rose ashes

Zhang Peilan sat on the mahogany Eight Immortals Chair next to Luo Jiancheng as usual. Her every move was graceful and her pampered demeanor was obvious.

Luo Yang sat down at the seat closest to the door opposite Luo Jiancheng. Zhang Peilan called her, but she did not respond. After a moment, she nodded as a response.
Ms. Yang doesn't like impolite people. This time she's here to settle things. Just consider it as the last sign of respect.

Luo Jiancheng clasped his hands and rubbed them, as if he was thinking about how to start the conversation. Zhang Peilan occasionally looked up at Luo Jiancheng, and Luo Yang just watched indifferently as the two of them exchanged cryptic glances.

But soon, she discovered that Rocco was not here today. Such an occasion was the best opportunity to tease and ridicule her, and she would never let herself miss someone like Rocco.

Luo Yang opened his mouth and said indifferently: "Where's Luo Ke? She won't come on a day like today?"

Zhang Peilan's heart tightened, and she slowly clenched her hands in front of her knees into fists. She turned her head slightly and no longer looked in the direction of Luo Yang.

Luo Yang was very perceptive and noticed something was going on. He grabbed Luo Jiancheng and said straight to the point, "What do you want to talk about today? You even sent Luo Ke away. You might as well just say it. There's no need for us to beat around the bush. It's not worth it to waste everyone's time. What do you think?"

You could hear a pin drop in the living room. Uncle Wu passed by the living room and heard a few words. He said nothing, but lowered his voice to send away the servants who were still waiting at the door. "The master and the lady have important things to discuss. You all should go and do your work. Don't come around here without my notice."
He thought that perhaps today was the time, the time for the young lady to really leave home.

Uncle Wu remained silent and quietly returned to the next room, waiting.

Luo Jiancheng actually looked at Luo Yang in a negotiating tone, "Ah He, come home. Dad was wrong before. I have nothing to say no matter how you blame me, but a family is best when it is complete. You are my biological daughter no matter what, and so is Xiao Ke. If we have any problems at home, I will not complain no matter what happens. But when we go out, we will always be a family. What do you think?"

Luo Yang didn't say anything, but just lowered her eyes and stroked the tassels hanging from the hem of her skirt, one by one. Today's tassels were probably not arranged in advance, so they were tangled and intertwined. Luo Yang picked them out one by one and smoothed them out patiently, repeating this over and over again, completely immersed in it.

Perhaps because he didn't get a strong negative answer from Luo Yang, Luo Jiancheng secretly thought that she might not be so opposed and there was room for negotiation, so he continued: "There is a charity party next month. I hope you can join us. They are all acquaintances and friends in the circle. You know many of them. You can also try to accept Luo Ke slowly. After all, you are sisters--"

With a "bang", the cup fell heavily, splashing some water stains on the originally smooth table top, spreading like flowers, and silently seeping into the blanket along the edge of the table.

Luo Yang looked at them disdainfully, sneered in his throat, and his eyes were stern: "There are only you here, not us."

Luo Yang neatly tied up her long, slightly curly hair that was scattered behind her, and the chestnut color reflected golden light under the light.

"You have too many acquaintances, so you are afraid that others will know that our family has long been a rotten thing inside? Oh, then you really care about the Luo family, you are really righteous. I'm sorry, don't blame me for killing my relatives for the sake of justice."

Luo Yang didn't seem to be joking at all, and didn't intend to give Luo Jiancheng a chance to defend himself or refute.

"When you swore to Ms. Yang that you would only have her for your whole life, when you were so affectionate, you should have thought that this day shouldn't have happened, and Luo Ke shouldn't have appeared," Luo Yang paused, trying to calm his emotions that were about to surge. "Let's not talk about the value and shelf life of your promise, but how much you hid from me about my mother's departure that year, I think you all know it." Having said this, Luo Yang cast his eyes on Zhang Peilan without any hesitation.

They are all elderly people. Even if they are scared inside, they still look peaceful on the surface, so it is naturally difficult to find any flaws in them.
Luo Yang doesn't care about these superficial things.

Yang Yue’s affairs have always been the key issue that caused conflicts and even led to the breakup between Luo Yang and Luo Jiancheng.

Luo Jiancheng's brows were heavy, and this time, contrary to his usual behavior, he did not utter a word in rebuttal. For a long while, no one spoke in the living room.

When he spoke again, his voice was a little hoarse, as if mixed with gravel.
"Ah He, I have never forgotten your mother's matter. I am very sorry, but she is gone. Why do you have to dwell on it?"

Luo Yang found it funny. She looked at Luo Jiancheng. How could this man be so shameless as to say such words? The death of his first wife actually became a problem for him.

Luo Yang was too lazy to talk nonsense, so she let go of her hands that were adjusting her skirt, stood up and looked down.
After a long while, her red lips moved: "Do you think I didn't know anything about what you did? Then the nine years I spent out there were really wasted."

Luo Jiancheng's eyes darkened and his breathing became heavier.

Luo Yang glanced at Zhang Peilan who was still sitting beside him, and said calmly: "I can only say that Ms. Zhang is very skillful. I didn't know at that time that you were a famous psychologist in your early years. You really hit the nail on the head when it comes to killing people. I have heard of your name for a long time, Doctor Hu Wenlan."

