EBE Chapter 202 Grandmother's Passing Away
Chapter 202 Grandmother's Passing Away
After a long silence, Lan Yin finally spoke: "The night I returned from the temple, Lan Qing barged into my room and happened to catch me lying on the bed 'playing games' while wearing Aunt Wei's dress, and even blindfolded myself with that blessing ribbon..."
Upon hearing this, Li Xi's eyebrows twitched.
She could imagine how intense and exciting that 'game' must have been.
"Lan Qing questioned me about why I was wearing Aunt Wei's dress and stealing Aunt Wei's blessing ribbon. I couldn't give a proper answer at the time."
Lan Yin was so frightened that her heart almost stopped; how could she possibly come up with a perfect reason to cover it up?
"She scared me, saying she would tell Miss Meng about me stealing the blessing ribbon and that Miss Meng would kick me out of Zhaomengtai."
...Li Xi waited for a while.
When Lan Yin didn't speak again for a long time, Li Xi realized that what Lan Yin had just said was the reason why Lan Yin wanted to kill Lan Qing and Fifth Dream!
"Just because of one verbal threat, you killed her and my mother?"
"I didn't mean to kill Miss Meng!"
Lan Yin hurriedly explained, "I tricked Lan Qing into getting a tattoo so that I could disguise her as Miss Meng and then sell her to the Longevity Island Research Institute."
Li Xi interrupted Lan Yin and questioned her, "How do you know that my mother is the best experimental subject that the Longevity Island Research Institute is looking for?"
Lan Yin: "I saw their bounty posters on the black market. And since I am Aunt Wei's maid, I found them by chance when I was organizing Miss Meng's personal medical examination report."
"So, you originally planned to steal my mother's blood and her medical report, then disguise Aunt Lanqing as the daughter of the Fifth Family, and have the black market people sell her to Longevity Island?"
“...Yes.” Lan Yin admitted.
"But that medical report isn't Lan Qing's at all. The Longevity Island Research Institute will definitely find out she's a fake, and your plan will still be exposed!"
Lan Yin, however, confidently replied, "So what if we're exposed?"
“Miss Meng is well protected. Even those thugs in the black market have never seen her true face. Even if Brother Xing and the others find out that Lan Qing is not the person the Longevity Island Research Institute wants, they will definitely mistake Lan Qing for Miss Meng because they have seen Lan Qing’s tattoos.”
"When they find out that the person they kidnapped is the daughter of the Fifth Family, will they still dare to return to Southeast Asia?"
"They don't dare!"
"To vent their anger, they will definitely kill Lan Qing and then flee!"
In short, no matter what the final outcome is, Lan Qing can forget about returning to Southeast Asia alive.
Lan Yin had planned everything meticulously.
But they didn't expect that Brother Xing and his group would kidnap Fifth Dream as well.
At that time, Fifth Dream was in his playful and rebellious phase.
She often used concealer to hide the tattoo behind her ear and sneaked out of Zhaomengtai to play.
When Brother Xing went to arrest Lan Qing, he also arrested Fifth Dream.
"At that time, I was seriously injured and unconscious, so I missed the chance to confess to Aunt Wei. By the time I woke up, Miss Meng and Lan Qing had already been taken to the mainland by Brother Xing's men."
"I dare not tell the truth anymore."
...This is the truth behind Fifth Dream's disappearance.
This whole thing falls apart under scrutiny, but when you put all the absurd details together, it becomes the truth.
Seeing that Li Xi was staring at her intently without offering any opinion, Lan Yin pouted and said, "What I said is the truth."
"Perhaps this truth seems absurd to you. But for me, who was only 22 years old at the time and was afraid of Aunt Wei finding out the truth, what Lan Qing said was enough to threaten me."
“Miss Xi, you haven’t secretly loved someone like I have, so it’s normal that you don’t understand.”
Li Xi truly didn't understand.
Not only did I not understand, but I also felt like my entire worldview had been shattered.
Even after leaving the dungeon, Li Xi was still somewhat dazed.
Luo Wen regained his composure, and said with some annoyance, "Now that I think about it, Lan Yin's gratitude towards her mother was already evident."
"How so?" Li Xi hadn't noticed before.
Luo Wen said, "Every year on my mother's birthday, she personally helps to arrange the family banquet. Every year, the birthday cake that my mother eats is also made by Lan Yin herself."
“I still remember when my godfather and Uncle Lancheng were arranging our engagement, my godfather asked Lan Yin if she was willing to get engaged to me.”
She said: "Mr. Luo Wen is Aunt Wei's child, of course I'm willing."
Back then, Luo Wen felt that Lan Yin's words sounded strange, but only today did he suddenly realize her deeper meaning.
The Fifth Family are arms dealers, and Zhou Zhiwei is their most famous weapons designer. Many young people in the family admire Zhou Zhiwei.
