"You don"t understand anything at all! I had no intention of marrying him but my family forced me to do so anyway! They would"ve driven me out of the house and hurt Zhenting if I had refused. That"s why I had no choice but to agree to the marriage!" Jiang Changdai returned an icy glare, extremely annoyed at how her daughter was unable to understand her pain and suffering.
"Did dad force you to do it? He didn"t even know about it! The Yan family knew nothing about the arrangement! Old Lady Jiang was only keeping her promise to Old Master Jiang that they pander to the Yan family. Elder Master Jiang and Elder Master Yan used to fight alongside each other during the war, and knowing how much Elder Master Yan valued promises, Elder Master Jiang had my great-grandfather promise him that he would take care of the Jiang family and to allow at least one member of the Jiang family to join the Yan family. This arranged marriage was requested by your Jiang family which the Yan family simply had to fulfill! Do you genuinely think that the Yan family was so excited to welcome you into the household?"
Upon seeing the shocked expression on Jiang Changdai"s face, Yan Zhiqing sneered and continued, "I heard all this from grandma a long time ago. Back then, when she was so ill she was barely conscious, she mistook me for you and explained to me the whole marriage arrangement between the Jiang and the Yan family. How else did you think the Jiang family managed to attach themselves to the Yan family so easily? Elder Master Jiang fought for this miracle to happen in exchange for his life, and grandpa and grandma forced you to marry into the Jiang family so that they could, in turn, attach themselves to the Yan family. Do you really think that the Yan family was otherwise willing to agree to this arrangement? Do you really think that the Yan family likes you? Do you really think that my father loved you? They were just fulfilling a promise made by their ancestors! Just because of that one promise, they somehow ended up ruining their family!"
How could Elder Master Yan have expected his simple promise to end up becoming a curse to his family? How could he have known that the Jiang family would end up wreaking havoc on his own kin?
However, Jiang Changdai never knew anything about this.
"No, that can"t be true! You"re lying!" Jiang Changdai shook her head blankly.
Naturally, she had no clue about anything her daughter was saying. Back then, Old Lady Jiang was so muddled from her illness that she confused Yan Zhiqing for Jiang Changdai and revealed the truth behind the incident. After she miraculously recovered, she thought she had revealed everything to Jiang Changdai and thus laid the case to rest. Yan Zhiqing had never thought about it too much since she was just an inattentive young girl back then. She left it at the back of her mind and never considered confiding in Jiang Changdai.
"It"s true, grandma told me herself! Go ahead and ask her if you don"t believe me! They were the ones who kept the Yan family in the dark; they were the ones who forced you into the marriage. Tell me then, what does the Yan family have to do with this whole situation? What does it have to do with Old Master Yan and Old Lady Yan? What does it have to do with my father? If Lu Zhenting truly loved you, what was there to worry about even if you had gotten kicked out of the house? He would"ve still married you and taken care of you! It"s not like he doesn"t have money! He abandoned you because of the Lu family, so how much do you think he really loves you?" Yan Zhiqing snorted. "I don"t understand anything at all? What I don"t understand is how your brain functions! Instead of starting a new life where you can forget the past and happily move forward, you just had to continue chasing after a lowlife sc.u.m like him, even going to the point where you"re willing to harm your own flesh and blood for him! Well, I guess this was to be expected. Both of you are selfish beings so it only makes sense that both of you suit each other so well. Maybe that"s why both of you end up hurting everyone around you when you"re together!"
"Yan Zhiqing! Don"t forget that I am your mother! How dare you speak to me in this way! Have you forgotten how I brought you up and how I"ve been treating you since you were born? How dare you turn around and point your finger at me because of the Yan family, who by the way, isn"t even close to you at all! You keep bringing up your father, but have you forgotten that he"s dead now? He"s never taken care of you for a day of your life! You"ve never even seen him, for goodness sake! What kind of feelings can you possibly have for him? Are you turning against me so that you can go after the Yan family"s fortune? Is that why you"re defying me and selling me out now?" Jiang Changdai shrieked furiously. She was boiling with rage, but at the same time, was disappointed with Yan Zhiqing.
"Oh please, you don"t even have a conscience so how can you criticize me? The reason why my brother and I never had a father growing up is that our father gave up his life to save you. Did you say that you were guilty? Where"s the guilt, then? I don"t see it at all! Are you feeling so guilty toward him that you"re helping this illegitimate son of yours to plot against his family property? Or are these constant schemes against his family just second nature to you? Maybe it"s because you single-handedly want to ruin his children! I can"t believe it. How can a woman like you even exist?" Yan Zhiqing screamed as she pointed at Jiang Changdai. "So the son you had with Lu Zhengting"s a legitimate human, but the children you had with my father aren"t the same. They"re not even equivalent to the babies you randomly find by the roadside, are they?
