His Rui

A few moments later, Li Chen was lying on the floor of the study room as his father beat him mercilessly.

Li Qiang looked too furious as he hit Li Chen without even seeing where his fist was hitting.

It was at that moment General Li decided to pull Li Qiang away from Li Chen.

"Leave me Heng, this b***d, I will kill him today with my own hands. Doesn't he want to become the next general … I will make him unable to become one until his next lifetime."

Li Chen shivered lying on the floor as he sensed the anger and ruthlessness in his father's voice.

General Li made the struggling Li Qiang sit on one of the chairs inside the room that was farther from Li Chen and then he turned around to look at his nephew.

Li Chen also raised his head at the same moment.

General Li face remained emotionless as he started at Li Chen's bleeding lips and bruised face.

Li Chen also felt his uncle's indifference and slowly kneeled on the floor despite the pain he was feeling in his body.

"Second Uncle, I know that whatever I did was not right. I did the stupidest thing ever. I envied Elder Brother Diu because elders of Li Clan always praised him. However, I always tried to make myself understand that since Elder Brother was elder than me, I need to respect him and admire his bravery to learn something from him."

Hearing these words, Li Qiang's eyes again shone with anger and he was starting to get up from his chair to beat Li Chen again. However, General Li again held him down and signed him to stay still.

He wanted to hear whatever Li Chen had to say.

It was not like he didn't know that he would not be punished if he accepted his wrongs but he still decided to do it.

He wanted to hear why he decided to that.

"Li Na and Li Caihong…"

General Li raised his eyebrows when he heard Li Chen calling his sisters by their names. Although he was also very angry at both the sisters for whatever they did to his daughter, he didn't think that it could even Li Chen hate them so much that he can't even accept them as his sisters.

Li Chen paused for a moment and the continued

"Li Na and Li Caihong …they perhaps noticed my envy towards Elder Brother and they manipulated me into having dislike towards Second household. I was a child back then. I didn't have my own thoughts that much so I accepted blindly whatever they told me."

"They said that it was my father who was supposed to be General as he was the eldest son of the Clan. I also started to think the same. I thought that Second Uncle stole everything that should have belonged to the First household. They manipulated me into hurting Elder Sister's feelings and I did the same. I didn't know that they were just using me because they envied Elder Sister."

Li Chen's voice came out a little choked at the end of his words. He took deep breaths as he continued

"A month before Second Uncle left for the borders, General Yun approached me. He also told me the same things…that I deserved to get what I wanted. He told me that he could help me and I decided to do whatever he asked me to do. I …I was stupid, Second Uncle."

His shoulders could be seen shaking every few minutes as he apologized sincerely

"Second Uncle was always right. On the battlefield, one doesn't only need strength but his mind also. I only understood Second Uncle's words after the Emperor passed the decree of the public execution of Li and Yi Clan. I was stupid and immature. Second Uncle, I know what I have done was very wrong. I really feel guilty for what both the clans went through because of me. I don't deserve to be forgiven so I want Second Uncle to punish me heavily. I will accept whatever punishment Second Uncle will give me silently."

The study room went silent after Li Chen's words.

Li Qiang's harsh breathing sound could be heard every few seconds.

His eyes staring at his son were blank.

Li Chen's words continued to ring in his ears.

He suddenly understood the reason behind his daughters' hatred for Li Rui…his son's envy for Li Diu.

They thought that Li Heng stole the position of General from him so they disliked the second household.

Li Qiang couldn't help but remember a scene from many years ago.

It was from the time when his father had kept competition between his three sons because he wanted to select the child who will inherit everything after him. The child who will become the head of the clan.

The three of them had an age difference so Li Qiang had not understood how his father will make this competition fair for his young brothers.

There was also another thing. He didn't wish to compete with his own brothers.

They were the brothers, he had raised like his own children and who tried to steal something from their own children.

However, his father was stubborn and told him that it was not something he should worry about.

He was also a father and he would never let his children have any viciousness towards each other.

The competition will be fair.

And the one who will win will be the rightful heir of the Li Clan. He had said.

Li Qiang had sighed in defeat and then came out of the room.

He had thought that it would be him in the end who will win as his brothers were all younger than him and they didn't have much strength.

He decided that he would try not to harm his brothers during this competition.

However, the outcome that came out was completely different from his expectations.