The whole family was brutally murdered? The ruthless heiress's eldest daughter went berserk aft

"It is indeed fine tea." Murong Lian slowly put down the teacup, very carefully.

Looking at Murong Lian's cautious demeanor, Murong Xuewei realized that in her past life, she had been deceived by Murong Lian's pitiful appearance.

Murong Lian appears physically weak and pitiful on the surface, but in reality, she is ruthless and vicious, so much so that even executioners would hesitate to act against her.

Since Murong Lian enjoys acting so much, why not let her perform in front of Jiang Lingyun?

Murong Xuewei looked at Murong Lian, a sly glint in her eyes.

"Ah, it's good tea, but unfortunately we can only watch others drink it," Murong Xuewei sighed. "Although our Murong family is large and wealthy, in the end, we are just a merchant family. Compared to those real officials and gentry, what are we?"

Murong Xuewei raised her teacup. "Even this small cup of tea was obtained by going through layers of connections and spending a lot of money."

Murong Lian looked at Murong Xuewei with suspicion, unable to guess what Murong Xuewei wanted to do.

Murong Lian had no choice but to pretend to be understanding, "Sister, there are hundreds of kinds of tea. If we can't drink this, we can always get another one."

"Tea can be exchanged, but what about other things? Imagine you go shopping and see the same set of jewelry as a young lady from an official family. The shopkeeper gives it to her just because she's from an official family, even though you were there first. Would you be happy about that?" Murong Xuewei deliberately used jewelry as an analogy to see Murong Lian's reaction.

Hearing this, Murong Lian roughly understood what Murong Xuewei wanted to say, but still forced herself to say, "It's just a set of jewelry..."

Before he could finish speaking, Murong Xuewei interrupted him, "Even if jewelry and tea can be taken into account, what about other things? Like your life, can that be taken into account too?"

Murong Xuewei didn't say anything more, but her meaning was already self-evident.

Murong Lian felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this.

Yes, although the Murong family is wealthy, in the eyes of those with power and influence, they are nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.

She had previously considered crushing Murong Xuewei and Murong Qingyu underfoot and seizing the power of the Murong family, but after all, no matter how rich the Murong family was, they were just merchants. If they really clashed with the government, the Murong family might not be able to protect her.

Thinking of this, Murong Lian's eyes changed immediately, and she thought of Jiang Lingyun, with whom she was about to get engaged.

Although Jiang Lingyun is currently just a poor scholar, he is young and promising, and it is only a matter of time before he passes the imperial examination and becomes an official.

At that time, as Madam Jiang, she would naturally rise to prominence along with her husband and enjoy wealth and honor.

"Sister, why are you telling me all this?" Murong Lian bit her lip, a struggle flashing in her eyes.

Murong Xuewei knew that Murong Lian had begun to waver.

“Sister, I’m doing this for your own good.” Murong Xuewei held Murong Lian’s hand, her tone sincere. “Although Young Master Jiang comes from a poor background, he is talented and ambitious, and he will surely have a bright future.”

"If you can marry him, with the Murong family's wealth supporting you, it's only a matter of time before you rise to prominence. At that time, you will be an official's wife. Even if Young Master Jiang has no interest in you, he will not treat you badly just because of the Murong family's support for him."

Murong Lian was torn between her inner turmoil and her own conscience.

On one side is the wife of an official who seeks wealth and power amidst danger; on the other side is the Murong family, which requires several battles with Murong Xuewei and Murong Qingyu to conquer.

In the end, Murong Lian chose the former.

"Sister, I understand." Murong Lian lowered her head, her tone tinged with shyness and anticipation.

Murong Xuewei sneered inwardly upon seeing this.

Murong Lian, I'll let you experience what I went through in my past life. Consider this a little interest I'm collecting.

After this conversation, Murong Lian relaxed her guard against Murong Xuewei a lot, since Murong Xuewei was no longer considered an enemy in her eyes.

Since they are no longer enemies, Murong Lian is naturally willing to befriend them, since she will need to rely on the Murong family to support Jiang Lingyun in the future.

As soon as Murong Lian returned to her room, she saw Jiang Lingyun sitting at the table with a dark expression.

"What are you doing here?" Murong Lian asked, feeling a little guilty.

Jiang Lingyun suddenly stood up, walked up to Murong Lian, and grabbed her wrist.

"Come with me."

"Where are you going?" Murong Lian was startled by Jiang Lingyun's sudden action.

"Go find the madam and annul the engagement!" Jiang Lingyun said through gritted teeth.

Murong Lian forcefully shook off Jiang Lingyun's hand, her eyes instantly reddening.

"What do you mean?"

"This engagement cannot be called off!" Murong Lian broke free from Jiang Lingyun's hand. "You heard it just now. I am not the Murong family's biological daughter. I am just an adopted daughter. This marriage was arranged by Madam. How can I cancel it just because I want to?"

Jiang Lingyun looked at Murong Lian angrily, her heart filled with mixed feelings.

"You know perfectly well that my purpose in coming to the Murong family is to marry Murong Xuelian. If I were to marry you, everything would fall apart..."

"If this matter hadn't reached Madam's ears, it would have been fine, but now Madam already knows." Murong Lian held her handkerchief, carefully observing Jiang Lingyun's expression.

Jiang Lingyun took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the anger in her heart.

"Then tell me, how can this engagement be called off?"

"Does this marriage really have to be called off?" Murong Lian asked cautiously.

Jiang Lingyun slammed her hand on the table and stood up angrily, looking down at Murong Lian, "Have you forgotten why I came to your Murong family?"

Murong Lian hurriedly shook her head, "No, no."

"If I can't marry Murong Xuewei, do you really think I'm here to be your Murong family's accountant?"

Jiang Lingyun raised his fist high, about to land on Murong Lian, who was so frightened that she raised her hands to protect her head.

Jiang Lingyun then remembered that he was now just an outsider in the Murong family, and if he really made a move against Murong Lian, it would probably cause even more trouble.

"Since we can't cancel the engagement, let's just forget about it."

Murong Lian's eyes flashed with joy upon hearing this, but then she heard Jiang Lingyun continue.

"I'll go back to the capital tomorrow. We'll think of another way to deal with Murong Xuewei then."

Murong Lian looked at Jiang Lingyun in surprise, "Is Young Master Jiang leaving?"

Jiang Lingyun said in a low voice, "There's no hope left with Murong Xuewei. What's the point of staying?"

"If Young Master Jiang leaves, what will happen to our marriage?"

Jiang Lingyun looked at Murong Lian with disdain, "Murong Lian, do you really want to marry me?"

Murong Lian quickly waved her hand, "No, what I mean is that if you leave like this, I'm afraid Murong Xuewei will be even more suspicious of your identity. After all, the Murong family is a well-known wealthy family in both Taichu Kingdom and the other three kingdoms. If someone were to refuse such a marriage proposal, they would definitely have ulterior motives."

Seeing that Jiang Lingyun was somewhat moved, Murong Lian continued.