Tears streamed down Jiang Yanwan's pale cheeks, her grief silent yet intense.
"You raised me, taught me to read and be polite, and protected me as I grew up."
She felt that her mother should not have brought her along at all, and should have been angry and refused when Lin Qingwan made the request! Just like before when Lin Qingwan mentioned the Cheng family, she felt wronged and cried, and then Alin and her mother would stand up for her.
Lin Qingwan did it on purpose! She left herself no way out at all. If she acknowledges her birth mother today, she might even try to persuade her mother to keep her here!
Therefore, you absolutely cannot accept it!
Her words came from the bottom of her heart, and tears welled up in Lin's eyes.
She already had deep feelings for Jiang Yanwan, and would never have dared to pressure her like this before. Her heart softened immediately, "Yanwan..."
Lin Qingwan interrupted coldly, saying to Jiang Yanwan, "No one said you weren't your mother's daughter, and that doesn't conflict with your acknowledgment of your birth mother."
“After all, Madam Cheng carried you for ten months and gave birth to you, and then gave you fifteen years of good life as a young lady of the Prime Minister’s mansion. Now it’s not too much for you to call her ‘Mother’ and kowtow to her.”
The heartache that had been rising in Lin's heart came to an abrupt halt with Lin Qingwan's words, "Yanwan, don't overthink it."
"I raised you from a young age, and I also..."
Now that Lin Qingwan has a place in her heart, she is more considerate in her words than before. She glanced at Lin Qingwan out of the corner of her eye before saying, "Your birth mother and I are like sisters."
"Even if your birth mother is acknowledged, you will still be a young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion."
Jiang Yanwan thought she could win back her mother's heart, but Lin Qingwan still forced her!
She couldn't take it anymore and said hoarsely, "I don't admit it."
"The kindness of giving birth is not as great as the kindness of raising. I will make amends to her after I go to hell."
She spoke with conviction, staring directly at Lin Qingwan, waiting for the other to make her move.
Lin Qingwan didn't argue with her anymore, but helplessly looked at Cheng's grave and said, "You heard it yourself, she doesn't acknowledge you, doesn't want you, and doesn't care about your so-called kindness. There's nothing I can do about it."
"And from what she said, the kindness of raising you is greater than the kindness of giving birth to you, so I'm the one who should be kowtowing and offering incense to you."
Upon hearing Lin Qingwan's words, Lin's gaze towards Jiang Yanwan changed once again.
Jiang Yanwan was about to explain when Lin Qingwan said, "But we are both adopted daughters. You never taught me to read and write, never fed me a full meal, and never held me in your arms until dawn on a stormy night."
“You only call me stupid and won’t let me eat until I finish washing the clothes. I want to learn calligraphy from the teacher, but the price is that I have to stay up all night and wash the next day’s clothes before I can go.”
"After thinking it over and over, I really can't think of anything I'm grateful for. If I had to say, it would be the so-called life-saving grace from back then, but you treated me cruelly and coldly for fifteen years."
"I've already paid it all off."
Her voice was flat, as if she were talking about something trivial, but that was fifteen years ago.
The servants were all annoyed by what they heard, let alone Madam Lin.
How could Cheng Shi treat her child so harshly, after how she treated Jiang Yanwan!
Lin Qingwan took the half-burnt incense from the housekeeper and casually stuck it in the soil in front of the grave. "This is the last time I'll come to see you."
"Since your daughter refuses to acknowledge you, you're likely doomed to have your grave overgrown with weeds."
She slightly raised her eyelids and spoke one last time, "Jiang Yanwan, you..."
Jiang Yanwan felt that Lin Qingwan's voice and eyes were like maggots clinging to her bones, and had already exhausted all her patience.
He shouted sternly, "I don't admit it!"
"I am not her daughter, I am not!"
Jiang Yanwan was shouting until her throat was hoarse, wishing the whole world could hear her.
Before the words had even finished, a voice choked with sobs came from behind the grave mound: "If she heard that you refused to acknowledge her for the sake of wealth and status, how heartbroken she would be in the afterlife!"
A woman dressed in coarse cloth glared fiercely at Jiang Yanwan.
The butler and servants immediately stepped in front of Madam Lin, their faces full of vigilance. "Who are you?"
Rong's mother was the first to recognize her, covering her mouth in surprise, "You...you're Wen Yu?"
Wen Yu has a scar the size of a fingernail at the corner of her eye, which she says she got when she was a child, after taking a beating for Cheng Min.
Wen Yu seemed not to hear, her eyes blurry with tears as she looked at Jiang Yanwan, trying to see some resemblance between her and Cheng Min, but she had followed in Cheng Min's footsteps.
She bears no resemblance to Cheng Min, and even her kindness is forgotten.
She really felt sorry for Cheng Min!
Wen Yu gritted her teeth, "Your mother lived like a ghost for fifteen years in Shuiyuan Town. She regretted more than once that she hadn't raised the young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion well."
"She said she felt guilty for failing the lady's trust."
"But in order for her daughter to become the daughter of the Prime Minister and enjoy endless wealth for the rest of her life, she was willing to bear all the mistakes."
As Wen Yu spoke, her voice trembled more and more, “Every day you spent in the Prime Minister’s residence, every minute you enjoyed, was bought with the loyalty of your birth mother in the first half of her life and her life in the second half.”
"You wouldn't even let me call out 'Mother' at her grave."
Wen Yu saw the rejection emanating from Jiang Yanwan and heard her shrill screams.
How could you do this to her!
These words were like a blast of cold air, forcing Jiang Yanwan to take a few steps back. After the initial shock, her eyes were filled with indignation. "What nonsense are you spouting!"
"Everything she did was for me. She made me die in Lin Qingwan's place back then."
“These fifteen years are what I earned with my own efforts. What does it have to do with her?”
"She failed in her responsibilities as a mother; she has let me down!"
Jiang Yanwan wanted to hide behind Madam Lin, hoping that everyone in the Prime Minister's residence would stand in front of her to protect her, but no one rushed over to shout that they would protect the young lady.
Wen Yu's face was full of grief, "You... how could you think of her like that?"
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