Inside the Lu Family estate, Qiu Zhiheng slowly shook his head as he looked at Madam Duan Shaoxia and revealed that Lu Yuanhai would never recover.

"Madam," Qiu Zhiheng said, "I was incapable. I failed to protect the two young masters. I am too embarrassed to continue staying with the Lu Family."

Qiu Zhiheng really wanted to leave the Lu Family. It was not only because of Old Mister Yao's advice, but also because he blamed himself. He genuinely had no idea that the two brothers tried to take Lu Maoxian's life. If he had noticed the warning signs earlier, even a little sooner, perhaps he could have prevented everything from happening.

"Zhiheng," Duan Shaoxia grabbed Qiu Zhiheng's hand, "You can't leave me and my son by ourselves. I know those two children acted foolishly and hurt you deeply, but please... Please don't hold it against them anymore. Yuanshan is already dead, and Yuanhai has become like this..."

Before Duan Shaoxia could finish speaking, she broke down into uncontrollable sobs.

Qiu Zhiheng did not know what to say. For now, he could put aside the thought of leaving the Lu Family, but even then, he still had no idea how to resolve the situation before them.

In a few days, Lu Maoxian would definitely come knocking on their door again. They could not keep dragging things out like this forever.

Not long afterward, his subordinates brought back news that several of Lu Maoxian's sons had secretly taken over a number of Lu Yuanshan's businesses. Those businesses had to be taken back immediately, so Qiu Zhiheng quickly gathered his men and rushed out.

Not long after Monkey Qiu left, Duan Shaoxia's elder sister, Duan Shaohong, came to visit.

The two sisters exchanged a few pleasantries. Duan Shaoxia desperately wanted to send her elder sister away as quickly as possible. This was hardly the time for guests. The Lu Family was already in complete chaos, and the more people talked, the easier it would be for something to slip out. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Unfortunately, Duan Shaohong refused to leave. She got straight to the point.

"Little sister," she asked, "I heard something happened to my two nephews. Is it true?"

Duan Shaoxia froze. "Who told you that?"

"The rumors are coming from Lu Maoxian's side," Duan Shaohong said quietly. "They are saying you and Monkey Qiu are having an affair. They are also saying that the two boys are ruined because of the two of you."

Duan Shaoxia's eyes instantly reddened with fury as she snapped, "That old dog is spouting complete bullshit!"

Duan Shaohong quickly grabbed her hand and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Let's go inside and talk first."

Once they entered the bedroom, Duan Shaohong shut the door behind them and turned around at once.

"We sisters grew up together," she said. "Don't try to hide things from me. Did something really happen to Yuanshan and Yuanhai?"

"It's nothing..." Duan Shaoxia replied weakly.

"Nothing? You are still trying to hide it from me?" Duan Shaohong exclaimed. "The entire Greenwater City is already talking about it! That old dog Lu Maoxian has dragged your name straight through the mud!"

By now, Lu Maoxian had spread the rumors everywhere. Duan Shaoxia knew there was no point hiding it any longer, so she finally told Duan Shaohong everything that had happened.

When Duan Shaohong heard that Lu Yuanshan had died, tears welled up in her eyes as well.

"Little sister," she said, "how could you keep something this big from me? You should have told your elder sister at least. Don't bear all of this alone."

The two sisters cried for quite some time before Duan Shaohong wiped her tears and finally brought up the matter she had truly come for.

"Little sister, that old dog Lu Maoxian definitely won't let you go. Monkey Qiu might be able to help you now, but in the end, he's still an outsider. "If there's no one from the Lu Family left to take charge, he won't be able to keep things afloat for long."

"But Yuanhai..."

"Yuanhai's illness can be treated slowly," Duan Shaohong replied. "Before he recovers, you need to find someone else to hold up the Lu Family's main branch."

What they called the Lu Family's main branch was really just Lu Dongliang's bloodline.

Aside from Lu Yuanshan and Lu Yuanhai, did Lu Dongliang have any other descendants? Lu Dongliang had plenty, so many that even he himself could not keep count. However, none of them were Duan Shaoxia's children. How could she possibly accept that?

