After writing down the family tree that night, Mrs. Luo asked Luo Shenyuan to go to the study.
Xuezhi helped Yining clean herself up and put her into a cool silk shirt. She sat on the Luohan bed while Songzhi taught her how to knit. Yining looked up, and through the open lattice fan, she could hear the chirping of insects on a summer night, and a cool breeze blew in.
But she could hear no sound from the study.
Yining still felt a little nervous when she thought of Luo Shenyuan's fierce look just now.
She seemed to realize for the first time that Luo Shenyuan was not only the gentle and steady Third Brother, but also the future Prime Minister Luo Shenyuan. And what he was thinking in his heart, perhaps only he knew.
She put down the silk ribbon in her hand and told Xuezhi that she wanted to drink sour plum soup.
There was silence in Mrs. Luo's study, and not even the chirping of insects could be heard.
Luo Shenyuan's figure appeared very tall under the candlelight, his profile was even stern, and there was an undisguised coldness in his eyes.
In reality, he didn't like Old Lady Luo. He had been silent and patient for so many years that even a stone would have warmed up. But Old Lady Luo's fear of him had never changed. If it weren't for Yi Ning, she would probably have suppressed him again.
He stood in front of Mrs. Luo and asked her, "Grandma, what do you want to do?"
Old Lady Luo stroked the cold beads in her hand. It had been a long time since she had seen Luo Shenyuan face her with such indifference. If she remembered, it was the last time he saved Yining and she punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall.
At that time, he was kneeling on the ground. After hearing her words, he raised his head and looked at her with such indifference.
"Like Yi Ning, you grew up without a mother," Old Lady Luo said slowly, "but you were treated completely differently. You had no one to take care of you, but she had me to love her. Actually, I know you loved Yi Ning very much when you were little. You thought that since you and your sister both had no mother, you should be closer. But Yi Ning didn't like you at all, she even hated you."
Luo Shenyuan slowly clenched his hands hidden in his sleeves.
"You endured Yining in every possible way, until that day when Yining fell into the water—"
Mrs. Luo paused slightly. "Of course I know. How could you have caused her to fall into the water? After all, she was the sister you loved and cherished. You didn't even blame her when she injured your hand and delayed your first provincial examination. But when you saw her fall into the pond, you hesitated. You wondered whether to save her. If you didn't, this sister would no longer exist."
Luo Shenyuan looked at Old Mrs. Luo and clenched his hands even tighter, his nails almost digging into the flesh.
"You saw Yining struggling in the water and rescued her. But you didn't expect that after Yining woke up from the water, she would treat you differently. Although you didn't say it, I could tell you were happy. You doted on Yining even more. After all, Yining was the only one in the world who treated you so well... Who else was truly sincere to you?"
"But Yining didn't know that her third brother considered leaving her to die when she fell into the water."
Mrs. Luo smiled slightly: "Luo Shenyuan, am I right?"
Luo Shenyuan was silent for a moment, then he slowly smiled. "Grandmother, you're very perceptive. It's true. Everyone in this Luo Mansion disgusts me," he said in a slightly lower voice. "Except for Yi Ning, who among you truly likes me? I'm a concubine's child, and my biological mother is such a vicious person. Grandmother, do you know what kind of vicious words I've been raised with?"
Old Mrs. Luo sighed deeply. She looked at Luo Shenyuan's calm face. He had endured humiliation and hardship for so many years, never showing off, which was also a wise move to protect himself. But now it was different. No matter what kind of person Luo Shenyuan was, she hoped that he could become powerful immediately.
"Everyone says you're not very talented, even your father thinks so," Mrs. Luo said. "You don't want to live like this for the rest of your life, do you?"
Luo Shenyuan narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "Father's talent is mediocre. Without your and uncle's support, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to hold his position in the officialdom. I don't care what he thinks of me."
"What about Yining, do you care?"
Luo Shenyuan didn't say anything, just looked at Old Mrs. Luo.
"You've been able to endure it for so many years. Even I don't believe you have no ambitions." Mrs. Luo smiled and said, "Shenyuan, I will go sooner or later. Do you think your stepmother Lin Hairu can protect Yining with her personality?"
Luo Shenyuan walked up to Old Mrs. Luo with his hands behind his back. He pondered for a moment, and his hand brushed over the incense ash that had fallen from the incense burner in the main hall.
"Grandma's incense burner is too small. You can replace it with a slightly larger one." Luo Shenyuan said, "I have already made up my mind. You just wait and see." After saying that, he said goodbye to her and was about to leave the study.
Mrs. Luo breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but want to smile bitterly. She never thought that one day she would talk to a teenager like this.
Luo Shenyuan walked out of the study, but then paused and whispered, "Grandma, don't tell Yining about the drowning incident."
Old Mrs. Luo nodded and agreed, and when she looked again, Luo Shenyuan had already walked away.
When Mrs. Luo came out of the study, Yining had already fallen asleep in the green gauze cabinet, with Xuezhi beside her, fanning her. Seeing that she was sleeping soundly, Mrs. Luo returned to the inner room to rest.
Luo Shenyuan was adopted as the legitimate son, and within two days everyone in the Luo family knew about it.
After hearing this, Chen was a little confused. She didn't pay much attention to Luo Shenyuan on weekdays, and he came so suddenly.
The second branch of the family had no legitimate children, and she thought that Mrs. Luo would give Xuan Ge'er to Lin Hairu to raise, but Mrs. Luo chose Luo Shenyuan instead.
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