Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 346 Not necessarily becoming enemies
Lu Jia raised an eyebrow.

Lu Ying gazed ahead: "My father-in-law is in prison. Looking at the whole thing, it seems to have started with the incident at Baiyun Temple. But I feel it should have started much earlier, perhaps from my mother—no, from the time you and Young Master Shen got married. Was all of this a setup by you?"

"What if I say no?"

“But you can’t deny it.” Lu Ying’s gaze flickered in the lamplight. “I just want to know, did Father participate in this scheme you set up?”

Lu Jia picked up a pastry, took a bite, and said, "No."

"Can I trust you?"

Lu Jia looked back and said, "If you are willing to believe me, then you will naturally believe everything I have said to you in the past."

"If you don't believe me, then whatever I say right now won't make you believe me either."

Lu Ying stared at her intently for a long time before finally pursing her lips and looking away.

"Yes. I never fully trusted you. And I don't trust my father now either. But I'm not reconciled. After all, I was his daughter for fourteen years. I want to get some things cleared up, so I can die with a clear understanding."

She looked down at the table: "I remember before you came back, my father was very good to me. At that time, I believed for a long time that he truly loved me."

"But when he heard that you were coming back, he rushed over there and then made a three-point agreement with his mother."

"Later, he became even more distant. Even though he was very kind to me and always obliging, things were still different between us!"

Lu Jia looked at her: "Are you saying you hate me?"

"Of course not." Lu Jia smiled wryly. "I know it's not your fault either."

"We are both young ladies of the Lu family, and without brothers to help us, we should be closer than ordinary sisters and support each other."

"Besides, you are your father's eldest daughter. He owes you something and wants to make it up to you, which is only right."

"However, my half-sister and my biological mother have a deep-seated hatred between them, which means that it is impossible for us to be completely without any resentment towards each other."

"Neither my father nor you can accept me as if nothing has happened!"

"You say I don't believe you, and I want to believe you, but how can I possibly believe you?!"

Lu Jia gazed at her tearful eyes and murmured, "I understand how you feel."

Lu Ying has done nothing wrong, but as the daughter of the Jiang family, she has received honor and care from them, so she must bear some consequences.

There's nothing anyone can do about this.

Lu Jia couldn't possibly not seek revenge; the only thing she could do was refrain from causing harm.

“I understand you,” Lu Ying said with tears in her eyes. “If I were you, I would naturally want revenge too. What I don’t understand is Father.”

“I was engaged to Yan Qu long ago. After it was revealed that he was a cripple, I knew that the Yan family would not let me off the hook. I did not expect my father to turn against the Yan family and break off the engagement.”

"But my father not only refused to break off the engagement, but he also secretly stabbed the Yan family in the back while sending me there. He didn't care about my life or death! I don't understand, when he set up this scheme, did he ever think about what would happen to me? Did he ever think about what would happen to me if the Yan family really collapsed?"

Her tears reflected the firelight.

Lu Jia saw her past self reflected in this resentment.

She asked, "Why didn't you go directly to your father?"

Lu Ying bit her lip.

Lu Jia's gaze was deep: "Did the Yan family find out something? Did they send you here?"

"No!" Lu Ying stood up abruptly. "I came here on my own initiative. They didn't know! Not only that, they were also wary of me! What am I to them? I guessed that they were wary of Father!" Lu Jia suddenly realized.

After a moment of silence, she asked again, "How did they come up with this plan?"

“I don’t know.” Lu Ying gazed at the rain. “I was kept out of the way and couldn’t hear a word. Even Yan Liang kept his mouth shut.”

Lu Jia frowned.

Lu Ying's face looked even paler under the lamplight.

Lu Jia stood up: "Are you scared?"

Lu Ying avoided her gaze: "Does it matter whether I'm afraid or not? For me, is there any way out? I am a demon who killed my own mother with my own hands, and I can never wash away this stain in this lifetime."

Lu Jia was silent for a moment, then walked to her side and looked at the rain together: "That's true, but no matter what, the Yan family is not a choice worth going through fire and water for. You should know better than us what kind of family they are."

“You know very well how many bad things they have done, you know that their power and status were built on the corpses of many loyal ministers and generals, and you know that behind their glory and honor, how many people are starving and suffering.”

"Before your mother's true identity was exposed, she was merely an adopted daughter they took in, yet she could still hold my life at will. It's not hard to guess how many lives the Yan family holds in their hands."

Lu Jia turned to the side: "I know you are well-read and reasonable, and your vision is different from that of ordinary women. So even after encountering setbacks, you still insisted on going your own way, wanting to grit your teeth and fight your way out of the Yan family."

"But you have ignored the most important point, which is that the Yan family is not worth doing this for."

"The harder you fight on the wrong path, the deeper you will sink."

"It's not that the Shen family wants to bring down the Yan family, nor is it that Father wants them to fall. Embezzling military funds is already disregarding the safety of the nation, not to mention they have other serious crimes waiting to be exposed! Even if the Shen and Lu families don't take action, someone else will step forward."

"The collapse of the Yan family is a foregone conclusion. You never interfered between me and your mother back then, which shows that you are a person who knows right from wrong. So even now, you are not completely without options. It all depends on which way you want to go."

Lu Ying leaned against the windowsill, her lips trembling slightly.

Lu Jia took a handkerchief and wiped away her tears: "I've said similar things to you before. Everyone has their own ambitions, and I can't force you to make a choice. But when you were scared, you didn't go to your father, but came to me instead, which I appreciate. It shows that you still have some trust in me. So, you should think about what I have to say when you have time."

Lu Ying's tear-filled eyes were wet again after she wiped them away.

She turned her head away: "I should go."

After saying that, she took a half step back, turned around, and looked around the room again: "I have to say, I really envy how you are now, and I really enjoy talking to you like this. If we had lived together since we were little, I don't know how wonderful that would have been."

Lu Jia silently picked up the cloak beside her and tied it on for her: "After Jin's escape, the Yan family must have strengthened their defenses. Even if you didn't get noticed when you came out, you should still be careful when you go back. The Yan mansion is well-defended, and our people can't get in. I'll have someone keep watch behind the mansion later. If you have any problems, you can try to contact them."

Lu Ying watched her tie a knot in her cloak: "You don't have to treat me like this."

“You are guilty to your mother, but not necessarily to me.” Lu Jia smoothed her clothes. “We don’t necessarily have to become enemies. Even if that day comes, we’ll talk about it when that day comes.”

Tears welled up in Lu Ying's eyes again. She cried and said, "Is this your scheme? You want to recruit me as your accomplice?"

Lu Jia chuckled and sighed, "That depends on whether you're willing to fall for the trap, isn't it?"

Lu Ying cried for a while, then stopped crying by sniffling, and said in a hoarse voice, "Yan Song may have already come up with a solution. He stayed in the cabinet office until late at night before returning. I don't know what he was thinking, but before he returned to his residence, he had all the accountants wait for him in the main room."

"In addition, when Yan Liang came out of his room, he was holding a letter in his hand. He quickly put it away when he saw me. I guessed that they were in a hurry to contact some important person."

"That's all I know. You can decide the rest."

After saying that, she let go of his hand, turned around, and walked into the rain.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, instantly illuminating her figure as she sped across the courtyard.