You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 163 - 162: Suicide to Escape Guilt

The Inner City Harmony Garden is a private estate purchased and designed by the Qin Family over a decade.

The Qin Family has always been known as master builders, so naturally, they put special care into constructing their residence. They even went to Yanjing for inspiration from the main residences of various illustrious families. Ultimately, this place, known as the ’Dongyang’s Premier Garden,’ was built, offering breezy coolness in summer, warmth and snow appreciation in winter, a bloom of flowers in spring, and a serene observation of the autumn. Grand but not chaotic, beautiful yet not overdone, it embodies the spirit of ’no dissonance to disturb the ears, no labors to weary the body.’

Privately, people of Xuanzhu have reached a consensus: if one were to become a servant, the top choice would be the Qin Family’s Harmony Garden. Even if you’re not in need of money, entering Harmony Garden is akin to a top-tier employment. The environment is pleasant, working as a servant there is quite comfortable, and living in such a place adjusts one’s disposition and nurtures their body. The masters of Qin Family are amiable and easy to serve;

Next, are the Ting Family and Lan Family, both operating heavy industry guilds. Their houses are often extravagant, with masters who must work in factories themselves, aware of the servants’ hardships. They won’t mistreat their servants, are generous, and offer substantial compensations. These are tier-one employment opportunities, ideal if you need money urgently;

After that come the Quan Family, Luo Family, Huyan Family of Wang Hai Gong, Governor Yun Family... These are aristocratic families closely linked with the affluent. Rules are strict, and being a servant is not easy, but as long as one completes their duties, the rule-abiding masters won’t bother the servants. These are tier-two employment choices if one absolutely has to sell themselves;

Following these recommendations, there are various small guilds and families to consider.

And upon seeing this, you may have become faintly aware — indeed, the Jing Family falls into the last category of options!

It’s the kind you’d choose if absolutely necessary!

However, the Jing Family is always generous, and many find it hard to refuse, often signing themselves over, confused by the attractive terms they offer.

Then the Jing Family guarantees they can squeeze every bit back from them.

But since Jing Qingfu fell ill, the Jing Family has become much more amiable. Several years have passed, enough for many people of Xuanzhu to forget the sinister reputation of the Jing Family that could silence crying children, remember only the worker unrest they once suppressed.

Yet now, within the Harmony Garden, there is no usual tranquility. Angry voices reverberate through the wooded houses, making all servants tremble —

"Qin Le Yin..."

"Qin—Le—Yin—!"

"Qin Le Yin, get out here! Get out!"

In the Main Hall, several maids watched Qin Yueshi smashing tables, chairs, and paintings in a frenzy, too afraid to approach, only trying to persuade from behind. Until they saw a handsome man in a white coat with a black cross walk into the Main Hall, they hurriedly said:

"Second Master, Third Miss, she..."

"You leave first." Qin Family’s second son Qin Yueyang gestured for them to leave, "Tell others not to come near here, I’ll handle it."

"Yes, Second Master." The maids bowed and left quickly.

Qin Yueshi smashed everything in the Main Hall to pieces, with fierce intent in her ink-black eyebrows, her eyes filled with resentment as she glanced at Qin Yueyang.

"Second brother, where is Qin Le Yin?"

Qin Yueyang calmly adjusted his glow-patterned gloves, "No matter how upset you are, remember, you are Qin Yueshi, representative of the Qin Family. Don’t speak foolishly; it only exposes your weakness."

"Second brother, do you know something?" Qin Yueshi took silver chain gloves out of her pocket, expressionless, "I won’t ask a third time. Second brother, where is Qin Le Yin?"

Qin Yueyang posed, "I once read, ’Lashing out at family is impotent fury manifested.’"

"I read that in the ’Youth Daily,’ but the premise of that saying is..." Qin Yueshi strained, gritting her teeth, "Family won’t harm you!"

Biting Battle Technique: Desolate Bite!

Biting Battle Technique: Desolate Bite!

Desolate Bite light explosions collided, distorting all light in the Main Hall!

"Of course we won’t harm you; we’re doing it for your own good." Qin Yueyang engaged in close combat inch punches, transforming fists into bites, forcefully overpowering Qin Yueshi with his physical advantage.

Qin Yueshi looked at her familiar second brother, now so alien, so cold, so harsh amidst the light explosion distortion. Avoiding and resolving as she fought back with the last of her mental strength, she shouted angrily, "For my good? So, about dad now, are you trying to justify it by saying it was also for his good?"

