Chapter Sixteen
“Mr. Lu, what… what is it you intend to do here? Our Qin family—”
A sharp slap rang out.
As soon as Old Master Qin saw Lu Liang appear, he panicked and hurried forward to explain, but before he could finish speaking, Lu Liang struck him hard across the face.
The blow sent Old Master Qin sprawling to the ground, stripped of all dignity.
“Qin Wanhong, I’ve already given your Qin family enough respect. You can’t even control your own granddaughter, forcing me to intervene personally? You old fool—you’re utterly useless!”
Lu Liang raised his foot and pressed it down on Qin Wanhong’s chest. Every member of the Qin family who witnessed the scene turned deathly pale, not daring to utter a single sound.
“Mr. Lu, about this—”
“Do you still think you have the right to speak?” Lu Liang leaned down, his gaze as cold as ice as he looked at Qin Wanhong pinned beneath his foot. He barked, “Bring in what I asked for!”
At his command, someone behind him carried forth the phoenix coronet, bridal robes, red silk, and wedding candles—everything required for a wedding was present.
At that moment, on the left side of the Qin family’s villa, bright red wedding candles and the bridal attire were displayed; on the right stood seventeen black coffins, exuding a chilling aura. The atmosphere was unnervingly sinister.
“On the left, a wedding. On the right, a funeral.”
Lu Liang narrowed his eyes, his gaze menacing as it swept over to Qin Xiaomeng. His voice was icy: “Today, you have a choice: either don these wedding garments and obediently become my woman, or join your mother and the sixteen members of your family in those coffins. That extra coffin is reserved for Chu Tianhe.”
Lu Liang could have simply taken Qin Xiaomeng by force, but to him, that held no pleasure. If it weren’t so, he wouldn’t have tolerated the Qin family for so long. What he truly wanted was to see Qin Xiaomeng willingly dress in the wedding robes and marry him before everyone’s eyes, to watch her swallow her grievances and powerlessness, forced to compromise with fate. That was the true enjoyment for him.
“Qin Xiaomeng, don’t say I never gave you a choice!”
Faced with such an ordeal, the Qin family was stricken dumb with fear, all eyes turning to Qin Xiaomeng in unison.
“Qin Xiaomeng, you heard what was said—hurry and put on the dress!”
“Even if you don’t care about the Qin family, at least think of your mother!”
“And Chu Tianhe—haven’t you always harbored feelings for him?”
“Do you not care whether he lives or dies?”
“Don’t just stand there! Change your clothes—didn’t you hear what Mr. Lu said?!”
In an instant, a tide of furious shouts and curses crashed down upon Qin Xiaomeng like a raging sea, engulfing her again and again.
She was like a lone boat tossed about in a storm, swallowed by wave after wave.
—
“Mother…”
Tears brimmed in Qin Xiaomeng’s eyes. She had always been strong, determined to change her fate—but the one person she could never let go of was her mother.
Her beautiful eyes turned toward her mother, Yang Huijuan, her voice choked with emotion, a thousand sorrows flooding her heart.
“Xiaomeng, don’t worry about me. Choose the life you want for yourself!”
“I’ve endured a lifetime of humiliation, living neither as a person nor a ghost. I’ve had enough. I don’t want you to repeat my mistakes.”
“Whatever you choose, I’ll support you!”
In the face of such a ruthless family and Lu Liang’s oppressive cruelty, Yang Huijuan found her own peace. If living meant enduring such a hollow existence, then death would be a release.
“I’d rather die than marry!”
Her mother’s words seemed to give Qin Xiaomeng boundless courage. She bit her lip, her eyes resolute, and declared her stance without hesitation.
“Good!” Yang Huijuan, too, made up her mind. “If we die, then so be it! If we can take the Qin family down with us, it’s no loss to us!”
Seeing the mother and daughter stand so firmly, the rest of the Qin family panicked, rushing forward to plead with them.
“No, you have to marry today—whether you want to or not!”
“Our Qin family—”
But before the two elders could finish, Lu Liang’s blade flashed. In one swift motion, he cut them down where they stood.
“Since this is your choice, don’t blame me. If I don’t spill some blood, do you really think I, Lu Liang, am without means?”
Blood sprayed across the room, splattering the surrounding elders and staining Qin Xiaomeng and her mother.
A collective gasp swept through the hall at Lu Liang’s chilling voice.
When they realized he was truly willing to kill, several elders’ legs gave out and they collapsed to the floor in terror.
Old Master Qin, face ashen, no longer cared for dignity. He dropped to his knees before the mother and daughter and pleaded, “I beg you, for the sake of the Qin family, Xiaomeng, please agree!”
“Huijuan, persuade her—she listens to you the most! Please, talk to her!”
But as the old man knelt, Qin Xiaomeng’s face showed not a trace of fear; instead, her lips curled into a cold, mocking smile.
“Hahaha… Grandfather, I never imagined I’d see the day you knelt before me.”
“Just half a month ago, when my sister knelt outside the Qin family gates, did it ever occur to you this day would come?”
“I’ll never forget how you treated my sister back then.”
“And now you come begging me? Don’t you think it’s laughable?”
“We no longer care for our own lives—why would we care about the lives of anyone in the Qin family?”
Her words plunged Old Master Qin into utter despair, cold sweat soaking through his clothes. The lives of everyone in the Qin family now rested on Qin Xiaomeng’s choice.
“Seize her! Strip her and force her into the wedding robe!”
“Today, she will marry—willingly or not! Even if we have to press her head down and force her to marry Mr. Lu!”
No longer caring for decorum, Old Master Qin ordered his people to seize Qin Xiaomeng and forcibly change her clothes before everyone’s eyes.
Seeing this, Lu Liang’s interest was piqued. His gaze became ever more sinister as it lingered on Qin Xiaomeng, a wicked smile playing at his lips.
“Whoever dares lay a hand on her—death to you and your entire clan!”
Just as the Qin family moved to force Qin Xiaomeng into the wedding dress, a voice like thunder roared through the hall, shaking the very air with its power.
At that moment, everyone trembled, their eyes turning as one toward the source of the voice.
A flash of cold steel cut through the air!
With a single strike, blood flowed freely.
In an instant, the assassins of the Rakshasa Group, who had blocked the villa’s entrance, were cut down, severed limbs scattered across the ground, a path forcibly carved open.
Only then did the crowd see clearly who had arrived.
“Bro—Brother-in-law!”
At the sight of the newcomer, tears blurred Qin Xiaomeng’s eyes.
“You finally came to save me!”