Chapter 522: Mockery and Imprisonment

Chapter 522 Mocking the Prisoner

Hua Feixue angrily interrupted her, his eyes bloodshot. "I can't calm down! That's my father, the Emperor! I have to go out and save him!"

"If we don't act soon, he'll die."

If he hadn't heard the voice, if he hadn't seen the man's appearance with his own eyes,

Hua Feixue could hardly believe that the father who was once handsome and cheerful would have turned into this withered, aged shell of a man.

With graying hair, a scruffy beard, and speech that faltered incoherently, his life seemed ready to flicker out at any moment.

Emperor Chu, a sovereign, was only forty—still in the prime of life—yet he now looked like a man in his seventies or eighties.

This made it easy to imagine how Empress Dowager Yuan had tormented Emperor Chu during the two years Hua Feixue had been away.

The moment Hua Feixue thought of this, his heart felt like it was pierced by thousands of needles.

This secret chamber was pitch-dark, with not a single ray of light.

His father was locked up here, chained up like a dog, forced to bear the grief of losing his wife and son, along with Empress Dowager Yuan's constant mockery and ridicule.

How desperate and helpless must he feel?

He probably couldn't even take his own life if he wanted to!

Ji Yuntang watched Hua Feixue's eyes turn red. The usually carefree man couldn't hold back his tears either at the sight of his kin.

He hung his head, hunched his back, looking utterly dejected.

Ji Yuntang wanted to comfort him but didn't know what to say. She began, "I know you're worried about your father, but it's not the right time to act yet."

"I promised I'd save him, and I will. Just wait a bit longer..."

She had a feeling Empress Dowager Yuan hadn't come just to mock Emperor Chu.

She probably had more to say to him.

Hua Feixue, eyes red and voice hoarse, asked Ji Yuntang, "Can you really save my father?"

He hadn't seen Emperor Chu in two years and had no idea about his exact condition.

He'd only heard the emperor was gravely ill, couldn't hold court, and had been placed in a palace to recuperate by Empress Dowager Yuan.

Hua Feixue had assumed that since Emperor Chu was a sovereign and a hostage to threaten him with, even if his circumstances weren't ideal, his status alone would guarantee servants attending to him.

But now, it was clear there weren't any.

The stone bed was covered in filth. Beside the pillow were two hard-looking steamed buns and a plate of unknown side dishes. The eating bowl looked like it hadn't been washed in ages, covered in dust and grime.

Even the water bowl beside him had turned black.

He was sick! How was he supposed to eat in a place like this, with food like that?

If this wasn't abuse, what was?

Before seeing Emperor Chu, Hua Feixue had still clung to illusions, thinking his father was just sick and that Ji Yuntang could heal him.

But after seeing Emperor Chu, that confidence was gone.

He stared blankly at the man on the bed, his heart numb with pain.

If he wasn't mistaken, Emperor Chu lay limp on the bed, without an ounce of strength.

Even though he'd struggled violently when Empress Dowager Yuan approached,

the chains holding him hadn't budged an inch.

Hua Feixue didn't dare think about whether Empress Dowager Yuan had cut Emperor Chu's tendons.

As a martial artist, he knew exactly what it looked like when someone's tendons were severed.

He also didn't dare guess whether Ji Yuntang could reattach severed tendons.

If she couldn't, his father would be a cripple for life, wouldn't he?

The grief of losing his wife and son was already unbearable. If he became disabled on top of that,

with his temperament, how could he bear never standing again?

Ji Yuntang had been observing Emperor Chu's condition too. Though she hadn't taken his pulse up close yet, his condition was even worse than she'd imagined.

Still, she was fully confident she could treat him.

Ji Yuntang said, "I know what you're afraid of. You're afraid your father will become a cripple and never stand again."

"I can't ease the pain in your hearts, but the physical symptoms are nothing for me."

"You know, my husband is a great example. His own mother had him placed on the Ice Stone Bed for three years, with no one willing to care for him. He could only eat liquids, and no one even bothered to change his clothes or sheets."

"Your father can at least move, but A He couldn't move at all. If I could heal him, why would you doubt I can heal yours?"

Hua Feixue's lips moved, but he had no words to argue back.

Luo Junhe's condition wasn't a secret in the Dongchen Kingdom. As the people's War God Prince, he was already widely known.

So news of him being paralyzed and in a vegetative state spread like wildfire.

Even Hua Feixue, leader of the Blood Rain Sect, had heard about it.

He'd just sighed at the time, lamenting that a generation's war god might be falling.

But he never expected Ji Yuntang to show up and pull him back from the brink of death.

Hua Feixue recalled that the last time he saw Luo Junhe, aside from his legs being stuck in a wheelchair, his body had mostly recovered!

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.

Now that he knew Ji Yuntang was from the future, a glimmer of hope reignited in Hua Feixue's heart.

Maybe she was sent by heaven to save those trapped in tragic fates.

Hua Feixue took a deep breath and looked at Ji Yuntang. "Princess Ye, I was impulsive just now. I trust you."

"As long as you heal my father, I'll do whatever you say."

Ji Yuntang saw Empress Dowager Yuan's lips move and quickly shushed Hua Feixue.

"Shh... quiet. Let's hear what the Old Witch has to say."

Hua Feixue had just fallen silent when Empress Dowager Yuan's cold, mocking voice rang out from the screen.

She stood by Emperor Chu's bedside, looking down at him with a condescending gaze, her eyes filled with disdain.

"Do you really think I came here today just to see you?"

"Let me tell you some good news—when you hear it, don't bother thanking me."

She leaned slightly forward, a cold smirk curling at the corner of her lips.

"Your only son, Chu Yi, is dead now—burned to death in a great fire. When they found him, his body was charred beyond recognition, his face unrecognizable. He died in such a gruesome way it was hard to even look at."

"Tomorrow is his burial day. I've already ordered your empress's grave to be dug up, so your son and your empress can be buried together."

"As for you—you're of no use to me anymore. Once he's buried, I'll send you off too, and you'll be buried apart from the two of them."

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