Chapter 149 The Grand Finale
dream?
Sensing something, Ye Mingzhu deliberately asked, "What kind of dream did you have? A daydream?"
Ignoring the sarcasm in her voice, Liu Rumei stared at her with a gloomy expression and suddenly asked, "The reason why the Ye family was rewarded is because you saved the Crown Prince with the Longevity Gu, right?"
“I was there when the Crown Prince was stabbed, and I know how badly he was injured! The only reason he could be saved is that Sheng Yunche came back to you to retrieve the Longevity Gu!”
Longevity Gu?
Ye Mingzhu was startled, but she remained silent as she looked at Liu Rumei.
Their eyes met, and they both saw the deeper meaning and the probing in each other's eyes.
But in the end, Liu Rumei was the first to lose.
As a prisoner, she had no choice, no bargaining chips, and even her survival depended on Ye Mingzhu's mood.
Given these circumstances, what right does she have to be assertive?
Liu Rumei slowly sat up straight and said in a complicated tone, "I dreamed that you married Sheng Huai'an and were neglected by him for three years without realizing the affair between us. Instead, you always demanded of yourself the standards of a 'virtuous wife and loving mother'."
"You actually believed his nonsense about focusing on your studies, and willingly took care of his affairs and arranged everything for him so that he could concentrate on the imperial examinations."
"It's ridiculous that he and Jia are spending your money and still despise your background as a merchant's daughter. You're quite pathetic. After your heart turned cold, you became indifferent to Jia, but because Sheng Huai'an is good at coaxing people, you still have some feelings for him."
"The result..." Liu Rumei paused here.
She observed Ye Mingzhu's expression and saw that she looked indifferent and detached, and she couldn't tell if she was emotionally agitated, so she could only continue speaking.
"I also dreamt that Sheng Huai'an forced you to provide me with a longevity gu to cure my illness and maintain my health. Although you weren't really willing, he put a heavy burden on your head, saying that you were heartless for not taking care of your widowed sister-in-law and that you didn't appreciate his care for his family. You could only reluctantly agree..."
"Isn't it ridiculous? Or are you angry?"
"In the end of the dream, you and the Ye family became the resources for Sheng Huai'an and me to climb up the social ladder! Sheng Huai'an became a first-rank official, and I went from being a widow to a noblewoman, and from then on, I was rich and powerful! I am truly grateful to the Ye family from the bottom of my heart. It is your blood and flesh and your wealth that have made my life of glory and wealth possible!"
"Ye Mingzhu, tell me, are the dreams I have really just dreams?"
Liu Rumei's eyes revealed a calm madness, relentlessly seeking a result.
Ye Mingzhu looked at her coldly.
She could say it wasn't a dream, but something that actually happened in her past life. Comparing her current miserable state to Liu Rumei's past wealth and glory might provoke her and plunge her into endless regret.
But she didn't.
Because she saw through Liu Rumei.
Given Liu Rumei's personality, she would only rejoice in the success she had achieved in her previous life, and then lament that in this life she had simply missed the opportunity, which was why she had failed.
Sheng Huai'an will regret it.
But Liu Rumei wouldn't.
For someone like Liu Rumei, regret is the most useless emotion.
To make her suffer and go crazy, you have to find her sore spots.
Rather than giving her a clear answer, it's better to let her guess, let her live in a state of suspicion, and let her suffer the torment of anxiety.
and……
"I know you don't care about Sheng Huai'an's life or death, you don't care about your aunt's life or death, and you even killed your brother with your own hands, but... actually you still care about your child a little bit, right?" Ye Mingzhu asked slowly.
Liu Rumei suddenly froze, her gaze turning cold.
Ye Mingzhu had someone bring Liu Rumei to Tingsong Residence. Huang Xiangyu and the others were naturally there, but they stood quietly to the side and waited without saying a word.
Upon hearing this, Huang Xiangyu beckoned, and Yushu came over carrying the child.
Ye Mingzhu touched the child's tender cheek with her fingers stained with balsam juice, observing Liu Rumei's expression. She successfully saw Liu Rumei's pupils shrink and her eyes reveal an uncontrollable hatred.
She smiled and said, "It seems I guessed right. You do care about this child. Otherwise, on the day you faked your death and escaped, you wouldn't have specifically placed the child in Yinzhu's arms and handed him over to a servant you considered to be conscientious and reliable."
“When I married Sheng Yunche, you had just finished your postpartum confinement. After a year, the child was only one year old, actually not even a year old... It is indeed too young and still needs his mother's protection.”
"Ye Mingzhu, what do you want to do?" Liu Rumei finally lost her composure and asked sharply, "You, a dignified Duchess, wouldn't be so despicable as to harm a child, would you?!"
“Of course not,” Ye Mingzhu said.
Liu Rumei's expression softened slightly.
But before she could be completely at ease, Ye Mingzhu said again, "Raising a child is just a matter of giving him a pair of chopsticks and a set of clothes. Killing him like this is too easy for him."
"How about I have an opera troupe turn the shameful things you and Sheng Huai'an did into a play, and have it performed in Yanjing City month after month, year after year, so that your child will be ostracized, suffer cold looks, and live a life of contempt?"
"Oh, I'll spare your and Sheng Huai'an's lives, and I'll let the three of you reunite from time to time. What do you think?"
“I could even guide him to think about whether Sheng Huai’an is his uncle or his biological father. Let him painfully seek proof of when his mother actually had an affair with his uncle…”
"You and Sheng Huai'an will become a stain on his record, a stain for life, trapping him, even killing him, making it impossible for him to escape for the rest of his life!"