Emotionless Qin Yueyang finally changed his expression, foregoing reservation, first dismantling his sister’s counterattack with all-out force, then delivering a heavy hit to her abdomen!

Qin Yueshi’s expression drastically changed, groaning as she staggered backwards, forcing herself to stabilize, a few drops of blood falling from her lips. Like a cornered cat, she let out a shriek as she charged at Qin Yueyang.

Qin Yueyang clenched his fist, his whole body surging with power. With his strength, his sister was no match for him; she’d already been hurt once, and all he needed was one more full strike to incapacitate her for a long time!

And just as Qin Yueyang and Qin Yueshi were about to clash, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed their wrists—

"Don’t lash out at family."

Qin Le Yin, who had entered unknown, softly spoke eight words.

And as the word ’family’ faded, they each received eight hits.

Though these eight strikes didn’t hurt nor itch, they landed precisely on their joints, dispersing their light explosions and energies entirely.

By the time they came to their senses, they had calmed down.

Aside from astonishment, a slight fear of violence emerged in their hearts.

What if big brother had come not to mediate, and what if he hadn’t intentionally held back, and if...

But Qin Yueshi soon found her mind overtaken by anger once again. She rushed to grab Qin Le Yin’s collar, pressing him to the broken chair, shouting as she glared at him, "Why!? Tell me, what exactly is going on?!"

Qin Le Yin gave a bitter smile, looking at his second brother, "I remember the last time my little sister was this close to me was around when she was 12, wasn’t it?"

Calming his emotions, Qin Yueyang nodded in agreement, "After she attended the Inner City High School, her attitude towards us worsened. In hindsight, she matured early and probably had a crush at school, so she began disliking us."

"Ah? Really? Why would liking another boy make her dislike her brothers?"

"That’s a complicated question, or perhaps she’s simply tired of seeing us since we grew up together from the start..."

"Don’t change the topic!" Qin Yueshi bit her lips, focused her gaze on Qin Le Yin, "Qin Le Yin, answer me, why did you do it?"

Qin Le Yin’s smile remained unchanged as he spread his hands, "I just got back from lunch, not knowing what happened, and you throw all these questions at me. I don’t know what I did wrong either. Tell me, tell me, if Sister Shi wants something, your brothers will do anything to get it for you."

Qin Yueshi remained unaffected by her brother’s jesting words, asking slowly and steadily, "Why did you put poison in my pendant?"

"You found it?" Qin Le Yin said, "That’s a poison powder I obtained with difficulty, rumored to be ’Nether Lamp Dragon’ poison extracted from the belly of southern mountain barbarians. However, we Huayao people generally have excellent constitutions, and this poison that can make other creatures’ intestines decay rapidly only causes temporary nerve paralysis for us. Once ground into powder, it requires extremely close inhalation to be effective..." freewēbnoveℓ.com

Qin Yueshi murmured, "Why? Why set this trap on me?"

"Actually, this trap was meant for your safety," Qin Le Yin explained, "The current situation is chaotic; I was afraid someone might kidnap you, so I gave you this pendant, claiming it held half of Qin Family’s gold and silver. If you encountered danger, recalling this would allow you to hand the pendant over to the criminals, whereupon they’d suffer its effects and allow you an escape..."

"Although you’re smart and adorable, sister, you’re not good at acting. If I directly tell you this is a trap, you’ll definitely act unnaturally, which would make the criminals suspicious. That’s why I said what I did."

"Since you know this is a trap..." Le Yin blinked, "Does that mean someone fell for it? Are you alright? Was the criminal caught?"

While Le Yin was explaining, Yueshi remained silent, coldly staring at her older brother.

She slowly exhaled.

"Brother, if you want me to acknowledge you as my brother, just tell the truth." Yueshi’s heart was burning, her eyes filled with hatred: "I’m not like father; I’m not a fool you can manipulate."

"I am convinced this trap was intricately prepared for Zhengwu by you."

"I am convinced you foresaw today long ago."

"I am convinced you are now one of Zhengwei’s people!"

"This pendant, I only take it out when Zhengwu is at his wits’ end; and when he is desperate, he wouldn’t sit idly, either fighting back or thinking of leaving; you poisoned him, paralyzing him for over ten minutes, severing his last breath of life."

"Now it’s done, Zhengwu has been captured by the Jing Family. Even if I make a fuss with you guys, it won’t change anything, won’t undo any facts."

"I just want..." Yueshi’s eyes reddened, her voice choked with sobs: "Brother, you laid this trap by exploiting my feelings, I just hope you can... give me an... explanation."

"...Why?"

Bang.

