Chapter 431 The Best Ending
Madam Lu staggered back several steps after being struck by the cruel truth and utter failure.
"Madam!" Madam Cao looked at her worriedly and used all her strength to barely support Madam Lu's shaky body.
Old Madam Lu's eyes were fixed on Yuan Wanru's smiling face, which seemed to have everything under control.
In an instant, countless images flashed through her mind: Yuan Wanru's nonchalant attitude when proposing the bet, her nonchalant silence when being questioned, her feigned hesitation when faced with requests to increase the bet...all the fragments suddenly came together to form a clear picture of a trap!
"Poisonous woman!!"
A hoarse and shrill curse rolled out of the old lady's throat, and her dry branch-like fingers, filled with deep hatred, almost poked Yuan Wanru's nose.
"You...you had planned this all along! You were setting a trap for me from the beginning to the end!"
She howled in despair and anger like a female beast that had been cornered. "You used Liang Yuhua's death to lure me into this! That bet... that bet, from the beginning, I was destined to be the loser! I don't admit it! I will never admit it!"
"grandmother,"
Lu Jiangnian's cold voice sounded first, with unquestionable majesty, "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. A man must keep his word. If you insist on not admitting it..."
His eyes swept across the Rong Shou Hall behind the old lady, which symbolized her status and wealth. His tone was calm but every word was heart-piercing, "Then I will have no choice but to send someone tonight to move out and count all the items in Rong Shou Hall that belong to you, as compensation for your breach of contract."
He paused, looked at the old lady's face which turned pale instantly, and added, "Since you don't want to return to your hometown to spend your remaining years in retirement, it's fine for you to stay in the capital. However, I'm afraid I can only let you have simple meals in the future."
Lu Bai watched from the side, feeling extremely complicated.
He opened his mouth and looked at his old mother's distraught and angry appearance. A trace of pity flashed through his heart. He felt that she was indeed miserable and pitiful at the moment.
However, another voice reminded him: This situation, in the final analysis, was caused by his mother's excessive trust in Lu Yuxiu.
Without being forced by anyone, my mother willingly jumped into the trap of the gambling.
Who can be blamed for this?
“Second brother!!”
It was as if Old Madam Lu had grasped at the last straw. Her bloodshot eyes suddenly turned to Lu Bai, and her voice was sharp and piercing, full of accusations of betrayal.
"You're just going to stand there and watch?!"
"Watching your dear mother being abused and bullied by this couple?!"
"Are you still a man? Do you still have any filial piety as a son?!"
She looked around and saw that everyone in the hall was her junior. But at this moment, Mrs. Lu realized sadly that the indecisive son in front of her had become the only support she could have at this moment.
Zhou Fang was terrified as she watched from the side, fearing that Lu Bai would be soft-hearted and confused and stand on the wrong side to disobey Yuan Wanru.
She had witnessed with her own eyes how cruel and scheming this niece-in-law was. She looked ten steps ahead before taking one step, and everything was linked to the next!
How could these “dumb heads” be her match?
She hurriedly stepped forward, tugged at Lu Bai's sleeve, and reminded him in a low but clear voice: "Old Madam, it is only natural to accept defeat. Master, you have read many books of saints and value the words faith and loyalty the most. You will not go against the teachings of the saints, right?"
She turned to the old lady, her tone carrying a subtle threat, "You'd better think it over carefully. If you stay in the capital with no money... your life will be really hard in the future."
When Mrs. Lu heard Zhou Fang's words "left penniless in the capital", she felt a chill running from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, instantly freezing her limbs.
She came from a merchant family and had lived a life of luxury since childhood. After marrying into the Lu family, she lived an extravagant life.
money?
To her, it has always been just numbers in the account book. Have the things piled up in the warehouse ever been truly in short supply?
Why would she ever need to calculate or beg for a penny?
She could almost imagine the scene clearly: the old lady who was once high and mighty, had fallen to the point where she had to look at her daughter-in-law Wang's face for every meal and cautiously reach out her hand to beg for a few copper coins to survive.
Maybe Wang would give it to her out of face, but the contempt in her eyes, the perfunctory words, and even the humiliation of counting the copper coins one by one in front of her...
Just by imagining it, an indescribable feeling of suffocation and shame that was worse than death gripped her heart and almost suffocated her.
She has always looked down on the Wang family!
"Asking for money...asking for money from Wang family..."
This thought bit at her dignity like a poisonous snake.
She has been in control of the Lu family's inner chamber for many years and is accustomed to calling the shots and being flattered and feared.
If she really ends up like that, what would she be in this huge capital city, in this deep mansion of the Lu family?
Not even as good as a respectable old slave!
That was simply stripping off her last bit of dignity and trampling on her!
The huge sense of humiliation and fear of the future, like a cold tide, instantly drowned her last trace of resentment and anger.
The overwhelming hatred that was ignited by being plotted against was extinguished with a "hiss" under the icy water of this cruel reality, leaving only despair and powerlessness like ashes.
She looked around the hall with carved beams and painted buildings, which once symbolized her supreme authority, and saw her son Lu Bai's hesitation, her daughter-in-law Zhou Fang's "well-intentioned" reminder, her grandson Lu Jiangnian's indifference, and Yuan Wanru's eyes that always contained a hint of mockery...
There was no place for her to stand here anymore, or rather, if she stayed any longer, even the last bit of her dignity as an "old lady" would be gone.
That's all.
It’s better not to stay in this place.
Rather than lingering in this house, living at the mercy of others, being looked down upon and humiliated, it is better to... leave.
Just give up.
She gave up completely.
This thought came to my mind clearly, bringing with it a sense of relief and fatigue, as well as a chill that penetrated deep into my bones.
At this moment, her straight back finally and completely bent down irreversibly.
"I'm leaving!"
"I'm leaving tomorrow."
The last sentence was weak and Cao Ma, with tears streaming down her face, helped her walk out.
Seeing Mrs. Lu like this, Lu Yuxiu cried out in despair, "Mom, don't you care about me anymore?"
Madam Lu paused and looked back at her daughter.
To be honest, she has never been involved in a life-threatening incident in her life. She really couldn't understand why her good daughter would become like this today?
"Yuxiu, Mom is tired, you can take care of yourself."
No one can control it.
She doesn't want to care about it anymore!
"don't want!"
When Lu Jiangnian saw his grandmother's hunched body, he felt no wavering in his heart.
My grandmother is pitiful, but the troubles she stirs up are enough to subvert everything.
If he hadn't been lucky, no one dared to imagine what the Lu family would be like now.
Now that my grandmother is safe and sound, and has returned to her hometown to live out her days in peace, this is the best outcome.
"Xuanying, bring Zhou Jianming here, and let's go into the palace."
The matter of Liang Yuhua has to be reported to the emperor.
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