"To kill someone is to destroy their spirit! Liu Rumei, isn't this what you feared most?"
Ye Mingzhu's voice was very calm, but to Liu Rumei it sounded like thunder.
"Ye Mingzhu! You, you... how cruel you are!" Liu Rumei's eyes were bloodshot, almost dripping with hatred.
"I'm ruthless?" Ye Mingzhu wanted to laugh, and actually laughed out loud. "You've done so many evil things, do you really think that because you're you and he's him, those evil consequences won't fall on him?"
"Liu Rumei, people have to pay the price for their evil deeds!"
"Not only will you spend your whole life atoning for your sins, but your children will also be implicated, unable to hold their heads high and unable to live with dignity!"
"His life will be miserable because of a wicked mother like you!"
"It's not because of anything else!"
"If you must hate, hate yourself!"
"Why should I hate myself? Am I wrong?" Liu Rumei finally broke down, gritting her teeth and shouting, "I just don't want to be trapped in this secluded mansion for the rest of my life!"
"I just don't want to be a widow, I don't want to live like an old woman on her deathbed at such a young age. I just want to live a better life. Am I wrong?"
"What does the man's death have to do with me? Why should I have to pay for it with my whole life? I'm still young, I don't want to be a widow, I don't want to!"
She became hysterical, and a trace of sorrow appeared in Ye Mingzhu's eyes.
But she did not sympathize with Liu Rumei.
“Your idea is not wrong, but your approach is wrong,” Ye Mingzhu said. “You cut off other people’s livelihoods in order to live well for yourself. Why can’t you accept it calmly when others cut off yours?”
"If it doesn't hurt you, you just don't feel the pain."
Ye Mingzhu didn't bother to say anything more to her.
People are different.
Qin Xuefei was unwilling to be confined to a secluded mansion, nor did she want to entrust her life to the conscience of a stranger. She did not want to get married and wanted to fight for herself. So she disguised herself as a man and joined the army, fighting her way to a vast new world. Now she has risen to the rank of garrison commander and has a bright future ahead of her!
Huang Xiangyu is a soul from another world. In truth, she understands the value of freedom more than any other woman of her time. She doesn't want to become a faceless "Huang Shi" confined to a grand mansion, so she constantly tries to find ways to navigate reality, willing to sacrifice marriage for a certain degree of freedom!
They were all fighting for themselves, but they did not do evil!
We're not on the same wavelength, so there's no point in saying more.
Ye Mingzhu instructed her servants to feed Liu Rumei a drug to make her mute and Huang Quanji, then throw her onto Sheng Huai'an's bed like a dead dog, and that was the end of the matter.
Didn't that scumbag and the bitch want to be together forever? She gave in to their desire.
I sincerely wish them a long and happy life together!
...
When Ye Mingzhu left Tingsong Residence, Huang Xiangyu escorted her to the courtyard gate.
"Are you really not going to move to another courtyard?" Ye Mingzhu asked.
"No need." Huang Xiangyu waved her hand casually. "I don't care where I live. Anyway, there's no air conditioning, cola, or potato chips no matter where I live. I'll just make do."
Three more unfamiliar terms, which must be from another world. Ye Mingzhu couldn't help but chuckle: "Then I'll trouble you to keep an eye on them."
She knew that Huang Xiangyu continued to live in Tingsong Residence so that she could keep an eye on Sheng Huai'an and Liu Rumei.
I was helping her.
"Madam, do you really intend to treat Hao'er that way?" Huang Xiangyu suddenly asked, then added with a pang of pity, "Verbal abuse is also a form of violence. It's too pitiful to make a child suffer so much."
“No.” Ye Mingzhu shook her head. “But it’s not that I’m soft-hearted. It’s just that his father was a hero who died on the battlefield and deserves respect. The sins his mother committed cannot erase the fact that he had a good father.”
Huang Xiangyu laughed: "You still say you're not soft-hearted? You're just being stubborn."
Baozan and the others laughed.
Ye Mingzhu: "I..."
"Alright, alright." Huang Xiangyu cheerfully nudged her, pushing her out of the courtyard gate. "Your Duke is still waiting for you at Linfeng Hall. You should go back now. I'll pay him a visit another day and we can have a proper chat."
Ye Mingzhu: "...Okay."
She turned and walked towards home, glancing up at the sky without thinking.
The sun sets in the west.
The sky was ablaze with fiery clouds, a magnificent and beautiful sight.
As the temperature gradually rises and the hot summer is just around the corner, she feels as if her heart and whole body are being soaked in this warmth, and a sense of comfort permeates her entire being.
Knowing that there was someone waiting for her at home, Ye Mingzhu quickened her pace, and a smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.
As she strode to the entrance of Linfeng Hall, she saw a tall, handsome man standing in the courtyard, his dark phoenix eyes looking at her calmly. Her smile became even brighter.
"Master!" she called out in a light voice.
"Come here." Sheng Yunche smiled slightly and held out his hand to her. "I've been waiting for you for a long time."
—End of text—
The finale!
From the beginning of this story until now, thank you all for your support. It is your support that has allowed me to complete this story, which is not very successful, and you could even say it is a bit of a failure.
Thank you for every message, every request for more updates, every donation of love, flowers, and little envelopes. Love you all!
After the main story concludes, based on everyone's comments, there will be a few bonus chapters. Please continue reading.
If possible, please give me a five-star review, hehe!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
