She Holds the World After Being Reborn-Chapter 576 - 575: You Might Not Beat Him Even When You’re Old
The next morning, as the eldest brother, Yan Li’an had already prepared the carriage and the necessary supplies for the journey.
"What is this?" When Yan Li’an saw the two exquisite brocade boxes in the maid’s hands, he stopped her.
The maid replied, "This is the eldest miss’s luggage."
Yan Li’an looked at the two boxes and slightly furrowed his brows, "Give them to me, I’ll put them away."
"Okay." The maid obediently handed the two brocade boxes to Yan Li’an.
Holding the palm-sized boxes in his arms, he said nothing and placed them in the carriage that Yan Wanqing would be riding in a short while.
Yan Wanqing and Yan Hongzhao came out together.
"I want to ride in the same carriage as sister," said Yan Hongzhao, who usually preferred riding horses but chose to ride in the carriage today.
"Okay," Yan Wanqing consented without hesitation.
In the carriage.
Yan Hongzhao leaned against Yan Wanqing listlessly, about to say something, when she saw their elder brother bending down to join them.
Yan Hongzhao was taken aback, "Big brother, aren’t you riding a horse?"
Yan Li’an, unruffled, sat down beside them, "Like you, I couldn’t be bothered to ride."
Yan Hongzhao, looking pitifully toward Yan Wanqing, hoped her sister would speak on her behalf.
Yan Wanqing, composed, had spent the most time with their elder brother Yan Li’an since they were young, both having been in the military camp even during their naïve years.
She offered a faint smile, looking at him, "What do you want to ask, brother?"
"Would you tell me whatever I ask?" Yan Li’an replied gently, their strikingly similar faces facing each other, silencing Yan Hongzhao instantly.
This atmosphere felt somewhat eerie...
The eerie atmosphere continued to spread.
Yan Wanqing smiled, "It depends on what brother asks."
"What I ask isn’t important, it’s whether you want to tell that matters," Yan Li’an stared unwaveringly at her.
Yan Wanqing fell silent.
After a long while, she sighed deeply.
She took out two brocade boxes from behind her and placed them on her lap.
"I didn’t intend to hide it from you. I was planning to tell you when we got back," she just felt that reunions were rare, and that it was hard for everyone to be together in such happy times, so she thought about revealing the matter after some time back home when the right moment came.
But she didn’t expect to see the two brocade boxes placed conspicuously as soon as she got in the carriage.
Yan Li’an asking about them was something she had anticipated.
"I know you’ve always had a mind of your own, but Yan Wanqing, it’s been three years since you’ve been away for three whole years. We can’t know how much suffering you’ve endured outside. Now that you’re back..." Yan Li’an paused, "could you perhaps try to trust your kin a little, trust us to be strong enough to handle it?"
He felt a tightness in his throat, "Father is gone, but your brother is still here. It’s not up to you to shoulder this family."
At his words, Yan Wanqing’s nose tingled sharply.
After her rebirth, she had habitually considered herself the pillar of the family. Now, her brother was telling her she didn’t need to be the pillar, that he was there for everything.
At that moment, Yan Hongzhao also embraced her arm, "Sister, Hongzhao has grown up too. Now Hongzhao can protect you." She was no longer the little girl who was clueless after their aunt died, now she had grown her own wings, strong enough to soar tens of thousands of miles.
"What exactly happened during those days you were taken by Xiao Pingfeng?" Yan Li’an asked sternly, his hands clenched into fists on his lap betraying his inner turmoil.
Yan Wanqing knew keeping silent any longer was pointless and finally disclosed the experiences she faced in the Dawei military camp.
"That beast!" Yan Li’an’s fists creaked ominously, his gaze darkening.
The noble eldest daughter of their Yan Family, who was supposed to be protected, had endured such humiliation at Xiao Pingfeng’s end.
"So you jumped into the river?" Even though Yan Wanqing was wearing a scarf around her neck, the tiny scratches on her cheeks still evidenced the various injuries on her body, all inflicted by tree branches in the river.
Yan Wanqing nodded, "I didn’t trust him, jumping into the river was my only choice at the time."
Even if it meant death, she wouldn’t choose to stay by that man’s side.
"Initially, mother had told me that the men of the Xiao Family prioritize power and profit, that they are born emperors, but then you were pregnant and spoke in his defense, so I didn’t interfere much. Now it appears, it was my negligence as an elder brother," Yan Li’an expressed his regret.
