Jiang Yangui noticed his mother’s unusual behavior but couldn’t figure out why.

His leg injury was throbbing painfully, and in his weakened state, he weakly asked, “Mother, what’s wrong? Is it that Uncle isn’t willing to give money for medicine? It’s fine, I’m not in pain.”

Lady Jiang, filled with sorrow, hugged her son tightly, crying, “My poor son, I shouldn’t have committed so many sins in the past; why must all of this misfortune befall you and your sister! I regret it so much…”

As Lady Jiang was weeping, the carriage window was gently tapped twice, and a guard from the Chu family said, “Miss, Jiang Shangshu wants the young master to get off the carriage.”

Lady Jiang tightened her grip on Jiang Yan Gui, her expression turning somewhat frenzied as she declared, “No one is allowed to take my son away! My son must stay with me!”

In that moment, Jiang Yangui realized why his mother had been so restless after returning; Jiang Shangshu had discovered them!

He felt a surge of shock and fear.

Lady Jiang’s firm stance left the guard with no choice but to relay the message to Old Master Chu.

Old Master Chu personally approached the carriage and tried to persuade her, saying, “Ping’er, Yan Gui is the only son of the Jiang family. If he stays in the capital, the Jiang family will not mistreat him.”

Lady Jiang refused to let go of Jiang Yan Gui, crying, “Father, Yan Gui is my lifeline! If Yan Gui can’t leave, then I won’t leave either!”

At this moment, the Chu family’s elder and second elder, sitting in the carriage behind, also learned that Jiang Shangshu was demanding his only son.

Worried about trouble, the Chu elder and his wife came to see what was happening and happened to hear Lady Jiang’s words.

As they saw the carriages in front of them dwindling, and knowing it would soon be their turn to leave the city, the Chu elder anxiously shouted:

“You’ve married into the Jiang family; you are a Jiang family woman! You should go back to your Jiang family! Do you really think the Chu family owes you something? If we delay any longer, none of us will be able to leave the city!

Yan Gui will still be a young master of the Jiang family if he goes back, but if we can’t leave, will our whole family wait for the guillotine?

You’ve always been selfish, and now you want to drag everyone down with you! You have children, but my second brother and I don’t! Chu Wanping, you don’t care about others’ lives; at least think about your parents!”

Lady Jiang was rendered speechless by the Chu elder’s scolding but still refused to get off the carriage, simply crying.

She understood what the Chu elder was saying, but she couldn’t bear to leave her son behind!

The guard who had gone to buy medicine returned, and Liu, being sharp-eyed, noticed him.

Taking advantage of the Chu elder’s scolding, she slipped past Old Master Chu and had the guard give her the medicine.

As Liu was married to the Chu elder, the guard didn’t think much of it and handed over the medicine.

Inside the carriage, Jiang Yan Gui’s eyes were filled with tears as he forcefully pried his mother’s hands away: “Mother, I will go back to the Jiang family. You go out of the city with Grandfather and the others.”

He turned to Old Master Chu and said, “Grandfather, I will go back.”

Old Master Chu, tears in his eyes, turned away and trembled as he ordered a nearby attendant, “Chu Zhong, carry the young master out.”

A sturdy man dressed in brown hurriedly entered the carriage and forcibly lifted Jiang Yan Gui out.

Lady Jiang clung tightly to her son, nearly tumbling out of the carriage with him.

She cried, heartbroken, “Yan Gui… my son… I’ll stay with you!”

Jiang Yan Gui was also tear-stained as he choked out, “Mother, you must go to Xizhou! Sister is waiting for you there; you need to take care of her! I lack nothing in the capital, but Sister can only wait for you to come!”

With one child on one side and another on the other, Lady Jiang felt her heart was breaking.

She cried and pounded her chest, “Heaven, let all my sins fall upon me alone! Please don’t torment my children like this…”

Jiang Shangshu watched this scene from a distance, a flicker of compassion in his eyes, but it quickly vanished.

After the Chu family guards carried Jiang Yan Gui down from the carriage, the attendants beside Jiang Shangshu took over.

Jiang Shangshu looked at the delicate-featured young boy and suddenly realized that he had never truly looked at him before.

Seeing his face now felt inexplicably strange.

He ordered, “The wind and snow are heavy outside; take the young master into the carriage.”

When Jiang Yan Gui had to say goodbye to Lady Jiang, he was still crying like a child, but now his face was tight, hard as stone.

As soon as Jiang Shangshu spoke, he immediately countered, “I’ll stay outside.”

Jiang Shangshu glanced at his son.

Jiang Yangui didn’t meet his gaze; he stared at the Chu family’s carriage, which was moving further away: “I want to see Mother leave the city.”

They were about to reach the city gate, and Lady Jiang couldn’t even lift the curtain to look at him one last time.

Jiang Yan Gui gritted his teeth, fighting back tears.

Jiang Shangshu said nothing more, tacitly allowing it.

He too looked at the Chu family’s carriage as it grew more distant, and something seemed hidden in his gaze, but no one could see it—perhaps not even he could see it.

Suddenly, the sound of galloping hooves echoed in the distance, and everyone along the street turned to look toward the end of the long street.

A squad of imperial guards charged forward, knocking over countless stalls and pedestrians along the way.

“His Majesty has issued an order! Arrest the Minister of Revenue, Jiang Jing’an!”

The leading guard shouted from horseback, his voice carried sharply by the cold wind, piercing through to the city gate.

Jiang Shangshu’s expression changed slightly, and his attendants were all in shock.

