Chapter 110: Chapter 92 Li Hao’s Request [Additional Update for ‘Lone Star · Soul’ Alliance Hierarch]_2
“As a scion of a military family, you should understand this point.”
“I understand!”
Li Hao spoke up, looking seriously at his father in front of him, “Concerning this point, I have never blamed you, never!”
“I can attest to that.”
Li Fu, who had been listening with hands down inside the pavilion, interjected.
He looked at Li Hao, with eyes full of pity and reluctance, and said to Li Tian Gang:
“My lord, when the young master suffered an assassination attempt, you sent me back to the mansion for protection. I asked the young master, but not only did he not blame you, he was also concerned whether you might be in danger in Northern Yan.”
“He… really never blamed you.”
Hearing Li Fu’s words, Yu Xuan, standing like a guard on the other side, was also stunned.
He looked towards the earnest and stubborn young man, and suddenly felt an indescribable emotion in his heart.
He was an orphan; he could understand that feeling.
Abandoned at birth and raised in the military camp, at the age of four or five, every time he saw other children with parents to accompany them, playing and laughing, he felt bitter inside.
Envy, resentment, anger.
He had questioned the dark air countless times in the night, why were they so heartless to abandon me?
If you weren’t going to raise me, then why did you give birth to me?
This anger only faded as he grew older because he considered that perhaps those parents he had never met had some compelling difficulties.
And now, the boy before him, born and separated from the marshal and his wife, was at this age — where he thought he would also be full of resentment like himself — but was able to understand?
How old was he?
Looking at the young man’s slender figure, Yu Xuan felt as if something was flowing out of his heart.
He suddenly realized that this was the first time he truly understood the young master.
Hearing Li Fu’s words, Li Tian Gang was taken aback.
Looking at Li Hao’s particularly serious gaze, he knew Li Hao wasn’t lying, and with Li Fu’s testimony, he suddenly felt a twinge at the tip of his nose.
But he never cried easily. He took a deep breath and pushed down the sourness in his nose. He quickly thought of Li Hao’s earlier attitude and asked:
“Then, do you have any resentment in your heart?”
“Yes.”
Li Hao still answered seriously, not hiding anything.
All three were startled; they had just felt that Li Hao was not lying, but this statement immediately contradicted what came before.
Li Hao took a deep breath and gazed intently at him.
“My resentment isn’t that you didn’t come back, but that there have been many times when the military reports were sent back. I’ve counted, a total of twenty-four, nearly two every year!”
“But in these fourteen years, you only sent back seven letters!”
Li Hao, after all, was not of a mere boyish temperament. If he were just a simple fourteen-year-old boy, he might have kept these thoughts to himself and been a bit petulant.
But he chose to speak directly, perhaps only in this way there was a possibility of easing the relationship with this father:
“Every time the military reports were delivered to Eternal Spring Court, I would go to look. I was waiting, hoping that a family letter would be sent back with them, but I was disappointed seventeen times!”
“Those seventeen times, the matron fabricated seventeen letters to comfort me. She thought I didn’t know, but I could tell immediately.”
“I don’t need you to hurry back thousands of miles just to give me a fleeting glance, but I don’t understand, I can’t understand, why when you could clearly write letters back, you wouldn’t take the opportunity to send a family letter as well.”
“Aren’t you at all curious about how your own son is living? Whether he has learned how to brush his teeth, whether he’s been bullied, whether he’s been wronged, whether he’s unhappy?”
As Li Hao spoke to this point, the accumulation of resentment in his eyes involuntarily showed itself.
His body, after all, was carrying the blood of the man before him; he regarded him as his father.
Fourteen years of absence doesn’t necessarily mean a deep bond, but one will inevitably feel disappointment and loss.
As Li Hao finished speaking, each word by word, all three were stunned.
Li Fu watched Li Hao blankly, his body trembling slightly.
All these years, he had been by Li Hao’s side, and he could see the look in the first wife’s eyes and her complexion, naturally knowing it was made up on the spot.
But, he had never expected that Li Hao, at such a young age, would notice it, too.
Yet each time Li Hao listened, he would run back cheerfully.
Was it all an act?
Did he not want to let down the first wife’s good intentions?
Clamping his teeth slightly, this man, who galloped through battlefields shedding blood but not tears, now felt an urge to cry.
Li Tian Gang and Yu Xuan both stared at Li Hao dumbfounded, their eyes quickly filling with complexity. Li Tian Gang was at a loss for words; facing what Li Hao had said, he suddenly realized he couldn’t find any excuse.
He wanted to say the war at the Frontier Pass was urgent and incessant, leaving him no room for distraction.
But was that really an excuse?
He could no longer say it.
Was the situation so urgent that not even the time to write a letter home could be spared?
He could send military reports but couldn’t add a letter for his family?
The only reason he could think of was he truly neglected this son.
When did it start?
He could not recall; perhaps, after learning Li Hao couldn’t achieve Foundation Establishment and Blood Melting, his mind had gradually shifted entirely to the battleground.
Or, maybe the frequent warfare had indeed exhausted him so much that he couldn’t spare the attention.
Even at the bottom of his heart, another reason emerged: that he had so little interaction with this son and had left soon after Li Hao’s birth, to the extent that he did not accustomed himself to having this son.
But…could he really voice such thoughts, as a father, could he?
The most terrifying aspect was his vague recollection of those seven letters, which often seemed to require his wife’s reminder before he thought of them…
At this moment, Li Tian Gang’s face was somewhat pale and unsightly; for the first time, he realized how invincible he might be on the battlefield, yet, as a father, he had failed tremendously.
“Hao Er…”
Li Tian Gang looked at the youth before him; his eyes were clear yet serious.
Feeling a sourness in his heart and scarcely daring to meet his gaze, he pulled Li Hao into his embrace, his voice slightly hoarse, “I’m sorry, I’ve wronged you!”
Hearing his father’s murmurs next to his ear, Li Hao’s unfluctuating heart softened slightly.
He sighed silently. What good is an apology?
Some things are beyond repair.
Nevertheless, he inwardly consoled himself, let it be.
After all, many things go through a process.
He was willing to accept the apology, yet he would always feel a sense of regret. Perhaps that’s what life is?
Li Fu and Yu Xuan, witnessing this scene, remained speechless, their hearts aching for Li Hao’s cleverness and understanding, regretting that in addition to the countless soldiers who died or were injured in the conflicts of the borderlands, a child thousands of miles away was also hurt.
After a long while.
Li Tian Gang gradually composed himself and collected his emotions. Taking a deep breath, he said to Li Hao:
“I will compensate you for the fourteen years I missed!”
“From now on, whatever you want, I will see to it that you have it!”
Feeling a sense of relief, Li Hao responded immediately, “Then, I hope to have more freedom.”