Chapter 390: The Western Regions Settled

Dayuan Imperial Palace.

At this moment, it is cold and desolate.

This imperial palace, which Xie Xuan spent nearly three years of the entire Dayuan national revenue to build over a decade ago, is not a whit inferior to the imperial palace of the Longyan Dynasty in terms of scale, feng shui, or level of luxury.

Even.

It was built entirely in imitation of the Longyan Dynasty's imperial palace, and is even slightly larger than the imperial palace in Longyan Jinghua.

However.

Today.

How glorious, how lively, and how majestic this place once was.

Today, it is just as decadent and desolate.

Xie Xuan stands alone atop a high tower, overlooking his own domain.

"Your Majesty, the wind has risen..."

Zhai Qing'er walks over gracefully.

Xie Xuan seems to have aged over a dozen years during this period; his hair is completely white, and that once high-spirited appearance has vanished. His eyes, looking at the distant firmament, have now become clouded.

Have I grown old?

Yes.

I have grown old.

As early as a few days ago, he dismissed all the eunuchs and palace maids in this palace. Those people who had been deeply favored by the emperor cried and begged not to leave.

He drove them away nonetheless.

His sons and daughters also fled Dayuan, taking with them whatever gold and silver jewelry they could carry.

Now, only two people remain in this Dayuan imperial palace.

"Hahahaha, I have thought about how many ways there are to leave this world, but I never dared to imagine that the one to end my life would actually be my own daughter!"

Xie Xuan laughs toward the sky, incomparably desolate.

Zhai Qing'er hugs him from behind, a look of serenity appearing in her eyes: "Your Majesty, for this life, this concubine is content."

Xie Xuan turns his head, staring straight at Zhai Qing'er, almost roaring: "You are content, you are content? I am not content! But what can I do? You tell me, what should I do?"

In the Great Battle of Yanqi, the mighty army of the Dayuan Kingdom was completely destroyed. For the Dayuan Kingdom, which did not have a large population to begin with, this was a devastating blow.

There is no chance of a comeback.

None!

Unless he still had thirty years to develop the Northern Western Regions!

But he knows that, being only a few years younger than Xie Tianyao, he is already on the verge of death. The reconstruction of the Western Regions Protectorate means that Dayuan's former glory has vanished like smoke. That crushing defeat completely shattered the majestic image of this "outsider" in the eyes of the people of the Western Regions.

Since then...

Those small kingdom monarchs and Governors have been feigning compliance.

Yes.

That single war alone determined the landscape of this Northern Western Regions.

He no longer has the strength to scheme for anything.

Last time, during the negotiations between the two sides, it was his own daughter who came...

Xie Xuan suddenly wonders if he should step down from this historical stage. That child who once wailed in swaddling clothes can now lead an army into a great battle.

Is he unwilling to admit he is old?

However...

What of it?

He roars unwillingly: "Xie Tianyao, do you really think you have won? Hahahaha! We have merely changed the way we fight!"

"You have not won, you will not win!"

"The Longyan Dynasty will still fall apart, fall apart!"

He roars.

Letting the lonely echoes resound through the imperial palace.

Just at this moment.

It is as if the sound of a great army's footsteps rises from the horizon.

Sudden and unexpected.

The Imperial Palace Guard of the Dayuan Kingdom had long since been disbanded.

The one hundred thousand soldiers of the Western Regions Construction Corps enter as if into an uninhabited land. Their deep green uniforms seem to be the only remaining sign of prosperity in this desert and Gobi landscape.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of hooves and footsteps rises to the sky, deafening. The imperial palace is so large that even with one hundred thousand people entering, it does not appear cramped.

They all swarm in.

The Western Regions Construction Corps led by Xie Chan has not encountered any resistance along the way. Throughout the journey, she has been suppressing her own turbulent emotions.

No obstruction, no resistance...

She knows the reason why.

Xiao Tao has been crying beside her the whole time, tears unable to stop. Those Night Walkers who once followed Xie Chan into the Protectorate are also looking dazed at this moment.

Along the way.

There were no Dayuan soldiers; along the way, the Dayuan commoners all followed Xie Xuan's orders and hid in their homes—among these people were their own families.

Among these people were their friends.

Is this the best ending?

They vaguely remembered that when they followed Xie Chan and ran out of Dayuan, this place was still the most prosperous, bustling, and desirable city in the Northern Western Regions.

Yet now...

Having stayed in the Western Regions Construction Corps for so long, they only felt that this place was filled with decay, oppression, and suppression; the people walking here were all walking corpses. The prosperity here was all a false prosperity.

Along this journey.

The people were all silent.

Including Ling Chen, who was at the rear of the great army, and the other generals.

"No, Lord Ling, is this General Xie truly the Princess of Dayuan?"

"This... this is just too..."

Ling Chen also gave a bitter smile.

This news had indeed shocked everyone. Although the young master had told him to keep an eye on this person, Xie Chan, when he left the Western Regions, Xie Chan's performance in the Western Regions Construction Corps afterward had been remarkable and absolutely perfect—she worked every day, she shouted the loudest, and her points were always far in the lead. In every aspect, she was worthy of this status as Great General.

It was just that...

He never expected.

The Princess of Dayuan Kingdom...

She not only admitted her identity as the Princess of Dayuan Kingdom on the spot, but also volunteered to lead the conquest of Dayuan.

Ling Chen agreed.

An army of one hundred thousand.

Finally slowly entered the Square of this Imperial Palace of Dayuan.

Xie Chan's hands, pulling the reins, were tightly clenched at this moment. She tried her best to calm her emotions. She looked up and could already see her parents standing at the highest point of that Imperial Palace.

That place was called Zhaxing Tower.

The great army halted its steps.

The scene was once again eerily quiet.

"Father..."

Looking from afar at Xie Xuan's head full of white hair, Xie Chan could not help but almost cry out, but she held it back.

Xie Xuan, however, laughed heartily: "Good!"

"Good!"

"What a fine General Xie, hahahaha, my heart is greatly comforted, my heart is greatly comforted!"

Xie Xuan laughed heartily, his voice full of vigor, shaking the heavens and the earth.

Everyone was deathly silent.

Xie Chan looked up, tears already streaming down uncontrollably: "Father, announce your abdication, and your daughter will ensure you a life of glory!"

Xie Xuan was stunned, then laughed: "Abdicate?"

"Silly Chan'er, do you think your father is someone who can abdicate?"

He shook his head decisively and smiled brilliantly: "Chan'er, you are the child who has brought the most Bitter Remonstrance to your father; I have lived until now only to see you one last time, one last time..."

"As for abdicating..."

He stood with his hands behind his back, his kingly aura looking down upon the world.

"If Chan'er has the chance to see that Xie Lao'er of Longyan, help me tell him that I, having lost to my own daughter, am willing and content, and not to him!"

After saying this, he looked calm and fearless, and walked a few more steps forward.

"No!"

Xie Chan screamed hysterically.

Letting Xie Xuan, who had brought Dayuan Kingdom to its peak, and the woman he loved most in his life, fall gracefully together from the highest tower of the Imperial Palace.

Thus.

The entire Northern Western Regions was completely partitioned by the Western Regions Protectorate and Loulan.

【Author's Note】

An elder in the family had a birthday today, and I only just got home after finally finishing up. There should be another chapter in a while; I suggest everyone go to sleep early and read it tomorrow.