The Xian King's estate was adorned with red silk and lanterns.
Red candles illuminated the vast mansion, casting a bright glow. Had it not been for the sounds of argument emanating from the main hall, observers might have believed the estate to be a picture of harmony and festivity.
"Lu Wuxie, it's your first time back in ages, and you've returned only to anger me?" Lu Fengyang, seated on a high armchair, glared at the man opposite him. Lu Wuxie appeared humble, yet the moment he entered, he had begun questioning the arranged marriage, infuriating Lu Fengyang.
Lu Wuxie did not answer. He merely glanced back at Lin Jin, who followed behind him.
Lin Jin understood. After cupping his hands in greeting to Lu Fengyang, he turned and instructed a few individuals standing outside.
Upon receiving the orders, the group, as if well-trained, dispersed. Some fetched ladders, others grabbed torches, and in a flurry, they began busying themselves throughout the estate.
Lu Fengyang stood frozen. He had expected Lu Wuxie to change his mind after a few of his sharp words. To his surprise, Lu Wuxie had begun dismantling things without so much as a courtesy.
"Stop! Stop!" he bellowed, watching a servant pass by with a ladder, skillfully pulling down a red silk streamer from the wall. Enraged, he slammed his fist on the table, ready to intervene.
Seeing this, Lu Wuxie walked to Lu Fengyang's side and said, "Father, I do not wish to go through with this marriage."
Lu Fengyang turned, his gaze fixed on the man opposite him. Lu Wuxie’s expression was calm, yet his words were firm and resonant.
He had raised his son for over twenty years. In the past, Lu Wuxie had been somewhat uninhibited; while he would retort, his demeanor had never been this distant or his stance this resolute.
And every time, it was because of a woman named Zhong Li.
Zhong Li?
Lu Fengyang recalled her face. The most vivid memory was during the case of Consort Rong, where Lu Wuxie had publicly protected the woman, showing no regard for him, his father.
"Scoundrel!" His eyes blazed with fury as he roared, "Lu Wuxie, have I indulged you too much? Parental decree, the words of a matchmaker—you say you won't marry and that's that? Do you think you have the final say in this matter?"
Lu Wuxie let out a cold laugh. "Father, if my affairs are not for me to decide, then surely you have even less say in them."
"What do you mean?" Lu Fengyang frowned, a vague sense of losing authority creeping into his heart.
Lu Wuxie pursed his lips and gave him a subtle nod.
Lu Fengyang turned back and shouted again at the servants still tearing down the white silk ribbons, "Don't pull them down! Do you hear me? Don't!"
But no matter how he yelled, the servants acted as if they hadn't heard him.
Lu Fengyang's realization dawned. "You... when did you..."
Lu Wuxie glanced at the servants who were almost finished in the reception hall. He waved a hand at them.
The servants placed the half-pulled red silk ribbon on the ground and quietly retreated.
Lu Wuxie sat on a stool nearby, casually poured a cup of high mountain green tea, and took a sip before speaking. "Father has been consuming Chate grass for years, and all affairs of the estate have been managed by Xie Yunxi. Your people were replaced by her long ago. Didn't you know?"
Lu Fengyang was taken aback for a moment, then turned away indignantly, lost in thought.
"I spent a year replacing all the people in this estate. You were angry then and ordered me to reflect. Have you forgotten?" Lu Wuxie asked again.
Lu Fengyang furrowed his brows and pondered. He finally remembered the murder case that occurred at the Xian King's estate last year. Because the former head steward, Zhu, was involved, Lu Wuxie used this opportunity to seize control.
"Steward Zhu was Xie Yunxi's man. Only when he left could I know what she had done to you. Otherwise, Father, when do you think you would have been able to escape the Chate grass?" Lu Wuxie posed another question.
Lu Fengyang's face flushed with embarrassment. In the past, when Xie Yunxia was alive, he had dominated the court, second only to the Emperor. However, due to his consumption of Chate grass, he had stumbled into ruin. The Xian King's estate was no longer as prosperous; it was constantly suppressed and plotted against by Emperor Jing. If not for Lu Wuxie, the Xian King's estate would have long been an empty shell.
"Father!" Seeing his reaction, Lu Wuxie shook his head and smiled. "Earlier, my mother passed away unexpectedly, and you married Xie Yunxi, who resembled her so closely. I always believed you did it out of remembrance for my mother, out of love for her.
Now it seems I was mistaken. Father, to this day, you still don't understand what love is. You only love yourself."
With that, he turned to leave, unwilling to quarrel further with the man before him.
"Mo Cang!" Lu Fengyang, seeing him about to leave, hurried forward and grabbed his sleeve. "You are my only son. Everything I do now, no matter how much you dislike it, you should understand that I do it for your own good.
I know you dislike Shen Ying, but Shen Ying is someone connected to the Empress. The Emperor has always harbored reservations about the Xian King's estate. Now that he is old, he is even more apprehensive. For the Xian King's estate to remain peaceful, your marriage is..."
"Is what?" Lu Wuxie turned back, looking at Lu Fengyang. Seeing that he would not continue, he let out a self-mocking laugh. "Father, I have never seen anyone as selfish as you."
"What did you say?" Lu Fengyang's eyes widened.
"Father, think about it. You no longer trust even your own blood. How can you place all your bets on the Shen family, who are completely unrelated to the Lu family?
Do you truly believe Empress Shen would willingly marry Shen Ying to me?" Lu Wuxie retorted.
Lu Fengyang stared, thinking for a long while. He seemed to grasp something. "Mo Cang, you don't mean to say..."
"Father," Lu Wuxie sighed, interrupting Lu Fengyang's almost spoken words. He shook his head. "The moment you promised to give Xie Yunxi a child, I knew our father-son relationship had reached its end."
"Mo Cang..." Lu Fengyang tried to speak but found himself utterly speechless.
"Father, you are old!" Lu Wuxie looked at the man before him, who resembled him so closely. A pang of pain shot through him. He once wished he resembled his mother more. Sometimes, when looking in the mirror, he could still see a trace of his mother.
Now, the Xie family was gone, and even Xie Yunxi, who most resembled his mother, had been reduced to ashes. Apart from desperately protecting the remaining people of the Xian King's estate and the old residence where his mother had lived, he seemed to have nothing else to look forward to.
Until, Zhong Li began to gradually weave herself into his life.
"Li'er is the only one I cherish now. I ask nothing of you, Father. I only hope you can preserve this small piece of pure land for me."
After speaking, Lu Wuxie slowly knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Lu Fengyang. When he rose again, he had already left the inner hall and was heading towards the outer gate of the Xian King's estate.
Lu Fengyang stood rooted to the spot, watching the receding figure. He suddenly recalled the day Xie Yunxia died eleven years ago. He always had a vague feeling that Lu Wuxie had started changing around that time, but he didn't know where the change lay.
Now, it seemed he had long been beyond his control.
As for himself, when did things begin to change? Was it Xie Yunxia's death, or was it after meeting Xie Yunxi and her consumption of Chate grass?
None of that mattered. What he could do now was to stay put in the Xian King's estate and not cause any trouble for his only blood descendant.