Chapter 181

Qin Yanzhou saw Dai Li again just as the sun was about to set. His mother had changed her clothes. The cheap cyan outfit from the Huang Manor was nowhere to be seen; instead, a mother-of-pearl white dress shimmered brilliantly in the evening light.

He looked Dai Li up and down, his heart finally settling completely. He first called out, "Mother," and then addressed the tall man walking behind her, "Father."

They hadn't had dinner yet, so the three of them now sat at the same table to eat.

After the meal, Dai Li said to her son, "Zhouzhou, come with me. I have something important to discuss with you."

Qin Yanzhou was confused. His gaze quickly flicked to Qin Shaozong, only to see the man's expression was as usual, revealing nothing. After his mother spoke, he also stood up.

Dai Li returned to her room first. She stood by the door, watching her son enter, and then peeked outside. Seeing that Qin Shaozong was also coming, she didn't close the door immediately.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, his pace was leisurely.

Seeing Dai Li looking at him, the man curled his lips into a smile. As he entered the room, taking advantage of Qin Yanzhou's blind spot, he touched Dai Li's stomach and whispered, "Why did my wife eat so little for dinner? Are you saving your appetite to eat something else tonight?"

Dai Li's first reaction was to look at her son. Seeing that Qin Yanzhou hadn't noticed, she pinched the waist of the man in front of her. "Can you be a bit more decent in front of the younger generation?"

He said meaningfully, "It seems what my wife is thinking of isn't an ordinary late-night snack either. Great minds think alike."

Dai Li was speechless.

Feeling a flush of heat rise on her cheeks, Dai Li simply looked away from him and turned to the young man standing by the table. "Zhouzhou, have a seat."

Mother and son sat across the table from each other.

Qin Shaozong sat on a soft chair not far away, holding a letter from an unknown source, clearly not intending to directly participate in their conversation. Dai Li ignored him and began to brew tea.

As winter approached, the temperature dropped day by day, and drinking hot tea brought a lot of comfort.

After placing charcoal under the clay stove to boil water, Dai Li looked at Qin Yanzhou opposite her. "Zhouzhou, last time I didn't tell you anything and just made you leave the North with me. I acted on my own, and Mom apologizes to you."

Qin Yanzhou immediately wanted to speak but was stopped by Dai Li raising her hand, signaling him to let her finish.

Dai Li looked at her tall, grown-up son across the table and sighed deeply. "You've grown up and are no longer ignorant. As an adult, you have the right to know your future and make your own choices. No matter what my reasons were back then, it was wrong of me not to tell you."

"I have never blamed you!" Qin Yanzhou couldn't help but say.

Dai Li smiled. "I know, but these are two different things. Just because I am treated with forgiveness doesn't mean I can take it for granted and pretend nothing happened."

The man not far away had put down his letter at some point, his deep gaze fixed on their direction. The woman sitting by the table wore a mother-of-pearl white dress, her profile beautiful and serene, as if her whole being was radiating a soft, warm glow.

In Qin Shaozong's memory, he had never heard a single apology from his parents or ancestors.

The ruler is the master of the subject, and the father is the master of the son.

Even among blood relatives, superiors always held unquestionable authority over their subordinates.

What was right was right, and what was wrong was also right!

Subordinates only needed to obey their superiors, with no other options. This was part of the "Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues," regarded as the natural order of things.

However, watching the scene before him, Qin Shaozong suddenly understood why Qin the Second, despite living ten years of hellish days, miraculously retained a compassionate side to his character.

It was a bright, high-hanging moon that had illuminated him.

Qin Shaozong knew he had completely inherited the unyielding nature of his forefathers. Even if he were wrong in his life, he would never bow his head to his children, because just imagining it was something he couldn't accept outside those "Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues."

But at this moment, looking at her gently apologizing to her son, Qin Shaozong bizarrely felt that it was not only harmonious but also quite attractive.

"...Zhouzhou, setting aside factors related to me, do you yourself want to go to the battlefield?" Dai Li asked.

The change of topic was sudden. The young man was slightly startled, but he quickly nodded, "I do."

Worried that Dai Li wouldn't believe him, Qin Yanzhou added, "Mother, I think I can no longer live that kind of peaceful, uneventful life."

