At that moment, she was so frightened in the next room that she bit her own hand until it bled, but she didn't care.
From that moment on, Yan Hong secretly vowed that she would protect her older sister with her own life.
Seeing Yan Hong cry sadly again, Lan Xiang inadvertently lowered her eyes and suddenly glanced at Yan Hong's fair, delicate, and smooth hands, which seemed to have never been touched by spring water.
After a slight hesitation, he asked, "By the way, Yan Hong, what exactly is the deep-seated hatred you have for your mother? I haven't had time to ask you yet. Also, judging from your appearance and demeanor, you seem like a young lady from a wealthy family. How did you, a pampered young lady, end up as a prostitute?"
After listening for a while, Yan Hong sniffed and said to her in a low voice, "Sister Xiang'er, to tell you the truth, my grandfather was a great philanthropist in the south of the city. He accumulated good deeds and did good for his neighbors throughout his life, but he only had one daughter, my mother. In order to continue the family line, my grandfather decided to find a husband for my mother when she turned fifteen. Who would have thought that this would lead to his death?"
But Yan Hong seemed rooted to the spot, lost in thought. Lan Xiang nudged her several times before she snapped out of it, looked at Lan Xiang, and bit her lip. "That person was a liar all along..."
At this point, Yan Hong paused, seemingly haunted by some painful memories, yet even now, the mere mention of them filled her with fear and dread. Lan Xiang asked anxiously, "What exactly happened?"
Upon hearing this, Lanxiang immediately frowned, staring at Yan Hong's still slightly red eyes, and asked in confusion, "Liar?"
Yan Hong nodded, recalling, "Yes, that was a heinous liar."
Then, he recounted his tragic experiences to Lanxiang in detail.
Shortly before my mother came of age, accompanied by her maids and servants, she went to the Qiyuan Temple, a popular temple in the southern suburbs of the city, to offer incense and pray for my maternal grandfather.
Unexpectedly, on their way home, they were suddenly robbed by bandits, and all the servants accompanying them were killed.
Just as my mother was about to be violated by the bandits, a handsome young man in white robes appeared, his face as fair as jade. Holding a long sword, he seemed like an immortal descending from heaven, and quickly drove the bandits away one by one.
He even suffered a serious knife wound as a result, but he managed to save my mother and preserve her chastity. He also personally escorted her back to the mansion despite his knife wound.
When his maternal grandfather met him and learned of this, he offered him one hundred taels of gold as a token of his gratitude, but he refused.
Seeing this, his grandfather felt extremely guilty and insisted that he stay, ordering people to take good care of him and help him recover from his injuries.
He initially wanted to politely decline, but after my mother intervened and persuaded him to stay, he finally agreed to stay at the mansion to heal his wounds.
It was only in the countless days that followed that my grandfather and mother discovered that this person not only possessed an extraordinary temperament, appearance, and skills, but was also well-read, a man of both literary and martial talents, and with a wide range of knowledge.
From then on, my mother secretly fell in love with him.
Originally, my maternal grandfather did not have many requirements for the son-in-law who was going to marry into the family. As long as he was of good character, from a respectable family, and could protect and love my mother with all his might, that would be enough.
Thus, this ethereal man in white robes became the first choice for a son-in-law in my grandfather's heart, a son-in-law seemingly sent from heaven.
Seeing that the man's injuries were healing day by day, there was no longer any excuse to keep him in the mansion for further close observation.
So, the grandfather was also overjoyed and full of anticipation, wanting to fulfill his beloved daughter's wish. He tentatively asked about his background, but to his surprise, the man claimed that he was a lonely wanderer who had drifted into the world and did not want to talk much about his sad past.
My grandfather became suspicious, fearing that such a person was of unknown origin. He was somewhat disappointed but also had to be wary and abandon his initial idea. He didn't want to invite such a person into his family, as it might backfire and invite trouble into the house.
But that person was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Because of this, my mother became even more infatuated with her.
My maternal grandfather only had one daughter, and she lost her mother at a young age. He single-handedly raised her, acting as both father and mother to adulthood.
For my mother's happiness and well-being, my maternal grandfather, despite his immense wealth, never considered taking a concubine.
Finally, under my mother's insistence, I had no choice but to comply and bring that man into the household, making him her son-in-law.
At first, he was quite filial and respectful to my maternal grandfather; he also treated my mother with great respect and care.
Not long after, my mother became pregnant.
Then one day, my mother overheard one of his biggest secrets.
One night, my mother woke up from her sleep and found that he was not beside her pillow, so she got up to check.
