Chapter 520: Passing
Editor: Atlas Studios
Yan Du knelt in front of Grand Tutor Yan’s bed and kowtowed. He cried, “Father, you’re making the Yan family bear the infamy for eternity.”
Grand Tutor Yan’s chest heaved up and down rapidly before calming down. After finally calming down, he turned to look at Yan Du and said stubbornly, “Go get the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.”
Yan Du bit his lip and knelt on the ground. Grand Tutor Yan pointed at him angrily and shouted, “Even you don’t listen to me?”
“Father, if you want the entire Yan family to be buried with you, even if I have grievances in my heart, I definitely won’t dare to refute you. I’ll be the first to drink the poisoned wine. But… but you mustn’t submit this memorial. Even if you chop me, I can’t let you write this memorial. Else, I wouldn’t dare to go down and meet my ancestors or Emperor Shizong!” Yan Du lamented. His head hit the ground with a bang, and blood slid down his forehead and face.
Grand Tutor Yan spat out a mouthful of blood and pointed at his son, unable to say anything. After a while, he clutched his chest and panted. “Do you think that I am willing to bear such infamy? Do you think that I want to push the Yan Family into a bottomless abyss? I was the one who helped Emperor Jingyan ascend the throne…”
“But this kingdom belongs to the Guos, not the Yans.” Yan Du roared, “If he had listened to Father earlier, the Great Zhou wouldn’t have ended up like this. It’s only now that he wants to take your advice and asks you to take responsibility. What had he been doing in the past 20 years?”
Grand Tutor Yan’s gaze was obscure. Yan Du returned his father’s gaze fearlessly and knelt on the ground firmly without flinching.
Grand Tutor Yan sighed. “If the peace talks succeed, the Great Zhou Dynasty can continue…”
Yan Du laughed mockingly. “It’d just be struggling on its last breath.”
“As long as there’s life, there’s a possibility of rising again.” Grand Tutor Yan’s voice was almost inaudible. “The Emperor is old, and the princes are also old. You must keep your eyes open and not follow my old path…”
Yan Du’s tears flowed down immediately. “Father, if we lose half of the remaining half of the empire, how much of the Great Zhou will be left? If we can’t protect the Great Zhou, the Yan family will really have to bear the infamy of betraying the country for generations. I don’t dare to take the gamble. Moreover, among the princes, who do you think can turn the tide? Might as well, might as well…” Might as well let the people rebel. Perhaps they could protect the Han family’s empire and not let it fall into the hands of the Hus.
Yan Du swallowed his last sentence, but his meaning was obvious.
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Grand Tutor Yan opened his eyes and stared at the tent without saying anything. That night, the father and son could not convince each other.
Lady Yan was pacing around anxiously outside. When she saw her son, Yan Fu, sitting on the steps in a daze and not moving, she said angrily, “What’s wrong with you guys? Tell me, don’t make me anxious. Your father and grandfather are talking inside. Why are you sitting there without moving?”
Yan Fu lowered his eyes and laughed self-deprecatingly. When Mrs. Yan saw this, she slapped him angrily. “What’s wrong with the three of you?”
Yan Fu laughed out loud as tears welled up in his eyes. He looked at his mother steadily and said, “Mother, in a few days, the Yan family will no longer be the role model of the scholars.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Lady Yan was shocked and shouted, “Our Yan family exercises very strict discipline and never does anything illegal. If you dare to spout nonsense again, I’ll ask your father to punish you.”
“Whatever.” Yan Fu stood up and walked out. “You should also persuade Father to stop kneeling and kowtowing. He’d just be wasting his efforts. No one can persuade Grandfather once he has made up his mind.”
Yan Fu staggered out, laughing heartily as he said, “My Yan family is a great family of literary and cultural tradition…”
Bad news came back to Lin’an City one after another. Other than the northern side, where General Yuan and Qi Xiuyuan defended the defensive line with some winning and some losing, bad news came from other places. Territories were being lost every day, making the officials’ expressions become more and more serious. They no longer smiled. Even the families of the officials fell silent as they waited for news from the front line in fear.