Those ten years were like a red-hot branding iron, scorching his fair skin black and leaving scars that would never fade for a lifetime. His personality and way of life had undergone earth-shattering changes, and now he was accustomed to a life of bloody slaughter and turbulent ups and downs.

He could never go back to how he was...

However, compared to his previous puppet-like numbness, he now had comrades-in-arms and brothers to whom he could entrust his back. Every battle, big or small, no longer brought him the exhaustion of "surviving another day," but an indescribable sense of fulfillment.

Dai Li's eyes felt a momentary sting of tears. She quickly lowered her gaze. "Do you remember the concerns I mentioned to you back at the Xinglong Inn?"

Qin Yanzhou nodded and said he remembered.

Since his mother had brought it up on her own, he had a premonition that what they were going to discuss next was precisely this "concern."

No, saying they were going to discuss it might not be accurate. There must be a solution, otherwise his mother wouldn't be so calm.

"Your father's intention is for you to succeed him in the future," Dai Li said softly.

Qin Yanzhou's eyes widened uncontrollably. He subconsciously looked at the man not far away, only to see him stand up and walk over, then take a seat beside his mother, casually picking up the boiling teapot to pour water into the cups.

"Your mother speaks the truth. I do indeed have this plan. When I initially had Wugong teach you other subjects, part of the reason was to see how you fared in your studies, and the results were decent. And you, kid, leading some twenty men to burn down the Xuzhou army's granary, that wasn't bad either," Qin Shaozong said mildly.

He rarely praised people, and often his words were harsh. Earning a "decent" or "not bad" from him was already considered rare in the eyes of people like Bai Jianping.

"But Qinian, he..." Qin Yanzhou didn't know what to say. He wanted to ask if Qinian knew about this. He also wanted to ask if Qinian would accept it.

"Qin the Third has his own path to walk," Qin Shaozong said calmly. "Even without you, this burden wouldn't fall on him to carry. He probably had a premonition about this a long time ago."

Steam rose from the cups. Qin Shaozong looked straight across the table, his gaze as sharp as a snow blade. "This is power, but it is also a responsibility. However great the former is, the latter is equally heavy. It can decide the life and death of tens of thousands, and in the future, it will require you to constantly bear the hatred of the nation in your heart and the worries of the court on your brow. Qin the Second, do you want to accept it?"

It wasn't a matter of willingness, but of desire.

His preference for Qin Yanzhou was one thing, but if Qin Yanzhou himself lacked the boldness and determination, then no amount of approval or personal bias would matter.

The steaming mist seemed to form a thin veil, and also appeared like a mirror.

Qin Yanzhou felt as if he saw many, many things in that mirror: fluttering red flags, dining halls that never lacked food, but also dilapidated thatched huts, emaciated starving commoners, and corpses of those who died of hunger exposed in the wilderness.

He seemed to hear the words his teacher had once spoken:

"A scholar must be broad-minded and resolute, for his burden is heavy and his journey is long. If he takes benevolence as his burden, is it not heavy? If he ceases only with death, is it not long? Chongle, in this life, one must always do something meaningful so as not to live in vain. If one day you possess the power to change the world, your teacher hopes you can be brave, neither fearing nor shrinking back, and realize what you once said: 'May the country be prosperous and the people at peace, each content in their own work.' You are not fighting alone; by your side are me and many others willing to help you."

At that time, Qin Yanzhou had not understood the latter half of his teacher's words, but now, when the question "Do you want to take it on?" fell between them, the clouds parted to reveal the sun.

The faint confusion in the young man's eyes dissipated in an instant, entirely replaced by unwavering determination. Qin Yanzhou stood up and bowed deeply to his parents sitting across the table. "Thank you, Father, for not giving up on me. Your son will certainly do his utmost to shoulder this responsibility. I will never disappoint you and Mother."

"Do not thank me so quickly. There is still one matter I have yet to discuss with you, boy," Qin Shaozong beckoned for him to sit back down, then looked at Dai Li beside him.

Dai Li met his gaze and immediately knew what that matter was.

It was the major matter of marriage!

Dai Li was deeply conflicted. On one hand, she felt that arranged marriages were a toxic relic of the past and that her son should spend his life with someone he truly loved. But on the other hand, she knew very well that Qin Changgeng's support for Zhouzhou's succession was tightly bound to a marriage alliance with the Shi family.

