From sunrise to sunset and then back to sunrise. From bright day to the moon rising to bright day again.
Qi Zhen knelt in the front hall of the main house for three days and three nights. A layer of cold sweat covered his pale face, and his clothes had been soaked, dried, and then soaked again.
Qi Zhen was already seriously injured and had been kneeling for such a long time. By the third day, his upright body was shaking uncontrollably.
It swayed from side to side like a young sapling in a strong wind.
It was not until the evening of the third day that Uncle Qi came into the hall with a gloomy face and asked Qi Zhen to go with him to the ancestral hall.
Qi Zhen's legs were completely paralyzed, and his knees were red and swollen like steamed buns just out of the pot.
Not to mention walking, just standing up was excruciatingly painful.
Uncle Qi ignored him and walked forward without looking back.
When Qi Zhen staggered to the ancestral hall, Uncle Qi asked Qi Zhen to kneel down again.
Qi Zhen said nothing. Facing the ancestral tablet, he bent his knees and knelt straight down again.
The ancestral hall was extremely cold, and the ground was made of hard bluestone slabs. Qi Zhen's kneeling was like a hammer hitting a wound.
No matter how patient Ren Qizhen was, he still grimaced in pain.
"I hope Dad will help me!"
Qi Zhen's pale lips trembled slightly, and his words were trembling with a noticeable tremor.
Uncle Qi looked at Qi Zhen expressionlessly for a while, then put his hands behind his back, his eyes fixed on Qi Ye's tablet in the front.
"Do you know why I don't allow you to be with that girl from the Yang clan?"
"Because of the feud between the Qi and Yang clans."
"yes."
Uncle Qi responded and turned to look at Qi Zhen.
"But you know, Yang Zhan swore a solemn oath that if any of the Yang family members disobeyed his wishes and married someone from the Qi family, at best they would both die, and at worst the entire family would be in calamity."
"I know you love that girl so deeply that you don't care about your own life. But you don't even care about that girl's life? You don't even care about the lives of your entire family?"
Qi Zhen was deeply shocked by Uncle Qi's words. He looked at his father, who was as majestic as a mountain, in disbelief.
Even though he knew it was impossible, Qi Zhen still had a glimmer of hope in his father's words: perhaps, this was a lie his father made up to make him leave Zhilan.
It seemed as if he saw through Qi Zhen's glimmer of hope.
Uncle Qi then raised two fingers to his chest, faced the ancestral tablet, and spoke in a solemn and dignified voice.
"I, Qi Yi, swear in front of the ancestral tablets that if I tell even a single lie, I will not have a good end."
Qi Zhen's straight body bent down because of Qi Yi's words. He knelt awkwardly on the cold bluestone floor.
The last glimmer of hope in his eyes was extinguished. He shook his head in pain, muttering to himself that he could not accept the fate of himself and Zhilan.
Liang Meng, who had followed the father and son and was now standing next to the door of the ancestral hall, was also horrified.
I think this is why Qi Zhen betrayed Zhilan in the end.
But......
Liang Meng still felt sorry for Zhilan. Even if they couldn't be together, they had such a deep affection for each other and had made such a sincere and heartfelt vow.
Even if I say I will never marry, at least I won't let down this relationship.
There was silence in the room for a while, and then Qi Zhen's voice was heard again, which was a little hoarse but very firm.
Liang Meng hurriedly listened attentively.
"If Zhilan and I are destined not to be together in this life, in order not to let her down, I, Qi Zhen, will never marry."
He knelt straight, just like Qi Yi swore just now, and Qi Zhen also raised two fingers and placed them on his chest.
His eyes were firm and serious as he looked at the rows of ancestral tablets on the table in front of him.
Qi Zhen's words made Liang Meng outside the door give a thumbs up.
This is what a man is.
Unexpectedly, a basin of ice water was poured on the two of them without any warning.
"I'm afraid that's not up to you."
Qi Yi seemed to know that Qi Zhen would make such a decision, and there was no surprise or anger on his face.
Looking down from above, he looked indifferently at Qi Zhen, who was kneeling upright and swearing for love. He thought the stubborn and serious expression on his face was ridiculous.
Qi Zhen looked up in surprise, and two flames of doubt ignited in his eyes as he looked at Qi Yi.
You are not allowed to marry the woman you love!
Choosing to be alone for love is not allowed!
What's the reason for this?
"You don't have to look at me with such an angry look."
Qi Yi put his hands behind his back, looked at Qi Zhen's jaw trembling slightly with anger, and snorted disdainfully, still with the same indifferent tone as before.
"You are the only bloodline of the Qi clan now. You bear the heavy responsibility of continuing the Qi clan's legacy."
Liang Meng, who was standing at the door, objected in his heart at an inopportune moment: "Don't you still have yours? You're still strong and healthy, so having ten or eight more children shouldn't be a problem."
He pursed his lips and muttered softly, then quickly put his ear close to the door.
Qi Yi continued speaking.
"Life is not just about love. There are family and elders, family honor, and the continuation of the bloodline. As the next patriarch of the Qi clan, you have no right to be selfish and willful."
Qi Zhen lowered his head and said nothing, silently expressing his dissatisfaction.
His chest heaved violently with anger and grievance, his breathing heavy and rapid. His hands, hanging by his sides, were clenched into fists, bones and veins bulging out from his palms.
"You don't need to feel unfair. As the next leader of the Qi clan, you must shoulder the responsibilities that come with being worshipped by the entire clan."
It was not difficult to tell from Qi Yi's tone that in his heart, only power and glory were the most important. He could give up everything else for them.
Only with power can you have everything. Without power, everything you talk about is a joke.
If you stay at the pinnacle of power for too long, perhaps your heart will become cold and hard.
"But the Qi clan still has many collateral branches, and I am not the only one left. I..."
"presumptuous!"
Qi Zhen raised his head, his neck stiff with stubbornness. Before he could finish his angry words, Qi Yi sternly stopped him.
"Do you know how hard it is to obtain the position of clan leader? Do you know how many eyes are eyeing this position covetously?"
"Today you are going to hand it over to someone else. Incompetent! Coward!"
Qi Zhen had never seen his father so agitated and angry. No matter what kind of war or chaos they had with other tribes, his father's face always remained calm and composed.
His calmness in the face of adversity made Qi Zhen believe that no matter how big the problem was, it could be solved calmly in his father's hands.
Qi Zhen's desire for power was not as strong as his father's, so he could not understand Qi Yi's anger and the slight fear and panic.
The panic of having power fall into the hands of others.
"Today I will tell you the truth."
Qi Yi's high-pitched, angry voice suddenly turned cold, and his eyes were clouded with an unknown emotion.
"I originally planned to take this secret underground and bury it forever. But I didn't expect you to be so stubborn and stubborn. It's a waste of all my efforts in training you."
Qi Yi stood up straight and turned his eyes from Qi Zhen's face to Qi Ye's tablet again.
His eyes moved slowly and indifferently as he traced Qi Ye's name on the black tablet.
"This is a shame for our entire Qi clan!"
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