"Your Majesty is merciful." Yuan Shao waved a hand and ordered someone to fetch honey water.
Before long, a soldier came over carrying a bowl of honey water.
Yuan Shu slowly finished the honey water, licking his lips with a little greed and reluctance. Then he let out a long breath, with nothing left to cling to.
"Do it!"
The executioner raised his great saber high.
Yuan Shu lifted his head, his gaze sweeping over the densely packed heads of the commoners below the platform, past the green mountains in the distance, and toward the far horizon.
The sky was clear, without a cloud for ten thousand miles.
It truly was a fine day to die.
"Shhk-!"
The great saber fell.
Blood spurted.
Yuan Shu's headless body collapsed to the ground. His head rolled and fell into the dust, its eyes already bereft of light.
As Yuan Shu's head struck the ground, the commoners below the platform burst into jubilant cheers, wave after wave of applause ringing out.
"Good riddance!"
"My heart aches for the Grand General. To uphold loyalty and righteousness, he had no choice but to put righteousness above his own kin."
"The Grand General truly is a pillar of the Great Han."
Praise and cheers surged toward Yuan Shao like a tide, making him the center of everyone's attention.
A loyal minister of the Great Han who put righteousness above kin-he truly deserved the name!
Liu Xie quietly watched Yuan Shao bask in the attention and cheers of the multitude, then glanced at the dust-covered head on the ground that no one spared a thought for. His eyelids lowered slightly.
This is how a loser ends up.
The victor enjoyed everything, while the loser could only fall into the dust.
So cruel, yet so real.
He did