After Being Abducted by the General

chapter 92

Chu Hechao's breathing became heavy, as if he hadn't heard clearly. "What did you say?"

The gentle breeze blew, carrying a scorching heat that felt suffocating and dizzying.

Yang Gonggong choked up as he conveyed the information.

Chu Wang and Lady Yang had planned to escape from Luoyang before Emperor Jianyuan's death, but the city gates were closed when Emperor Jianyuan fell seriously ill. Li Li, ambitious as he was, had already kept a close eye on Chu Wang and his wife, ensuring they had no chance to leave the city. Since Chu Hechao was in the Northern Frontier with a massive army of 130,000 soldiers, Li Li feared that Chu Hechao might pose a threat to him. He planned to use Chu Wang and his wife as leverage to keep Chu Hechao from making any rash moves.

If it had only been that, Chu Wang and his wife wouldn't have died.

Li Li would never dare to have them killed. As long as Chu Wang and his wife were alive, even if Chu Hechao was inherently unfilial, he would have to put on a filial facade and obey Li Li's commands. However, if Chu Wang and his wife were dead, Chu Hechao would have a legitimate reason to retaliate against Li Li.

Li Li had been relatively polite to Chu Wang and his wife, but he didn't anticipate that the eunuchs would also target them.

When Chu Mingfeng died, a eunuch came to offer condolences but was driven away by Chu Hechao and his troops. This eunuch harbored resentment and tampered with the grain supplies sent to the Northern Frontier, providing Chu Hechao with water-soaked provisions.

After Emperor Jianyuan fell seriously ill, there was no one to support them. The eunuchs panicked, fearing Chu Hechao would seek revenge. They threatened Chu Wang and his wife, forcing them to write a letter to Chu Hechao, expressing their allegiance to the eunuchs and promising not to harm them, pledging absolute obedience.

They were too greedy, thinking that with the support of Chu Hechao and his army of 130,000 soldiers, they could defeat Li Li's powerful faction and install a puppet emperor on the throne.

However, Chu Wang and his wife couldn't bear such humiliation.

Their eldest son had already been killed by the eunuchs. How could they let their second son carry the disgraceful title of a lapdog for the eunuchs, subjecting themselves to the scorn of the world and making themselves vulnerable?

Chu Wang was resolute and steadfast, while Lady Yang was both gentle on the outside and strong on the inside. They bravely chose the path of loyalty and righteousness. In the end, they painstakingly arranged for a few of their daughters to escape with loyal servants to Ruyang. After ensuring that Yuan Li's parents would safely deliver their daughters to Youzhou, they drank a cup of poisoned wine in their eldest son's room and went to the underworld to accompany him.

When Lady Yang drank the poisoned wine, she felt relieved because she missed her eldest son too much and had lived long enough. However, as her consciousness gradually blurred, she looked at the things in her second son's room and suddenly remembered Chu Hechao.

A strong sense of regret surged within her.

She realized that she couldn't remember what Chu Hechao's room looked like anymore, and her memories of her second son were so scarce, only capturing glimpses of him as a child and as an adult. It was only moments before her death that she understood how much she had been mistaken.

The only thing she regretted was not having bid farewell to her second son. And the only thing she could do for him was to die.

Yang Gonggong sobbed and relayed Lady Yang's final words, "She... she said, 'I'm sorry, my child, Ciye. You must live well from now on. Mother will go first to accompany your older brother.'"