Hu Wenlan, who was from the same generation as Yang Yue, was a legendary woman. She came from a wealthy family and received the best and most advanced education since childhood. She grew up in luxury in her sixties and seventies, living the life of a princess that everyone envied but could never get.
Later, she was admitted to the psychology major of Cambridge University in the UK with excellent grades. She was Luo Yang's senior, but Luo Yang didn't know that she was Zhang Peilan in front of her. Hu Wenlan was a mysterious existence in Cambridge. There was no photo of her, and not even a trace of news about her. It was as if she had evaporated from the face of the earth, as if she had never appeared on this campus. Luo Yang knew Hu Wenlan's true identity thanks to her mentor Richard Smith. He knew that Luo Yang admired this senior very much. Because he loved his last disciple, he did not hesitate to find people to use their connections. The hard work paid off and found clues about Hu Wenlan.

Of course, the final confirmation that Hu Wenlan is Zhang Peilan is thanks to her reluctance to let go of her past glory, which resulted in her not destroying her Cambridge study certificate and psychological counseling certificate. In the dusty attic, Luo Yang saw the certificate with Hu Wenlan's name on it. The photo on the certificate was of Zhang Peilan when she was young, with exactly the same features as now.

Zhang Peilan is indeed a senior with first-class psychological ability. Even when Luo Yang exposed her in front of her, she did not show any shock at all. She just raised her eyes slightly and looked at her. She did not deny it, but just said: "When a person wants to leave, no external force can become a fatal factor. Only she can do it herself."

Luo Yang felt sick as he watched the woman in front of him try to completely remove him from the matter without any emotion.
She couldn't stay here any longer and stood up.

Luo Jiancheng suddenly stood up and clapped his hands. A group of men in neat suits appeared at the door, with their hands behind their backs, blocking the door.
Uncle Wu also came out of the room after hearing the noise. Seeing this scene, he looked at Luo Jiancheng with great sorrow and anguish: "Sir, do you really want to embarrass Miss like this? How sad the spirit of the Madam in heaven would be!"

Luo Jiancheng shouted, "It's not your turn to be my master yet! She is not allowed to take a single step out of here today! Not until after the charity party is over!"

Luo Yang couldn't believe it. Luo Jiancheng had completely gone crazy and had lost all his rationality. It would be illegal for her to restrict the personal freedom of an adult with just a little effort!
A sudden inspiration came to her mind, and she glanced at Zhang Peilan. This woman could actually sit there motionless, as if everything happening here had nothing to do with her. She was like an outsider who was watching the farce from the sidelines, coldly watching the whole thing.

Luo Yang laughed, laughing at herself for being deceived by her harmless and weak appearance and behavior. Now it seems that she was just an ant in front of Zhang Peilan, and it only took a single blow to take her life.

Luo Yang looked resolutely into Luo Jiancheng's eyes, but at that moment, her desire to ask him "Do you really want to do this?" was instantly swallowed up. His eyes had already been burning with anger and the rage of having his dignity challenged. At this moment, Luo Jiancheng had already made his choice between them as father and daughter.

Luo Yang said nothing and was driven upstairs by a group of strong men in black. Uncle Wu wanted to follow them, but Luo Jiancheng sternly ordered him not to go upstairs. No one was allowed to go upstairs to see her before Luo Yang thought it through.

The door was slammed shut, and Luo Yang could feel the force on his back even from a distance.
She hunched her shoulders slightly, clenched her hands, trembled uncontrollably at her sides, and swallowed continuously, as if she were in an ice cellar.

She would never have thought that the place where she grew up would become a place that could scare her.
She sat down beside the spotless bed. Before she came in, all her communication tools had been roughly taken away by the burly men in black.

She lowered her eyes, looking at the two rings on her hands, tears suddenly flowed down, silently but for a long time.
A feeling of helplessness filled her whole body. Her fingertips were freezing cold, without any temperature at all. She tried hard to rub her palms to warm them up, but the more she rubbed, the more tears flowed, endlessly.

Gradually, the sobbing sounds in the room came out through the cracks in the door.
The sturdy men standing at the door twisted their necks to look out the window, their lips pursed unnaturally.

I don't know how long it was like this, but there was a small wet spot on the bed. Luo Yang reached out to wipe it, but the more he wiped, the bigger it got and the wetter it became.

The feeling of powerlessness weighed heavily on her back, threatening to bend her spine.

She promised Ye Gu that she would pick him up at the airport, but she made herself so embarrassed. She wanted to help Ms. Yang get the truth and an apology, but she also made a mess of it. It seemed that everything was messed up by her, and she couldn't do anything well...

If she didn't go, Ye Gu would definitely be disappointed. He always frowned when he was disappointed, and she didn't want to see him frown.

She couldn't just sit here and wait for death, and she absolutely could not attend the family charity gala, so she had to leave.

Looking at the only neglected window behind the balcony, Luo Yang stared for a long time. This is the third floor, which is not that high.

After thinking for a moment, Luo Yang tried the door, which was still locked. He quickly took off the bed sheet and quilt cover, tied the two corners together, and walked to the window, only to see Uncle Wu standing downstairs pacing anxiously.

Luo Yang let down the "long rope" little by little. Uncle Wu looked up and saw her. Luo Yang was a little nervous. After all, he was serving the Luo family. If he went to tell Luo Jiancheng, she would not blame him.

Uncle Wu hurried into the house. Luo Yang sighed silently. Just as he was about to pull the rope back, he saw Uncle Wu coming out holding a quilt. He spread it on the grass bit by bit, tilted his head back, lowered his voice, and squinted his eyes.
"Miss! Come down quickly! There is a small door at the back that only I know!"

(End of this chapter)