The protagonist of this crossover film and television series is disrupting the plot again.

Chapter 218 One Year Ago 21

Yang Ying, with her sharp eyes, spotted a group of people in the distance, who seemed to be Du Changshi and his men, so she called out loudly.

"Du Changshi?"

Upon hearing the shouts, Chief Secretary Du instinctively turned around and saw Yang Ying dressed simply, riding a tall horse, looking majestic and imposing.

Following behind her were Ning Yuanzhou, Yu Shisan, and other members of the Heavenly Dao Hall.

Du Changshi was both surprised and delighted to see them, and quickly went to greet them.

"Your Highness? Hall Master Ning? Why are you back too? Could it be that Emperor An has changed his mind and agreed to release His Majesty?"

Du Changshi's voice was filled with disbelief and urgency.

Yang Ying shook her head under his expectant gaze, her sharp eyes sweeping over Chief Secretary Du and the group behind him, her tone carrying an undeniable authority: "We'll talk about this later. Why did you stop here once you got to Xucheng?"

Upon hearing this, Chief Secretary Du's expression immediately turned embarrassed. He lowered his head, clenched his fists, and tried hard to suppress his inner struggle: "Your Highness, once we pass Xucheng, we will officially enter the territory of Dawu. I...I really..."

Du Changshi felt he was on a heavy responsibility to welcome back Emperor Wu, but now he had not only failed to achieve his goal, but also had to return to the country to continue raising ransom money. He felt he had no face to face the people of Jiangdong.

When Yang Ying heard Chief Secretary Du say that Xucheng was officially considered part of Dawu territory, a surge of anger welled up in her heart.

Emperor Wu's disastrous defeat at Tianmen Pass not only brought shame to the country but also caused the three territories of Jing, Cai, and Xu to fall into the hands of Anguo.

In other words, these three cities originally belonged to the Kingdom of Wu, but were lost to the Kingdom of An by that incompetent Emperor Wu.

Yang Ying shook her head, shaking off these distracting thoughts. She would take back these cities sooner or later; they were just existing in Anguo at that time.

Yang Ying noticed Du Changshi's hesitation, so she stopped asking questions and simply told Du Changshi and his men to follow her and hurry on their way.

The group finally arrived in Du City the next day. The officials of Du City were surprised to hear that the delegation had arrived. Wasn't the delegation supposed to go to An Kingdom to pick up the emperor? Why had they suddenly arrived in Du City? They hadn't heard that the emperor had returned.

However, there was also His Highness Prince Li in the delegation, whom they had to pay their respects to. Afterwards, the topic naturally shifted to why the delegation had returned, and then they were blown up!

Yang Ying stood before the crowd, her eyes red and glistening with tears. Although she tried her best to remain calm, she could not hide her grief: "His Majesty... has passed away!"

These words shocked everyone present, including Ning Yuanzhou, who had already guessed as much.

For a moment, the entire scene fell into dead silence, broken only by the occasional low gasps and rapid breathing.

"What? How is this possible?" someone exclaimed in disbelief.

"How could His Majesty have suddenly passed away?" More questions and unease spread among the crowd.

Some people were quietly speculating: "Was it the people from Anguo who did it?"

This statement was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples and making the already tense atmosphere even more so.

The officials of Du City were shocked, and Chief Secretary Du was particularly stunned, his face changing drastically as he asked in a trembling voice, utterly incredulous:

"Your Highness must be joking. I did not hear of this matter when I left Anguo."

Yang Ying's eyes were red, and her voice was filled with uncontrollable grief and indignation as she said, "You do not know that since my brother was captured and taken to Anguo, he has suffered mental and physical torment day and night."

Especially after learning that the loyal soldiers who had been captured with him had been tortured and killed by the Anguo people, he felt his heart was torn apart. Feeling ashamed to face the thousands of people of Wuguo, he repeatedly sought death, but Anguo discovered and prevented him each time, threatening him with the lives of the remaining captured soldiers. Helpless, his elder brother could only eke out a living in this world.

At this point, Yang Ying's tears finally welled up. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but the grief and indignation in her voice grew even stronger:

"This time, I, the King, personally went to Anguo to save my brother from his dire situation, but I did not expect that when we met again, my brother was already heartbroken."

Not only did Emperor An fail to honor the previous agreement, he went even further, increasing the ransom by another 100,000 taels.

My elder brother, mindful of the dire straits and hardship suffered by the people of Wu Kingdom, felt overwhelming remorse. After leaving behind an edict of self-reproach and a decree of succession, he resolutely took poison and committed suicide.

At this point, Yang Ying knelt down facing the direction of Anguo, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Brother! You died such a tragic death!"

Everyone present was deeply moved upon hearing this, and they all knelt down and wept bitterly.

In an instant, the entire hall was filled with cries of pain.

Your Majesty! We have misunderstood you!

We used to secretly curse you as a cowardly, weak, and incompetent coward, but we never expected you to be so fierce.

In order to free Wu Kingdom from the control of An Kingdom, and for the sake of the millions of people of Wu Kingdom, they were willing to sacrifice their lives and use their lives to restore dignity to Wu Kingdom.

Yang Ying's words were like a sudden downpour, stirring up huge waves in everyone's hearts.

Everyone's mood was like a leaf swept up by a gale, swirling and spinning in the air before finally being slammed heavily to the ground with a 'thud'.

The more disappointed they were with Emperor Wu in the past, the more admiration and respect they felt now that they knew of his 'great deeds'.

Grief, regret, pity, admiration, heartache, self-blame... these complex emotions intertwined and finally converged into an unstoppable torrent—anger.

This anger erupted like a volcano, spewing forth, soaring into the sky, and finally falling upon Anguo.

"In order to extort benefits from my Wu Kingdom, Anguo actually used captured soldiers to threaten the Emperor. It is utterly despicable and shameless."

"Exactly! How could there be such a shameless person as Emperor An in this world? He is treacherous and untrustworthy, no different from a beast!"

The crowd's anger grew even stronger, the flames of fury burning fiercely in their hearts, transforming into even sharper and more intense words, relentlessly lashing out at the wickedness of Anguo and Emperor An.

In this torrent of emotions, did they really not doubt the truthfulness of Yang Ying's words? Did they not question whether Emperor Wu was truly so 'fierce'?

No! They could think of it, but they just didn't dare to!

Having experienced the humiliating Battle of Tianmen Pass, their yearning for an ideal ruler was so intense that they were unwilling to delve into the truth.

In other words, only the Emperor Wu, as described by Yang Ying, who was willing to sacrifice himself for the country and its people and had a strong and unyielding character, was the image of the emperor they believed in.

They could not tolerate the image of a weak, incompetent, and tyrannical monarch to whom they served.

Therefore, they accepted without hesitation the fabricated image of the monarch that Yang Ying had created for them.