Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 218 You Don't Love Me That Much
After Lu Jia rushed out of Zhaoyang Pavilion, Zhi Mu stopped Lu Ying and kept her in the room. He served her tea, water, and a fur coat, taking meticulous care of her, but wouldn't let her go out with him.

Lu Ying naturally couldn't fall asleep anymore. She sat down and got up again, then sat down again, repeating this several times. After that, she immediately sent someone to chase after her.

They were a bit too slow. By the time they caught up with Lu Jia, she had already appeared in front of the Yan family.

Those who went were not allowed to enter the courtyard, let alone the house, but the news they brought back was already shocking enough.

Her maternal grandmother, née Wei, and Yan Song, whom she had called her maternal grandfather since she was a child…

This bombshell news left her barely able to breathe.

Upon hearing that Jiang was not actually a daughter of the Jiang family, but rather the illegitimate daughter of Wei and Yan Song, this pampered young lady from a noble family, who had been raised in luxury since childhood, slumped into her chair, speechless!
The Lu family has always been a prominent family and has a place in the imperial court. Lu Jie became famous at a young age and is now only in his thirties. He has already become a first-rank official in the court. There are not many young ladies with such status in the court!

She had always been proud of her identity and had always accepted the praise of others with equanimity. But now her family was telling her that her maternal grandmother had committed adultery and had given birth to her mother!

From that moment on, she became the daughter of an adulterous woman!

Lu Ying gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles white, and her face completely pale.

"The lady is back!"

When the maidservant came in to report, she suddenly turned her head and stood up from the chair.

Jiang returned to the mansion without needing anyone's help, striding into the inner courtyard and heading straight to the main house without looking to the side.

Lu Ying rushed to her, saw her bruised cheeks, disheveled hair and clothes, and then strode forward and grabbed Jiang's arms tightly.

"Is what they said true? Grandmother—"

She started speaking, but then she couldn't continue.

She was already short of breath, and when those unpleasant words were mentioned, she simply couldn't control her emotions.

Jiang looked down at her for a long time, then sat down under her indignant gaze.

"Yes."

"Why?!"

Lu Ying shouted, "Why would they do such a thing? And how could you have known all along? You knew all along, yet you still didn't let them cut off all ties?"

Jiang glanced at her, then suddenly smiled. "If we had severed ties long ago, would you have been able to live such a comfortable life all these years?"

Lu Ying paused.

"Can't you see?" Jiang's eyes flashed with sharp hatred. "In Lu Jie's eyes, only that wretched girl Lu Jia is his daughter!"

Lu Ying's eyes widened, and she swallowed hard. "I don't believe it!"

"You have to believe it whether you want to or not." Tears streamed down Jiang's red eyes. "He will care about you even less from now on. Because of Lu Jia, from now on, I have become their pawn."

"Why do you hate Lu Jia so much? Why do you have to drag her into everything!"

“It’s not that I hate her, it’s because her mother was the one Lu Jie willingly married. In his heart, only Lu Jia, born under such circumstances, deserves to be called his daughter!”

Jiang roared, his eyes bloodshot.

"And what am I? I'm someone who came to him for himself. Marrying me was just a way for him to show his allegiance to the Yan family!"
"He married me for profit, and you are also an appendage of that profit!"
Have you ever met someone who is truly sincere towards a chess piece?

“With Lu Jia around, Lu Jie has his own hope. He has someone he can love and pamper without worry. When he has a choice, he will never choose to be close to us, mother and son!”
"If you want him to become my real husband and your real father, the only way is to extinguish that thought in him!"

“The Cheng family is dead, leaving only Lu Jia. She is only five years old and so weak that she could be killed easily!”

"Once Lu Jia is dead, Lu Jie will give up on any further desires!"
"After all, his ambition lies in the imperial court, and he won't be too preoccupied with matters of the inner quarters. By cutting off his escape route, we are now his closest people in the inner quarters, and whether he likes it or not, he can only be close to us."

"He can only think of us. All the wealth and glory he has earned will fall on our shoulders!"
"We no longer have to compete with others!"
"We have no other support, and no one will genuinely help us. We can only rely on ourselves to strive for a peaceful and happy life!"

"I'm not specifically targeting Lu Jia, but anyone who gets in our way, we'll find a way to get rid of them, do you understand?!"

Jiang's voice was hoarse, forcing Lu Ying to take a half step back.

"You mean, Lu Jia's disappearance eleven years ago wasn't an accident, but something you did?"

Lu Ying's breathing inexplicably subsided.

Jiang straightened up: "This is not important to you. Just remember, the Yan family is unreliable, the Lu family is unreliable, and the Jiang family is even more unreliable."

"At first I had nothing."

“I saw your maternal grandmother groveling before the Yan family, and as a result, I had to grovel before them. From that moment on, I knew that it was important to keep the benefits in my own hands.”

"Only by having my own identity can I protect myself."

"The Lu family is my identity."

"Just like from now on, the Yan family will be your identity!"

Tears welled up in Lu Ying's eyes. "But you tried so hard to stop my engagement with the Yan family..."

"That's because Yan Qu is simply no good husband!"

Lu Ying's eyes widened in surprise: "What did you say?"

"He can't have sex with you, he can't let you have children! Your mother is doing this all for your own good!"

Lu Ying slumped down on the edge of the couch.

"I see!" Her pale face slowly rose again. "So now you're trying to make me marry him again?!"

"You have no choice but to marry him," Jiang said bitterly. "The Yan family won't let you off the hook. And your father never cared about you anyway; they all need someone to reconnect the interests of the Lu and Yan families."

"You are the most suitable person for me."

Lu Ying shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Why is this happening? Why is this happening?!"

“Because of Lu Jia!” Madam Jiang straightened up again. “This was all a trap she set. She made it so that you, who could have escaped this marriage, could no longer escape!”
"If it weren't for her, you would still be the esteemed Miss Lu! It's her who has brought you to this state!"

Lu Ying stared blankly at the ground, her tears already stopped.

Jiang grabbed her shoulders: "Your father didn't divorce his wife in public just now, and he probably won't do it again after he comes back."

"But if he wants to deal with me, he has plenty of ways to do it."

“Yingying, if Mother loses all power, you will be left with no one to rely on. This marriage you are in can save me, and it can save you!”
You absolutely must agree to this marriage!
"Your mother believes in you. You're so smart, you'll definitely do a great job."

Lu Ying turned her head to look at her: "So, am I going to be stuck in Yan Qu's trap for the rest of my life? Will I be unable to have children for the rest of my life?"
“The Yan family has become your enemy. If I marry into their family, I won’t even have any children. How can I establish myself in their household? What will become of me for the rest of my life?”

She stood up and looked at the woman sitting on the footstool in the dim light of the day: "You don't love me that much either."

"No matter who you marry me off to, you just want to send me away to protect your own interests."

Jiang was stunned.

Lu Ying withdrew her gaze and walked out.