Chapter 172 The Luo Family of the Capital

Meanwhile, Zhong Zhengming and Lu Jianhong, a married couple, were discussing a sinister plan on how to capture Lu Yao.

Meanwhile, Lu Kangning had already arrived in the capital.

She finally met her eccentric biological parents.

That's right, in Lu Kangning's mind, these two are just oddballs.

The biological father, Luo Yinglang, knowingly had a fiancée and was burdened with the mission of arranging a marriage for the family, yet he still went out of his way to seduce other women and even have a child with one of them.

Jing Chan, the birth mother, was deceived in the early stages, but even after learning the truth, she still insisted on giving birth to her. Moreover, after Luo Yinglang found her, she went back to the capital with him and has been his mistress for many years.

Neither of the two parents fulfilled their parenting obligations, claiming that "Kangning needs a complete family," and placed her in the care of the Lu family.

Lu Kangning felt utterly speechless with frustration.

She sneered inwardly, but showed no sign of it on her face.

"I'm sorry you've suffered all these years," Luo Yinglang said sincerely. "Dad will make it up to you."

Jing Chan's eyes immediately welled up with tears, and she reached out to pull her daughter's hand: "Mom thinks about you all the time..."

Lu Kangning let tears well up in her eyes at just the right moment, but stubbornly turned her face away: "Miss me? Then why haven't you come to see me for fifteen years?"

Her voice trembled just the right amount, expressing her grievance without sounding too aggressive.

This reaction made the two of them feel even more guilty.

“Kangning, of course Mom did secretly watch you, but I didn’t dare let you find out… There was an osmanthus tree in front of your elementary school, and Mom would hide behind it and wait for you to finish class, just to catch a glimpse of you…”

"Mom!" Lu Kangning rushed into Jing Chan's arms, and the mother and daughter embraced and wept.

Upon seeing this, Luo Yinglang immediately offered to transfer a luxury villa in the suburbs of Beijing to his daughter, with the garden alone covering three acres.

In the dead of night, Jingchan applied expensive face cream to her face while revealing the Luo family secret to her daughter: "You are still the only bloodline of the Luo family."

Her smug smile was reflected in the mirror. The innocent, naive girl who ran away with a child back then is now a seasoned mistress who knows the ways of surviving in a wealthy family.

Lu Kangning could not hide his shock.

She originally thought Luo Yinglang already had a wife and children, but she never expected that his wife Ruan Yanya had not conceived after fourteen years of marriage.

"Mom, does Aunt Ruan know about your situation?"

Jing Chan raised a sneer: "They laid it all out before they got married. She said, 'Let's each do our own thing, don't get my eyes dirty.'"

"Then... does she know I exist?"

“Of course.” Jing Chan scoffed lightly, “But she has always been arrogant and has never taken her illegitimate daughter seriously.”

Seeing the gleam in her daughter's eyes, Jingchan said meaningfully, "If she can't give birth, what will happen in the future..."

Lu Kangning's heart suddenly raced, which meant that Luo Yinglang's resources did not yet have a legitimate heir.

Jing Chan saw the ambition in her eyes, but only smiled and remained silent.

"Isn't Aunt Ruan in a hurry?" Lu Kangning asked curiously.

"She's not in a hurry. It's said that getting married is already her biggest concession. But the elders on both sides are indeed jumping up and down in anxiety."

After the examination revealed that Ruan Yanya had difficulty conceiving, she bluntly said, "IVF is too painful, I won't endure that suffering. If you want to have children, you'll have to figure it out yourselves."

The Ruan family regretted spoiling their daughter, but they were helpless against her.

"Really not having any more children? Then this marriage alliance..." Lu Kangning found it unbelievable.

Jing Chan pursed her lips: "How could that be? How could such a marriage be stable? If it wants to last, there must be a next generation to truly connect the two families. I heard that they have come up with a plan and are looking for highly educated surrogate mothers."

Lu Kangning was taken aback and frowned.

"Isn't this illegal?"

Jing Chan cleared her throat awkwardly and changed the subject.

Lu Kangning wisely kept quiet and didn't ask any further questions.

She quickly figured out the Luo family's background.

The servants of the Luo family all knew that she was the master's only bloodline, so they served her with extra care. Even the coat she casually placed on the sofa would be immediately hung up and ironed.

