northernbook Chapter 558 Conquest of Chu 14
Chapter 558 Conquest of Chu 14
Ying Wuyou soon received a secret report from the Heavenly Prison.
"After seeing the 'evidence,' Xiang Yu vomited blood and fainted. When he woke up, he was like a madman. In prison, he cursed the King of Chu and the Chu court officials and vowed revenge." Zhou Xun calmly stated, "In the following days, he was taciturn, but his eyes... were different from before. They were full of resentment and occasionally showed a blank look."
Ying Wuyou gently put down her vermilion brush, a barely perceptible smile playing on her lips. An enraged beast is not frightening; what is frightening is a trapped beast that has lost its way. Xiang Yu's current state of mind was exactly what she had hoped to see. The emptiness left by the collapse of faith needed something new to fill it.
"It seems the time is almost right," she said calmly. "It's time to let him see the 'light'."
She ordered: "From this day forward, gradually relax the restrictions on Xiang Yu. Allow him to leave the prison under the 'accompaniment' of specific guards and move about in the designated palace area. Let him see the streets of Xianyang and what the Qin Dynasty is like. In addition, select a few skilled 'scholars' to 'accidentally' discuss with him the general trend of the world, the various schools of thought, especially... Legalism and the theory of unification by imperial rule."
She wanted Xiang Yu to experience the strength of Qin and the corruption of Chu through comparison, so that new ideas could wash away his old loyalty.
"At the same time," she added, "the news that Xiang Yu was 'ill with grief and indignation' and 'hated the King of Chu to the bone' was sent to Xiang Yan's ears."
She wanted Xiang Yan to know that the Chu state, which he had sworn to defend to the death, had not only betrayed him but also broken the heart of his grandson.
"As for Chencheng," Ying Wuyou's gaze returned to the map, "let Wang Jian continue the high-pressure siege, but we can relax a little, give Xiang Yan some 'hope,' and also give him some... pressure to make a 'choice.'"
Family ties were Xiang Yan's final weakness. His grandson's safety and attitude might be the last straw that broke the camel's back for this fierce tiger of Chu.
An invisible net, under Ying Wuyou's control, is simultaneously enveloping Xiang Yan in Chencheng and Xiang Yu in Xianyang. She not only wants to seize the cities, but also the people, and their hearts.
Chencheng's grain reserves have finally run out.
Hunger spread like a plague through the army, and the soldiers were almost too exhausted to even stand guard. On the city walls, the once proud banners now drooped listlessly. Breaking out became the only possible option for survival, but against Wang Jian's impenetrable defenses, breaking out was tantamount to suicide.
Standing atop the city wall, Xiang Yan gazed at the seemingly endless Qin army camp outside, his heart filled with despair. He had heard far too much about Yingdu's betrayal and the court officials' machinations through various channels. At first, he would feel anger, but now all that remained was a numb acceptance. He, Xiang Yan, had ultimately misplaced his trust.
Just then, the guards delivered another special letter. This letter was not from Yingdu, nor was it a letter of surrender from the Qin army. Instead, it was brought back by a wounded soldier who had been captured but "luckily" escaped—a letter supposedly delivered at the risk of his life by a "righteous civilian."
The letter was addressed to Xiang Yan, and it was signed by his grandson in Xianyang—Xiang Yu!
Xiang Yan opened the letter with trembling hands. The handwriting was indeed seven or eight parts similar to Xiang Yu's, but much more hasty and agitated. In the letter, Xiang Yu did not describe much of the "preferential treatment" he received in Xianyang, but instead used a great deal of grief and indignation to accuse King Fu Chu of being incompetent and the court officials of being shameless, and to recount the "truth" he heard and saw in Xianyang about how the Xiang family was slandered and abandoned.
The letter is filled with concern for his grandfather's safety and a deep-seated hatred for the Chu court. At the end, it even subtly suggests that "such a Chu state is not worth being loyal to; grandfather should consider the sake of the Xiang family bloodline."
"Yu'er..." Xiang Yan wept uncontrollably. This letter pained him more than any Qin man's pleas for surrender or any rebuke from the King of Chu. He believed the anger and despair in the letter were genuine, because it matched everything he knew. Even his grandson, far away in Xianyang, whose fate was unknown, had seen through the true nature of Chu. What was he still clinging to?
To be buried alive with that suspicious king? To have the entire Xiang clan, along with all the soldiers who followed him throughout the city, be buried with that corrupt Chu state?
Meanwhile, subtle changes seemed to have occurred within the Qin army's ranks. The patrol density in the eastern encirclement appeared to have decreased, creating gaps that allowed small groups to infiltrate. Scouts reported overhearing Qin soldiers discussing that orders had been given to allow leniency to Chu troops willing to surrender.
Was it a trap? Or... did the Qin state really offer a way out?
Xiang Yan was caught in an unprecedented struggle. To hold on meant certain death, a meaningless death, and possibly even dying with the stigma of being a traitor.
Break through? To the Chu state that betrayed him? Or... to the Qin state, the enemy he fought his whole life, seeking a glimmer of hope?
He recalled Zhou Xun's words: "...All of China is one family...Overseas lands...together we resist foreign enemies..."
He recalled the recruitment message that Ying Wuyou conveyed through Zhou Xun, which was different from the usual persuasion to surrender: it was not about kneeling down as slaves, but about working together to build a great cause and looking towards a wider world.
He summoned the few remaining core generals, including Xiang Liang and Long Ju.
Inside the city lord's mansion, after Xiang Yan told everyone about their current desperate situation and the contents of the "family letter" from Xiang Yu (he omitted the part about persuading them to surrender), the tent fell into a deathly silence.
Long Ju was the first to erupt: "General! If the king is unjust, then don't blame us for being unjust! It's better to lose Chu! We will protect you and fight our way out! The world is vast, where can't we go!" He was already full of resentment towards Yingdu, and now he was even more furious.
Xiang Liang, however, was more rational. His face was pale, and his voice was heavy: "Father, General Long Ju's words, though impulsive, are... indeed the truth. Holding out will only lead to the fall of the city and the death of our people. Breaking out... towards Yingdu, I'm afraid..." He shook his head, his meaning clear. "The Qin army seems to be weakening on the east side; perhaps... that's our only chance." He didn't explicitly say surrender, but everyone understood his meaning.
Xiang Yan looked at the generals under his command who had followed him through thick and thin. In their eyes were fear of death, but even more so, anger at being abandoned and a desire to survive.
Xiang Yan closed his eyes, and images of his life's battles, the young Xiang Yu, Zhou Xun's words, the King of Chu's suspicions, and the rumors of Yingdu... all intertwined and surfaced in his mind.
After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, which were now as calm as still water. But beneath this calm was a sense of relief and heaviness after making a major decision.
"Send the order..." His voice was hoarse but firm, "...tonight at midnight, open the east gate...send a messenger to inform Wang Jian...that I, Xiang Yan...am willing to surrender to the Great Qin. However, I must speak with Princess Jiayang in person."
He not only wanted to find a way out for the Xiang family bloodline and his soldiers, but also wanted to personally ask Princess Jiayang, who proposed "one family of Chinese people" and knew about the world overseas, whether the future she described was a grander one worthy of his loyalty.
The sky over Chu truly collapsed the moment Xiang Yan decided to surrender.