Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 525 Stress
"Third brother?"

Mo Lan called out, her voice unconsciously carrying a hint of hope and a barely perceptible tremor, which sounded particularly abrupt in the deathly silent courtyard.

Sheng Changfeng seemed to be awakened from an endless nightmare by the sound. His whole body trembled violently, and he turned his head very slowly, with a numb and sluggish feeling.

Upon seeing that it was Mo Lan, a flicker of confusion and surprise crossed his eyes, but that glimmer of light quickly faded, replaced by a stagnant indifference. His voice was hoarse and weak, like worn sandpaper: "Fourth Sister? You..."

"...How...did you get here?"

"Isn't it lively up ahead?"

The self-deprecation in his tone was so strong it almost solidified.

Mo Lan walked to his side, looking at his lifeless appearance. She was angry at his lack of ambition, felt sorry for his dejected state, and a sense of shared misery welled up in her heart, making her throat tighten: "Third brother! Are you planning to continue like this?"

"Look at the state of the manor today. My seventh brother... is enjoying immense prestige and is the center of attention. Even Father and Stepmother look at him differently. His future is bright! Are you content with this?"

"You are also your father's son, and you also earned your scholar's degree through proper examinations! Do you really intend to waste your whole life in this little courtyard, facing this withered tree, wallowing in self-pity?"

Her words were urgent, even tinged with reproach, as if Sheng Changfeng's despondency was his own choice.

Upon hearing this, Sheng Changfeng's lips twitched, revealing a bitter smile that was more painful than crying, filled with endless powerlessness and deep-seated self-loathing.

"Willingly?"

"What can I do if I'm not reconciled? This is my fate." He gently raised his crippled right hand, his wrist hanging limply, his fingertips trembling slightly. "He is the cloud in the sky, and I am the mud on the ground. The difference between cloud and mud is like heaven and earth. How can we compare?"

"not to mention……"

"...I can't even hold a pen properly with this hand anymore, and the characters I write look like scribbles... How can I talk about fame and fortune?"

"What's the point of talking about... being unwilling to accept it?"

Every word he uttered seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a bloody pain.

"Third brother!" Mo Lan exclaimed anxiously, her voice trembling with tears and disappointment. "How could you be so self-deprecating!"

"The path of scientific research is difficult, but perhaps... perhaps there are other ways? As long as we siblings work together, we'll always find a way!"

"In the future... if we can make some progress in other areas, Father will definitely think more highly of us! Then... then we can find a way to bring Mother back from the estate!"

"She is there now, suffering countless hardships and torments, her face wet with tears day and night. My heart... is torn apart like a knife, I am restless day and night..."

"Third brother, don't you miss your mother at all? She's our own mother!"

She finally revealed her true intentions, attempting to move him with the bond between mother and daughter, her voice filled with sorrow, as if she had suffered an immense injustice.

However, upon hearing the words "little sister," Sheng Changfeng's body trembled violently, as if he had been burned by a red-hot iron!

His eyes suddenly erupted with profound fear, pain, and... a near-physiological, intense resistance!

The crippled right hand even twitched uncontrollably.

He felt as if a demon had grabbed his throat; he abruptly closed his eyes, and his breathing became heavy and rapid.

When she opened her eyes again, all that remained was endless exhaustion and an almost cold indifference. Her voice suddenly became sharp and agitated, even cracking with a sob: "Fourth Sister! Shut up! I beg you, don't mention her again! Don't mention that name to me again!"

He suddenly sprang up from the bamboo chair as if trying to escape something extremely terrifying. He abruptly turned his back, no longer looking at Mo Lan. His thin shoulders trembled violently, and his voice, though suppressed, carried a sense of desperate resolve on the verge of collapse.

"Let bygones be bygones! It's all in the past! I... I don't want to get involved anymore! I don't want to hear anything about her again!"

"I don't want to hear a single word! The village is peaceful; it's better for her...for everyone! And please...don't come to me about this again!"

