My eyes widened in surprise. “Do you know why he was killed?” I asked the old man. “Of course, young
lady. He was killed because he said this to the emperor. The emperor, you must understand, was obsessed with
the idea of never growing old and ruling the kingdom forever. When he heard this, he was enraged. He ordered
the man to be killed immediately. The man was called Hiaonam. Have you ever heard of him?”
Drew and I looked at each other, mouths hanging. The name was indeed familiar to us. The man was our
seventy-seven generation great grandfather!!
* * *