"The two elders had always been blunt with you and it"s true that they criticize everything little thing you say, but even then, I"ve always stood up for you and said that they"re biased against you. I used to wonder why they can"t be more tolerant of you, but now I know that the two elders have been too forgiving of you! They"re afraid I would resent you, so no matter how much they hated you, they never told me about your affair and how you killed my father. You, on the other hand, are the complete opposite. You kept holding on to this grudge that should"ve never existed in the first place and constantly insult the two elders. Are you even human? Father sacrificed his life to save you, and yet you say he deserved it. The two elders tolerated you for the sake of me and big brother, and yet you"re always talking about how they bully you."
Even then, Jiang Changdai looked to be in grief, as if she still felt that she was the victim.
Yan Zhiqing bristled with anger. She had never imagined her mother to be this ridiculous. "In my opinion, you"re the one who"s gone too far! You let down their son, you killed my father, and you"ve never treated my brother as a human being, let alone fulfill your responsibility as his mother. It"s a miracle they haven"t done anything to retaliate against the Jiang family! So what if the Jiang family"s business can"t develop further than Ning City? Although it"s a small city, the Jiang family is still one of the biggest and most important families there. You"re still able to enjoy an extravagant life, feasting on the most delectable dishes and wearing the most expensive clothes every day. You"re even able to act as if you"re better than everyone else, constantly looking down on everyone and everything. Did you ever consider the Yan family, though? My father lost what should have been the best years of his life because of you while the two elders had to go through the pain of losing a child. What about you? What did you lose?"
"You don"t understand! You don"t understand my pain at all! Because of the Yan family, I still can"t be together with Zhenting to this day, and I can"t hear Zhenghang address me as his mother," Jiang Changdai cried out.
Yan Zhiqing scoffed in response. "How dare you compare such tiny problems with the loss of my father"s life! If Lu Zhenting intended to marry you, he would"ve taken you as his wife long ago. Why wait until now with a precondition that you help him with a favor? Only a heartless creature like you would have feelings for trash like him. To think, you even gave birth to this horrible thing that"s always eyeing things that don"t belong to him!"
Pa! A crisp smack sounded out as Lu Zhenghang"s whacked away Yan Zhiqing"s hand that had been pointed at him. "I"ve tolerated you for a very long time. What do you mean by "this thing"? You"re such an uneducated piece of sh*t!"
"That"s right, I am uneducated! I"ve been raised by her since I was young, so could I be well-educated?" Yan Zhiqing screeched, her beck strained with anger as her lips quivered uncontrollably.
"You"re the only one who owes the Yan family a debt you can never repay in your lifetime, yet you"re still shameless enough to help your b.a.s.t.a.r.d lovechild and a.d.u.l.terous lover plot against the Yan family! You"re even willing to go so far as to frame your son just to seize the Yan family"s fortune?" The more Yan Zhiqing spoke, the more ridiculous she felt. The mere thought that she had grown up alongside this woman sent a chill down her spine.
Before today, she still referred to the Lu family siblings as her brother and sister and had even been particularly close to Lu Zhenting. Today, she finally realized how stupid she had been. She must have been the laughing stock of the Lu family b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!
She felt that she had completely embarra.s.sed the Yan family and that she had betrayed her dead father!
"Everything that the Yan family has had been acc.u.mulated through the generations, so what right do you have to steal it? How can all of you still act so righteous?" At this point, Yan Zhiqing was wailing out loud as anger and disappointment filled her.
How could this ungrateful wretch be her mother? How could she cold-bloodedly bite the hand that fed her?
When she thought of how calm Yan Beicheng remained whenever he faced Jiang Changdai, her heart ached even more.
"You"re my mother so… I… I can"t say much to you, I… I…" Yan Zhiqing could barely contain the overwhelming rage that was making her blood. If it was someone else, she could have just called her a b*tch and rattled off.
At the end of the day, Jiang Changdai was still her mother. It was the same for Yan Beicheng. He despised her with all his heart and never regarded her as his mother. Even now, he was unwilling to address her politely as "Miss Jiang" and would simply address her by her full name. Even so, he never scolded or lectured her.
This was all because she was his mother, and upon remembering the basic principles of humanity, despite how disappointed he was with her indifference, he could not bring himself to raise his voice at her.
As Yan Zhiqing tried to keep her anger in check, she could not help but howl in agony. She soon burst into loud sobs as she vented her grievances.
"Zhiqing, you"re not me so you"ll never understand how much I"m suffering," Jiang Changdai cried together with her.
