(Sixth Update)
Luo Ziling felt a storm surge in his heart, but he didn’t interject and continued to listen to Chen Qiaoyu speak about the matter.
"At that time, Old Mr. Ling actually wanted to adequately punish your grandfather and your dad, but your maternal grandfather didn’t agree. However, your maternal grandfather didn’t have such authority at that time, so the three men of the Luo Family eventually left Yanjing and parted ways with your mom. Your grandfather could have returned to Yuezhou, but he was afraid it wouldn’t be safe for you to grow up there, so he took you to the Northwest. The enemies would find it hard to chase there, at the foot of North Tianshan. Additionally, they could gather medicinal herbs there. What no one expected was that your grandfather took you to live there for twenty years."
At this, Chen Qiaoyu let out a long sigh.
Luo Ziling sighed as well.
"About what happened afterwards, I believe you’ve already heard some bits from your grandfather and mom from that time."
Luo Ziling nodded.
Chen Qiaoyu let out another deep sigh and then said, "That incident caused a significant rift between the Yang Family and the Ling Family. The Chen Family took advantage of the situation and aimed to close ties with the Yang Family through marital alliance, to collectively go against the Ling Family, and even to destroy it."
Luo Ziling collected his thoughts and continued listening to Chen Qiaoyu recount the stories of those years.
He actually couldn’t quite understand why Chen Qiaoyu was telling him these things today.
Did Chen Qiaoyu have a special motive?
Once this thought popped up, Luo Ziling couldn’t help but be suspicious.
"Back then, the Ling Family held the highest position among the leading families, but the incident between your parents caused a significant drop in the family’s prestige. Fortunately, with the support of the Fang Family, the Ling Family managed to withstand the joint suppression from the Chen and Yang Families. Fang Xiang was a close friend of your grandfather, but the Fang Family had complicated intentions. I didn’t have much interaction with them, so I’m not very clear on the specifics."
At this point, Chen Qiaoyu paused and then said to Luo Ziling, "By now, you should have guessed what I’m trying to say, right?"
Luo Ziling was startled for a moment, thought carefully, and then said, "Is it because the Chen Family wanted to ally with the Yang Family through marriage, so you returned to the Chen Family?"
"Smart!" Chen Qiaoyu gave Luo Ziling a thumbs up, "At that time, the Chen Family didn’t have a suitable daughter for marriage, so they thought of me again. The reason I agreed to marry Yang Yunlin was actually out of gratitude. I thought that by marrying into the Yang Family, I could help your grandfather and dad a bit as a daughter-in-law of the Yang Family. If I put in some effort, I should be able to lessen the Yang Family’s hatred towards the Luo Family. Over these years, I’ve worked hard, and it has yielded some results. Without Yang Yuanshan’s tacit consent, you would have faced many troubles after returning to Yanjing."
"I just didn’t expect that Yang Yunlin would hold a grudge over these matters, and because I helped the Luo Family, he harbored the intention to further harm you." Chen Qiaoyu appeared somewhat guilty, "He also realized that back then, I liked your dad, was even willing to do anything for him... and so he loathed your dad and hated you, wanting to see you dead."
"Aunt Chen, don’t blame yourself, this isn’t your fault!" Luo Ziling couldn’t help but interject and then asked, "I’m a bit curious, the Chen Family already treated you as a discarded daughter, indifferent and ignoring you. Why would they reconsider having you return as a Chen Family daughter to ally with the Yang Family? I assume the Yang Family knew about it too. They would think you had no status in the Yang Family, and even if Yang Yunlin married you, it wouldn’t do much for improving relations between the two families."
Luo Ziling meant that Chen Qiaoyu had already been cast off by the Chen Family, and she didn’t have Yang Family blood flowing in her veins.
The Yang Family should know this, so they would definitely look down on Chen Qiaoyu and not take this illegitimate daughter seriously.
"I understand what you mean!" Chen Qiaoyu interrupted Luo Ziling’s question, "The Chen Family wanted to use me for a marriage alliance to improve relations with the Yang Family, so they naturally had to restore my status as a Chen Family daughter. Actually, the matter of me being the illegitimate daughter of my mom and her first love didn’t spread outside. As you know, large families value their reputation, even though they detest this kind of thing, they will still keep it strictly confidential to prevent it from leaking outside. You might not believe it, but that’s how it was, and no one knew I was an illegitimate daughter, nor that I had been stripped of my status as a Chen Family daughter. Later, they very publicly handled this matter and accepted me back, giving me many benefits. They also returned all the assets my mom prepared for me, and even added more. Yang Yunlin was also pursuing me at the time, so this matter came to fruition!"
Luo Ziling nodded slightly but still felt Chen Qiaoyu hadn’t told the whole story.
Things were far more complicated than what she said.
Chen Qiaoyu seemed to be aware of Luo Ziling’s thoughts and smiled apologetically: "Things are obviously very complicated, and it’s far from as simple as I’ve stated. Anyway, just remember this one thing—eventually, I was able to marry into the Yang Family as a daughter of the Chen Family, and lived for over twenty years as a legitimate daughter-in-law of the Yang Family. As for me, I can’t stand losing those things, and I want to avenge my mom, so I accepted their re-acceptance of me. However, being a woman, I lack the capability to seek revenge. Moreover, soon after marriage, I had Qingyin and Qingye."
At this point, Chen Qiaoyu sighed, "As you know, once a woman becomes a mother, her mindset changes drastically. Just like your mom, after giving birth to you, she matured suddenly, and always prioritized you as her highest interest. She has been tirelessly working for your return over all these years, everything she did was for you as her son. I know she has already transferred the controlling stake of the Northern Group to your hands. I did the same; after having twins, I temporarily set aside other thoughts and devoted myself to taking care of them."
"After having children, life becomes more realistic, and the thought of revenge slowly diminishes amidst taking care of their daily lives. If the Chen Family hadn’t turned against me later, I might have already forgotten the vendetta!" At this statement, Chen Qiaoyu wore a bitter smile once again.
Luo Ziling didn’t know what to say and eventually let out a bitter smile as well.
"Chen Yihe and Chen Yiping are my half-brothers. I originally thought they would take care of me a bit, given that I’ve become a daughter-in-law of the Yang Family, with status and standing. Unexpectedly, because of disputes with Yang Yuanshan, they eventually vented their anger at me. As you know, relations between the Yang Family and the Chen Family have not been great these years, with considerable conflict between the two. This might have been exacerbated by instigation from the Fang and Ling Families, but it was also due to the disputes between Yang Yunlin and the Chen Brothers." Chen Qiaoyu said, raising her head with a bitter smile, "Yang Yunlin actually cared about me quite a lot, and the dispute with the Chen Brothers was because of me!"
"I see!" Luo Ziling was a bit surprised.