Xia Siheng spurred his horse into a headlong gallop, leaving the army far behind him. Never had he advanced so quickly.
By now, his grandmother had surely succumbed to the poison atop the city wall.
He had to go faster, faster!
If only to see his grandmother one last time!
When he reached the city gates and saw someone opening them, he paid no heed to anything else and rode straight inside.
His horse reared high, letting out a piercing neigh!
He dismounted deftly and, aided by his Lightness Skill, rushed toward the city wall!
To spare the innocent people of East Lin from the slaughter of war, his grandmother had devised this plan, making the people willingly open the gates for him.
This was the easiest stronghold Xia Siheng had ever taken.
Yet it was also the heaviest burden, the one that had cost him the most!
He held the Empress Dowager's body and wept as though his heart and guts were being torn apart, hating his own helplessness. He had failed to save his mother, failed to protect his wife, and failed to rescue his grandmother!!!
The Empress Dowager's fingertips stirred faintly as she struggled to cling to her last breath.
"The Gu Worms have devoured all her internal organs. She's in unbearable agony, yet she simply refuses to leave!" Grand Tutor Peng said through his tears.
Xia Siheng took his grandmother's hand, as withered as dry kindling, and pressed it against his face.
Then he choked out, "Grandmother, the Xia Army has entered the city! The people are safe and unharmed!!!"
Only then!
The Empress Dowager's hand finally fell slowly, and she breathed her last with a smile on her lips.
In truth, she had begun wishing for death twenty years ago.
She had dragged out her