"Yes, I"ll never understand," Yan Zhiqing agreed silently. Someone as selfish as Jiang Changdai could never be allowed to suffer, as even the slightest pain, like that of a mosquito bite, would be exaggerated a thousand-fold, leading her to believe that she was suffering more than anyone else.
Yan Zhiqing held her hand up and messily wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She felt that her entire world had collapsed within seconds and was hurting so much that she did not even know how to face Jiang Changdai anymore. However, her sense of morality still existed such that she was still able to differentiate right from wrong.
She continued to wipe away the tear stains on her face, and although she remained silent, her expression did nothing to hide her intentions as it clearly wrote: "I will not let you succeed!".
Then, she ran out immediately.
"Zhiqing!" Jiang Changdai screamed in panic, but instead of slowing down, Yan Zhiqing picked up speed, which made Jiang Changdai even more alarmed. "Yan Zhiqing! Stand still! Zhiqing! Yan Zhiqing, stand still and listen to me! Listen to mommy! What are you planning to do?"
Beside her, Lu Zhenghand turned to her and yelled in an exasperated tone, "Why are you still standing here? Chase after her! If she tells the Yan family about this, it"ll be over!"
He knew that his plan was flawed, but this loophole was not necessary irreparable. The critical point was to land a surprise attack and make sure that the Yan family was caught off guard.
Then, while they rushed to seek evidence to fight back, he would use this brief time slot to carry out his plan!
Jiang Changdai was temporarily stunned before giving him a fl.u.s.tered nod. Then, she began to chase after her. Lu Zhenghang was worried she would let her daughter run away, so he added, "I"m sure she won"t be happy to face me now and I"m afraid she"ll become even more triggered if she faces me. You share a long relations.h.i.+p with her and that"s not something easily erasable just because of a conversation she overheard. Try and persuade her, I"m sure she"ll listen to you."
Jiang Changdai gave it a thought and agreed too. "Yes… Yes, you should stay here!"
Lu Zhenghang"s expression remained thoughtful and understanding as he nodded while Jiang Chandai rushed forward.
After rus.h.i.+ng out of the house, Yan Zhiqing hurriedly pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton to go down but the electronic screen above the elevator showed that the elevator was still on the first floor. Before she could weigh her options, Jiang Changdai rushed out to stop her.
Yan Zhiqing was so mad that she did not want to listen to any more of Jiang Changdai"s bullsh*t stories. From Jiang Changdai"s perspective, Yan Huaiyuan, the man who had sacrificed his life to save her, was still the one at fault.
Yan Zhiqing felt that her father had died for an unworthy cause!
Even so, she could not bring herself to say the things on her mind. She felt that the family would have been better off if Jiang Changdai was the one who had died years ago, or perhaps things would be different now if both of them had survived the accident. If that was the case, then Lu Zhenghang would never pretend to be a direct descendent of the Yan family because if Yan Huaiyuan was still alive, all it would take was one DNA test to expose the lie.
If she had had a wise father like Yan Huaiyuan whilst growing up, then she would certainly be more sensible than she was now. Her relations.h.i.+p with Yan Beicheng would also be tighter too, and they would not be as distant as they were now.
She thought that it was stupid of Yan Huaiyuan to sacrifice himself for Jiang Changdai. After all, his death had only caused them more harm!
She did not want to listen to Jiang Changdai"s ridiculous reasoning anymore. Why did that woman even run after her in the first place? She just wanted her to join their side and help those scoundrels, did she not? Jiang Changdai was just worried that she would preemptively tell the Yan family everything and ruin their plans!
Sure enough, this was Jiang Changdai"s motive.
At that moment, the elevator had yet to come up, but Yan Zhiqing did not want to wait any longer.
Seeing that Jiang Changdai had almost caught up with her, Yan Zhiqing simply gave up waiting for the elevator and turned to the balcony before rus.h.i.+ng into the stairwell.
Jiang Changdai followed close behind, By the time Yan Zhiqing reached the stairs, Jiang Changdai had already caught up with her.
To keep up her appearance at school, Yan Zhiqing had worn high heels, and though they were not platforms, the thin, pointed heels accentuated her long legs to show off her slender, exquisite body.
However, such beautiful shoes were completely unsuitable for quick getaways. On the other hand, Jiang Changdai, who had just rushed out of her home, was wearing slippers. Therefore, she would obviously be able to run faster.
As Yan Zhiqing paused at the top of the staircase, Jiang Changdai reached out to grab her arm in an attempt to drag her back. "Zhiqing, listen to me. You have to calm down and be patient, I"ll explain everything to you soon, alright? Don"t just rush out like this. You"re angry now and your brain won"t be able to process everything. You just might accidentally blurt out something that"ll cause everyone trouble!" Jiang Changdai begged as she held on firmly to her daughter"s arm.
