Shen Manman and Lin Yaxian walked for a while and arrived at a secluded spot in the plum blossom grove.
In the distance, the sounds of laughter and merriment from a banquet could be heard.
The two stood facing each other for a long time, and Lin Yaxian didn't know how to speak.
Shen Manman said calmly, "What do you want to say? If you don't, I'm leaving."
Lin Yaxian cried out in alarm, "No..."
Shen Manman looked at her and said, "If you want to care about me and ask me how I've been all these years, then you can rest assured that I'm doing very well. My father is also doing well, and my grandmother and the others are all doing well too."
Lin Yaxian's face flushed red upon hearing this, because that wasn't what she came to say...
And since they're doing well, how can she go back...?
Shen Manman continued, "And my aunt is also very good to me."
Lin Yaxian finally found a way to start the conversation, and said with exasperation, "What do you mean by 'being good to you'? You've been bewitched by her!"
"And you said earlier that you were the one who set her up... Ha, you're young and naive, you don't know what tricks a woman can use to get close to a man."
"You think you're the one who set the trap, but actually it's her scheme. The most skilled hunters often appear as the prey."
"She's nice to you now because she hasn't entered the inner circle yet, and hasn't established herself firmly. Look at Madam Mei from the Ningguo Marquis's mansion."
"Didn't the Marquis of Ningguo marry her as his second wife just to take care of his deceased wife's son? Over the years, she has pretended to be devoted to her stepson, but what was the result? In the end, Gu Han was kicked out of the house!"
"Such a huge sample is right there, why can't you see it? You're just the next Gu Han!"
"Manman, you need to understand, you're not her biological child! She can't possibly be truly sincere with you. What she's doing now is sweet talk; she's being nice to you, but she's actually trying to ruin you!"
Shen Manman said, "So...you think your aunt is such a shrewd person?"
"She's not just shrewd, she's incredibly calculating!"
Shen Manman raised an eyebrow: "Heh, what you call her trying to flatter me to death? That's not being cunning, that's being stupid."
“I have no conflict of interest with her. I’m just a girl, and in the future, I’ll just be a dowry. If I marry well, it will be good for both her and Jin’er and Huan’er. Unless your aunt is as brainless as you, she won’t do the stupid thing you’re talking about.”
Lin Yaxian choked.
Shen Manman stared at her and said, "And... it's been three years since we last met. I thought you would care about how I've been all these years, but you just want to use me to fight with your love rival!"
"No... Manman, Mother is just too concerned about you. Seeing you bewitched by her breaks my heart..." Lin Yaxian's tears fell as she clutched her chest tightly.
"And... regardless of whether it was her scheme or not, how could you act as her matchmaker? How could you do such a thing! I am your birth mother, and you actually let another woman take my place... how could you do such a thing!"
Shen Manman sneered: "Does that mean my father has to guard you? How can you be so shameless?"
Lin Yaxian was hurt again by her words: "I didn't say he had to guard me... but as my daughter, you can't do this! I can accept being hurt by a stranger, but you are my own daughter... how can you expect me to accept this?"
Shen Manman looked at her hysterical accusations and said coldly, "So now you've remembered I'm your biological daughter?"
"Back then, you ran away so readily. Father begged you to take me with you, but you never remembered that I was your biological son. My family was sentenced to be executed... You knew I would die. Yet you still ran away without looking back. Now you have the nerve to say I stabbed you?"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Lin Yaxian covered her ears abruptly when she heard her mention the events of that year. "The past is the past, don't talk about it anymore!"
This is a past she cannot face!
It's her wound...
Every word he uttered was like rubbing salt into her wounds.
Shen Manman's eyes were cold and deep: "What has happened will never be over!"
Lin Yaxian clutched her chest tightly, feeling waves of pain in her heart: "Why? Why... can't you just let me go? Haven't I suffered enough scorn and torment over the years? Why do you have to torture me so cruelly?"
Shen Manman: "The torment and suffering you've endured weren't caused by me and Father! You brought it upon yourself!"
"No, it was you who brought them..." Lin Yaxian's face was already streaked with tears, all traces of her usual elegance gone: "Fine, you say I abandoned you, disregarding your life or death..."
"But why don't you think about the situation at the time?"
"Even if your maternal grandfather had requested an additional imperial decree, and the late emperor had granted it, the emperor's heart is unpredictable!"
"The late emperor agreed today, but he might regret it tomorrow! The Shen family back then was a den of iniquity; anyone who got involved would have a terrible time! Who in the entire capital dared to touch them?"
"Your maternal grandfather risked his life to save me... Because of your father's request, he risked his life again to obtain another imperial decree. Wasn't he good enough to you?"
“I’m also afraid of implicating him! Implicating the entire Lin family! Manman, your grandfather has done so much for you, why can’t you think about him and the entire Lin family?”
Shen Manman sneered, "I know my grandfather was good to me. Besides, I never planned to leave, and even if you had agreed, I wouldn't have gone. But my not leaving... doesn't mean I can forgive you for abandoning me..."
She didn't intend to leave at that time.
But when someone outside came and said that Lin Yaxian could leave with Manman, Lin Yaxian refused immediately!
It was like a sharp knife piercing her heart.
Lin Yaxian shook her head: "No, no, no... Shen Manman... how could you think like that? Why don't you have any sense of the bigger picture? Why are you so selfish?"
"I just said, a ruler's heart is unfathomable! I cannot let the entire Lin family perish for your sake!"
Shen Manman said coldly, "You're so righteous, thinking of the entire Lin family. You shouldn't have left in the first place! You could have stayed! That would have been the best choice for the entire Lin family."
Lin Yaxian's face froze, feeling extremely embarrassed and indignant: "I'm your mother! You only think about whether you can live or not, why don't you think about me at all?"
"Yes, I am your biological mother, but you are also my biological daughter! You don't want me to live, but you want me to die?"
"If one of me leaves, at least one of us will survive. If both of us leave, the late emperor might change his mind tomorrow, and neither of us will survive! We'll also lose the entire Lin family!"
"Why should a mother always have to sacrifice for her daughter? I'm someone else's daughter too! Why can't you think about me?"
"You blame me, but who can I blame? Am I to blame you for being so heartless and selfish? You can't even live yourself, and you want to drag me down with you! How can you be so selfish!"
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