historical

Lu Mengjie was pushing the wheelchair Han Qinshan was sitting at as they headed to the recovery room where Yong Liwei was. "Mr. Han, when have you arrived in this country?"

"Don't be polite to me, Mengjie. I am your father-in-law so you can just address me as one. Also, I arrived in the country yesterday," he replied. "I know that my son would definitely try to avoid me so I haven't announced my arrival to anyone except for my men."

That was understandable especially when she already knew about her husband's relationship with his father. Han Yizhou would definitely ignore Han Qinshan if he tried to approach him. Despite that, something bothered her. "How did you know that we were here?"

"Someone contacted me." He arched his head to level his sight to her. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to come in time to your rescue, child."

"Who contacted you?" She narrowed her eyes as she ignored his latter words.

"Spider did. He contacted me through one of your companions. What was her name again? Wei Sianqi?"

Lu Mengjie's eyes went wide in surprise upon hearing his words. Now that she thought of it, how did her brother find out about their situation? She wasn't able to order Kuro to call for help. Aside from that, she saw that Spider was injured earlier. Someone must have attacked him while he was waiting in the parking lot. It could be one of Hunter's men who had caught him off guard or else, he would have come to their rescue. He was also brought to the same hospital. As for Wei Sianqi, she must have come together with her brother. She hadn't thought much of it but after she got out of the restaurant, she saw Wei Sianqi with Spider. She was holding the phone against his ear as he talked with someone before he was taken inside the ambulance.

She suddenly remembered Han Yizhou telling her back then that his men, Spider and Scorpion would never betray him since they were his father's men. They were loyal to the Han family and would only follow a Han family member.

"Spider reported the situation to me before he was taken here. He was the one who asked me to come," Han Qinshan continued.

If Spider didn't call Han Qinshan, Yong Liwei could have died that night from blood loss. She should properly thank him later.

"I can't believe the rebels have found out that my son is alive." The older man sighed. "Mengjie, you need to help me convince him to come back to the Azure Republic."

"I don't think I will be able to convince him, Mr. Han. Even if he is my husband, he is free to decide for himself."

"He will only be exposed to the other rebels! This won't be the only time he'll be attacked by them. As his father, I can't just sit still and see my son get attacked by my enemies." Aside from that, he was also getting old. He wouldn't be able to protect the throne for a long time.

Lu Mengjie pursed her lips, knowing that Han Qinshan was right but despite that, she decided to remain quiet as they entered the room that was guarded by Han Qinshan's men.

Inside, she saw her unconscious husband in the middle of the bed. She pushed the wheelchair towards the bed.

"Someone needs to rule the Azure Republic and maintain the balance there. Among my sons, only Yizhou is capable of doing that."

She couldn't help but scoff inwardly upon hearing what he said. For years, she knew that he never recognized Han Xukun as the next in line. Han Yizhou was not the only person who was capable of ruling the Azure Republic.

Han Xukun was one of her best friends and she knew him more than his father did. She also knew that he had been working hard all his life just so his father could finally notice him.

Lu Mengjie knew that Han Qinshan was only saying those words because of his favoritism towards his firstborn son. Han Yizhou was the child of the woman he loved after all.

"I know this may sound rude but, Mr. Han, you need to look at your other sons too. I have known Han Xukun all my life. He also has good leadership befitting that of a King. As for Han Yehan, he has his own qualities too. My husband already told me that he doesn't want the throne so-"

"Han Yizhou is the only son I have." Han Qinshan's voice was cold as he said those words. "He is the only one who has the right to inherit the throne."

She suddenly felt a sudden chill from him which caused her to frown. She had always known that Han Qinshan was a jerk of a father after she had seen how he treated his other sons but who would have thought that he was even worse than a jerk?

Lu Mengjie didn't have the strength to argue at that moment. She was tired, mentally and physically after what happened. She released the wheelchair's handles. "Please leave, I don't think my husband will want to see you once he wakes up even if you save his life."

"He has always been an ungrateful son."

She clenched her jaw and balled her fists tightly as her eyes darkened. "And you have been an unappreciative father."

The man's gaze hardened as he looked at her. "I'm only doing what's best for my son."

"The best thing you can do for him is to leave him alone. I am grateful that you saved his life but that doesn't mean that I will allow you to do whatever you want to him just because he owes you his life. Mr. Han, even if you are Yizhou's father, you need to learn how to appreciate his decisions. You may be a parent but if you want your children to respect you, then you should respect them too. You may be older than me, you may be my father-in-law but you are making me question my decisions.. Are you even worthy of my respect?"