Huo Yun'er was dead.
Gravely injured, suffering from a fever that would not break, and unable to get treatment, she died slowly, moaning as she succumbed to her illness while Huo Yuhao watched in despair.
This was a tragedy,
Huo Yun'er could have survived, but everyone in the Duke's Mansion had stood by and watched her die.
Huo Yuhao thought Dai Lingfeng was the culprit,
but in truth, even Dai Lingfeng had been helpless.
Tang San wanted her dead.
Tang San wanted to take back this tool.
Who could save her?
"Dai Lingfeng!"
Huo Yuhao had long since cried his eyes dry.
He was in a complete daze,
a six-year-old child who, after being stabbed in the back and oppressed by the brother he had grown up with, had even seen the mother he depended on injured and left to die of illness.
Huo Yuhao was no longer in his right mind!
Now, the only thing keeping him alive was hatred!
He had nothing left but hatred!
"Dai Lingfeng, I will never let you off!"
"Tomorrow is your engagement banquet,"
"you're getting engaged to the princess, basking in glory with a bright future ahead of you, but what about Mom?"
"She was your own mother! She took care of you from childhood and hoped you'd be happy. How could you be so heartless?!"
"If Mom could have seen you get engaged and married, she would have been happy for you and given you her heartfelt blessings."
"But she died on the eve of your engagement banquet!"
"And all of this is because of you! What right do you have to keep getting ahead?!"
"I'll ruin you!"
"I'll expose your wicked deeds at the engagement banquet!"
"I'll ruin everything for you!"
"I'll let everyone know how ugly and despicable a villain you really are beneath that dazzling facade of a genius!"
Huo Yuhao clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. Bright red blood flowed from them, and only the pain could make him feel that he was still alive.
Driven by his utmost hatred,
a mad plan took shape in Huo Yuhao's mind.
Ruin the banquet that was so important to the White Tiger Lineage!
Ruin Dai Lingfeng's engagement banquet!
Ruin everything!
Since the White Tiger Lineage regarded him and his mother as a stain and had caused her death,
he would drag the White Tiger Lineage's name and prestige down to the grave with her!
He had nothing left anyway,
nothing more to lose.
Trading himself, as he was now, for the White Tiger Lineage's name and prestige was more than worth it!
"But leaving the Duke's Mansion and sneaking into the imperial palace will be far too difficult."
"I have to think of a way."
"Otherwise, nothing will change."
Having settled on a plan, Huo Yuhao began to struggle with the problem.
The White Tiger Lineage's banquet was being held in the imperial palace courtyard. The White Tiger Duke's Mansion was already heavily guarded,
and the imperial palace guards would only be stronger.
Leaving the Duke's Mansion, sneaking into the imperial palace, and exposing Dai Lingfeng's crimes at tomorrow's engagement banquet would be as hard as climbing to heaven!
For a six-year-old child like him, it was simply impossible.
"For Mom's sake, I can't give up, no matter how hard it is!"
"Yuhao, you can do it."
Huo Yuhao cheered himself on.
For Mom, and to expose that scum Dai Lingfeng,
he had to succeed!
He absolutely had to succeed!
"Right now, the most urgent thing is to leave the Duke's Mansion. Tomorrow is the engagement banquet,"
"and I don't have much time."
"After I leave the Duke's Mansion, I still have to find the imperial palace..."
With time running short, Huo Yuhao could not even see to his mother's body. He immediately took the White Tiger Dagger Knife and tried to leave the Duke's Mansion.
The Duke's Mansion was heavily guarded,
and Huo Yuhao had thought it would be difficult to leave, but to his surprise, it was easy.
He escaped the Duke's Mansion with scarcely any resistance, making it out without a hitch.
"Strange..."
"Why are the guards at the White Tiger Duke's Mansion so lax?"
"Could it be that everyone's let their guard down because tomorrow is a special day?"
Huo Yuhao was a little puzzled.
It had gone too smoothly.
Several times, he had nearly been discovered, but the guards had acted as if they couldn't see him and ultimately let him escape.
After Huo Yuhao passed through the gates of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, he was dazed, unable to believe it himself.
He had actually escaped from the Duke's Mansion?
It was as though the gods themselves had helped him!
"Looks like Dai Lingfeng has done so much evil that even heaven can't stand to watch."
"Even heaven is helping me expose him!"
"Then I have all the more reason to expose him!"
Huo Yuhao could only attribute it to heaven.
It seemed Dai Lingfeng's many evil deeds had provoked the wrath of heaven and the resentment of men. Even heaven was helping him!
"Heaven is helping me!"
Huo Yuhao felt a little more confident.
But standing on the streets of Star Luo City at night, he looked a little lost.
All he had thought about was ruining Dai Lingfeng's engagement banquet,
but after leaving the White Tiger Duke's Mansion,
what should he do next?
Huo Yuhao didn't know.
This was his first time leaving the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. As for the imperial palace, he had never even seen it. Where was he supposed to find it?
Huo Yuhao had no idea.
"Forget it. I'll find someone and ask for directions first."
Huo Yuhao had no experience of the world, so he could only use the simplest method: asking for directions.
But as it happened,
he asked the right person.
"Big sister, do you know which way the imperial palace is?"
At a small stall, Huo Yuhao met a red-haired girl with a bright, cheerful bearing.
"The imperial palace?"
"What does a little fellow like you want with the imperial palace?"
Ma Xiaotao looked down and saw that the one asking her was a pitiful little kid. She reached out and rubbed Huo Yuhao's head.
As it happened,
after arriving in Star Luo City, she was naturally going to look around and experience its local customs.
So she had left the hotel to browse the night market,
only to run into Huo Yuhao.
Perhaps
this was a fateful encounter arranged by the Sea God King.
"Big sister, my mom and I depended on each other ever since I was little, but she just died. I heard that the Dai Family's heir and the princess are having their engagement banquet at the imperial palace tomorrow, with a public feast and rewards."
"I want to go eat something to fill my stomach, then bring back some rewards to bury Mom."
Huo Yuhao held back his tears as he spoke in a choked voice.
Although what he said was a lie, his emotions were not an act. They came from the heart.
Huo Yun'er was dead, and he was truly heartbroken.
"Huh?"
Ma Xiaotao saw that Huo Yuhao's clothes were covered in patches and that he was thin, looking like a beggar.
She had thought Huo Yuhao might have it rough,
but she hadn't imagined it was this bad. Her heart immediately softened.
"Little brother, I'm a student from Shrek and a guest at the engagement banquet. If you trust me,"
"come with me!"
"I'll take you to the banquet tomorrow."
"Once we're at the imperial palace, eat and drink as much as you like, and collect some extra rewards. Then come back, bury your mom, and live a good life."
Ma Xiaotao patted her chest and spoke with a bold, carefree air.
Helping Huo Yuhao was no more than lifting a finger for her.
Huo Yuhao really needed help!
How could she bear to refuse him?
"Really?"
"Thank you so much, sister!"
Huo Yuhao was overjoyed.
He had worn out iron shoes searching in vain, only to find it without the slightest effort.
Heaven never seals off every road,
and now he could enter the engagement banquet openly and have a chance to expose Dai Lingfeng's evil true face!