A heavy blow struck the back of her head, Yueshi’s body shivered, tears streaming down her face, she collapsed into Le Yin’s arms.

"Someone, someone—" Le Yin shouted loudly: "Take the Third Miss back to her room, lock the doors and windows, without my command, other than three meals a day, no one is allowed to let her out! Also, clean the main hall."

The servants complied, the maids sympathetically supported the unconscious Yueshi out. Le Yin left the main hall, followed closely by Yueyang.

Walking to a small pavilion by the lake in Ming Courtyard, Le Yin looked at the koi in the lake: "Anything you want to say?"

"Why?"

Yueyang said: "I’m not asking why you targeted Zhengwu. Since you chose a side, you naturally have to be thorough, eliminating any threats. But why choose Zhengwei?"

"In terms of relationship, Zhengwu is our brother-in-law; in terms of benefit, he has cooperated with the Qin Family numerous times; in terms of emotion, we are also more familiar with Zhengwu."

"What made you choose a different course, abandon years of acquaintance Zhengwu, for an all-or-nothing stance against Zhengwu? Don’t say it’s the Youth Daily—we’ve already figured out that newspaper, even without Zhengwei, we can still operate if you truly value it, Zhengwu would willingly transfer the Youth Daily to you."

"Currently, the Youth Daily remains in Zhengwei’s hands, but as someone once abandoned by his family, he’s always been a harsh and ungrateful sort; he may not remember the kindness of our Qin Family."

"Why?"

Le Yin pressed his hand against the railing, smiled and said: "Maybe it’s because we are both the eldest sons of our families, so we resonate with each other?"

Yueyang said nothing, clearly not believing his older brother’s nonsense.

"Second brother, you know I am a member of a certain organization, right?"

"You don’t say, I won’t ask."

"The places our organization is concerned with, it’s not just Xuanzhu County, not merely Dongyang District, but the whole Huiyao, the Imperial Court of Yanjing." Le Yin gently tapped the railing: "I will not be confined to this small place in Xuanzhu County."

"Zhengwu can only make my life better here. But Zhengwei, he has the chance to let me break free."

Yueyang said nothing more.

After a long pause, he asked: "What about the third sister?"

"Don’t think you can gloss over this time. Third sister has always had a fierce temperament, she’s not only harsh to others but also to herself. This time she’s truly emotionally involved; ten years ago, we beat the boy she liked into a pulp, making her transfer her affections elsewhere, but not this time—the spirit is a reflection of the soul, Awakener’s battle is the collision of souls, her fists just now were as if she would burn herself to kill me."

"Her resentment will grow deeper and more intense, until it either kills herself or...kills you."

Le Yin laughed: "You’re still peculiar in your persuasion—clearly wanting me to find a way to save Zhengwu, yet questioning in a way that suggests hoping I might harm my own sister?"

"What if I couldn’t understand and really ended up harming my sister, what would you do?"

After a silent moment, Yueyang said: "...We are family."

Le Yin shrugged: "Hurting family...we haven’t exactly avoided trying."

But facing the brother who silently supports him, caught between him and his third sister, with a difficult position, Le Yin nevertheless removed part of his mask, and with a bitter smile, remarked: "If it’s Zhengwei wanting to kill Zhengwu, I might have some chance to save him."

"Although everyone thinks of Zhengwei as a ruthless villain without blood or tears, unless he possesses extremely sophisticated, deeply ingrained acting skills, based on my interactions with him, he’s actually quite a soft-hearted man, probably changed by someone."

"But the one who targeted Zhengwu is the person who has handled the Jing Family for decades, elevating it from the ranks of the thirteen guilds to the top five guilds..."

"Blackthorn."

"When he wishes to eliminate obstacles for the next family patriarch, no one can stop him."

...

...

Jing Garden.

Leyu walked to the main hall, finding the clan members gathered, looking fearfully down at the ground as if the floor was fascinating.

His gaze quickly fell upon Zhengwu in the center of the main hall. He lay quietly on the carpet, hands placed on his stomach, eyes closed, lips slightly curved, with a peaceful expression, dressed in a set of luxurious brocade clothes, as if sleeping soundly and sweetly.

Leyu halted his steps, gulped down a mouthful of saliva, and softly asked: "What...happened?"

"Second brother embezzled guild funds, transferred family assets, after Captain Liu discovered, he was supposed to be returned for judgement, but then second brother suddenly swallowed unknown pills on the way..."

Zhengtang walked up to Leyu, staring straight into his eyes, calmly stating:

"He committed suicide out of guilt."