Published: March 4, 2025
Chapter 84: As Long as You Can, I Will Give
"I thought he regretted it, but later I realized it wasn't the case." Tie Butian's voice was very soft, as light as a murmur in a dream: "At that time, I couldn't understand. He personally killed my mother, personally ordered the deaths of my sisters, so why cry? Feeling distressed is deserved!"
"I still hate him to this day! But after all these years, especially as I grew more mature, I found I couldn't hate him anymore." Tie Butian kept his hands behind his back, allowing tears to flow slowly down his face, with a complex expression in his eyes.
"It wasn't until the past few years that I began to understand how much suffering my father had in his heart. As a father, how much did he endure? As a man, how much did he bear? And as a king, he endured... even more!"
Tie Butian took a long breath: "And I, under the high pressure from my uncle, learned things; countless times, I learned until I broke down and cried loudly. Then my uncle would wake me up again and again with a whip and a fist... It went on like this, and later, not only did I have to learn things, but I also had to learn cunning, tactics, martial arts, and the emperor's mind techniques. My uncle engraved my father's words on my desk, hung them in my bedroom, and placed them everywhere I went. Before every meal, I had to recite this sentence..."
"My uncle fought in battles, strategized, and made decisive victories from afar; he controlled the national political and military power. At that time, he was busier than ever, so busy that he didn't even have time to talk to me, but every day he would ask my teachers what I learned. And what awaited me was a severe beating; it seemed he would never be satisfied..."
"I finally dared not to slack off." A gurgling sound came from Tie Butian's throat, as if he was swallowing something: "I hated my father, I hated my uncle, but one day I saw my uncle dyeing his hair with the juice of the Dark Demon flower. He was only thirty-two then, and my uncle was known throughout Iron Cloud as a handsome man. But since my father fell ill, my uncle's white hair began to emerge one by one; by the end, it was more than his black hair, and my uncle had to dye it every so often."
"At that time, I looked down on him. Why would an old man dye his hair black? But later I understood that with my father ill and me still young, my uncle was the pillar of the entire Iron Cloud Nation! His health was the greatest hope for Iron Cloud! If the soldiers found out he had a head full of white hair, the blow to their morale would be unprecedented!"
"My uncle was full of vigor every day on the battlefield and in the training grounds; he walked with a commanding presence, and a shout could make hundreds of thousands of troops hear and tremble. But every night when he returned home, his legs felt as if they couldn’t lift anymore! Even speaking was exhausting, and his hands and feet trembled when he ate... He was a martial sovereign expert then! Yet he was that exhausted every day..."
"After I finally understood the pain and hardships of my father and uncle, I began to immerse myself in learning. Every battle my uncle fought with Diwu Qingrou, he would come back and rehearse it with me dozens of times! Finally, three years ago, I started to grasp military and political affairs, embarking on my true life as the crown prince. At that time, I realized that before this, all decisions were made in my name by my uncle. The entire Iron Cloud Nation, even the whole world, knew that Iron Cloud had a natural king! Iron Cloud was filled with hope!"
"No one knows how this natural king has come this far over the years. Where in the world is there a natural king? The path of a king is so cruel!" Tie Butian's voice turned sorrowful and mocking.
"When I first took charge of the power, I couldn't grasp anything; my uncle seemed like a god, standing in the court every day. Anyone who disobeyed or questioned would be dragged out and executed. At that time, my uncle was more tyrannical than a tyrant; but when I could truly grasp Iron Cloud, my uncle no longer appeared in the court."