“But Qingqing is your daughter. Do you really want her to live the rest of her life like you?”

Lu Shiming took a deep breath to calm himself down. After so many years, he was just a step away from achieving his plan. He could not let all his efforts go to waste.

Su Qiong looked at Lu Shiming calmly and asked. “What kind of life? Is it bad to live a life like me?”

She was in charge of the family and did not give up her power. She had been like a domineering matriarch all her life. Lu Qingqing’s temper was bad. If she did not have money and could not manage the family business, her life would only be worse.

Su Qiong looked at Lu Shiming. Seeing that he was trying to hold back his anger, Su Qiong sneered. “If there’s nothing else, leave.”

She always remembered that when they first got married, they loved each other like a normal couple. Unfortunately, after a while, all the bad things started to emerge. Lu Shiming wanted to interfere in the family business, but she didn’t agree because what he was aiming at was the entire Su family business. If she had agreed, perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad.

Lu Qingqing was simply a reflection of her. If Qin Lin wanted to marry Lu Qingqing just for the Su family business, then after he got what he wanted, Lu Qingqing’s bad temper would only bring her destruction. When a man was into you, he would tolerate your temper. When he didn’t like you, you’d become just a crazy woman with a bad temper to him. Su Qiong understood this too well, so she definitely wouldn’t let Lu Qingqing make a wrong move.

Lu Shiming clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and turned to leave. He had endured it for so many years. There was no harm in tolerating it for a little bit longer.

Su Qiong looked at his back and pondered. She didn’t want to overthink, but now, she couldn’t control her thoughts. Lu Ranran and Lu Qinging formed a sharp contract in terms of their temperaments with the former being overly composed and the later extremely volatile.

She couldn’t help but think if Lu Shiming was involved in it.

Su Qiong covered her face with her hands and rubbed her forehead to ease the fear she was experiencing.

After leaving the main courtyard, Lu Shiming went straight to Lu Qingqing’s courtyard.

Outside the courtyard, the servants and servant girls stopped Lu Shiming. “Master, Madam has instructed that no one is to see Eldest Miss for the time being.”

Lu Shiming gritted his teeth. “I’m Lu Qingqing’s father. Get lost!”

Lu Shiming pushed away the servant girl in front of him and kicked her a few times. He opened the door and entered. The servants were angry but did not dare to say anything.

Lu Qingqing was sitting in her room. When she heard Lu Shiming’s voice, her eyes lit up. As soon as Lu Shiming entered, she threw herself into his arms and cried. “Father, what’s taken you so long to come to see me? Mother doesn’t love me at all. Boohoo…”

Lu Shiming sighed. “Your mother has always been like this, unreasonable and stubborn. She doesn’t care about me either.”

Just thinking about it made him angry. If Lu Qingqing couldn’t get married, his plan would be ruined.

He originally thought that with two daughters, the family business would at least be split equally. Lu Ranran was Su Qiong’s darling and could get a bigger portion. Who knew that Su Qiong had never considered letting Lu Ranran take over the business?

No matter how awful Lu Qingqing was, she still chose to hand over the family business to Lu Qingqing.

Patting Lu Qingqing’s back, Lu Shiming sighed deeply. “Qingqing, it’s fine. Even if she doesn’t care about you, I do.”

“I’ll definitely fight for the happy life you want. Don’t give up. If you compromise this time, you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your life.”

Lu Shiming encouraged Lu Qingqing. He was really afraid that she would waver and eventually compromise.

Lu Qingqing nodded. Hearing Lu Shiming’s words, she felt a surge of strength in her heart, supporting her and strengthening her belief.

“Your mother is crazy. She actually suspected that you were bewitched and even hired a master.”

Lu Shiming told Lu Qingqing everything that Su Qiong refused to tell her.

When Lu Qingqing heard this, she was furious. “I hate her. I hate her to death. I think she’s bewitched and wants to control me.”

Ever since she was young, she would be punished for anything she did wrong. She had to follow the rules set by Su Qiong. Su Qiong claimed that she was doing it for Lu Qingqing’s own good, but in fact, she just just wanted to control her.

On the other hand, Lu Ranran was different. She would never be scolded. She was protected and loved. She didn’t need to be told anything and could do whatever she wanted. On the other hand, Lu Qingqing couldn’t make her own decisions. Everyone said that she would eventually take over the family business, but in fact, she was treated as nothing short of a prisoner.

Lu Qingqing felt suffocated and aggrieved. She grabbed Lu Shiming’s clothes. “Father, I’ve had enough. Please help me.”

Lu Shiming patted Lu Qingqing on the back. “Qingqing, I can’t make the decision. I’ve already lost the courage to resist. I hope you can persevere. Whether you’ll be with Qin Lin or not at the end of the day, at least try with all your might so that you won’t regret it.”

Lu Qingqing nodded. “I will. I will never give in to her.”

Lu Shiming was relieved. Since Lu Qingqing was young, every time she was reprimanded by her mother, Lu Shiming would come over to fan the flame, telling her how bad and unreasonable a woman her mother was. Eventually, she grew up hating her mother to the core.

Lu Shiming was very satisfied to see that so many years of persuasion was not in vain.

After comforting Lu Qingqing, Lu Shiming left. When he came out, he saw Lu Zhen standing outside the door like a stump. He snorted coldly in disdain before leaving.

Lu Zhen was unmoved. He only frowned as he looked at Lu Shiming’s back.

After Lu Qingqing said that she would go on a hunger strike, she really stopped eating.

Su Qiong did not rest for the entire night. She was plagued by many thoughts and the more she thought about it, the more shocked she became.

Her eyes were bloodshot. She asked someone to invite Liu Sanniang and Chu Yan over. She recalled many things that happened in the past and wanted to tell them to Liu Sanniang.

After Liu Sanniang arrived, Su Qiong dismissed the servants.

She looked at Liu Sanniang and said, “Miss Liu, you told me that I have a son and a daughter, which got me thinking about something.”

Su Qiong closed her eyes as she recounted, “On the day I gave birth, Concubine Yun also gave birth. She was supposed to give birth a month later, but suddenly, she gave birth to a son prematurely. I gave birth at full term to a daughter who is sick all year around while Concubine Yun gave birth to a healthy son. It struck me as weird.”

After Su Qiong finished speaking, her eyes were filled with anticipation and worry. She did not know how to describe her current mood. The probability of swapping children was extremely low. When she gave birth, she was surrounded by trusted old female servants. She suspected that the son that was swapped was still in the mansion. She felt that it was unlikely, but she really wanted it to be true.

If her son was still around, at least she could save him.

Liu Sanniang said slowly, “Madam, if you trust me, you can bring me to see your two daughters. Whether or not they are your daughters, I will figure it out when I see them.”