Chapter 471 He is like you, just as stubborn and proud.
The night was as dark as ink, and the General's Mansion was filled with dead silence, so oppressive that it made people feel breathless.
Duan Qingye returned from the palace, feeling cold and tired.
He did not return to his main courtyard, but went straight to Xiao Zhou's courtyard.
Xiao Zhou had already received the news and was sitting in the hall at this moment, with just the right amount of panic and grievance on her face, and her eyes slightly red.
Seeing Duan Qingye coming in, she quickly stood up and said in a crying voice: "Master, you are back, I..."
"No need to act." Duan Qingye interrupted her in a hoarse voice with unquestionable indifference.
He sat down in the main seat with his arms and legs folded, his eyes sweeping across Xiao Zhou's face like icy blades.
Xiao Zhou's heart trembled, and the sadness on her face almost broke. She forced herself to remain calm and said, "Master, I don't know what you are talking about. I just heard about what happened in the mansion today, and I am worried..."
"Worried?" Duan Qingye sneered, "Are you worried about the truth being exposed, or are you worried about your good son?"
Xiao Zhou's face turned pale in an instant, and she fell to her knees with a thud, tears streaming down her face.
"Master, I am wronged! Everything I have done is for the Duan family, for you, Master!"
Duan Qingye looked at her, his eyes expressionless: "For me? Or for your own selfish reasons?"
Little Zhou crouched on the ground, her shoulders heaving slightly. "Master, Yun Zhou...is he okay?"
Duan Qingye picked up the tea served by the servant, blew off the foam, and said lightly: "Being exiled to the frontier will temper one's character. This kind of personality deserves to be tempered by some experience."
"What?" Little Zhou suddenly raised her head, her face full of disbelief. "The border? That's a bitterly cold place. Yun Zhou has been spoiled since he was a child. How could he bear it?"
Duan Qingye put down the teacup, making a slight sound that was particularly harsh in the quiet night.
"Can't stand it? If the enemy attacks, he won't even be able to kill the enemy if he leads the troops into battle. Can he expect the enemy to show mercy just because he is the general's son?"
"If you can't even endure this little bit of hardship, how are you going to achieve great things in the future?"
Xiao Zhou looked desperately at Duan Yunfan, who was standing aside in silence, with pleading eyes: "Yunfan, please ask your father for mercy. Your elder brother..."
Duan Yunfan lowered his eyes slightly and shook his head almost imperceptibly.
Xiao Zhou's heart sank completely. She knew that there was no way to salvage the situation.
Duan Qingye looked at little Zhou lying on the ground crying, and a trace of boredom flashed in his eyes.
"Since you gave birth to two sons and a daughter for me, I will not pursue your other faults. Starting tomorrow, you will move to your farm outside the city and spend your remaining years in peace."
"No! Master!" Xiao Zhou rushed forward and tried to hug Duan Qingye's legs, but he dodged her. "I'm not going to the manor! I'm not going anywhere!"
Duan Yunfan finally spoke, his voice a little hoarse: "Father, mother..."
"You also want to plead for her?" Duan Qingye turned his gaze towards Duan Yunfan with scrutiny.
Duan Yunfan met his father's gaze, but finally lowered his head and stopped talking.
Just then, hurried footsteps and crying were heard outside the door. Duan Shumin rushed in with disheveled hair and pushed away the maid who was blocking her way.
"Dad! Are you going to treat us like this just for a bastard?" Duan Shumin asked sharply with red eyes.
Duan Qingye frowned and said sternly, "How dare you! He's still your brother!"
"Bah!" Duan Shumin spat. "My mother's children are my brothers! That Gu Junze is nothing!"
"Pa!" A crisp slap sounded.
Duan Qingye slapped her hard, and Duan Shumin's cheek instantly became red and swollen...
She covered her face and looked at her father in disbelief, and only then did she feel truly scared.
Duan Qingye looked at her, his eyes showing undisguised disappointment: "The Emperor has already rejected your marriage and does not agree to you entering the Imperial Palace."
"Later, I will select a suitable daughter from the Duan family's side branches to enter the palace. As for you, Dad will find a good marriage for you."
"Dad, I am your only daughter!" Duan Shumin screamed. She couldn't accept this fact.
"With your arrogant, domineering, jealous and vicious nature, how can you be worthy of being the mother of the country?" Duan Qingye snorted coldly, his tone full of sarcasm.
Duan Shumin completely collapsed. She pointed at Duan Qingye and then at Xiao Zhou, crying incoherently, "You sacrificed my happiness just to save that loser Duan Yunzhou! You cruel father!"
"It's all your fault!" She turned to Xiao Zhou and screamed, "It's all your fault, useless mother! You had to provoke that bastard! Now look what's happening, my eldest brother has been exiled, and I have no hope! It's all your fault!"
"Enough!" Duan Qingye could no longer bear it, veins throbbing on his forehead. "Someone! Take the young lady away and lock her up in the yard. No one is allowed to let her out without my order!"
Several strong women immediately stepped forward and tried to hold Duan Shumin back.
"Father!" Duan Yunfan wanted to plead for mercy.
Duan Qingye looked at him fiercely, his eyes sharp as a knife: "Yunfan, remember this! If you want to achieve great things, how can you be bound by love? If you want to be the future head of the Duan family, you must learn to be ruthless and make choices! Do you understand what happened today?"
Duan Yunfan met his father's gaze, his throat rolled for a moment, but in the end he said nothing.
He watched helplessly as the servants took the crying and struggling Duan Shumin and the distraught Xiao Zhou away.
"Duan Yunfan! You ungrateful thing! You are cold-blooded and heartless!" Duan Shumin's curse came from afar, stinging Duan Yunfan's eardrums.
"The Duan family are all emotionless monsters..."
Duan Yunfan's lips curled up in a self-deprecating arc, but his eyes were filled with unfathomable calmness.
When the courtyard was completely quiet, Duan Qingye waved his hand tiredly, signaling his servants to leave.
He did not return to his room, but walked slowly towards the depths of the ancestral hall alone, where a tablet was enshrined - Princess Anyang.
Under the dim candlelight, Duan Qingye stared at the cold tablet, his eyes filled with complex emotions that outsiders had never seen before.
"Anyang," he whispered, his voice trembling slightly, "I really miss you."
"Back then, I was wrong. I was wrong for not keeping you by my side regardless of everything, and I was wrong for letting you suffer so much."
"My mistake was being too ambitious... and missing you..."
"Today, our son passed away. He was like you, just as stubborn and proud."
"I set him free, Anyang. Perhaps this is the best explanation for him, and for you."
The night wind blew, and the candlelight flickered, illuminating his lonely figure and his endless regret and longing.
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