816 Nan Shu Cheng’s Original End

As long as they could be given a chance, they could also use the knowledge to return.

That was their hope.

Emperor Yang Zhou didn't mind letting them return if they were useful. But all in all, this matter would fall into his subordinate's hand while he was watching from the back. There were simply too many people and Emperor Yang Zhou couldn't possibly watch all of them one by one.

He was not that idle.

He looked at Long Qian Xing. "Do you want to take care of that little girl?"

"She had already suffered a lot in Hua'er hands. I don't need to add more. And with the reputation she currently had along with that kind of face, I don't think that her life will be easy from now on."

For women in this era, what they needed the most was a face, reputation, and some art related skills. Since Nan Xin had lost two of them, Long Qian Xing doubted that she would be able to live that well.

He was not entirely clear about women's affairs, but he still heard about it from time to time from his grandmother. After all, she would lecture him about anything that was related to Nan Hua and have him keep it inside his mind.

Nan Hua would be a bit affected by this reputation because she had Nan Shu Cheng as her father, but it wouldn't be that much. After all, Great General Nan had already exchanged his noble title for their lives and allowed them all to live.

And with time, this matter would slowly pass with no one talking about this matter anymore.

"I see."

"You don't sound surprised."

"I think you don't think that little girl is your enemy or anything because she barely did anything harmful. At most, she only says a few words and then gets beaten at her own game." Emperor Yang Zhou yawned and lowered his head. He had heard about the few dramas that occurred but was too lazy to care for them.

The women in the harem were busy with their game and he was not interested in getting involved. Even though most of the time he would be the subject of their battle, he could barely remember many of them.

There were only a handful of these women that he remembered.

And some of them were remembered because their natal family was powerful and he had to maintain good relationships with them.

It was annoying.

He rubbed his forehead.

"I still have a lot to take care of. You… take care of the military side. Some of them have some soldiers and so on. They need to be screened before being assigned to other military units. I don't want to have rebels inside the army."

"Alright, alright. I'll do that."

"Good."

…

<Old Master Nan and Nan Hua's Carriage>

Nan Hua entered the carriage with her grandfather. She could see how much her grandfather was troubled over this matter.

While she had no feelings whatsoever for her so called blood related father, the same couldn't be said for Old Master Nan. Old Master Nan watched Nan Shu Cheng grew up and spent countless amount of time with his son, guiding him, playing with him, teaching him, and others.

It was impossible to offset the time that they had spent together so easily.

However, Old Master Nan still knew the boundaries. He would not let such a matter affect him for a long period of time. He would need some time alone to come into terms with his feelings, but after that, he would return to normal.

Old Master Nan was not a stranger when it came to the feeling of losing someone.

He had already lost many of his comrades in the past.

There were even traitors within his own army when he was young whom he used to trust and eventually executed.

And his son was also the same.

A stupid person who lets himself be used by others.

"Hua'er," Old Master Nan suddenly called out.

Nan Hua raised her head and looked at her grandfather. While she didn't care for Nan Shu Cheng, she cared for her grandfather who had been accompanying her for a long period of time. He's the person who kept on showering her with warmth, making it impossible for her not to care for him in the slightest bit.

"Yes, Grandfather."

"Do you think I'm letting him off easily?" Old Master Nan looked at his granddaughter in front of him.

He knew that Nan Hua lost most of her memories in Nan Shu Cheng's Resideence. But it didn't mean what had happened could be erased just like that. The emotional, physical, and mental abuse she had suffered would not disappear just like that.

When the memory returned, would she feel more pain again?

Old Master Nan didn't want his granddaughter to get hurt.

Not at all.

It was also because of this that he decided to abandon his own son. If not because of the promise he had made to his wife, he might have been the one to abandon his own son many years earlier.

It was just that…

When he looked at Nan Shu Cheng again, he couldn't help but reminded of the days of his youth.

The days when he first heard of his wife's pregnancy.

The days when he was waiting for his son's arrival anxiously.

The happiness he felt when his son was born.

The days he spent teaching the little brat to speak, walk, and others.

The days he spent playing together with his young son.

And many others.

Those days just flashed within his eyes, making him wavered for a moment. No matter what was said, it could not erase the fact that the other party is his son, a person whom he had watched growing up personally.

Would a father not care for their son?

While there might be some people who didn't care for their children, Old Master Nan couldn't be like that.

He cared for his children very much. So much that he still felt heartache even though the other party had hurt him so much.

It was hard for him not to care.

Death is a somewhat light punishment. They would not feel any pain and just leave like that.

But with death, they would never have a chance to do anything in the world or affecting other people anymore. As time passed, they would be forgotten in the passage of time.

No one would remember him anymore.

It was as if he had never existed in the first place.

Old Master Nan knew that letting his son just died was letting him off easily. But asking him to watch his own son suffered… his old heart really couldn't take it.

The punishment for traitors was death.

But it was not impossible for Old Master Nan to plead for leniency and changed it to lifetime of exile or prison.

Old Master Nan knew that.

And Nan Hua naturally also knew that.

"No, you're not, Grandfather." Nan Hua looked at her grandfather and shook her head. "He will never change no matter how much chance given to him. If he's being used by others again, how many people's life will be affected?"

Old Master Nan looked at his granddaughter and knew that she was consoling him.

However, Nan Hua was actually saying the truth.

In the original story, Nan Hua was hell bent on making her father suffer and imprisoned him in the prison. He suffered from countless torture and Nan Hua also watched as her own father rot in prison.

But her cruel action actually incited riot.

Countless people would stand up for Nan Shu Cheng because they felt that no matter how inhuman he used to be, he didn't deserve this kind of inhuman torture. In the end, countless people died in that riot, including Nan Shu Cheng.

Nan Hua was not kind.

But she didn't want to be used by others and allowed many people to die because of Nan Shu Cheng's matter.

Thus, Nan Hua never spoke up about asking for leniency.

Because she knew that if she didn't speak up about it, her grandfather would also not mention it.

Even if the reason why he didn't mention it was different, Nan Hua didn't mind.

"You don't have to say it like that, Hua'er." Old Master Nan raised his hand and patted Nan Hua's head.

He didn't ask for leniency because he was tired. Tired of looking at his son and knew that this useless son of his would never be able to change no matter what. He was already doomed on this path and even if he had regrets, would it be possible to change his worldview like flipping one's hand?

It was impossible.

Thus, it was Old Master Nan's last mercy to let his son died in regret. At the very least, at this point of time, Nan Shu Cheng still knew what his mistake are.