"He clearly committed treason by Holding the Son of Heaven Hostage. He only had to submit, and our Yuan Clan would not have been implicated. The entire clan could still have prospered in my hands."
"But he destroyed all of it!"
"He not only doomed our entire Yuan Clan, he doomed Mother too!"
"I hate him. I wish I could kill him with my own hands!"
Yuan Xi's face twisted hideously, tears pouring down like rain.
The Yuan Clan faced extermination, and as Yuan Shao's principal wife, his mother, Madam Liu, was naturally among those to be executed. This caused him unbearable anguish.
She was the mother who had borne and raised him!
How could he watch his birth mother go to her death!
Through his tears, Yuan Xi said, "Mother hates me for killing Third Brother and bringing harm to Eldest Brother, but I do not regret doing those things. Such is the helplessness of being born into a powerful aristocratic family. I had no other choice."
"Whether Mother acknowledges me as her son or not, Mother will always be my mother."
"I have already decided. Shortly, I will enter the palace to see His Majesty and plead with him for Mother's life."
"If your son returns, all will be well, and our Yuan bloodline will endure. If your son does not return, then we, mother and son, shall meet at the execution ground."
"Your son, Yuan Xi, bids you farewell!"
Yuan Xi struck his forehead heavily against the floor three times before Madam Liu, splitting his wound open again and leaving glaring traces of blood on the ground.
Then he raised a hand to wipe away his tears and turned toward the door, but just then, a faint sigh sounded behind him.
"Enough, Xianyi."
Yuan Xi's powerful frame