Master's Untamed Wife

Chapter 735 [Bonus chapter] Greed

"If truth be told, the bad blood between the two families started from the betrayal but Patriarch Qian's death made the animosity absolute. From that very moment, there was no going back already. But some people are always persistent, or it's better to call them foolishly stubborn," were Mu Chenyan's words. "When all of this happened, Qian Ming and Tang Xia were only 14 years old. Tang Xia was too young and she was a girl. So, she couldn't possibly do anything to help either. She could only helplessly watch as the boy she loved was separated from her. It was a huge blow to her and she became cold towards her own family."

"By the time Qian Ming came back with his family, he was already 22 years old. All the hardships on the farm had turned him into a different person. People say he became ruthless but one thing didn't change, and that was his love for Tang Xia. He was a firm believer in the fact that whatever happened had nothing to do with her. His motivation for pushing through all those years of hardship in the countryside was only Tang Xia.

"I believe he must have been very happy when he came back and got to know that Tang Xia repeatedly refused to get married to anyone else. Even when her family forced her, she still held her ground. For him. Waiting for him."

"That's true love," commented Shui Xian.

"Is it?" asked Mu Chenyan with a sneer. She shrugged, "Maybe it was what you just said. But this love was meant to meet a tragic end. So what if Qian Ming came back? So what if Tang Xia was still waiting for him? Did it really matter? Don't forget the crux of the matter was, that the Qian family and Tang family were no longer friends. They were enemies now. Matriarch Qian hated every single person in the Tang family who caused the death of her husband. And that included Tang Xia as well.

"As for the Tang family, to hide their guilty conscience of how they used the Qian family's reporting too raise their status in the society, they put on the mask of hostility as well. Because there was no road back, they took the road that led to hate. However, Tang Xia and Qian Ming chose to forget that their families now stood on opposite sides. Both families were like water and oil. They could never mix together again."

"Did they go against their families to elope?" asked Raelle.

Mu Chenyan shook her head, "No. Back then filial piety was still sacred. No matter what Qian Ming could never go against his mother. And Tang Xia was just a powerless little girl. How could she really stand against her own family? At the end of the day, they were her own family who spoiled her and loved her all her life. Perhaps, the thought of eloping would have come to their minds. But they didn't in the end. Those fools chose something worse."

"They took their lives," whispered Shui Xian.

"Yes," said Mu Chenyan. "Since they couldn't live together, they decided to die together. What a touching love story. Isn't it?"

"It isn't," replied Raelle instantly.

"Of course, it isn't!" Mu Chenyan gave her Raelle a look of approval. "They thought their death will ease the tension between the families. It only made it worse. Both families blamed each other for losing their children. Both families got into physical fights and injured each other. They shed all cordiality and attacked each other on every front. If you're doing business, I'll follow you and crush you. If you're going to enter a government office, I'll follow you again and kill you! That's the mentality those families had. But can they be blamed?"

Shui Xian held Raelle's hand in his own tightly as he listened to it. This wasn't how he expected this story to turn out.

"After their deaths, there were plenty of speculations in the circle," told Mu Chenyan.

"Speculations? What kind of speculation?" asked Raelle.

"Some people said Qian Ming wasn't really in love with Tang Xia when he came back. He only wanted revenge. And to avenge the betrayal and death of his father, he chose an easy target, Tang Xia. Even the Tang family believed those words. They really thought Qian Ming fooled their lovely daughter and ruined her." Mu Chenyan snickered, "Some even told this story as a beautifully tragic love story. I mean, those people definitely had a hole in their brains."

"Are you saying, that they weren't in love with each other?" asked Shui Xian.

Mu Chenyan faced him and said, "No, they were in love. There was no doubt that Qian Ming loved Tang Xia."

"Then you don't think it was a beautifully tragic love story?"

"It wasn't," answered Mu Chenyan plainly. "Am I supposed to call that foolishness beautiful? Tragic? Yes, I'll agree with that. Beautiful love? No way!" She raised her brows and asked, "Son-in-law, do you think it was love and hate that caused the chaos?"

"Wasn't it?" asked Shui Xian.

"No," said Mu Chenyan. "It was greed. A human being is made of only greed! That is our true selves. We are all greedy. Either for love, revenge, money, power, or even immortality. We are deep down just greedy! That's the true self of a human. It's your greed that really makes you human."

Shui Xian didn't know how to react to her words. He actually had no answer right now.

"The tale I told you wasn't of love, it was just a tale of greed," said Mu Chenyan. She, whose idea of love was a bit skewed definitely didn't find that story beautifully tragic. The so-called love was just selfishness, greed, and foolishness of two people who knew nothing about life.

Obviously, most people won't agree with her. But none would be able to challenge Mu Chenyan's statement as well. The woman had an experience of having arguments with Raelle. She was definitely very sharp with her words and reasoning. She might be willful once upon a time, but now she was a patient person and knew how to use her reasoning to make her point clear.