atop the walls.
Soldiers who had once been comrades now split into two factions.
One side was the Kuqa General’s diehard loyalists; the other, ordinary soldiers who had long reached their limit.
“Boom!”
Amidst the chaos, the city gates burst open, and the Prefecture Army and Luntai Army surged in like a flood!
Seeing the situation lost, the Kuqa General roared madly, igniting his blood essence in a desperate bid to break out.
Yet the four Divine Power Realm generals had already sealed every direction.
Cheng Yaojin’s final axe swept across.
“Pff!”
A head flew high into the air as the Kuqa General’s body collapsed heavily to the ground!
The rebel soldiers within the city, seeing this, lost all will to fight and fell to their knees in surrender.
Jiang Zhaoming rode into the city, gazing upon the ruined streets and terrified citizens.
His voice was deep and stern:
“Pass my order—no soldier shall disturb the people. Violators will be punished by military law!”
One hour later, in the grand hall of Kuqa City.
Blue smoke curled from a bronze beast-shaped incense burner, yet it could not dispel the heavy chill within the hall.
Jiang Zhaoming sat high upon the main seat, his face half-lit by flickering candlelight.
Behind him, the four Divine Power Realm generals stood like iron towers, their pressure so dense that even the air seemed to thicken.
Before them, a dense mass of officials knelt with their foreheads pressed to the cold floor.
“Dong! Dong!”
Heavy footsteps echoed.
Two Blood Refining Realm guards dragged in a fat figure and threw him to the ground like a dead dog.
“Y-Your Highness, spare me!”
The Governor of Kuqa lay limp like mud, his official hat askew, revealing a bald scalp drenched in sweat.
Jiang Zhaoming tapped the armrest with his fingers, his tone calm and unhurried.
“You are all the parent officials of Kuqa. Now that Di Long has been executed, have you anything to say to this prince?”
Hearing this, the governor lifted his head like a drowning man grasping a straw.
“Your Highness, please see clearly! That old thief Di Long has plagued Kuqa for more than ten years! We have long prayed for Your Highness’s army to come!”
He wiped his sweat with his sleeve as he spoke.
“Now that Your Highness is here in person, it is a blessing for all people of Kuqa!”
“Oh?”
A hint of amusement flashed in Jiang Zhaoming’s eyes as his fingers suddenly stopped tapping.
The hall fell so silent it was terrifying—even the candle flames seemed frozen.
The governor trembled violently and quickly added, “That old fiend used torture to coerce officials and wiped out entire families at will! I... I had no choice but to obey!”
At these words, a chorus of voices rose from the hall.
“Your Highness, please see clearly! Di Long once executed my colleague’s entire family in public!”
“My youngest daughter was taken hostage by him…”
“That demon used blood curses to control us…”
Cries and sobs overlapped; many officials were weeping bitterly.
Jiang Zhaoming remained silent throughout, only nodding slightly as though understanding their plight.
When the final official had finished his lament, the hall again fell into a deathly hush.
All eyes fixed upon the throne, waiting for the young Prince’s judgment.
“The grievances you’ve suffered, this prince has heard. That Di Long threatened your lives—it is indeed contemptible.”
Jiang Zhaoming rose slowly.
His black royal robe stirred though no wind blew.
Hearing this, the governor’s face lit with joy; he was just about to declare his loyalty when Jiang Zhaoming suddenly raised his hand.
“Pa!”
An invisible force slammed his head back down to the floor.
“If you were commoners, yielding to protect your families’ lives, this prince would not blame you.”
Jiang Zhaoming’s voice turned cold, dragon aura surging around him.
“But you are officials of Great Zhou! You eat the sovereign’s grain—thus you bear the sovereign’s burden!”
“When Di Long’s blade rested on your necks, you merely watched as Kuqa’s people gnawed on bark?”
Jiang Zhaoming stepped forward, and the royal throne shattered behind him.
“Your wives and concubines lived in luxury within your mansions, while your subjects resorted to cannibalism?”
As his final word fell, the entire grand hall trembled.
The governor kneeling in front suddenly wet the floor beneath him—unable to withstand the crushing pressure, he had urinated himself.
“Those whose virtue does not match their station—how can they stand upon the court?”
Jiang Zhaoming waved his sleeve and turned away from the crowd.
“General Yan, by noon tomorrow, take these so-called ‘pillars of state’ to the marketplace and behead them all.”
“Your subordinate obeys!” Yan Chen clasped his fists, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes.
The hall immediately erupted into wailing.
Some officials collapsed to the ground; some kowtowed madly for mercy; others fainted in terror.
Yet none of it changed the back of the man standing there with his hands behind him, unmoved as a mountain.