Chapter 416 - Chapter 416: Chapter 423: What Happened? (2/2)

Su Wenyue candidly shared the current predicament of their family and her decision with Brother Xing, partly to test him. After all, Brother Xing was the Eldest son and was expected to take on all future responsibilities of the family. It would have been manageable if they were just an ordinary family, but Han Yu’s future achievements were sure to lead the Han Family into turbulence. Consequently, the expectations for Brother Xing were even higher.

Brother Xing wasn’t surprised by Su Wenyue’s words; he had experienced the same events in his previous life. Although there were many changes, the major movements still followed the original track. However, in his previous life, both Mother and he had been uninvolved, while Dad had continued to struggle in the military camp. In this life, Dad’s status was significantly higher, having already become a prominent general; Brother Xing was aware of Dad’s ambitions and knew they couldn’t avoid these matters.

“Mother, I want to stay with you and Dad!” Brother Xing declared firmly without hesitation. Yet considering his younger brother and sister, he said, “I’m definitely not leaving, but the younger siblings are still small. If Mother fears they can’t endure hardship, maybe you could send them to Zhuangzi, entrust them to a few loyal Servants to look after them, and bring them back when things are more settled?”

Brother Xing had resolved his position—having finally found such a happy home with loving parents, he would not leave under any circumstances. Besides, things had not escalated to a point where leaving was his only option.

“Mother has already decided that all of you will stay. Not just you, but Brother Chen and Sister Yu will stay as well. Although staying with Father and Mother will make your lives harder, enduring hardships is the road to becoming a man of substance. Besides, it isn’t that dangerous just yet. Father and Mother are quite confident they can ensure your safety, and if things ever become truly dangerous, then we can consider sending you away,” she explained.

Su Wenyue’s words reflected only part of her thoughts. There’s no such thing as absolute safety in this world. While the Zhuangzi arranged by Han Yu was secretive, an increasing number of people were now aware of its location. Any hint of it could eventually lead people to discover it. Zhuangzi’s advantage lay in its concealment, but its defense and resistance capabilities were significantly weak. If discovered, the consequences were imaginable.

Su Wenyue’s considerations were not unfounded—in fact, such events had occurred in her previous life. Not everyone fights fair and square on the Battlefield with capability and strength. Some who cannot win openly would resort to sneaky tactics, sending assassins against the families of opposing generals, taking them hostage or using them as leverage. If leverage didn’t work, they might kill them out of spite. Su Wenyue had heard of several such incidents.

Seeing Su Wenyue had no intention of sending him away, Brother Xing was content. For him, hardship was nothing to fear. Having grown up in the Village and experiencing harsh conditions, even with the protection of Grandpa and Grandma, he still endured much suffering, let alone his later experiences in military camps, starting from the bottom without relying on his Dad’s Status and working his way up, not to mention the later events… for him, these hardships were truly insignificant.

“Don’t worry, Mother. I will take good care of the younger brother and sister; you won’t need to be distracted,” Brother Xing assured, knowing at his young age he couldn’t offer much help. Taking care of his siblings was the only thing he could do well to alleviate Father and Mother’s worries.

“Brother Xing is such a good boy, with you here, Mother really has less to worry about,” Su Wenyue affirmed, feeling even more certain about many things through Brother Xing’s responses. Regardless, in her eyes, Brother Xing would always be her son, and that was more than enough.

Since she had decided to keep the children with Han Yu, Su Wenyue was mentally prepared for the dangers that would follow and had made considerable arrangements. Of course, these measures were taken privately, though she and Han Yu were well aware of what was to come.