CH 37

General Reynold’s mansion was as large as a park, and it would take one or two days to explore all the rooms. There were over a hundred servants in the mansion alone. However, General Reynold himself was often away at war, so he spends less time living in the mansion than his few nominal sons.

Although General Reynold has never been defeated in battle, he has inevitably suffered many injuries. To deal with those who constantly urge him to marry and have children, he simply announced publicly that he had serious health problems due to his injuries and that he could not have children by any means.

General Reynold was not only a great general of the empire but also holds a hereditary Earl title. If he has no son, there will be no one to inherit the title. Even if he declares publicly he cannot have children, there are still some who have the idea of becoming the wife of a general, because children can be adopted. General Reynold’s existence represents enormous power and benefits, so he cannot avoid those who smell the scent of power and benefits and try to get close to him.

Although General Reynold was a great General of the Empire, he sometimes feels helpless. However, it was impossible to make him compromise and marry someone he doesn’t love. So, under his insistence not to marry, some people changed from recommending wives to recommending sons.

General Reynold weighed the pros and cons and decided to adopt three sons through legal procedures. However, these three boys were not young when they were adopted, and each had their own powerful supporters behind them. Reynold was deliberate. He chose to align with three different factions and adopted boys who were of a certain age under his name, in order to let the forces behind them fight each other, ideally resulting in all three sides losing.

Therefore, Reynold never intended to let his three adopted sons inherit everything from him. That was merely a delusion of his three sons and the forces behind them. Moreover, now that he finally has the person he loves and they will have their own children in the future. Of course, everything of his will be left to their shared bloodline.

Although Reynold refused visits and visits from outsiders, his three sons living in the General’s Mansion would certainly welcome him.

Reynold’s private car drove directly to the front yard of the main building, and his three adopted sons, along with their servants, were already waiting in the yard.

As soon as Reynold got out of the car and sat in his wheelchair, his three adopted sons immediately approached him, bowing and greeting him in unison, “Father, you’ve had a long journey.”

Lu Jingqian also got out of the car and stood behind Reynold, glancing at them, then looked past them and saw Yalin standing there, the main target of his revenge in this life.

After the three of them stood up and saw Lu Jingqian, they were all surprised and stunned, with Aubrey being the most shocked. He stared at Lu Jingqian with wide eyes and said, “Xyler?! How can you be here?”

“Why can’t I be here?” Lu Jingqian said expressionlessly. “This is the General’s Mansion, and I am the General’s personal doctor. My presence here has nothing to do with you, and I do not need your permission.”

“Personal doctor?” Aubrey couldn’t accept Lu Jingqian’s statement, but he didn’t dare to be impudent in front of Reynold. He could only look at Reynold and say, “Father, this…”

“Are you trying to stop me from entering here?” Reynold said sternly.

“I’m sorry, Father.” Aubrey immediately apologized and stepped aside with the other two, making way for Reynold to move forward.

When Yalin heard Xyler’s name, he immediately lifted his head in surprise, despite previously lowering it out of respect. Upon seeing Lu Jingqian, he was just as shocked as Aubrey because the people he sent to follow Xyler had reported back that Xyler was definitely dead.

Lu Jingqian followed behind Reynold as they walked in. When they passed by Yalin, Lu Jingqian turned his head and looked at him. Their gazes met and an invisible spark ignited in the air.

Yalin stared at Lu Jingjian’s back and wondered why someone who was supposed to be dead was here. Moreover, he appeared as the General’s personal doctor.

Aubrey walked up to Yalin and exchanged a look with him. After calming him down with his eyes, they both walked in together.

Once they entered the living room, only Reynold and Lu Jingqian were sitting, while the others stood respectfully, waiting for Reynold to speak.

Reynold casually asked about the situation in the mansion with the steward, and then symbolically inquired about the welfare of his three adopted sons. After listening to their answers, he frowned and looked at Yalin, saying, “Didn’t I say that I don’t accept visits from outsiders? Who brings him in?”

“Father,” Aubrey quickly stepped forward and said, “This is Yalin, the person I love. We are living together because we are going to get married soon. Yalin is an excellent military doctor who graduated first in the medical department of the Imperial Military Academy. He has already joined the Imperial Star Military Hospital. Although he is still young, he has developed many new drugs, and even the professors of the medical department acknowledge him as a rare genius. I believe that with his ability, he can definitely find a way to heal your leg.”

“But haven’t you already got married?” Reynold looked at Aubrey and asked, “Has the Empire amended the marriage law during my absence on the Imperial Star, allowing two concurrent engagements?”

“No, Father…” Aubrey glanced at Lu Jingqian, explaining to Reynold, “Although Xyler and I have an engagement, we have never been together. And we have been separated for more than two years, and now we can get a divorce.”

“So, if you don’t love Xyler, why did you agree to marry him?” Reynold questioned.

“I…,” Aubrey was at a loss for words for a moment because he could not reveal the true reason.

“What great things can a person who cannot even handle their own emotions accomplish?” Reynold said coldly.

Aubrey was frightened by Reynold’s reproachful tone and knew that if he wanted to become Reynold’s heir, he needed not only the support of the forces behind him, but also Reynold’s recognition.

“I heard that some of the research results by this person called Yalin are not his own. Is that true?” Reynold asked.

“No!” Aubrey quickly defended Yalin, “All the drugs he has researched are his own, and he has put in his own efforts to achieve these results. Please don’t believe the slander of others, Father. Because Yalin is outstanding, some people are jealous and want to deliberately smear him in front of you.”

