Goatfolk

"Father Emperor is dead. The imperial family has scattered. Those who followed me are either dead or gone."

"I am nothing now—not a prince, not a general. What can I do if I go back? Add to the council's troubles?"

Li Xuangang listened without interrupting him.

Only after Zhou Chen had finished did he slowly speak. "Your father emperor's death was not your fault."

Zhou Chen's body trembled slightly.

"By the end of that war, everyone could see that the tide had turned." Li Xuangang's voice was soft.

"Your father emperor chose suicide not because of your defeat, but because his era had ended. The Great Liang imperial family had ruled for six hundred years. By his generation, they were already a spent arrow at the end of its flight. Even without the Federation's intervention, this outcome would have come sooner or later."

He paused, and his tone became gentler.

"Your father emperor was a wise man. He saw things clearly. That was why he told you to leave—not because you had lost, but because he hoped the Great Liang imperial family could retain at least a trace of its bloodline. You were his final hope, not the reason for his failure."

Zhou Chen lowered his head and said nothing.

His shoulders trembled faintly, as though he were desperately suppressing something.

Another oil lamp in the hall went out, and the light grew dimmer still.

Li Xuangang said nothing more. He simply sat quietly and waited.

He knew that what this young man needed was not reason, but time.

After a long while, Zhou Chen finally raised his head. His eyes were slightly red, but he did not cry.

"National Preceptor, I will leave this place. Leave Great Liang," Zhou Chen said. "This world is vast. There are many other