"Little sister, we obviously can't acknowledge some outsider's child as your own," Duan Shaohong said. "But surely you wouldn't refuse to acknowledge your elder sister's child?"

"Of course I would acknowledge your child, but..." Duan Shaoxia suddenly froze mid-sentence. She stared at Duan Shaohong in shock.

Duan Shaohong's face did not redden in the slightest. This was hardly the time to feel embarrassed.

"Elder Sister, when did this happen?"

"Before you got married and after I got married."

"You can't possibly be talking about Huaiyi, right?"

Duan Shaohong gave a slight nod. She was indeed talking about Huaiyi. Zhang Huaiyi was the eldest son of Duan Shaohong and her husband, Zhang Bochu.

Duan Shaoxia flew into a rage. "How could Huaiyi be..."

"Little sister, listen to me first," Duan Shaohong hurriedly interrupted. "Before you married Dongliang, Dongliang and I did it. This wasn't me betraying you..."

The more Duan Shaoxia listened, the angrier she became. By the end, she was so furious she nearly wanted to grab a stick and beat Duan Shaohong on the spot. Yet after listening to her elder sister explain everything for nearly half an hour, the rage in Duan Shaoxia's chest slowly began to settle down.

Now that she thought about it carefully, Zhang Huaiyi really did resemble Lu Dongliang quite a bit. The more she thought about it, the more he really seemed like Lu Dongliang's son. At the same time, he was also Duan Shaohong's child, which meant he was closely related to her by blood as well.

Their blood ties are undeniably close... Duan Shaoxia muttered inwardly. I think it might work...

However, the only problem was whether Duan Shaohong's husband, Zhang Bochu, would agree to it.

Duan Shaohong let out a cold snort. "What right does he have to object? If our Duan Family hadn't supported him all these years, he would have starved long ago. I really don't know what came over me back then to fall for him."

Back in his younger days, Zhang Bochu had been quite handsome. Although his family background was nowhere near the level of the Duan Family, he had completely charmed Duan Shaohong. On top of that, the Duan Family had always been rather lenient with their daughters, so the marriage eventually went through.

Duan Shaohong lowered her voice and continued, "Little sister, Huaiyi is Dongliang's son. The resemblance is so obvious that anyone could tell with a single glance. From now on, he will take the surname Lu and call you Mother. It's settled!"

Duan Shaoxia said nothing and merely lowered her head as she wiped away her tears.

By evening, Qiu Zhiheng returned to the estate with an extremely grim expression.

They had failed to reclaim the businesses. Lu Maoxian's attitude had been extremely forceful. He believed Qiu Zhiheng had no standing to negotiate with him and insisted on meeting the two Lu brothers instead.

Monkey Qiu was already irritated enough. All he wanted now was to return to his small building, collapse onto the bed, and sleep. Yet just as he stepped inside the building, he saw someone already waiting for him.

The young man bowed respectfully as he greeted him. "Uncle Qiu."

"Huaiyi?" Qiu Zhiheng recognized Zhang Huaiyi at once, but he could not understand why the boy was still at the Lu Family's main estate so late at night.

Duan Shaohong looked at Qiu Zhiheng and said, "Steward Qiu, from today onward, Huaiyi is part of the Lu Family."

Qiu Zhiheng froze for a brief moment, but he immediately understood what she meant. He had long known that Zhang Huaiyi was Lu Dongliang's son. Lu Dongliang himself had mentioned it to him before.

Now that Duan Shaohong had personally brought Zhang Huaiyi here, her intentions could not have been clearer. She wanted him to step forward and take over the Lu Family. To Qiu Zhiheng, the whole idea sounded utterly absurd. It was total nonsense!

Duan Shaoxia turned to look at Qiu Zhiheng. "Zhiheng, do you have any better solution?"

Monkey Qiu could not reply a single word as he really did not have any solutions. Even so, letting Zhang Huaiyi suddenly become a son of the Lu Family hardly sounded like a proper solution either.

