Replace me as the top scholar? Go talk to my Marshal Grandpa!

After the last member of the clan fell.

Wang Yuanshan turned around and walked to Wang Defa, who was lying on the ground.

Wang Defa slumped in a pool of blood, his legs broken, unable to run away.

He witnessed his father killing his clansmen one by one, going from initial fear to despair, and now to numbness.

She raised her head and looked at Wang Yuanshan.

He had seen that old face for decades, but it had never felt so unfamiliar to him as it did today.

Wang Defa's lips trembled, and his voice was hoarse beyond belief:

"Father...I am indeed guilty, I admit it, but my sins do not warrant death!"

"I can go to jail, I can make amends tenfold, I can make amends tenfold to those who have been harmed by my family!"

"Please...please spare my life!"

Wang Yuanshan looked down at him.

A flicker of emotion finally appeared in those cloudy old eyes.

There's a lot in that slight fluctuation.

There was pain, reluctance, struggle, and a trace of weariness that even he himself couldn't quite explain.

He squatted down, reached out, and gently patted Wang Defa's head.

The movement was very light and slow, like touching a child who had done something wrong.

"It's too late," he said, then withdrew his hand.

Wang Defa opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but Wang Yuanshan did not give him another chance.

One palm fell!

Wang Defa's body stiffened for a moment, then he slowly collapsed into a pool of blood.

It's all over.

The main hall was filled with a strong smell of blood.

More than a dozen corpses lay scattered on the ground; some were his sons, some his grandsons, and some were younger members of the clan whom he had watched grow up.

Wang Yuanshan stood among them for a long time.

His back was still straight, but the spirit that had sustained him was completely exhausted the moment the last member of his tribesman fell.

The sin of killing his own blood relative was like a mountain pressing down from all sides, crushing him into pieces.

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, so intense that he bent over.

He could no longer stand.

His knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground, head bowed, his pale hair falling down and obscuring his face.

His breath was rapidly weakening, to the point where he seemed about to collapse at any moment.

Sun Tianrui walked out from the corner.

He stood before Wang Yuanshan, looked down at the old man, sighed, and asked:

"Old Wang, do you regret it?"

Wang Yuanshan did not look up.

His voice came from behind his loose hair, hoarse and low, carrying an indescribable weariness.

He first repeated those two words: "Regret?"

Then he gave a wry smile.

The laugh was soft and short, like the last bit of strength squeezed out of the chest.

Whether I regret it or not is no longer important.

He paused, as if gathering his last bit of strength, then continued, "Director Sun, could you please... go to Young Master Wang Xian's place for me and apologize?"

"Tell me, Wang Yuanshan, that I have betrayed his trust!"

"However, not everyone in the Xingquan Wang family was involved in or aware of these crimes."

"The guilty are all here; the rest are innocent."

His voice grew softer and softer, breaking into fragments, pausing after every few words.

"The Xingquan Wang family... is ultimately the culmination of my life's work."

"I can't bear to see it weaken again, be bullied at will, and return to those days of fear and anxiety."

"So, out of consideration for our past relationship... I'll protect this new royal family for another three years."

"Just three years!"

"If they fail to live up to expectations three years from now, then I, Wang Yuanshan, will have nothing to say."

After he finished speaking, he lowered his body even further, as if he could no longer even kneel.

Just then, two figures appeared silently behind him.

A well-proportioned young man and a towering giant.

It was Wang Xian and Qin Chong.

They stood there, silently watching Wang Yuanshan's retreating figure.

Wang Xian's face was expressionless, but his gaze was complex.

He heard what they just said.

He heard every single word.

Sun Tianrui saw them, his expression changed, and he subconsciously wanted to speak up and remind Wang Yuanshan.

Wang Xian merely glanced at him calmly, her gaze devoid of any emotion.

Sun Tianrui instantly understood the meaning behind it. He shut his mouth and silently stepped aside.

Wang Yuanshan's breath grew weaker and weaker, like an oil lamp about to burn out.

His back was hunched, his head was bowed, and his scattered white hair obscured his face.

He was still reciting his last words intermittently, each sentence sounding like he was using up his last bit of strength.

Sun Tianrui stood to the side, listening silently without interrupting him.

The main hall was very quiet, so quiet that only Wang Yuanshan's faint breathing and those intermittent words could be heard.

Just after Wang Yuanshan finished giving his last words, Wang Xian spoke:

"I have granted your request."

Wang Yuanshan's body suddenly stiffened.

He knew that voice all too well!

Two years ago, he first heard this voice in the Bai family's underground warehouse.

At that time, the young master was a wounded and dying boy.

But those eyes were very bright.

The boy's brilliance made him feel that as long as he didn't die, he would definitely go far in the future.

He did indeed go very far later!

The number one genius of the Great Xia Dynasty, whom the Yan Emperor himself said had the bearing of an emperor, the future emperor, his young master!

But Wang Yuanshan did not turn around.

His body stiffened for a moment, then slowly relaxed.

A bitter laugh escaped from behind the stray strands of hair, hoarse and low, as if squeezed out of the last bit of strength from the chest: "Young Master... I'm so sorry..."

After saying that...

His breath completely dissipated.

That lamp, which had burned for nearly seventy years, finally went out.

His body leaned forward slightly, and then he slowly fell to the ground.

Wang Xian took a step forward, reached out and supported his shoulder, gently laying him flat on the ground.

He looked down at that aged face.

A bitter smile lingered on his face, his wrinkles deep, like a piece of paper that had been crumpled for too long.

Wang Xian watched for a while, then raised her head and closed her eyes.

His face was expressionless, but his lips were slightly pursed.

Qin Chong stood behind him without saying a word.

He knows the little fairy too well.

At times like these, silence is the best comfort.

Sun Tianrui remained silent, standing in the corner, looking at Wang Yuanshan on the ground, and then at the corpses lying haphazardly.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately he closed them.

I don't know how much time has passed.

Wang Xian opened her eyes.

He crouched down and carried Wang Yuanshan's body on his back.

The old man's body was very light, so light that it didn't seem like someone who had once supported an entire family.

Wang Xian turned around with her back to him, her gaze sweeping over the mess in the main hall.

Then he looked in the direction of the grand master's chair.

On the grand master's chair.

The little girl was still asleep, covered with the old coat that Wang Yuanshan had given her as a last cover.

Her small face was buried in the chair cushion, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, her breathing even and quiet.

She had no idea what was happening in reality.

All she remembers is that her grandfather was beside her while she was asleep!