Qi Haoran had already led his troops out of the city to Longxing Prefecture.
Yan Du applied for leave to attend to his father’s illness at home. Yan Fu simply skipped work without applying for leave, which surprised his superiors and colleagues.
That was because Yan Fu was a promising and hardworking young man who rarely took leave, let alone skip work like this. However, when they thought about how the Emperor had been sending imperial physicians to the Yan family for the past few days, everyone just assumed that Grand Tutor Yan was really not doing well.
As the saying went ‘It never rains but it pours’. Losing a statesman of the three dynasties at such a critical moment was, likewise, a huge blow to the Great Zhou.
At this moment, at the Yan residence.
Grand Tutor Yan lay weakly on the bed. Looking seriously at his eldest son and eldest grandson kneeling below, he said after a while, “Take this as my last wish.”
Yan Du slumped to the ground and asked with red eyes, “Father, aren’t you going to think about the Yan family?”
“Since ancient times, it’s been difficult to be both loyal and filial. Just treat me as an unfilial person. Bring me the brush and ink.”
Yan Fu looked up and said, “Grandpa, you are only being loyal to Emperor Jingyan, not to Great Zhou or this country.”
“Shut up.” Grand Tutor Yan’s face flushed red. He said angrily, “Bring me the brush and ink.”
Yan Du kowtowed to him deeply. In the end, filial piety overcame the family responsibilities in his heart. He got up, took the brush, ink, and paper, and set up a short table on the bed.
Yan Fu knelt from the beginning to the end and looked at his grandfather and father with red eyes.
Grand Tutor Yan’s hand trembled slightly, but he still picked up the pen and placed it on the paper. He wanted to write two memorials and a letter.
One letter advocated peace talks with the Jin Kingdom of West Xia, stating the pros and cons. The other letter wrote down the terms of the peace talks one by one. Although he agreed to the peace talks, he did not want to leave the conditions to Emperor Jingyan. He was afraid that the Great Zhou would really collapse after this.
What troubled Grand Tutor Yan the most was the letter to General Yuan.
He knew and understood General Yuan’s aspirations. This was because General Yuan was half a student of his. Recovering lost land was also his dream. Even in his dreams, he wanted to take back his homeland. He had always thought that one day, General Yuan would realize this dream for him. Therefore, he had protected him in the Imperial Court and tried his best to support him.
But now, he had to convince General Yuan to agree to the peace talks. Grand Tutor Yan felt that this was much harder to pen than the first two memorials.
Just like how Grand Tutor Yan understood General Yuan’s aspirations, he also understood General Yuan’s stubbornness. In some aspects, he was as stubborn as an ox. Even if he was whipped until his skin and flesh were lacerated, he would never look back.
As Grand Tutor Yan had been thinking about these things for the past three days, he wrote very quickly and finished writing in less than two hours.
With the last stroke, he collapsed on the bed as if all the strength in his body had been drained. Yan Du was shocked. “Father!”
Yan Du climbed onto the bed in a panic to support his father. Yan Fu also rolled up and hugged Grand Tutor Yan’s arm. Even if Yan Du and Yan Fu were angry with him, this person was still their father/grandfather who had raised them since they were young. How could they only have resentment towards him?
Grand Tutor Yan’s breathing quickened. He grabbed Yan Du’s hand tightly and said, “Father has let you down, but, but I have no choice. Y—you help me hand it over. If you don’t want to be an official anymore, you can resign and go back. It’s also good to be a squire or something…”
Grand Tutor Yan loosened his grip on Yan Du’s hand and slowly closed his eyes, his chest no longer heaving…
“Father!”
“Grandfather!” Yan Fu hugged his grandfather’s body and shouted, “Where’s the imperial doctor? Quickly call for the imperial doctor!”
Yan Du hugged his father and sobbed like a child, crying out in grief and indignation. The imperial physicians who came in touched Grand Tutor Yan’s pulse and shook their heads regretfully.