Previously, Qin Changgeng had claimed that the two young people had feelings for each other. How much truth there was to those words, Dai Li herself did not know.

Qin Shaozong's original intention was for her to speak with their son. After all, her approach was much gentler than his, and she had always kept a close eye on Qin the Second's marriage prospects.

As a result, after waiting and waiting, he noticed her twiddling her fingers. Her slender, pale fingers were flushed with an unusual red from the blood rushing to them.

Fine. If he waited for her to speak, the roosters would crow at dawn before she could utter a single word. He would have to do it himself.

Qin Shaozong reached over and grasped Dai Li's hand beneath the table, stopping her from continuing to ravage those poor fingers. At the same time, he spoke: "Qin the Second, what do you think of Shi Rongrong as your wife?"

Without any preamble or build-up, he cut straight to the chase, exceptionally decisive.

Dai Li was startled and instinctively turned her head to look at Qin Shaozong.

Qin Yanzhou froze, his expression looking somewhat at a loss.

Qin Shaozong merely held Dai Li's hand, not looking at her at this moment. Seeing that the young man did not answer, he added, "Then let me change the question. Do you dislike Shi Rongrong?"

This time, Qin Yanzhou reacted. He slowly shook his head.

Qin Shaozong gave a neutral hum and said, "You have no prominent noble family supporting you from behind. This is one of your shortcomings. Under normal circumstances, this weakness could be ignored, but since you will shoulder heavy responsibilities in the future, it cannot be disregarded."

Feeling the delicate hand in his grasp moving as if trying to break free, Qin Shaozong slid his fingers up from beneath her clenched fist, using a deft touch to uncurl it, and then slowly stroked her soft palm with his rough fingertips.

On the surface, however, Qin Shaozong's expression remained perfectly calm. "I once made a three-point pact with your mother, and one of the conditions was that I would not monopolize your marriage arrangements. Therefore, I am not telling you to marry Shi Rongrong right this instant. It is merely a proposal. After all, you do not dislike her, and she is deeply devoted to you. The Shi family is my younger sister's marital family, and Patriarch Shi was once my father's right-hand man in the past. There is no shortage of outstanding youths among their clan members, making them a perfectly suitable source of support for you."

Qin Yanzhou's pupils contracted for a moment. "She is devoted to me..."

"You have come of age and are an adult now. I have said all I need to say. Go back now; your mother and I are going to rest," Qin Shaozong said, immediately shooing him away.

Qin Yanzhou stood up and left.

The moment he was gone, Qin Shaozong immediately chuckled. "Madam, that boy Qin Yanzhou absolutely has thoughts in his heart."

Dai Li felt that something was not quite right, but she could not articulate it. "Why do you say that?"

"I said so much just now, but the only thing that boy heard was the part about her being devoted to him." Qin Shaozong pointed at the teacup on the opposite table. "Moreover, the tea has been sitting there for so long, yet he didn't take a single sip. If that isn't a sign of a distracted mind, what is?"

Dai Li looked across the table and saw that it was true; their son's teacup was still full.

Logically speaking, whether as a guest or otherwise, one should finish the tea poured for them before leaving as a sign of politeness.

"It is understandable. Love arises from unknown origins. Just think back—I never knew I would come to adore you this much either, Madam," Qin Shaozong said as he poured out the tea.

Dai Li could not help but retort, "You didn't adore me. You were clearly just lusting after my looks."

Qin Shaozong laughed and told her she was talking nonsense.

"Talking nonsense?" Dai Li tugged at his arm, making him face her. "Back then at the Jiang Manor, wasn't it you who wanted to bed me the moment we met?"

"That only proves I fell in love with you at first sight, Madam." Qin Shaozong's eyes held a smile as he didn't forget to boast, "I must say, my eye for people is truly sharp. I spotted the very best at a single glance."

Dai Li brought up the old score. "You have the nerve to say that! I was nearly scared to death by you back then!"

Qin Shaozong reached out and pulled her into his embrace, letting Dai Li sit on his lap as he looked at her closely. "At that time, Madam, you fed me basket after basket of lies. All I saw was someone bursting with absolute audacity; I certainly didn't see where you were afraid."

Dai Li muttered, "It was just scary."

"It was your husband's fault. Tonight, I will properly compensate you, with interest." Qin Shaozong suddenly swept her up into his arms and headed toward the bed.