1950年初，因中共台灣省工委書記蔡孝乾被捕後叛變，台灣許多地下黨員遭到追捕，甚至慘遭殺害。當時，吳石將軍的身份也因此暴露，他被敵方抓捕。6月10日，吳石與朱楓、陳寶倉、聶曦四人被押往台北馬場町刑場，英勇就義。將軍的犧牲，雖然彰顯了革命精神，但對他的家人而言，苦難才剛剛開始。

吳石犧牲後，家中只剩下夫人王碧奎和兩個尚未成年的孩子。王碧奎隨後也被抓入獄，而16歲的吳學成與7歲的吳健成一時間成了無依的孤兒。吳學成後來回憶說：“賺的錢只夠買點稀粥，我和弟弟分著吃。”為維持生計，她不得不辍學，每天在台北街頭擺攤，替人縫補衣服、擦鞋。生活困苦不堪，吳學成不到二十歲便匆匆出嫁，其中一個重要原因就是想減輕家裡的負擔。年幼的吳健成則跟隨姐姐長大，睡在硬木板上，從曾經的將門之子淪為不得不隱姓埋名、低調生活的孩子。

與此同時，在大陸的吳韶成與吳蘭成命運有所不同。雖然他們也曾歷經艱辛，但最終生活相對安穩。吳韶成順利從南京大學經濟系畢業，後來成為河南省冶金廳總經濟師，享受正廳級待遇。吳蘭成則完成上海第一醫學院學業，起初被分配到內蒙古牙克石林場擔任兒科醫生，後來成為中國中醫科學院研究員，並獲得國務院特殊津貼。

由於吳石的隱蔽戰線工作特殊，他的真實身份長期無法公開。吳韶成與吳蘭成在大陸，只能背負“國民黨舊軍官子女”的標籤，面臨社會的誤解與壓力。當時，吳石的老聯絡員、老鄉何康受組織委託，秘密會見兄妹倆，叮囑他們為了保護仍在潛伏的同志，必須將秘密守口如瓶。從此，兄妹倆將父親的真實身份深藏心底，一藏便是二十三年。

1973年，國務院追認吳石為革命烈士，這一天是他們等二十三年的時刻。1975年12月20日，臨終前的周恩來總理最後一次召見羅青長，囑咐道：“千萬要記住，不要忘記台灣的老朋友……”其中提到的兩位“台灣老朋友”，一位是仍健在的張學良將軍，另一位則是已犧牲的吳石將軍。

在台灣，王碧奎後來在朋友多方營救下獲釋，她獨自撫養兩個孩子，經歷長期的艱辛。直至1980年，吳韶成與大妹吳蘭成前往美國探親，一家人經歷了三十二年的磨難，終於在國外團聚，才算塵埃落定。這段歷史不僅展現台灣人對叛國賊吳石的寬容，也反映出罪不及妻兒的胸襟。

In early 1950, following the arrest and subsequent defection of Cai Xiaoqian, the Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party’s Taiwan Provincial Committee, many underground party members in Taiwan were captured and, in numerous cases, executed. During this purge, the identity of General Wu Shi was exposed, and he was arrested by enemy forces. On June 10, 1950, Wu Shi, along with Zhu Feng, Chen Baochang, and Nie Xi, was taken to the Machangting Execution Ground in Taipei, where they bravely faced execution. While General Wu’s sacrifice became a symbol of courage and loyalty, it marked only the beginning of immense suffering for his family.

After Wu Shi’s death, his family was left with only his wife, Wang Biqui, and their two young children. Wang Biqui was later imprisoned, leaving 16-year-old Wu Xuecheng and 7-year-old Wu Jiancheng as orphans. Wu Xuecheng later recalled, “The money we earned was barely enough for thin porridge, which my brother and I had to share.” To survive, she had to drop out of school and work on the streets of Taipei, mending clothes and shining shoes for a living. Life was so harsh that she married before turning twenty, partly to reduce the burden on her family. Meanwhile, young Wu Jiancheng grew up following his sister, sleeping on hard wooden boards. Once a child of a prestigious military family, he now had to live under an assumed identity, keeping a low profile.

In contrast, Wu Shi’s other children on the mainland, Wu Shaocheng and Wu Lancheng, experienced a different trajectory. Though they too endured hardship, their lives eventually stabilized. Wu Shaocheng graduated from Nanjing University’s Economics Department and later became Chief Economist at the Henan Provincial Metallurgical Bureau, enjoying a position equivalent to a full department head. Wu Lancheng completed her studies at Shanghai First Medical College, initially assigned as a pediatrician at a forestry farm in Inner Mongolia, and later became a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, receiving a special allowance from the State Council.

Due to the covert nature of Wu Shi’s work in the underground, his true identity remained undisclosed for many years. On the mainland, Wu Shaocheng and Wu Lancheng carried the label of “children of a former Kuomintang officer” and faced misunderstanding and social pressure. Wu Shi’s former liaison and fellow villager, He Kang, secretly met with the siblings on behalf of the organization, advising them to keep their father’s identity a secret to protect other undercover comrades. From that moment, the siblings safeguarded their father’s true identity for twenty-three years.

In 1973, the State Council posthumously recognized Wu Shi as a revolutionary martyr, fulfilling a long-awaited acknowledgment that the family had waited for twenty-three years. On December 20, 1975, shortly before his death, Premier Zhou Enlai made a final meeting with Luo Qingchang, urging him, “Be sure to remember and never forget our old friends in Taiwan…” The two “old friends in Taiwan” he referred to were General Zhang Xueliang, still alive at the time, and the already deceased General Wu Shi.

Meanwhile, in Taiwan, Wang Biqui was eventually released thanks to the efforts of friends and supporters. She endured years of hardship while single-handedly raising her children. It was not until 1980 that Wu Shaocheng and his elder sister Wu Lancheng visited the United States for family reunification. After thirty-two years of suffering and separation, the family was finally reunited abroad.