The mere act of sitting up took the Commander a great deal of effort and was accompanied by the sound of his labored breathing.

Once his breathing had steadied and he was settled, he looked up at Yan Qing before him.

“Yan Qing, I suspect my time has come. This household and Huai Meng—I will have to trouble you to look after them from now on.”

“Commander, that is my duty,” Yan Qing said at once. “Managing the inner household, caring for Mother—I will do everything in my power to do it well.”

The Commander nodded. ‘You are a good child. For Xing Zhi to have married you is his fortune, and the fortune of our Shi Family as well. I am grateful now that after Shi Guang broke the engagement with you, Xing Zhi was still able to bring you into our household. Looking back, that was the wisest decision our Shi Family ever made.’

“Being married to Shi Ting is my good fortune as well,” Yan Qing said with a gentle smile.

The Commander spoke: “When I first agreed to your marriage, I was thinking only of interests. In the days since, I have reflected on many things, and I have had many regrets. When they were all children, I was occupied with affairs of state—the time I came home each day was scarce, let alone spending time with them. Even asking about them was more than I could spare. Shi Guang once reproached me, saying that other children could call their fathers Father, but because they feared me, his siblings had called me Commander since they were small—and that title, without his knowing it, had pushed them further and further from my side.”

The Commander reached this point and could not suppress a cough, his face draining instantly to a ghastly pallor.

Luo Huaimeng quickly fetched a cup of warm water and personally held it to his lips.

“Commander, say no more,” Luo Huaimeng said, her voice pained and anxious. “These old matters—let us not speak of them any further. You need rest now; you must not exhaust yourself.”

The Commander shook his head, and when his breathing had calmed, he continued: ‘These words I should have spoken to my children. But Shi Qian has died in a foreign land, Shi Guang has fallen at the execution ground, Shi Ting is far away leading the army in battle, and Shi Yuan has vanished without a trace since being driven from the Shi household. As for Shi Yutong—she has set her heart on entering a temple to practice her faith.’

Mentioning these several children of the Shi family, Luo Huaimeng too let out a long sigh.

“Jing’er is still young—I will have to trouble you to look after her well. San Yitai had her ambitions once, but now she only wishes to raise Jing’er and will not stir up trouble. Even if she harbors some ill intent, you are already the Madam of the Shi Mansion, with Yan Qing to support you—there is nothing to fear.”

Hearing the Commander’s concern for her, Luo Huaimeng’s eyes stung and tears began to fall.

“When Jing’er is grown, be sure to have her learn well from her Seventh Brother—let her become a person of use to the world.” The Commander sighed. “In truth, what I want most is to see the child of Yan Qing and Shi Ting born—but I no longer have that blessing. Even so, I have already chosen a name for the child, to leave as my gift when we meet for the first time. When the child grows up, you may tell him: your name was chosen by your grandfather. If he asks what sort of man his grandfather was, tell him he was a man who succeeded in his career and failed in his family—and so, do not follow his example. A successful man must tend to both sides, not sacrifice one for the other.”

The Commander’s gaze seemed to drift far away in an instant. ‘If when they were small I had guided them with patience and care, rather than always placing my own interests first, and helped them grow into upright and compassionate people—Shi Qian and Shi Guang would not have died, the brothers would not have turned on each other, and the household would not have fallen to infighting.’

He said: ‘Everything that happened was because I, as their father, failed to do my duty.’

He said: ‘I gained a realm, but lost what mattered more. A realm is cold and indifferent—sooner or later it seeks another master. But family is eternal and singular.’

Yet it was too late to regret this now. He could only place his hopes in the next generation—hoping that Shi Ting would be a good father, capable of changing the character of the Shi household.

He did not expect the rivers and mountains of Bei Di to remain in the Shi family’s hands forever. What he hoped was that the Shi descendants would live in harmony across every generation, and never turn upon each other.

“Yan Qing, I entrust this to you.” The Commander’s voice was barely a thread wrung from his throat.

Shi Ting would be a good father—and Yan Qing as a mother was even more important. He was thankful she was not the former Madam of the house, nor Qian Lan. She would certainly manage this household with steady care and raise the Shi family’s descendants to be each and every one of them capable.

At this thought, the Commander felt a quiet peace.

The future of the Shi Family rests with you all.

“Commander!” Luo Huaimeng’s voice sharpened with a raw, keening edge. “Commander!!”

She rushed forward and seized the Commander’s hand, pressing it against her face, crying his name again and again in a voice that was nearly a scream.

“Commander… Jin Rong!” Luo Huaimeng called out the Commander’s given name, tears spilling freely down her face. “Jin Rong, wake up—Jin Rong, please wake up.”

Yan Qing’s eyes reddened. She gestured for Xiang Xiu to go and gently separate Luo Huaimeng, but Luo Huaimeng clung to the Commander and would not let go, her cries rising louder and louder.

“Young Mistress.” Xiang Xiu dared not pull her away forcibly and could only look to Yan Qing for help.

Yan Qing stepped forward and placed her fingers on the Commander’s wrist to feel his pulse, then shook her head quietly.

“Mother, the Commander has gone. Let him leave in peace.”