Who would acknowledge such a thing? Back then, even Lu Dongliang himself had never publicly acknowledged Zhang Huaiyi's identity.

Lu Dongliang might have been a notorious womanizer, but when it came to insiders and outsiders, he always drew the line very clearly. In his entire life, he had only ever officially acknowledged one woman outside the family, and that woman was Zhuo Yuling.

As for children born outside the family, there had only been two: Lu Xiaolan and Lu Chunying.

He acknowledged Lu Xiaolan as his daughter because Zhuo Yuling had truly been useful to him. He acknowledged Lu Chunying because she had managed to find Lu Xiaolan, which counted as a merit, and because Lu Dongliang genuinely liked the girl's personality.

Zhang Huaiyi had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. How could someone like him possibly establish himself within the Lu Family?

Monkey Qiu kept shaking his head at Duan Shaoxia.

Duan Shaohong frowned at once. "Steward Qiu, what exactly are you objecting to? Since when is it your place to interfere with decisions your madam has already made?"

Then, without waiting for him to answer, she continued decisively, "On the first day of next month, Huaiyi will host a banquet, acknowledge his mother, and officially change his surname. You should hurry and make the arrangements."

There were only ten days left until the first day of next month. If they really went through with this plan, the Lu Family would be headed for doom.

Monkey Qiu returned to the small building and sat there alone throughout the entire night, unable to sleep even for a moment.

Duan Shaoxia sat quietly beside Lu Yuanhai's bed, gazing at her son for a very long time.

"My child," she murmured softly, "Mother is finding you a brother. Everything Mother is doing... it's all for your own good."

After sitting there in silence for a long time, a knock came from the door.

Duan Shaoxia opened the door and found Zhang Huaiyi standing outside. She had been the one who summoned him.

The young man looked at Duan Shaoxia somewhat nervously and lowered his head slightly. "Aunt..."

After that, he did not dare say another word.

Duan Shaohong had already warned him beforehand. Now that he had entered the Lu Family, he needed to act shy and restrained so the Lu Family members would not grow suspicious.

Duan Shaoxia smiled and said, "Child, this is your home now. You don't need to be so reserved. From now on, call me Mom instead of Aunt."

Zhang Huaiyi's face immediately reddened, and he nodded awkwardly.

After all, he was already a man in his thirties. Suddenly calling someone else "Mom" naturally felt rather awkward.

Unfortunately, even more awkward things still awaited him. On the first day of next month, he would have to change his surname and serve tea to every elder in front of the entire Lu Family.

He knew it was rather pathetic, but Duan Shaohong had told him this was the best chance he would ever get to turn his life around.

As long as he became the Lu Family's family head, he would have more money than he could ever spend, more women than he could ever want, and a status so high that ordinary people would not even dare raise their heads in front of him.

Whenever he imagined that glorious future, excitement rushed through his entire body. Compared to what awaited him, this tiny bit of suffering meant absolutely nothing.

"Mom!" Zhang Huaiyi called out sincerely.

Duan Shaoxia gave a faint nod and led him over to Lu Yuanhai's bedside. "Huaiyi, this is your younger brother Yuanhai. You already know he's ill."

Zhang Huaiyi nodded. Duan Shaohong had already explained everything to him beforehand.

"From now on, you must take good care of your younger brother," Duan Shaoxia said softly.

Zhang Huaiyi had prepared this answer long ago. "Mom, don't worry. Blood is thicker than water. Even if I have to risk my own life, I will still find a way to cure my younger brother."

Duan Shaoxia nodded again. "Stay here and talk with your younger brother for a while. Yuanhai can still hear what people say to him."

Zhang Huaiyi turned to look at Lu Yuanhai and noticed a tear hanging at the corner of his eye.

To be honest, Lu Yuanhai really did resemble Zhang Huaiyi somewhat. In fact, he looked more like Zhang Huaiyi than Lu Huanshan.

Zhang Huaiyi secretly sighed to himself.

Kiddo, your life is basically over. My mother has already promised that, once the timing was right, she would arrange for someone to quietly send you on your way.

