"Master." The old butler's voice came from behind him. "About the young lady..."
"Let her stay in Jiangcheng." Su Qishan sounded somewhat weary. "At least for now, don't force her to come back."
"But the grand elder..."
"I'll speak to him." Su Qishan turned, a trace of resolve flashing in his eyes. "Qianxue is my daughter. It's not anyone else's place to decide whom she marries."
The old butler hesitated, then finally nodded and withdrew from the study.
Su Qishan was left alone in the study.
Looking at the old scholar tree outside the window, he suddenly remembered his daughter as a child. Back then, she had been little, with two braids, running around the courtyard and laughing so happily.
He had held her in his arms, and she had said she wanted to marry someone like her daddy when she grew up.
When had her marriage become a bargaining chip for the clan's interests?
Perhaps it had begun the day the patriarch arranged the marriage alliance with the Zhao Clan.
Su Qishan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He knew the grand elder was right. The marriage alliance with the Zhao Clan concerned the Su Clan's future survival. It was not something he alone could control.
The patriarch's vitality was fading, and he had little time left. Without the Zhao Clan's support, the Su Clan might well fall from the ranks of the top clans.
Lin Jin alone could not change that situation.
But he still wanted to take a gamble.
Not for the clan, but for his daughter.
Su Qishan sat down again and picked up several photographs of Qianxue and Lin Jin eating together and embracing. The young man in the photographs had a stern face and calm eyes that revealed no emotional fluctuations.
*Was