So Many Things Stand in the Way; I Fear I Can No Longer Promise You My Love

Before he turned eight, Su Shijian had no memories in his mind. He only knew that he'd suffered a great deal. So after he recovered, his father, mother, eldest brother, and younger sister all treated him very well.

There were always many people around him: some protected him, some praised him, and some cared for him.

But one person among them was special. He was different from everyone else.

Some people said he was courteous and refined, but he was always performing street tricks in front of me.

Some people said he was a master of both civil and military affairs, but he was always asking me to teach him poetry, music, the Analects, and philosophy.

Some people said he was of noble status, but in front of me he was either crouching down or making me sit beside him at eye level.

Many people said we were very close, and that I'd surely become his right-hand man one day, perhaps even his trusted minister.

But those weren't kind words, because he wasn't the Crown Prince.

The happy days passed in the blink of an eye. When Su Shijian looks back on that year now, it always feels like a fleeting bloom.

After his father, mother, and eldest brother were gone, the vast Su household became spacious and desolate.

With only his grandfather and young sister to care for, Su Shijian could only put on his armor and guard the border for eleven years.

When he left that year, he wanted to see the man who had already been made a prince, but unfortunately, the man was summoned to the palace and wasn't released until nightfall.

Eleven years later, Su Shijian finally returned, but the situation he had to face was even more urgent and dangerous than before. Swords had become pens and ink, and hidden weapons had become rumors.

But all he'd ever wanted was simply to live one more day at a time.

"Ashi, what path do you want to take when you grow up?"

Su Shijian seriously considered Shen Xiwǔ's question.

"I want to become a teacher, the kind whose students are everywhere."

Theme: Leaving the battlefield for the court is still only about keeping them alive