"What misunderstanding? There"s no misunderstanding at all!" Yan Zhiqing did not want to go back with her.
When she noticed that Lu Zhenghand did not chase after her, she immediately knew that he was the one who had pushed Jiang Changdai to go after her as he cowardly hid in his sh.e.l.l like a turtle.
"Where"s Lu Zhenghang? He was the one who came up with this idea but here you are trying to resolve this on your own while he hides away. Look closely, that"s your precious little son really is!" Yan Zhiqing sneered.
"No, that"s not it," Jiang Changdai shook her head in denial. "He"s not here because you"ll only get more agitated if he approaches you. He didn"t chase after you because we know that once you see him, you won"t be able to calm down and talk to me. Zhiqing, you"ve misunderstood him."
At that moment, Yan Zhiqing felt as if she no longer recognized the woman standing in front of her. She scoffed in response and shook her head as she replied, "In your heart, that man is the only son you"ve ever had. In your eyes, he"s perfect and can do no wrong!"
Jiang Changdai tightened her grip on Yan Zhiqing"s arm as she shook her head once again. "Zhiqing, you"ve really misunderstood him! Zhiqing, you don"t know what happened between me and Yan Beicheng so stop harboring resentment on his behalf! Just come home with me now and I"ll explain everything to you. I know you"re furious now and you won"t listen to whatever I say but please just come home with me now and calm down. We"ll talk once we"ve both calmed down, alright?"
Yan Zhiqing scoffed at the ridiculous suggestion and snapped, "No need for that! Even if I"m blinded by anger right now, I won"t be swayed by your bullsh*t! There"s nothing more real than what I overheard just now! Let go of me!"
"No! No!" Jiang Changdai began to panic as she was still unable to convince Yan Zhiqing. She was not a smart woman in the first place, and in this high-pressure situation, she had no clue how to convince Yan Zhiqing to stay.
She had always pampered Yan Zhiqing, but in reality, she barely understood her daughter. Jiang Changdai only knew her at the surface level, she was blissfully unaware of her inner personality or deeper feelings. For so many years, Jiang Changdai only had eyes and ears for Lu Zhenting and Lu Zhenghang, both father and son.
Therefore, she did not know about Yan Zhiqing"s stubborn character, and how firm she was on the concepts of love and hate as well as issues of morality. If she found out that the other party had done something wrong, it did not matter how good of a relations.h.i.+p she had with the person, even if it was someone extremely close to her, she would not give them a second chance.
Jiang Changdai finally realized this now. Even so, how could Yan Zhiqing place justice above her loyalty to her family?
Jiang Changdai became increasingly distressed as the seconds pa.s.sed. Then, she suddenly decided to stop using words to persuade Yan Zhiqing and planned to simply drag her stubborn daughter home.
"Come home with me! Are you going to the Yan family now to tell them everything?" Jiang Changdai asked frantically as she dragged Yan Zhiqing away.
Yan Zhiqing was so furious that she was at the edge of losing her head. How could Jiang Changdai still be unremorseful even now? How could this woman still be worried that she was going to expose their secret and ruin the father and son"s devious plan?
"So what if I am?" Yan Zhiqing shrieked back in anger, "If you guys dare to do something like that, then how can you be worried about someone telling on you?"
Jiang Changdai almost went crazy upon hearing her daughter"s response. She really was going to expose their plan!
"No way! You can"t tell them!" Jiang Changdai screamed anxiously.
"Let go of me! Let go!" Yan Zhiqing continued to struggle desperately out of Jiang Changdai"s grip. Where did Jiang Changdai get the strength to keep such a firm grip on her?
"I can"t let you go back to them and expose the plan! Zhiqing, you"re my daughter, why can"t you be on my side? I"m the one who raised you since you were young, not the Yan family! Just a short while ago, you were saying that you never want to go back to the Yan family because the two elders are always scolding and nagging you. Have you forgotten that?" Jiang Changdai urged, "Follow me back this instant! I am your mother for goodness sake! You should be helping me!"
"I"m your daughter too! Have you forgotten that? Have you ever thought about me throughout this whole situation? I"m a Yan, so how can I simply watch you join forces with outsiders to scheme against my grandfather, my grandmother, and my own brother! The two elders are already old, can"t you just stop your bullsh*t antics and let them enjoy their life happily? Has it slipped your mind that you even killed their son? You killed their son for f*cks sake! Is that not enough? Do you still want to continue destroying the family? I"ve really never seen someone as heartless as you! You dare call yourself my mother, but let me ask you this: Is Lu Zhenghang more important than me? In your heart, can I even compare to Lu Zhenghang"s pinky finger?"