“Outstanding ability?” Reynolds snorted disdainfully, “Even if someone has outstanding ability, if their character is bad, they won’t achieve much, and there is a great possibility of leaving a bad reputation for generations to come.”

“I assure you, Father, that Yalin is excellent both in ability and character. This is something that even the professors at the Imperial Military Academy acknowledge.” Aubrey turned to Lu Jingqian and said, “Those who were expelled from the Imperial Military Academy are the ones with truly bad character. Please don’t believe their words.”

“Enough!” Reynolds interrupted Aubrey’s words coldly, “Who you want to be with is your own business. You don’t need to assure me of anything. I have the ability to judge for myself, and I don’t have that much time and energy to manage your love life.”

“Steward, arrange the room for Xyler to be next to mine so that he can treat me conveniently,” Reynolds ordered.

“Yes, General.” The steward responded

“Giger, Brandon, both of you come to my study,” Reynold commanded, then maneuvered his wheelchair towards the study.

“Yes, Father.” Giger and Brandon glanced at Aubrey before following Reynold to the study.

Reynold only called his other two adopted sons, but not Aubrey. This made Aubrey feel Lu Jingqian must have spoken ill of him and Yalin in front of Reynold, so Reynold was angry with him. Although Aubrey and the other two were of the same clan and surname, they were all children of a collateral branch of the Donner family, so they could become Reynold’s adopted sons. However, the three had different backgrounds, and they were all competing for Reynold’s position as the heir. Now that Reynold has returned, but Aubrey has been excluded, how could he not be angry?

Aubrey clenched his fists tightly and glared at Lu Jingqian, saying, “Why didn’t you die at the border? Why do you return to the Imperial Star?”

“I’ll return if I wanted to. The Imperial Star is not your home, why do you care?” Lu Jingqian didn’t back down and stared at him. “You can rest assured that I won’t die before both of you do.”

“You’re so despicable, talking bad about me in front of the General and making him dislike me.” Yalin also looked at Lu Jingqian angrily, “I won’t let you succeed. I’ll prove to the General with my actions that you’re the incompetent and despicable one.”

“Then go ahead and try. Let’s see if you can still frame me as you did before.” Lu Jingqian stood up and said, “I have asked the General to help me with the divorce procedures. Prepare your own documents, and let’s sign them together tomorrow to end this disgusting marriage as soon as possible.”

Aubrey said sarcastically, “You’re truly full of yourself. Why did you agree to marry me if you find this marriage disgusting? And why did you come to the General’s Mansion? You just wanted to get close to me but didn’t want to admit it. I advise you to give up. I will never like you.”

“You really think too highly of yourself,” Lu Jingqian said mockingly. “I agreed to marry you because we already had an engagement, and the main reason was that I was blind and was deceived by you two gay dogs. But don’t worry, I’m back to fulfill your wishes. I hope you two dogs can stay together forever and never separate to harm others again.”

“You…” Yalin was so angry that he couldn’t speak. He watched Lu Jingqian leave and turned to Aubrey with a sad look.

Aubrey hugged him and comforted him, “Forget it. It’s not worth getting angry with someone like him. After I divorce him tomorrow, I will pick a time to marry you immediately. He’s now the Father’s private doctor, so we can’t do anything to him for now. But I promise you that I won’t let him be arrogant for too long.”

Lu Jingqian poured hot water into the jacuzzi, took off his clothes, and lay down to relax his body while recalling the experiences of the original host that he had already learned about.

If it weren’t for the fact that the original host’s parents had passed away, he wouldn’t have been bullied like this. The original host had been engaged to Aubrey since childhood, and he was also a cousin to Yalin. After the original host’s parents passed away, Yalin’s parents became his guardians.

Yalin’s family was of average wealth, while the original host’s family was wealthy. If it weren’t for the fact that the original host had no closer blood relatives, the original host’s guardianship wouldn’t have fallen to Yalin’s parents. However, although they were the original host’s guardians, they couldn’t touch his assets. Because, in a situation like the original host’s, both his assets and personal safety were strictly protected and monitored by Imperial Law. Even if they wanted to embezzle his assets, they wouldn’t have dared to.

Yalin’s parents were honest people and didn’t have any thoughts of seizing the assets of the original host. Although the original host and they weren’t close, they were polite to each other.

However, with Yalin’s soul crossing over, he could only watch the large sum of wealth owned by the original host but couldn’t get his hands on it due to the strict law. This made him very jealous and frustrated. This was like a huge and delicious piece of meat placed in front of him every day, which he could see and smell, but was unattainable. Therefore, he was quite jealous and upset.

Assets were not living things, so he couldn’t get his hands on them, but human hearts were alive, and there were many ways to get what he wanted. Yalin set his sights on Aubrey’s family background, and he himself was also handsome and capable, so he consciously began to seduce him early on. When he found out that Aubrey had become Reynold’s legal son and had a good chance of inheriting the title in the future, he became even more determined to steal Aubrey away.

The original host was completely immersed in medicine and didn’t even notice that Aubrey and Yalin had already gotten together. If he had known, he would have voluntarily broken off the engagement, because he didn’t have too many feelings for Aubrey and would have let them go. He might have felt sad for a while, but he wouldn’t have been heartbroken and unable to let go.

Zia’s here:

Aubrey: Why do you return to the Imperial Star?

LJQ: To have you call me Mother!