At this moment, the Chu family’s carriage was slowly passing through the city gate.

After Jiang Yan Gui was taken away, Lady Jiang was so emotionally unstable that Old Lady Chu had her board their carriage, soothing her along the way.

When Lady Jiang suddenly heard that the imperial guards were coming to arrest Jiang Shangshu, her heart sank, and she broke free from Old Lady Chu’s grasp, stumbling outside: “Jiang Jing’an is in trouble! What will happen to my son Yan Gui? I must go and bring Yan Gui back!”

Madam Jiang nearly fell out of the cart, but fortunately, it was moving slowly, so she wasn’t seriously hurt when she fell.

However, the commotion alerted the guards at the city gate, who pointed their spears at her, demanding, “Who goes there?”

Madam Jiang ignored the guards with their spears and scrambled to her feet, running towards the city.

The Chu family members in the cart felt their hearts nearly stop.

One of the guards was about to stab Madam Jiang in the leg with his spear when a Chu family guard immediately knocked him down.

Seeing this, the guard captain shouted, “Stop those carts!”

The driver of the Chu family’s cart, disguised as a guard, yelled, “Hold on tight, my lord and lady!”

With a fierce crack of the whip, he drove the cart out of the city.

The guards on either side of the gate tried to stab the horses with their spears, but the remaining disguised guards prevented them.

Once the cart was out of the city, the Chu matriarch dared to lean out of the window, tears in her eyes, and called out, “Ping’er!”

At that moment, Madam Jiang was recklessly running towards Minister Jiang and his group.

The unusual commotion at the gate alerted the guards in the watchtower, and the armored commander on the tower shouted, “Close the gates!”

The guards below had just been taken down by the Chu family guards and Feng Shuo’s people when a swarm of soldiers poured down from the watchtower, as if someone had disturbed an ant’s nest.

The two groups clashed fiercely, while the elder Chu couple had yet to leave the city.

Sitting in the cart, they listened to the sounds of battle outside, their hands and feet icy with fear.

From time to time, swords and blades struck the side of the cart.

The elder Mr. and Mrs. Chu had never experienced such a thing in their lives, and their courage was almost shattered.

Mrs. Chu was in tears, cursing, “Debt collectors! Your Chu family has produced a debt collector! They want to drag the whole family down with her! That ill-fated girl, Chu Wanping! She’d better die here!”

In her fury, she threw out the medicine given to Jiang Yanguo, which the guards had bought for him.

Although Feng Shuo’s people and the Chu family guards were outnumbered, they were all highly skilled fighters.

The standoff at the city gate continued, with the Chu family’s driver, all disguised as guards, remaining bold in the chaos.

Seizing the opportunity amid the fighting, they cracked their whips and drove the cart out of the city.

Inside the city, Jiang Shangshu’s attendants and hidden guards emerged to join the fight against the imperial troops.

The commander of the imperial troops shouted, “Jiang Jing’an, are you trying to rebel?”

Minister Jiang’s expression was calm, his back straight as he maintained the demeanor of a high-ranking official, “I am unaware of any crime I have committed.”

The commander of the imperial troops sneered, “You will know when you meet His Majesty!”

“Sir, you and the young master must get on the cart and leave the city!” urged one of Jiang Shangshu’s attendants.

Taking advantage of the chaos to escape was indeed a good idea.

But if he left, all the collateral branches of the Jiang family remaining in the capital would likely suffer the wrath of the emperor on his behalf.

At his position, he could no longer be selfish; hundreds of lives from both major and minor branches were behind him.

Jiang Shangshu fell silent, just as he saw Madam Jiang stumbling towards him, crying out, “My son—”

Madam Jiang’s face was streaked with tears: “Yanguo, don’t be afraid, Mother is here to get you…”

Tears also streamed down Jiang Yanguo’s face: “Mother!”

Jiang Shangshu watched this scene, closed his eyes, and instructed the trusted aide holding Jiang Yanguo, “Very well, you take the young master and go with the Chu family.”

The aide’s eyes reddened. “Sir!”

Jiang Shangshu spoke firmly, “Hurry!”

With resolve, the aide held Jiang Yanguo and turned towards the city gate.

Seeing him come to join her with Jiang Yanguo, Madam Jiang was overjoyed; however, after that joy, a wave of sorrow surged in her heart.

She glanced back at Jiang Shangshu, who stood still, snowflakes drifting down.

A thin layer of snow had settled on his dark silk robe.

He too was looking this way, but through the falling snow, his expression was unclear.

This man, though he had clearly changed, still resembled the way she first saw him years ago.

Just that one glance became their eternal farewell, a farewell forever etched in her heart.

At the moment the arrow pierced her chest, Madam Jiang felt no pain, only an overwhelming chill at her heart.

The trusted Jiang family aide who held Jiang Yanguo was also struck by an arrow, stumbling to the ground.

Jiang Yanguo screamed out something heart-wrenching, but in that instant, Madam Jiang could hear nothing anymore.

She looked at the arrow that had pierced her chest and the blood that stained her clothes, tears streaming down her face.

In the end, she would never reach Xizhou.

A Chu family guard rushed over from the city gate, and with all her strength, Madam Jiang pointed to Jiang Yanguo, who had fallen to the ground with the Jiang family aide, struggling to say, “Take… him… away…”

Having already been struck by the arrow, Madam Jiang had lost hope of returning.

The Chu family guard picked up Jiang Yanguo and ran towards the city gate.