GBP Chapter 397 Father and Son Make Peace?
Chapter 397 Father and Son Make Peace?
Maodun stood there, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him. His relationship with Touman Chanyu was far more than a simple father-son bond. Years of power struggles and family feuds had made their relationship intricately complicated.
"You've arrived." Touman Chanyu broke the silence first, his voice calm and indifferent, devoid of any emotional fluctuation. However, this simple sentence made Maodun feel a strange tension.
Maodun took a deep breath, composed himself, and then knelt on one knee, bowing to Touman Chanyu. He raised his head, looked directly into Touman Chanyu's eyes, and said, "Father, the Xiongnu are now beset by internal and external troubles. What should I do?"
Touman Chanyu sneered, his laughter particularly jarring in the silent tent. "You imprisoned me, killed my queen and my unborn child, and now you want me to help you?" His words were full of mockery and anger.
Maodun lowered his head and remained silent for a moment. He knew that what Touman Chanyu said was true, but he also had his own difficulties and helplessness. "Father, you forced me to do all this, have you forgotten?" His voice was low and firm, with a trace of undisguised pain.
Touman Chanyu did not even glance at Maodun, as if he did not exist at all, and was completely unmoved by Maodun's anger and pleas.
Seeing his father's indifferent attitude, the anger and resentment that had been suppressed in Maodun's heart for many years exploded like a powder keg that had been lit. His eyes turned bloodshot, and his eyeballs seemed about to burst from the bloodshot eyes. It was a manifestation of the release of emotions that had been suppressed for a long time.
Maodun suddenly stood up from his seat, his body trembling slightly with excitement. His hands were clenched into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, yet he felt no pain. He opened his throat and roared at the top of his lungs, pouring out all the grievances and resentment in his heart.
"All these years, what have you ever thought of me? Have you ever considered me your son?!" Maodun's voice was hoarse with extreme anger, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, filled with burning hatred.
"When I was sent to the enemy camp as a hostage, did you ever worry about me even a little bit?" he shouted, pacing back and forth rapidly, each step so heavy it seemed he wanted to stomp a hole in the ground to vent his dissatisfaction and resentment.
"I have been bullied by others since I was a child. Haven't you seen it? But every time, you acted like a stranger, turning a blind eye to what I had done and coldly watching me being humiliated!" Maodun's gaze was like a sharp sword, and his undisguised resentment was chilling.
"Especially after you took a new queen, do you really not know how she treated me?" Maodun's voice echoed in the room, filled with uncontrollable anger and pain. His eyes burned with rage as he stared intently at the person before him, as if trying to see through him to the depths of his heart.
Suddenly, Maodun slammed his fist on the table with a loud, dull thud. The cups and saucers on the table were shaken and shattered, their fragments scattering across the floor like his broken heart.
“Isn’t my life, Maodun’s life, also a life?” His voice trembled, filled with questioning of injustice and longing for his father’s love. “I’ve craved your gaze time and time again, craved your fatherly love, but you’ve always turned a blind eye?” His chest heaved violently, each breath feeling like it was tearing his soul apart. He gasped for breath, as if trying to expel all the pent-up frustration that had accumulated in his heart over the years.
At this moment, Maodun was no longer the weak boy who could be bullied at will. His body trembled with anger, his muscles tense, full of power. He was like an enraged lion, determined to seek justice for himself and fight for the glory and status that belonged to him.
After listening silently to Maodun finish venting his anger, Touman Chanyu's gaze remained fixed on Maodun, unwavering. Time seemed to freeze at that moment, and the entire world consisted only of the two of them, father and son. Touman Chanyu stared at Maodun with a complex look, containing guilt, helplessness, and a trace of indescribable fatherly love.
Finally, Touman Chanyu let out a slow sigh, breaking the silence. His voice was deep and slow, as if carrying too much weight: "If you want my help, fine, but you have to let me out first."
Maodun's body jolted violently; he seemed to hear something unusual in Touman Chanyu's words.
Touman Chanyu continued, “I know I’ve ignored you all these years, but my father treated me the same way. This is my first time being a father, and I don’t know how to be a good one. I can only treat you the way my father treated me, thinking it would be a kind of training for you, but I never expected…” His voice gradually lowered until it was almost inaudible.
A complex mix of emotions welled up within Maodun; he didn't know how to respond to his father's words. He had once harbored resentment and disappointment towards his father, but now, he sensed a hint of confusion in his father's words.
Maodun stared at his father without moving, as if time itself had frozen. His heart was filled with contradictions and doubts; he couldn't really judge the credibility of his father's words. Yet, deep in his heart, his longing for his father's love burned like a raging fire, something he couldn't let go of.
Maodun thought that perhaps his father truly loved him, but was simply misled and influenced by the queen. The Maodun of history, who struck fear into the hearts of all, might not have been as naive and simple as the Maodun of today, but rather more cold-blooded and shrewd. But at this moment, young Maodun was willing to believe in his father, to believe in the paternal love buried deep in his heart.
Without hesitation, Maodun threw himself into Touman Chanyu's arms and wept like a wounded child. His tears flowed like a burst dam, as if to release all his grievances and pain.
Touman Chanyu's body tensed slightly, clearly taken aback. But quickly, he stretched out his arms and embraced Maodun tightly. This moment was incredibly blissful and precious for Maodun. He felt his father's broad shoulders, a warmth he had long missed, or rather, finally received. In his father's embrace, he seemed to forget all his troubles and worries, leaving only boundless peace and contentment.
Touman Chanyu finally saw the light of day again. As the warm sunlight shone on his rough skin, he squinted slightly. He took a deep breath of fresh air, and a barely perceptible cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
Maodun followed behind Touman Chanyu, eagerly anticipating joining forces with his father to resolve the internal and external troubles of the Xiongnu. Although Maodun felt a sense of unease, and knew that his actions might lead to the failure of all his previous efforts, or even bring him great danger, he still decided to take the gamble. He believed that since he was now his father's only son, his father would not easily punish him.
But Touman Chanyu did not seem to let Modu lose. He appeared in the world as the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu and quickly summoned the various Xiongnu tribes, ordering them to come to the Xiongnu royal court as fast as possible to discuss strategies for dealing with the combined forces of the Yuezhi and Donghu. This order, like a bolt of lightning, shattered the tranquility of the grasslands and quickly spread to every corner.