"Your Majesty." The young eunuch who had attended Hu Hai that day was still alive. Now, as a matter of course, he followed at Ziying's side, drenched in sweat.
"Shut up!" Ziying glared, and the servant immediately dropped to his knees.
Ziying looked at the young eunuch prostrate on the ground and sighed.
"Do not call me Your Majesty anymore."
"Call me... King." Ziying's eyes were filled with sorrow. Though humiliated, he said it nonetheless.
The young eunuch knelt on the ground, not daring to speak.
Ziying did not mind. He simply walked forward, his face bearing a self-mocking yet sorrowful smile.
"Think of it—our Great Qin's foundation, built over centuries. Such wealth, such power, and in the end, it has come to this."
"Eunuch Li, do you think I wished to call myself King?"
He sat on a stool and picked up the nine-tasseled golden crown that had once rested upon the head of Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng, and later upon the head of Qin Er Shi Hu Hai. His expression was grief-stricken.
"Qin's fate has run out..."
His fingers brushed over the crown's tassels, and before he realized it, tears had welled up.
He wiped his tears with his sleeve, only to hear a hurried report.
"Report—"
"Your Majesty, Liu Ji's army has reached the city walls!"
Upon hearing that cry of "Report," Ziying closed his eyes in anguish.
"Eunuch Li, bring me my white robe."
"Your—King..." The young eunuch lay prone on the ground, raising his head to look at Ziying.
"Hurry." Ziying slapped the table and urged him on.
Liu Ji did not immediately attack the city.
Because there was no one left atop Xianyang's gates.
After taking Lantian, he had not delayed, racing without rest all the way to Xianyang.
And now, he vaguely