Naturally, Luo Wen interpreted Lan Yin's words as her admiration for her mother.
"uncle."
Li Xi asked Luo Wen, "Lan Yin has committed such a serious crime, how should she be dealt with?"
Luo Wen's face was grim. "According to the clan rules, traitors who harm their own clansmen must endure the cruel torture of having their bones scraped a thousand times and their blood drained away."
"And this torture had to be carried out by her closest relatives."
In other words, the executor can only be the old man from Lancheng or Lanyu.
"I will personally perform the procedure for her." Lan Yu strode after her.
His face was calm and his tone was heavy as he said, "Eldest sister harmed her own sister and wronged Miss Meng; she truly deserves to die."
“Sir, I request to act on behalf of my father and carry out this matter.”
Considering that Mr. Lancheng was too old to withstand such a shock, Luo Wen agreed to Lanyu's application.
*
Three days later at noon, Lan Yin died from torture.
That evening, Zhou Zhiwei asked Li Xi about the reason why Lan Yin had harmed Lan Qing and Fifth Dream.
Li Xi kept her promise to Lan Yin and did not tell Zhou Zhiwei the truth, but she also did not give Lan Yin any face.
Li Xi's stubble: "Lan Yin admires her grandfather. Lan Qing discovered that she was secretly wearing her grandfather's shirt and playing games on the bed. Lan Qing threatened her, and Lan Yin began to hate her."
"Originally, Lan Yin only wanted to deal with Lan Qing, but my mother was implicated."
Zhou Zhiwei's eyes widened. "She's in love with your grandfather?"
Outside, Fifth Master, who had just returned home after practicing Tai Chi, was also shocked by the news. "Lan Yin admires me?"
Fifth Jue said decisively, "This must be Lan Yin lying to you. I've lived for seventy or eighty years, it's impossible that I didn't notice."
"It's more accurate to say she admires your grandmother than me." Fifth Jue pouted, a hint of jealousy in her voice. "If we're talking about who Lan Yin is most devoted and loyal to, it's definitely your grandmother."
“If it weren’t for the huge age difference between them, I would have suspected that she had impure thoughts about your grandmother.”
Li Xi: "..."
Zhou Zhiwei glared at Fifth Jue, then scolded him with a mix of laughter and tears, "You shameless old man! Lan Yin is loyal to me because I treat her like a daughter..."
The elderly couple started arguing.
Li Xi listened expressionlessly, and dared not reveal the truth.
After Zhou Zhiwei fell asleep, Li Xi got up to go upstairs to her room to rest, but Wu Jue called her back.
"The person Lan Yin likes does indeed live at Zhaomengtai, but it's not me. Isn't that right, Xi Bao?"
Looking into her grandfather's sharp, eagle-like eyes, which seemed to see through everything in the world like a computer, Li Xi finally nodded.
How did Grandpa figure that out?
Fifth Jue snorted, "Grandpa is just old, not stupid."
"Grandpa," Li Xi asked with some concern, "How is Grandpa Lancheng?"
Fifth Jue sighed, "That old fellow was already ill, and after hearing about what Lan Yin had done, he became even more seriously ill."
"Xi Bao, take some time tomorrow to call Jiang Xinghe and tell him to come to Nanyang to see Lan Cheng one last time."
Li Xi's heart skipped a beat. "Okay."
*
That evening, Li Xi called Jiang Xinghe.
Late the next night, Jiang Xinghe arrived in Southeast Asia and went directly back to the Lan family home with Lan Yu.
At 3 a.m. that night, the old man from Lancheng passed away in front of his youngest son and grandson.
After his death, he was buried in the Fifth Family's cemetery.
Lan Cheng's death was like a whirlwind that swept across Southeast Asia, and Zhou Zhiwei and Gu Wentao's conditions both worsened.
Upon learning that his grandfather's condition had worsened, Gu Huaizhou immediately went to Southeast Asia. He stayed with Li Xi for three or four days before picking up Gu Wentao and returning to Southeast Asia ahead of schedule.
Li Xi continued to stay in Southeast Asia to accompany Zhou Zhiwei.
Unable to hold on until July, Zhou Zhiwei breathed her last in mid-June, nestled in Fifth Jue's arms.
Even though Li Xi had prepared herself mentally, she still teared up with sadness.
Fifth Jue seemed relatively calm. He rubbed his red eyes and said to Li Xi and Luo Wen, "Let's issue an obituary."
"Luo Wen, your mother loved peach blossoms the most. How big is the peach tree I planted for her? Has it bloomed yet?"
Luo Wen replied in a choked voice, "They've all bloomed this year."
"Good."
Fifth Jue told Luo Wen, "Bury your mother in the peach blossom forest. Don't erect a tombstone yet. Wait until I die before you erect a joint tombstone for us."
"...good."