Chapter 113 Don't Blame Me
"Father! Qing'er!" Lu Jinlan cried out in anguish, but for the first time in her life, she received no response from them.
The husbands rushed over upon hearing the commotion and found Lu Jinlan holding Yan Shi's body, wailing loudly.
Through her teary eyes, Lu Jinlan saw Lu Jinzhao stumbling and staggering towards her.
Lu Jinzhao was still unable to accept such a big change. With a look of suspicion in her eyes, she gently nudged Yan Shi, as if she were just waking up her sleeping husband as usual.
"Qinghe, Qinghe... Look at me, Qinghe!"
Seeing that Yan Shi had no reaction, Lu Jinzhao burst into tears instantly. Overwhelmed with anxiety and anger, he fainted.
"Mother!" Everyone quickly helped Lu Jinzhao up.
The old housekeeper, Aunt Zou, and her servants knelt on the ground, tears streaming down their faces, and said, "Young master, things have come to this. You must make a decision. I am ill, and my husband is gone. Please pull yourself together and take charge!"
Lu Jinlan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "First, carry Mother back to her room. Ask Manager Ping to bring the physician over to help. At dawn, have someone take the assassin's body to the Jingzhao Prefecture to beat the drum and appeal for justice."
Lu Jinlan gritted her teeth, "Hold a grand funeral. I want the whole capital to know that the Marquis of Jing'an's family has suffered a death. My father died unjustly, and whatever I do is justified."
*
Yan Weijin was discussing matters with his subordinates in his study when he suddenly heard a loud bang.
Everyone turned to look and saw Yan Wuxin, her face as cold as ice, shaking off the servants who were trying to stop her, kicking open the door and forcibly barging in.
Yan Weijin frowned and said to the others, "You can go down first."
The door was closed from the outside, leaving only the mother and daughter inside, but the atmosphere was unusually heavy.
Yan Weijin was displeased. "What are you doing? Don't you have any self-awareness as a woman? You have no manners at all."
Yan Wuxin sneered, "Mother, the Lu family is holding a funeral, and you still want to talk to me about etiquette?"
Yan Weijin glared at her. "What do you mean? You suspect I did it?"
Yan Wuxin shook his head. "I have no doubt. I'm certain that you did it."
Yan Weijin was taken aback, then calmly walked away, put down the memorial in his hand, and sat down in the chair.
With the air of a victor, the Prime Minister calmly straightened his sleeves and said, "I did it, so what?"
Yan Wuxin leaned against the desk, scrutinizing her closely, and coldly questioned, "Why? Mother, I've already told you that Jinlan won't pursue the matter. Why are you acting so guilty, rushing to kill her to silence her?"
"Shut up!" Yan Weijin roared. "What do you know? Who is Lu Jinlan? She's unpredictable and vindictive. How can you believe her deceptive words? Those are just excuses she used to fool you. How could she not pursue the murder of her father and the annihilation of her family?"
"Fooling her? Heh." Yan Wuxin shook his head. "You don't understand her at all! Do you think she only found out the truth yesterday? Do you think she only realized you were behind it yesterday? Do you think she hesitated to act because she couldn't kill you?"
"The Lu Jinlan I know is not vindictive, but rather clear about gratitude and resentment. She is cunning in her actions, and I am certain that if someone else had done this, even if she could not take revenge openly, she would have killed or poisoned them in secret without hesitation."
"But your enemy happens to be you, the mother of her best friend. How can you expect her to do anything about it?"
"She didn't kill you, not because you hold a high position or great power, but because you are my mother. She didn't want to become enemies with her best friend; she didn't pursue the matter for my sake!"
Yan Weijin turned his head away, "Nonsense! Only you naively believe in confidants, close friends, and the bonds of friendship. The reason she hasn't turned against you is because it's not the right time yet. The reason she hasn't betrayed you is because the benefits aren't great enough!"
Yan Wuxin closed his eyes wearily. "It seems no matter what I say, you won't believe me. Hmph, that's true, you've never had a friendship like this before. Your friends betrayed you, so you assume my friends will do the same. But let me tell you, my friends are different from yours."
Yan Weijin said loudly, "Same here! Faced with immense temptation, even the strongest friendship will crumble! Besides, I worked so hard to get this position, how could I hand over the decision-making power to someone else? Whether she investigates or not, the fact that she knows about this matter is a hidden danger, and I will eliminate it."
Yan Wuxin looked at Yan Weijin's aged and red eyes and nodded slightly, "I understand."
"What do you understand?"
"Now I understand what you were thinking back then. It turns out you were willing to betray the world rather than let the world betray you. You were afraid that others would wrong you, so you wronged others first. Gu Feiqing is your friend, right? You were like that back then too, striking first to gain the upper hand, euphemistically called 'eliminating hidden dangers.'"
Yan Weijin gritted his teeth. "You don't know what happened back then. How could you know that I wronged her, instead of her wronging me?"
Yan Wuxin chuckled, "Mother underestimates me. Although I don't know what happened back then, can't I use my brain to figure it out? I don't know Gu Feiqing, but I know you. Based on my understanding of you, Your Excellency, if she had wronged you, why would you have erected a monument and built a tomb for her?"
"Given your vengeful nature, Mother, how could I not dig up graves and plunder tombs to justify the ruthless ways of the Prime Minister?"
Yan Weijin's chest heaved. "You...you're incredibly rebellious!"
Yan Wuxin said, "I can already imagine what you did back then. You killed her and her brother, yet you still have the audacity to believe that she was the one who wronged you first."