Besides, you have already enjoyed more than twenty years of good life. That is more than enough. From now on, it's my turn to enjoy the good life.

"Little brother, I will come visit you again another day," Zhang Haiyi said. He had only just begun to stand when he suddenly realized Lu Yuanhai's grip on his hand was growing tighter and tighter.

What's wrong? Kiddo, what are you trying to do? Zhang Huaiyi thought.

From beside the bed, Duan Shaoxia softly said, "Huaiyi, stay and talk with your younger brother a little longer. He hasn't spoken with anyone else in a very long time. He only gets to see me everyday and he is probably already tired of it."

Talk? Can he even speak? Zhang Huaiyi grumbled inwardly. He wasn't happy, but he did not dare to show it on his face. He continued holding Lu Yuanhai's hand while maintaining an expression of overwhelming grief.

Tears kept rolling from Lu Yuanhai's eyes one after another.

As Zhang Huaiyi watched Lu Yuanhai crying nonstop, he suddenly felt a strange tightness twist painfully inside his chest for no reason at all.

What's wrong with me? Zhang Huaiyi thought. Why do I suddenly feel sorry for him?

Those two brothers never treated me like family in the first place. Especially Lu Yuanshan... Every single time I asked to borrow money, he would deliberately make things difficult for me first, as though humiliating me was part of the process.

But Lu Yuanhai...wasn't too bad though. At the very least, he never made things difficult for me whenever money was involved. Actually... he has always treated me pretty well.

At that thought, something inside Zhang Huaiyi suddenly stirred. His eyes slowly began to redden as well.

He really is my blood-related younger brother, Zhang Huaiyi thought. At the very least, this bond between us is real.

"Yuanhai, just focus on getting better," Zhang Huaiyi said softly. "Trust your big brother. You will definitely recover..."

He continued speaking to Lu Yuanhai for a while longer, but strangely enough, the more he spoke, the heavier his heart became.

More and more tears filled Zhang Huaiyi's eyes until everything in front of him turned blurry. Soon, he could no longer see Lu Yuanhai clearly at all.

Zhang Huaiyi tried to lift his hand to wipe away his tears, only to discover that his arm would not move.

What's happening to me? Did Lu Yuanhai somehow infect me too?

Duan Shaoxia spoke up. "Huaiyi, don't be too upset. Go back to your room and rest."

Zhang Huaiyi was growing anxious. He desperately wanted to return to his room and rest, but his body simply refused to move. His hands would not move and his feet would not move either.

"Mom, you should rest early too."

Someone spoke? Who said that?

Zhang Huaiyi's vision remained hopelessly blurry, and the voices around him sounded faint and distant, as though they were coming from the other end of a long tunnel.

He could not move his hands. He could not move his feet. He could not even open his mouth to speak. Soon, he could no longer gather his thoughts properly either. The only thing he could still clearly feel was the strange numbness spreading bit by bit through his entire body.

Duan Shaoxia led "Zhang Huaiyi" into another bedroom.

The moment they stepped inside, "Zhang Huaiyi" collapsed onto the bed and began gasping heavily for breath. He was clearly still not used to this body. Blood vessels bulged across his face one after another.

Duan Shaoxia was not doing well either. She sat by the bed as sweat poured down her face.

"Mom..." "Zhang Huaiyi" gasped painfully. "I feel like this body can't hold me properly."

Duan Shaoxia reached out and touched the fake Zhang Huaiyi's forehead. "Zhang Huaiyi is closely related to you by blood. This is the most compatible body Mother could find for you."

"Mom, it hurts so badly. I really can't endure it anymore..."

"Don't be afraid," Duan Shaoxia hurriedly comforted him. "Listen to your mother. I have pills for you. You absolutely must endure this."

"Mom, I have a new body but... what about my identity?"

"Leave the identity issue to your Uncle Qiu," Duan Shaoxia replied. "He'll definitely find a solution."

Author's Note:

PS: High-level Love Cultivators are truly powerful, but what kind of solution could Monkey Qiu possibly come up with?