Unexpectedly, through the crack in the study window, they discovered him whispering something with a mysterious man dressed in black.
From their conversation, my mother vaguely heard them saying that they urgently needed money to recruit soldiers.
My mother was taken aback, but in the process of covering her mouth, she accidentally knocked open the half-closed window in front of her in the study.
Upon hearing this, the mysterious man in black clothes immediately leaped over the window, holding an extremely cold and sharp sword to my mother's neck.
My mother was still in shock from what she had just heard when she saw a sharp sword pointed at her and the child in her womb. She immediately felt unbearable abdominal pain, clutched her stomach, groaned, and began to gasp for breath.
Upon seeing this, the man quickly came out of the study. When he saw that it was my mother, he waved to her, signaling her to leave first. Only then did the mysterious man in black clothes leave in a hurry as instructed.
After the mysterious man in black left, my mother followed him into the study and asked him who he was and what he was doing in secret. But he refused to reveal a single word.
From then on, my mother also harbored resentment towards him and stopped sleeping in the same bed with him.
This matter quickly reached my maternal grandfather's ears. He asked my mother what had happened, and under his persistent questioning, she finally realized that she had indeed let a wolf into the house. She then told him the whole story.
In a fit of anger, my grandfather confronted him to get to the bottom of things, but he refused to utter a single word.
Not only that, he whispered something to his grandfather, which made his grandfather so angry that he vomited blood and fainted on the spot.
A few days later, my grandfather passed away without leaving a single last word.
On the day my grandfather passed away, my mother was filled with regret, hating herself for not heeding his advice, for marrying the wrong person, and for insisting on her own way, which led to this tragedy of family destruction and death.
Overwhelmed with grief, she burst into tears on the spot and fainted.
What's even more hateful is that the man disregarded the lives of my mother and me, his own flesh and blood who was still unborn in his womb, and that very night he hastily sold all of my grandfather's property and left the mansion with them.
From then on, they disappeared without a trace and were never heard from again.
Later, my mother, heavily pregnant, was carried out of the mansion by the new landlord and left on the street.
When she woke up, it was already midnight. A torrential downpour was falling from the night sky, and she was soaked to the bone by the cold rain. She woke up with a high fever and was shivering. She stumbled and staggered to the home of a reclusive woman in a remote area, where she was kind enough to be taken in.
Later, with the woman's help, my mother was able to give birth to me successfully.
From then on, my daughter and I lived together with that woman, relying on each other for survival.
Until a few years ago, for some unknown reason, the woman said she had important things to do and went to another place. Since then, only my daughter and I have been left to depend on each other.
"So that's how it is. This swindler is really something else. Your mother really shouldn't have disobeyed your grandfather. He was clearly plotting to take your grandfather's fortune from the very beginning. Those robbers might even have been people he arranged beforehand. He orchestrated a elaborate self-inflicted injury for your mother and grandfather to see." Lanxiang finally understood.
"Who can argue with that? But the onlooker sees more of the game than the player. As the saying goes, one wrong step can lead to eternal regret. According to my mother's later recollection, she saw a mark on the wrist of the person holding a sword to her neck outside the study window, and the same mark was on the wrist of the robber that day."
Upon hearing Yan Hong's words, Lan Xiang quickly asked, "Then why didn't your mother tell your grandfather back then?"
Yan Hong sighed, "My mother originally wanted to let things rest and not make a big fuss. Besides, she was already pregnant. As long as he was willing to admit his mistakes, explain everything clearly, stop hiding things from the family, and start anew, she could forgive him and pretend nothing had happened and continue living a good life. But after giving him so much time and space to consider, and waiting for him to turn over a new leaf, who would have thought that what awaited him was the calamity of patricide and the extermination of his entire family? Sister Xiang'er, how can there be such heartless, ungrateful, and treacherous people in this world..."
Upon hearing this, Lanxiang also sighed deeply. It was not an isolated case; the world was full of infatuated women and heartless men. Yan Hong's mother and her mother were both such foolish women in the world.
After a long pause, Lanxiang suddenly asked, "Where is your mother? And how did you end up in this brothel?"
Yan Hong hesitated for a moment, then said, “My mother passed away a few months ago. I only found out later after searching around and asking around that the woman who took us in and saved our lives was making a living in this area. That’s why I came here to try my best to find her. When my mother was dying, she had no one else to entrust her with, so she told me to do my best to find that great benefactor. She would definitely take me in or help me.”
"Have you found it?" Lanxiang asked hurriedly.
However, Yan Hong's eyes flickered uncertainly, as if she hesitated, unsure of how to speak...
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