Chapter 399: Demon Lord Junzhu's Slacking Daily Life Chapter 402: Consoling Yan Wang

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Protagonist:

Yan Qianqian

An Wang nodded again, expressing his approval of what Yan Wang had said.

Seeing this, Yan Wang took a deep breath and continued, "In this war, your son made a serious mistake." His voice was slightly low, revealing a trace of self-reproach.

Hearing this, An Wang finally raised his head, his gaze falling on Yan Wang, and asked, "What mistake?"

Yan Wang hesitated slightly, then mustered his courage and said, "Your son failed to have someone watch the suspect Lin Shu in time." His tone was filled with regret.

An Wang's eyebrows furrowed slightly, clearly somewhat surprised by this situation. He pressed further, "And then what happened?"

Yan Wang hurriedly explained, "Fortunately, in the end someone delivered Lin Shu to the military camp gate; otherwise this war probably would not have ended so quickly." He paused, then added, "I imagine it was Father King who sent someone to deliver him, right?"

An Wang did not deny it; he was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "For your first time on the battlefield, you actually did very well."

His words carried a hint of comfort and encouragement, "Worthy of being this An Wang's son."

However, Yan Wang did not feel relieved because of this; his face still bore a trace of guilt. He continued, "But if I had guessed earlier that Lin Shu was that traitor, guessed earlier that Nan Liang was preparing to attack those villages, more people could have been saved. And it wouldn't have come to so many villages being left with not a single person alive..."

Speaking here, his voice choked a little, "I'm still too useless."

An Wang looked at this son before him who resembled him the most, and a pang of heartache welled up in his heart unbidden.

He knew Yan Wang had always demanded a lot of himself; this oversight made him feel incomparably self-reproachful.

An Wang comforted softly, "Don't say that, Wang'er. The situation in war changes in an instant; no one can foresee everything. You've already done your best, and you're still young, with plenty of room to grow.

Sometimes, certain things are simply beyond our control; no matter how hard we try, the outcome often falls short of our wishes.

However, what we can do is do our utmost to protect more people. This is no easy task, because in this world, tragedies of innocent people dying miserably occur time and again.

But we must not therefore trap ourselves in sorrow and self-reproach, unable to extricate ourselves. After all, there are still more living people who need us to protect them.

Yan Wang had originally felt endless guilt over the miserable deaths of innocents, but after hearing An Wang's words, his state of mind suddenly became clear and open in an instant.

An Wang's words were like a bright light, piercing through the gloom in Yan Wang's heart, letting him see the other side of things.

Seeing Yan Wang's expression change, An Wang continued, "Go back and think carefully on my words; don't forget to attend the imperial banquet tonight." Yan Wang nodded, then silently exited the room.

On the way back, Yan Wang's thoughts kept circling around An Wang's words. He began to re-examine his own heart, pondering how to protect others while not letting those tragedies become his heart-devils.

Simultaneously, in Qianji Yuan, Hua Hua was respectfully reporting to Qianqian: "Reporting to Master, you have been out for quite a few days now. Over at the Dark Guard Camp, quite a few people have reached the time for promotion; when do you have time to go handle it?"

Qianqian considered slightly, then replied, "Let's set it for tomorrow morning; in the afternoon I still have to attend the imperial banquet." Hua Hua smiled and nodded, responding softly, "Yes, Master. This subordinate will go notify them now, so those promoting tomorrow can prepare in advance."

Qianqian nodded in satisfaction, indicating agreement. Seeing this, Hua Hua swiftly flashed away, her movements as light as a ghost; in the blink of an eye she vanished from sight.

Time flew; in a flash it was afternoon. Everyone finished washing up, changed into magnificent clothes, meticulously dressed up, then prepared to enter the palace for the banquet.

At An Wang Fu, An Wangfei led Yan Wang, Qianqian, and Shangguan Xingyu into the palace together. An Wangfei intended to let Shangguan Xingyu interact more with the noblewomen of the capital to broaden her horizons. As for Yan Shuang'er, her marriage was already settled, so naturally there was no need to bring her along.

Thus, An Wang and Yan Wang shared one carriage, while An Wangfei shared another with Qianqian and Shangguan Xingyu. The two carriages slowly set off, speeding toward the Imperial Palace.

Wheels rumbled, hooves clattered; pedestrians dodged left and right along the way. Before long, the carriages came to a steady stop before the Palace Gate.

An Wang and Yan Wang nimbly jumped down from the carriage; after steadying themselves, they turned to wait for those behind.

Qianqian lively hopped down from the carriage herself, then quickly walked to An Wangfei and Shangguan Xingyu's side, carefully supporting them down.

Especially when helping Shangguan Xingyu, Qianqian was doubly careful, as if cradling a priceless treasure in her hands, terrified that one slip would drop her little nephew on the ground.

Shangguan Xingyu couldn't help finding it a bit amusing; she said, "This sort of thing naturally has servants to handle; why go to the trouble yourself?"

However, Qianqian said unconcernedly, "I never quite trust servants to do things; it's more proper if I do it myself." Seeing Qianqian so insistent, Shangguan Xingyu said no more.

Afterward, the group entered the Banquet Hall slowly under the guidance of a leading eunuch. The hall was brightly lit, resplendent with gold and jade, magnificently grand.

Shangguan Xingyu looked around; she saw An Wang's seat was just below the Emperor's, and there was no special separation of men's and women's seating. After all, this banquet was nominally to welcome Yan Wang and the others back, but in reality it was also a victory celebration banquet.

Shangguan Xingyu's gaze quickly landed on a corner of the Banquet Hall; there, Qianqian had already arrived.

The moment she saw Qi Xi, she flew over like a happy little bird and immediately started playing with Qi Xi. As for Qi Yu, naturally he did not attend this banquet today.

However, Ai Jiao did come. When Ai Jiao was young, he especially liked playing with Qianqian and Qi Xi. Now that everyone has grown up, and Ai Jiao has long lived in the military camp, regarding matters between men and women he seems not quite enlightened.

So when he saw Qianqian and Qi Xi frolicking there, he unhesitatingly went up and joined their group.

Although Ai Jiao stood a head taller than Qianqian and Qi Xi, that tall, imposing figure gave people an inexplicable sense of security.

Even some aristocratic young masters, seeing Qianqian and Qi Xi so happy, wanted to come over and greet them, but upon seeing Ai Jiao they all hesitated and held back.