Prince An sneered, "For the Zhuang family? For what part of the Zhuang family? Without the Empress Dowager’s protection, can the Zhuang family still be the same as before?"
Grand Tutor Zhuang slammed his brush down on the table, "And do you think the Empress Dowager is the same as before? She has long severed ties with the Zhuang family!"
Prince An clenched his fists, his voice filled with deep sorrow and indignation, "So grandfather just watches her die without lifting a finger? She is your sister! After she was sold by her biological father in his quest for glory to that devouring Imperial Palace, after she lost her only flesh and blood, after she licked her wounds and exhausted her mind for the sake of the Zhuang family for so many years, grandfather just abandons her like that! You only remember the year she severed ties with the Zhuang family, but have forgotten the decades in which the Zhuang family gnawed at her flesh and blood!"
Grand Tutor Zhuang bellowed, "Enough!"
Undeterred by Grand Tutor Zhuang’s fury, Prince An looked at the man he had respected for so many years with disappointment, "Grandfather, when I was eight, you sent me to the Chen kingdom as a hostage. The Empress Dowager tried her best to stop you, saying that the Zhuang family had her and that was enough, that no more people should be sacrificed. What did you tell me, grandfather? You said that the Empress Dowager was struggling alone to support the Zhuang family, that we couldn’t let her bear everything on her own... So I went! During those years in Chen, I suffered endless humiliation, but I have never regretted it! But now, I do regret it, grandfather, for you were not doing it for the Empress Dowager, nor for the Zhuang family, you were only doing it for yourself."
These words were like a knife to the heart, but Grand Tutor Zhuang was beyond the age of quarreling with the younger generation. He suppressed his anger, continued to write a few characters, and then said, "Hengheng, you are my most outstanding grandson, the future heir to the Zhuang family. I hope you realize your own identity."
"Identity,"
Prince An let out a self-deprecating laugh, and without saying anything more to Grand Tutor Zhuang, for he had already understood his grandfather’s point of view. There was no point in saying more, it was better to save his energy.
Grand Tutor Zhuang called out to him, "Where are you going?"
Prince An turned back and replied coldly, "Since grandfather won’t care for the Empress Dowager, then I must go and rescue her myself. I’m going to overturn her case!"
Prince An flexed his fingers and stepped over the threshold. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
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