Xie Anbai's head was bowed, his eyes red-rimmed, as he murmured aloud:
"If I had given him the medicine sooner, would Father not have gone?"
He couldn't accept the scene before him. The father who was always so imposing in his memory now lay silently on the bed. His hair was streaked with gray, and his broad hands were ice-cold.
Only now did he realize with a jolt that his father had long since grown old.
Before this, he had never imagined losing him.
But it all happened so fast!
Grief and regret surged uncontrollably in Xie Anbai's heart.
'If only I had been more mature and obedient sooner, if I hadn't deliberately defied my father, if I had realized in time—would any of this have happened today?'
Just moments ago, during their confrontation in the courtyard, Xie Anjun had accused him of harming their father. He had refuted it with conviction, but now, Xie Anbai was truly unsure.
'Was I... really wrong?'
"Did anything unusual happen before the Marquis passed away?"