Luo Yinglang comes here to stay overnight every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday without fail, and Jing Chan always instructs the kitchen to prepare his favorite Huaiyang cuisine in advance.

She transferred to one of the top international schools in Beijing, where the cost of the uniform alone was equivalent to half a year's income for an average family.

"Back then, I instructed the Lu family to let you apply to a university in Beijing because your mother missed you, and this would also make it easier for you to gradually reunite with your family. Now that you've come early, you can study wherever you want," Luo Yinglang said, patting her head.

Lu Kangning tiptoed and left a kiss on his father's cheek: "Dad is the best."

One weekend at dinner time, Luo Yinglang put down his chopsticks and said solemnly, "Kang Ning, come back to the old house with me this Saturday to see your grandparents."

Lu Kangning's hand, holding the spoon, hovered in the air.

She displayed a perfectly timed expression of trepidation and anticipation, while her heart was already churning with turbulent emotions.

This is a golden opportunity for her to formally enter the inner circle of the Luo family.

That night, she stayed up all night, repeatedly practicing every smile and every greeting when they met.

The wardrobe was filled with carefully selected dresses, and the dressing table was decorated with various pieces of jewelry.

She knew that this meeting would determine her status in the Luo family.

On Saturday morning, Luo Kangning put on a beige dress, tied her long black hair into a neat half-updo, and only applied a thin layer of tinted lipstick to her lips.

The girl in the mirror is gentle and lovely, just like the obedient girl that elders like.

Luo Yinglang nodded in satisfaction and personally drove her to the Luo family ancestral home located at the foot of Xishan Mountain.

The car drove through a lush bamboo forest and stopped in front of a traditional Chinese courtyard with blue bricks and gray tiles.

The bronze animal-head door knockers on the vermilion gate gleamed with an antique luster in the sunlight.

In the reception room, the Luo family patriarch sat upright in a sandalwood armchair.

Although the old man was over seventy years old, his hawk-like eyes were still as sharp as knives.

Grandma Luo wore gold-rimmed glasses, and the jade prayer beads in her hand kept turning, making a soft clinking sound.

"Grandpa, Grandma." Lu Kangning bowed slightly, her voice soft but not timid, and performed a proper greeting.

After a moment of silence, Grandpa Luo suddenly spoke: "I heard you did well in school?"

“Yes, Grandpa.” She looked up and gave a perfectly timed smile. “I ranked sixth in my class and in the top fifty in the whole school at the end of last semester.”

The old lady pushed up her glasses: "Can you play the piano?"

“I studied with professors at the Vienna Conservatory of Music for a few years,” she replied modestly. “If Grandma doesn’t mind, I can perform a song.”

Led by the housekeeper, she arrived at the music room.

When slender fingers land on the black and white keys of a Steinway piano, Debussy's "Clair de Lune" flows out like water.

The music was sometimes plaintive and sometimes cold and clear, perfectly showcasing her musical talent.

Grandma Luo's gaze softened, and Grandpa Luo nodded slightly.

At the dinner, the old man placed a piece of steamed shad on her plate and said casually, "Now that you've acknowledged your ancestry, you'll be called Luo Kangning from now on."

Lu Kangning—no, Luo Kangning—felt a jolt, but on the surface, he simply replied obediently, "Yes, Grandpa."

She has finally been officially recognized.

That evening, Luo Kangning was arranged to rest in a guest room on the third floor of the old house.

The old house was eerily quiet at midnight.

The room was antique and elegant, and the bed was soft and comfortable. However, Luo Kangning tossed and turned on the carved mahogany bed.

I don't know if it was because I was too excited to be recognized, or because of the vague unease deep in my heart.

Suddenly, a faint sobbing sound drifted into my ears.

The sound was intermittent, as if it came from a room at the end of the corridor, suppressed and painful.

Luo Kangning's heart tightened. He quietly got up, pushed open the door, and followed the sound.

At the end of the corridor was a tightly closed door, with a sliver of light shining through the crack.

She held her breath, pressed herself against the door, and could vaguely hear a woman sobbing inside, and... a low plea.

"Please... let me out..."

Just then, the butler's cold voice came from behind: "Miss, you shouldn't have come here."