"Perhaps you still think you're magnanimous, that she might be a threat to you, yet you still 'kindly' arranged her funeral. You might even tell yourself, 'I, Yan Weijin, have done more than enough.'"
"At her grave, you shattered the sword she gave you, thinking that you were now severing all ties and owing each other nothing."
"But deep down you know you owe her. You can fool everyone else, but you can't fool yourself."
"Last time, in front of us, you talked about so many old stories. You recounted the hardships of your childhood and denounced the betrayal of those around you during your student days, but you didn't dare to mention Gu Feiqing at all."
"Because in this matter, she is the victim, and you are the one who betrayed her. You are afraid people will find out, you feel guilty."
"Nonsense!" Yan Weijin slammed his fist on the table in anger. "What happened between her and me is none of anyone else's business to judge."
Yan Wuxin looked at her with a pitying gaze, “Mother, admit it. If you are truly innocent, why did you destroy your own stone statue? You are afraid that others will know that you and Gu Feiqing were once such good friends, but you betrayed your promise and killed her in a despicable and shameless way.”
Snap!
The slap, delivered with a gust of wind, was incredibly loud.
Yan Wuxin gently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and a relieved smile appeared on his swollen face.
"Your Excellency, do you know why you have no true friends?"
"Because you don't trust anyone, and in your eyes everything is more important than friends. You always put many things above friendship. You take friendship so lightly and see your friends so clearly, it's no wonder they abandoned you. It's not their fault."
"You're in the wrong because you don't understand what it means to cherish."
Yan Wuxin's face darkened, and he turned and left.
Yan Weijin stood up, supporting himself on the table. "Come back! You come back here!"
The daughter who had always respected her didn't turn back, just like those old friends who had left her over the years, or rather, those she had abandoned. In the end, they drifted further and further away, disappearing without even a proper goodbye.
Yan Weijin slumped into a chair, utterly dejected, with no one around him.
*
Lu Jinlan knelt in the mourning hall, burning paper money one sheet after another in her hands.
Lin Cheng wiped away his tears and said in a low voice, "You haven't slept a wink all night, and you still have to entertain the guests later. Take advantage of the fact that there are fewer people now and go to the back hall to rest for a while."
Lu Jinlan shook her head. "I'm not tired. I can manage. You should go and rest. You haven't slept all night either."
Lin Cheng refused, "I'll go with you. Actually, there's something else I want to discuss with you. You know how Qing'er feels about you. He has no family. If he's buried as a servant, I'm afraid no one will come to pay their respects..."
Lu Jinlan nodded. "I understand what you mean. When he was alive, I couldn't give him a proper status. Now he's been implicated and killed because of me. I'm the one who has wronged him. Let him be buried as my Xiao Lang. I hope he can find some comfort in the afterlife."
Lin Cheng hurriedly said, "If he knew this in the afterlife, he would be very happy. I will send someone to take care of it right away."
As soon as Lin Cheng left, Xi Mo hurriedly entered.
She glanced at Lu Jinzhao, who sat listlessly beside the coffin, and whispered to Lu Jinlan, "Lord Yan has arrived. Kneel in front of the mansion gate."
Lu Jinlan nodded and handed the paper money in her hand to Qilang, "You burn it."
She stood up and said to Lu Jinchao, "Mother, you should go back to your room and rest. I'll take care of things here."
Lu Jinzhao shook his head wearily. "I'll stay here with your father."
Lu Jinlan could only say, "Then I'll go outside and give some instructions. I'll be back in a bit."
After Yan's departure, Lu Jinzhao seemed to have aged a few years. The two were, after all, husband and wife who had been married for many years and had a deep affection for each other.
It is said that a young couple becomes companions in old age. With her husband suddenly passing away, Lu Jinzhao became even more dependent on Lu Jinlan.
She grasped Lu Jinlan's hand with her wrinkled hands and urged, "Go quickly and come back quickly."
Lu Jinlan nodded, "Okay."
*
Yan Wuxin knelt at the entrance of Zhongyong Garden with her head down and a heavy heart, until a pair of strong hands pulled her up.
"Wu Xin, get up."
Looking at Lu Jinlan's red and swollen eyes, Yan Wuxin felt as if his heart was being pricked by needles. "Jinlan, I..."
Lu Jinlan shook her head. "There's no need to say anything. This has nothing to do with you. From now on, she is her, and you are you. You don't have to bear her mistakes, and I won't care about your relationship with her."
Yan Wuxin nodded. "I understand. What do you want to do?"
Lu Jinlan lowered her eyes. "A life for a life, that's only right and proper."
Yan Wuxin also lowered his head, "Indeed, that's how it should be."
Lu Jinlan looked at her, "Wu Xin, don't blame me."
Yan Wuxin smiled sadly, "How could I have the right to blame you? On the contrary, it was you who always looked out for me. If it weren't for me, my uncle wouldn't have..."
Lu Jinlan shook his head, "None of us are saints. Who could have predicted that things would turn out this way? Now that the deceased is gone, only revenge can comfort my father's spirit in heaven."
Yan Wuxin sniffed. "Fine, after all, it's my family that wronged your family, I'm sorry. You can focus on the funeral arrangements, I will give you a satisfactory explanation."
Yan Wuxin turned to leave, but Lu Jinlan quickly grabbed her, "What are you doing?"
Yan Wuxin patted the back of her hand, "Don't worry, I won't do anything foolish. I'm just doing what I should do."
Yan Wuxin strode away, leaving Lu Jinlan with only a resolute silhouette.
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Author's Note: It's almost the end of the month, so I'm secretly asking for some nutrient solution... Double update today! [Please][Please][Please]
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