Chapter 488: 488: An Astonishing Event

“I originally had a man I liked, but in the end, because of my family’s arrangement, I married Qingyin’s father,” Chen Qiaoyu said to Luo Ziling, suddenly sharing her marital “tragedy,” “Although Yang Yunlin is quite outstanding and later became the Family Head of the Yang Family, with a son and a daughter to be proud of, without choosing the life I wanted, my heart is still filled with regret.”

Luo Ziling listened, feeling somewhat despondent, and didn’t say much.

He regretted his impulsiveness just now, not expecting that Chen Qiaoyu wasn’t here to blame or interrogate him.

“Yang Yunlin also had a woman he liked, but eventually he followed his family’s arrangement and married me. He also harbored some resentment in his heart.” Chen Qiaoyu looked at Luo Ziling with a half-smile, teasingly asked, “Do you know who I liked back then? And who did Yang Yunlin like?”

Luo Ziling was taken aback by Chen Qiaoyu’s question and didn’t know how to respond.

Could it be that Chen Qiaoyu liked his father? And that Yang Yunlin liked his mother, Ling Ruonan? Otherwise, Chen Qiaoyu wouldn’t ask such a question.

However, he couldn’t possibly voice such an answer.

But he was filled with curiosity and very much wanted to know all about it.

Fortunately, Chen Qiaoyu didn’t leave him hanging and soon gave the answer.

“Back then, Yang Yunlin’s brother Yang Yunfeng had a marriage engagement with your mother Ling Ruonan, but at that time, there were many wealthy young masters who were fond of your mother, and Yang Yunlin was one of them,” Chen Qiaoyu said with an amused look on her face. “Actually, Yang Yunlin’s hatred for you and your mother, besides being because his brother died because of you, was also due to this reason.”

Luo Ziling was a bit surprised, and although he had somewhat anticipated this, Chen Qiaoyu’s words were still unexpected to him.

“In fact, I know that after the incident twenty years ago, Yang Yunlin’s treatment towards Ling Ruonan wasn’t so hateful. He even deliberately approached her, and after getting married, he often found reasons to see Ling Ruonan, even actively helping her out. I believe you understand why he did that, to get a taste of her charms. But he didn’t succeed, and what became of such hatred born of love, you can imagine,” Chen Qiaoyu said. Just then, the waiter served the dishes, so she immediately stopped talking and invited Luo Ziling to start eating.

Luo Ziling didn’t have much of an appetite, but in the end, he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

Thinking of Yang Yunlin’s continuous attempts to seduce his mother, Luo Ziling’s disdain for Yang Qingyin’s father deepened further.

After eating some dishes, Chen Qiaoyu continued, “Because of this, he will absolutely not tolerate seeing you two together. He couldn’t have your mother, but you ran off with his precious daughter. Can you imagine how he could endure such an insult? Logically, someone of his stature shouldn’t personally do certain things, like intercepting you and Qingyin last night, among other actions. But driven by fury, he did it. He would try anything to stop you two from being together. Fang Dongxun is well-known, and his numerous romantic escapades are well-known among social circles. Despite this, to keep you and Qingyin apart, Yang Yunlin is willing to betroth his daughter to Fang Dongxun. Of course, apart from his indiscretions in his private life, Fang Dongxun is quite an exceptional person in other respects.”

Hearing this, Luo Ziling interjected, “Auntie, yesterday when Qingyin and I went out to play, we encountered some people who wanted to ambush us at Simatai Great Wall, but were ultimately taken down. The last time I was with her, we were attacked in the street. I don’t know if these incidents were orchestrated by your husband.”

“He shouldn’t have stooped to such actions,” Chen Qiaoyu shook her head, “Of course, you can choose not to believe me, and I won’t explain any further.”

Luo Ziling wasn’t surprised and continued, “About yesterday’s incident, Qingyin suspected it was Fang Dongxun’s doing, and I think he’s the most likely suspect too. If Fang Dongxun could do such a thing, then his character isn’t worthy of entrusting your daughter’s lifelong happiness to.”

After looking at Luo Ziling for a few moments, Chen Qiaoyu said, “Do you know that members of the Luo Family, including your grandfather Luo Liansheng and your father Luo Xusheng, all have pretty good relations with the Fang Family? When your father escaped death, they had helped a lot. Now that you’ve fallen out with Fang Dongxun, what do you think the older generation would feel if they knew?”

“I will remember the kindness of the previous generation, as well as their grievances. But I will not tolerate someone who wants to kill me because of that, nor will I return evil for good to those who treat me well.” After saying these words, Luo Ziling felt they were too convoluted, so he simply put it another way, “For those who treat me well like Qingyin, even if there were past conflicts between our elders, I will still consider them friends; for people like Fang Dongxun, if they wanted to kill me, even if their elders had been kind to our Luo Family, I would not consider them friends and would respond in kind. Repay peaches with plums, and repay attacks with retaliation; if someone offends me, I will surely reciprocate!”

“Well, you are quite a character, similar to Qingyin. I’m a bit puzzled now, why two people with such strong personalities would get together!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Similar interests, I guess,” Luo Ziling smiled, “There are always some people in the world with whom you can get along very harmoniously, and Qingyin is the only one I’ve met so far, at least for now.”

Chen Qiaoyu felt that in today’s conversation, it was still Luo Ziling taking the lead. She listened like a junior, which irritated her a bit. After thinking for a while, she realized she had missed a question, and immediately continued, “Do you know who the man I loved back then was?”

“I don’t know, because I know very little about what happened twenty years ago.” What Luo Ziling really wanted to say was that when he listened to Ling Ruonan and others talk about the past, they never mentioned Chen Qiao, but he was too polite to say something so hurtful.

“His name was Luo Xusheng,” Chen Qiaoyu said lightly, staring straight at Luo Ziling.

Luo Ziling was taken aback, and although he had anticipated it, he was still surprised when Chen Qiaoyu said it outright, which made him choke on a sip of tea he had just drunk.

“Actually, I met your father by chance, and I fell in love with him at first sight,” Chen Qiaoyu said with a wry smile. “I took the initiative to pursue your father, but he rejected me. Later, I realized that there were quite a number of women who liked him just like I did, but he only had eyes for Ling Ruonan. Many women wanted to throw themselves at him, some even tried to drug him or get him drunk to get close to him, but they never succeeded.”

This statement made Luo Ziling very nervous, and he wanted to ask a question but didn’t know how to broach it.

Seeing how Luo Ziling looked, Chen Qiaoyu smiled and took the initiative to speak, “You’re suspecting whether Qingyin is related to you by blood, right?”

Luo Ziling did not answer, but almost acknowledged it.

“If I told you that you were brother and sister, what would you do?” Chen Qiaoyu asked, her expression turned serious, and she looked earnestly at Luo Ziling.