"I just want to live a peaceful life and survive! Just pretend I'm dead, pretend I'm not your brother!" His words were incoherent and filled with unspeakable fear.

"Third brother!"

Mo Lan stared in disbelief at his violently reacting back, listening to his words filled with fear and disgust, a huge disappointment and a chilling feeling welled up in her heart.

She couldn't understand why her brother would react this way whenever their mother was mentioned.

"How...how could you be so heartless? She's our own mother! Everything she did was for our future!"

"If it weren't for us, why would she... why would she have gone to that point..."

She was still trying to defend herself using the theory of "the greatness of maternal love".

"For us? Hahaha..." Sheng Changfeng suddenly turned around, a near-manic, bitter laugh on his face, his eyes bloodshot and bloodshot, and he growled, "All for us? For her insatiable greed! For her ambition to be inferior to others! For her audacious and reckless madness!"

"If it weren't for her... if it weren't for her delusional thinking that she dared... dared to bribe..." He seemed to want to shout out the shocking secret—hiring a hitman!
But the overwhelming fear, like ice water poured over his head, instantly brought him to his senses. He swallowed back the words he was about to say, replaced by deeper pain and terror: "...How did I end up like this? I almost...almost lost my life in that 'accident'!"

All I want now is peace and quiet! All I want is to live! I'd even be willing to live like a dog!

"Go away! Go back to your Yongchang Marquis's mansion! Go be the sixth wife of the Liang family! Don't come back! Don't cause me any more trouble!"

"Please, let me go! I can't take it anymore!"

As he spoke, he completely lost control of his emotions, and with a sudden wave of his hand, he swept the half-cold cup of tea, along with the saucer, off the small table next to him to the ground!

"Clang—Crack!"

A sharp cracking sound suddenly rang out as the celadon teacup shattered, scattering tea leaves and sharp shards of porcelain everywhere, leaving a scene of utter chaos.

The sound, like a thunderclap, exploded in Mo Lan's heart, shattering her last pitiful hope and sibling affection.

Mo Lan was completely stunned by his hysterical, inexplicably fearful, and even resentful appearance. She looked at the messy pieces on the ground, at her brother's pale face twisted with extreme fear and pain, and at his crippled right hand that was still trembling slightly. A chill ran from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

She finally realized that things were far more serious and complicated than she had imagined.

Sheng Changfeng's feelings for Lin Qinshuang were not simply resentment, but a deep-seated fear and rejection!

She felt disappointed, angry, and a little bit of fear that she didn't even want to admit.

"What exactly happened to Third Brother...? That's our own mother..." Mo Lan couldn't understand it at all, her heart and eyes filled with confusion!
In the end, all her emotions turned into a weak sob and utter despair.

Looking at Changfeng, who seemed to have gone mad, she could no longer utter a word. She could only bite her bloodless lower lip tightly, letting the tears of humiliation and defeat fall silently. Then, she stomped her foot and, as if fleeing a scene of plague, turned and rushed out of the suffocating, desolate courtyard filled with despair, fear, and unspeakable secrets.

Outside the courtyard, Mo Lan leaned against the cold wall, listening to the faint, suppressed gasps and sobs of Chang Feng, filled with tears and extreme fear. She felt that the warm afternoon sun felt ten times colder than the freezing cold of winter.

The vibrant flowers and springtime scenery around her instantly lost all color in her eyes, turning her into a gloomy gray.

The road ahead suddenly turned pitch black.

The unreliable husband of the Marquis of Yongchang, the unpredictable seventh brother Sheng Changquan whose status is about to rise rapidly, and the already collapsed elder brother who can hardly protect himself...

She felt as if she were on a deserted island, surrounded by endless, icy seawater. She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms, leaving bloody marks. A glint of resentment and a desperate, mad calculation flashed in her eyes.

perhaps……

The only option left is to find another way, perhaps by approaching Liang Han or his father?

However, hope seemed to be fading, while a bottomless sense of fear began to quietly spread in her heart.

What should we do in the future...?