Chapter 123 Live for yourself
Before she had taken two steps, Lu Jilian came over and stopped her: "If you don't remember who Lu Qingcheng is, then what about Lu Qingshan?"

"Pa!" A loud slap broke the silence of the early morning.

Ye Wanqing took back her hand and looked at the stunned Lu Jilian with red eyes: "Lu Jilian, it's almost dawn, you should be completely awake. Open your eyes and look at me carefully.

I am Ye Wanqing, the daughter of the eldest princess and Ye Hongwei, the princess personally appointed by the emperor, the future consort of the prince of Dun, and the wife of Chu Anlan. You and I will never have any relationship in this life! The palace examination is coming soon, and you should return to Beijing to prepare for it. Go and take your first place in the exam and be the head of your Lu family. Don't impose your delusions on me, and don't bother me anymore."

Lu Jilian's eyes moved, looking behind her: "Dad..."

Ye Wanqing followed up his words and added: "Marquis Dingyuan has high hopes for you and has devoted all his efforts to nurturing you. You really shouldn't indulge in love affairs."

Before she finished speaking, Lu Jilian bowed in her direction with an obscure expression: "Jilian greets father and prince consort."

Ye Wanqing turned around in surprise.

In the dim light, five meters away from her, she saw her father and the elderly Marquis Dingyuan standing side by side, both with expressionless faces.

Seeing her looking over, Ye Hongwei said in a deep voice: "Qing'er, come here."

Ye Wanqing was worried, and she politely said, "My son greets Marquis Dingyuan, father."

Ye Hongwei looked his daughter up and down and said coldly, "I will take Qing'er away first. Marquis Dingyuan, please do as you please."

Dingyuan Hou leaned on his cane: "Yes."

As soon as the father and daughter left, they heard the sound of a cane hitting bricks and a cold scolding: "Kneel down!"

Mist covered the gradually whitening sky, hiding the silver light of the morning star.

The mountain wind gradually rose, making the forest rustle.

Lu Jilian lifted the hem of his robe, knelt on the bluestone bricks wet with morning dew, and straightened his thin back.

Dingyuan Hou pointed his cane at him and asked, "Do you know your mistake?"

Lu Jilian said nothing.

"You..." The hand holding the cane trembled slightly, and the gray hair and beard were blown messy and sharp by the morning breeze: "Do you still know what you are doing now?"

Lu Jilian moved his shoulders and said in a low voice: "Dad, I want her."

Dingyuan Hou asked in disbelief: "What did you say?"

Lu Jilian raised his eyes, his glassy eyes were stained with mist: "Dad, I want Ye Wanqing, I want to marry her."

"Are you crazy?" Dingyuan Hou was surprised and disappointed. "I told you a long time ago not to get entangled with her! Did you ignore my words?"

Lu Jilian's eyes moved.

"Boom!"

Dingyuan Hou slammed his cane hard on the wet bluestone floor tiles, gasping for breath in anger: "Ye Wanqing is already engaged, and soon, she will be a married woman! I taught you everything I learned in my life, but you want to use it to compete with others for a woman? Asshole, is this how I taught you?!"

Lu Jilian knelt a little straighter, staring straight at Marquis Dingyuan: "I have never forgotten what Dad taught me. Since I was three years old, I have been learning from Dad how to be a qualified head of a family. The elders are virtuous and the younger ones are filial, the brothers are friendly and the younger brothers are respectful, and the descendants will be blessed. But Dad, you have taught me how to be a minister, a son, and a father, why don't you teach me how to be a husband and how to love someone?"

As he spoke, he lowered his head and choked up: "Dad, please teach me..."

Marquis Dingyuan was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time.

It was not until another gust of mountain wind blew that he came to his senses: "Love is the most useless thing in this world! Only the power that you hold firmly in your hands and the blood relationship that has been passed down from generation to generation are the most stable and reliable! The palace examination will be held in a few days. You need to win the first prize in one fell swoop, become the top scholar of this spring examination, and enter the Hanlin Academy to serve.

When you officially enter the court as an official, I can let go of the Lu family affairs and officially hand over the position of the head of the family and the future of the Lu family to you. At that time, you can marry any woman you want. " "In my father's eyes, love and power can't coexist?" Lu Jilian asked.

"No." Marquis Dingyuan looked at him coldly: "The future and glory of the entire Lu family rests on your shoulders. Go back and pack up, and accompany me back to the capital immediately after daybreak."

After saying that, he turned and walked away with his crutches.

Lu Jilian stood up: "Sorry, Dad, I won't be going back to the capital for the time being."

"What did you say?" Marquis Dingyuan turned to look at him.

Lu Jilian lowered his head and smoothed away the wrinkles and stains on the hem of his robe. His hair, wet by the morning dew, slid down his pale cheeks and fell to the edge of his collar. "After daybreak, my grandson will arrange for someone to send Dad back to Beijing."

Dingyuan Hou's wrinkled face finally showed anger: "Lu Jilian, have you gone crazy for a woman? Are you not going to take the palace examination? Don't you want a future? I have worked hard to train you for more than 20 years, and this is how you repay me!"

Lu Jilian raised his eyes and said, "Dad never taught me how to like people, nor how to be liked by others. It's because Dad has never been liked by others, right?"

Dingyuan Hou's pupils suddenly shrank: "How dare you!"

Lu Jilian ignored his father's anger and whispered to himself: "Originally, liking and loving should be the most instinctive things of human beings. But why don't I have them? Because you always say that they are useless, only power and family are useful..."

Dingyuan Hou was shocked: "Ji Lian?"

Lu Jilian clenched his hands hanging by his side: "Dad, I have lived for the Lu family for twenty years. Now, I want to live for myself, too. Is that okay? I want to stay here. I must figure out some things. I will definitely rush back to Beijing before the palace examination."

"You..." Dingyuan Hou was so angry that he couldn't speak. Even his cane was shaking. "I really can't control you! You are crazy, you are really crazy!"

As he spoke, he inhaled a breath of cold air into his lungs, choking him and causing him to cough and stagger, almost falling.

Lu Jilian immediately stepped forward to support the man: "Dad, be careful."

Dingyuan Hou coughed loudly and pushed the man away: "You... kneel down! Kneel right here!"

As he spoke, he struck the bluestone hard with his cane.

Lu Jilian hesitated for a moment, then lifted up his robe and knelt on the wet bluestone, his kneeling posture as firm as a pine tree.

Dingyuan Hou coughed until his throat was hoarse, his eyes were red: "You are strong now, you want to live for yourself? All these years, the Lu family has raised you in vain, right? For a woman, where do you put me and the Lu family? Not going back to Beijing? Well, you kneel here! When you are willing to admit your mistakes, you can stand up again!"

Lu Jilian pursed his lips and said nothing.

Dingyuan Hou called the attendant who was following him in fear from a distance, and pointed his cane at Lu Jilian: "Keep an eye on him, and wait until he admits his mistake before coming back to me!"

The attendant replied carefully, "Yes."

Marquis Dingyuan left angrily.

……

Before dawn, the mountain wind brought a cold rain.

Before the rain fell, Ye Wanqing just stepped into a corridor.

The lights in the corridor were dim and the bamboo curtains swayed in the wind.

Ye Hongwei lowered his eyes to glance at her swollen wrist and her slightly thin outer garment, then turned around and ordered, "Get a cloak for the princess, and a bottle of blood-dissolving ointment."

The attendant responded and left.

Ye Wanqing said: "I'm sorry to have worried you, but I'm actually fine."