KNOCK
KNOCK
"Young missus" the butler knocked on Lu Jingyan's door and she finally opened the door
"Morning" Lu Jingyan greeted the man
"Morning. The old madam wants you t be in the garden for morning tea" he said
"Butler Lei. Can I please as you for a favor?" Lu Jingyan asked
"What is it?"
"Can you please tell the old madam that I am busy reading and won't be joining in for the morning tea?" She asked
"Of course young missus. Do you want me to help deliver the tea to your room?" He asked
"No. I don't like drinking tea in the morning anyways" she said
"I understand" he said and leave.
Lu Jingyan closed the door and went back to her bed. She sighed and brought out her phone she has been staying at the Leng manor for a week and she hasn't done anything productive all she did is spend their money and she needs to have some money to pay them later when she is about to leave and she knew she that would be a long journey but a journey of a thousand years began with a step.
"I need to go to work" she said as she entered her bathroom to get dressed.
Lu Jingyan descended the staircase briskly, her coat draped over her arm, her bag clutched tightly. She didn't expect to be intercepted, but there sat Madam Leng in the grand sitting room, a porcelain teacup in hand, her expression unreadable.
"Going somewhere?" her voice sliced through the silence.
"To work," Jingyan replied, forcing calm into her tone.
Madam Leng set the teacup down with a quiet clink and slowly stood, her eyes locked onto Jingyan. "Work?" she echoed with faint disbelief. "You are the wife of Leng Xuanmo. The Leng family doesn't scramble for paychecks."
"I'm not scrambling. I'm surviving," Jingyan said. "I won't be a decorative piece in anyone's mansion."
A flicker of something flashed in Madam Leng's eyes-pride? Irritation? She stepped forward.
"You think survival is noble? You think earning pennies validates your worth?" Her voice rose slightly. "You wear our name now. That means power. That means weight. You want to be useful? Learn to command it."
Jingyan stood still, stunned. "I don't want to be another pawn in someone else's empire."
"You are no pawn," Madam Leng snapped. "You are the queen on the board-start acting like it. Everything the Lengs built is now yours to protect. Use it. Or be swallowed."
Then she turned away, leaving Jingyan to the heavy silence and her own thundering thoughts.
Jingyan stood frozen, Madam Leng's words echoing in her mind like a challenge cloaked in steel
Before she could respond, the older woman stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned slightly, her gaze now softer but still piercing.
"You think we rose to the top by playing small, Jingyan? You think I raised a son to carry the Leng name by cowering to the world?" Her eyes narrowed. "You chose this family. Now choose your place in it. Or someone else will."
Lu Jingyan clenched her jaw, her chest tight. Her instinct had always been to fight quietly, from the shadows never draw attention. But here... silence was weakness. She realized that Madam Leng wasn't scolding her she was preparing her.
"Then teach me," Jingyan said finally, voice firm.
Madam Leng raised a brow, a slow smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "Good. Because I don't have the patience to coddle another child. I have a legacy to protect."
She disappeared up the stairs, leaving Jingyan alone-but not shaken. For the first time, she felt the weight of the Leng name not as a cage... but as a sword.