If he had stood up at that time and stopped Yan Wanqing from following him back to the capital, at least she could have been spared these three years of suffering, and Cong Ze might have been born full-term.
But in this world, there are not so many "ifs".
"I had no idea my sister had suffered so much," Yan Hongzhao’s eyes reddened as she spoke.
"What about these two brocade boxes?" she reached out to touch them.
"Here lies the reason I couldn’t trust him," Yan Wanqing’s voice was weary as she thought about the death of her uncle and Cong Ge, shutting her eyes in pain while tears streamed down her cheeks, "I failed to protect my uncle and Cong Ge, these are their ashes."
"What!"
"What?!"
Both Yan Li’an and Yan Hongzhao inside the carriage expressed their shock, disbelief evident in their eyes.
Yan Hongzhao’s fingertips began to tremble, her throat ached terribly as she stared at the brocade boxes.
"I couldn’t take away their bodies by myself, so I had to bring them home in this way," Yan Wanqing slowly said, looking at Yan Li’an, "Brother, you must know why uncle appeared in the Dawei military camp, was it because of... me?"
"No," Yan Li’an chose to conceal the truth.
With his response, Yan Hongzhao quickly looked towards him.
The reason Yan Jing went to seek Xiao Pingfeng is known to them all, but considering how much their sister had endured outside, he really could not bear to let her also take on the burden of her own uncle’s death at this moment.
"Hongzhao, you say!" Yan Wanqing clearly didn’t believe him and turned her head to ask Yan Hongzhao.
Yan Hongzhao instinctively lowered her head, "Sister, I don’t know. I have always been in the Imperial Family and am unaware of uncle’s affairs."
"You’re still recovering from typhoid fever, don’t be paranoid," Yan Li’an switched his angle, "Uncle must have just passed by the Dawei military camp and been captured by Xiao Pingfeng. He knew you were in Chu Kingdom and just wanted to use uncle’s safety to threaten you."
By now, Yan Wanqing must have completely forgotten the time she and Yan Jing nearly annihilated each other with swords.
But perhaps that’s for the best, it would save her further guilt.
Since Yan Jing had died, he would personally go and settle accounts with Xiao Pingfeng!
The corners of Yan Wanqing’s eyes became bloodshot, "Really?"
Yan Li’an sighed deeply, "When have I ever lied to you?"
This time, Yan Wanqing chose to believe him.
"Xiao Pingfeng, Chu Qi, and Liao Cuihua who killed Cong Ge, none shall escape. I will make sure they pay the price," Yan Wanqing clutched the brocade box tightly, her fingertips turning white as she made a resolute vow, "If I, Yan Wanqing, cannot avenge them, then I shall not be considered human! May I be struck by lightning and die a terrible death!"
Yan Hongzhao looked on anxiously.
She did not want to see her sister engulfed by hatred again.
Back when the former Emperor died, her sister’s constant worrying almost broke her health.
"No one try to persuade me, my mind is made up!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Li’an frowned, his first sharp and cold rebuke after getting into the carriage, "It seems to me, it’s not about whether you should die, but rather, you think we are all already dead!"
"Brother, why would you say that!" Yan Wanqing was shocked.
"If we’re all dead, how is this vengeance yours alone?" Yan Li’an’s tone was chillingly cold, "Yan Wanqing, why don’t you change your surname to Vengeance and live forever entangled with it?"
Yan Wanqing: "..."
"Skin and bones with barely two ounces of meat on you, yet you’re clamoring to take revenge. Have you even sized up how you compare to Xiao Pingfeng?"
If Yan Li’an cursed someone, no one in the Yan Family dared to utter a word.
Yan Hongzhao wished she could open a hole in the carriage floor and drop through; the tension was making her scalp numb.
Faced with Yan Li’an’s blunt humiliation, Yan Wanqing dared not utter a word. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
"Speak!" But Yan Li’an was not willing to let her off.
Yan Wanqing’s throat tightened, "I can practice more."
"Even if you train until you’re an old lady, you’re unlikely to be his match," the second wave of merciless mocking came from her brother.
Yan Wanqing became defiant, "Then I’ll have Xiaoliu poison him." If she couldn’t beat him, she’d play dirty.
