Chapter 994: 992 Yan'er
“What does it have to do with me.” Su Hao’s tone was despairing, heaving for breath as if he were a dog that had lost its home.
“Brother… Does Sister Jinyan’s hope, have anything to do with you? Do you think Sister Jinyan hopes to see you like this now? She’s still at the Thousand-Jiao Pavilion, being taken care of by Sister Han.”
“Her hopes, I can’t do anything! I couldn’t marry her, couldn’t give her the sense of security she wanted, couldn’t give her a home…”
Su Hao’s eyes reddened, tears streamed down his noble nose, his eyes filled with self-reproach and regret!
He had promised Yan’er for many years… and had accomplished nothing!
“Who says you can’t give her a home? Even if you can’t be wed, can’t enter the Marquis’s Manor, she is still the one you love. If you live separately, can you not live your lives together?”
Su Yingxue bit her lip, her emotions growing agitated.
“Living separately… Grandpa will never agree, and her child… Grandpa will never let me and Jinyan be together again.” Su Hao’s tone was full of despair, as if he had lost all hope for the future.
“Grandpa isn’t you, he can’t live your life for you! And… besides Sister Jinyan, don’t you care about your future? If you stop being a young general, don’t lead troops out to achieve military merits, how will you live a good life with her? She will despise you!”
“Lead troops… to war,” Su Hao muttered.
The image of the military defeat against Qi State flashed through his mind, and Su Hao, in agony, clasped his head, “Enough! Don’t speak, I’m not worthy! I can’t marry Jinyan, I’m a general who lost his army! How can I talk about leading an army again!”
“You failed only once, and you’ve let it defeat you like this! How can Your Highness put his trust in you again? To cover up the matters of our Marquis’s Manor, he announced the late emperor’s edict ahead of schedule, preparing for his ascension ceremony. He has been so good to you, to our Marquis’s Manor, do you want to let him down?” Su Yingxue grasped Su Hao’s hand, hammering into him word by word.
“Your Highness, he… is going to ascend to the throne?” Su Hao suddenly woke up from his confusion.
Throughout his marriage affair, Chu Yihan had not shown up from beginning to end. Su Hao thought that Chu Yihan was disappointed in him, that he would no longer use him.
But unexpectedly, he announced the late emperor’s edict at this critical time, preparing for his ascension?
“Right! Brother, Your Highness also asked me to tell you that he wants you to lead troops to war, to pacify Qi State for him!” Su Yingxue quickly continued as she saw Su Hao come back to his senses.
Su Hao’s expression changed from dejected, to struggling, and then gradually picked up the broken pieces to stand up, a long and arduous process.
Rubbing his aching head, he placed his hands on Su Yingxue’s shoulders, his smile tinged with bitterness, “Brother understands, Yingxue.”
“You understand, yet will you… drink again?” Looking at the empty wine jars scattered all around, Su Yingxue felt deeply pained as well.
But she truly did not wish to see her brother, so extraordinary and elegant, continue to be so dejected.
Su Hao shook his head, “No more drinking.”
Now, he would go see Wu Jinyan.
Su Yingxue watched his staggering steps as he left the Marquis’s Manor and entered the back courtyard of the Thousand-Jiao Pavilion.
She didn’t follow him to that place.
Perhaps there, was Su Hao’s last dose of strong medicine.
Wu Jinyan lay in bed, having cried all night, her eyes red and swollen, her vision blurry.
But she heard a familiar voice: “Yan’er, are you okay?”