Chapter 25 Severed Grace

Chapter 25: Severing Ties

Lu Jiming and his party spent three days at sea. Aside from the produce they brought on board, their daily meals consisted solely of the fish Xu Cifeng caught.

Lu Jiming observed that Xu Cifeng never felt nauseous or found the fish smelly. When he himself was pregnant with A-Luan, regardless of the month, the mere sight of fish would churn his stomach.

Yet Xu Cifeng remained lively and energetic; sometimes Lu Jiming even forgot he was carrying a child.

Unable to hold back, Lu Jiming quietly asked him, "Don't you feel nauseous at all?"

"Nauseous? I never get seasick," Xu Cifeng replied, confused.

"Not seasickness." Lu Jiming casually placed a hand on Xu Cifeng's belly. "Didn't you feel like vomiting during the first few months?"

Xu Cifeng shook his head. "No special feelings, just getting heavier and sometimes backaches."

The wind was strong. As Xu Cifeng spoke, his husband brought over a cloak and draped it over his shoulders.

"Go sit in the cabin for a while. Come out when the wind dies down," Xu Cifeng's husband said. His husband was a man of few words, caring for Xu Cifeng meticulously—a perfect complement to Xu Cifeng's carefree nature.

Xu Cifeng obliged and invited Lu Jiming to join him. Lu Jiming declined and instead walked onto the deck to check on Wei Yan's fishing results.

They were already on the return voyage. Apart from the initial piece of kelp, Wei Yan had caught nothing. Stubbornly determined, as if competing with someone, he was set on catching something.

"Young Master Yin, still no fish?" Lu Jiming asked.

"The wind is strong here. You're afraid of the cold; hurry back inside," Wei Yan urged, putting down his fishing rod and standing up when he saw Lu Jiming approach.

Lu Jiming was puzzled. "I don't feel cold." He was indeed sensitive to cold, but that was an old ailment stemming from his previous life—falling ill after giving birth to A-Luan in deep winter, traveling for days, and being unable to recuperate properly due to his father's funeral rites.

In his early twenties, at the peak of his health and strength, why would Wei Yan think he was afraid of the cold?

Wei Yan also realized something was amiss and thought to himself, *This is bad*. He immediately feigned confusion. "Perhaps I remembered wrong?"

While they were talking, Cui Chi had been watching Wei Yan's fishing line. Seeing it move, he called out to Wei Yan.

Wei Yan pulled the rod. This time it wasn't empty, but it wasn't a fish either—it was a dark, spiky ball. He couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Lu Jiming found it amusing, but seeing Wei Yan's disappointed expression, he offered comfort. "This is a sea urchin. It's much harder to catch than fish. Impressive that you managed to hook it."

The ship was now close to shore, likely because the water was shallow in some areas, and the hook accidentally snagged this unlucky creature.

Hearing from the cabin that Wei Yan had caught a sea urchin, Xu Cifeng immediately ran out to see. He echoed Lu Jiming's words, saying these things usually aren't caught with a hook; they're either netted or picked from the seabed by divers.

Wei Yan's mood improved a little—at least he hadn't spent three days only hooking a random piece of kelp.

Xu Cifeng's husband helped pry open the sea urchin, rinsed it with water, and handed it to Wei Yan.

Wei Yan looked at the hedgehog-like thing, unsure how to hold it or which part was edible.

Lu Jiming took the sea urchin for Wei Yan and asked Lu Guanguan to bring a small spoon. He scooped out the yellow sea urchin meat. "Young Master Yin, please."

Wei Yan took a bite and found it sweet. He didn't know if it was naturally sweet or if it tasted sweet because Lu Jiming fed him.

"You fed me wontons last time; I'm feeding you sea urchin now. We're even," Lu Jiming said.

Wei Yan smiled. "Then next time I feed you something else, what will you repay me with?"

Lu Jiming didn't answer. Instead, he pointed at the golden sun sinking on the horizon and the clouds dyed red. Wei Yan followed his gaze; the sky was as magnificent as an epic.

Wei Yan couldn't help but take Lu Jiming's hand again. Lu Jiming looked down and asked, "Still practicing?"

Wei Yan shook his head, thinking, *No, not practicing. It's hoping that from now on, I can share all the magnificent sights in the world with you, hand in hand.*

The ship finally docked. After disembarking, Lu Jiming bid farewell to Xu Cifeng and his group and returned to the Lu residence.

Seeing the group return, Lu Jiming's father immediately had the kitchen prepare fine wine and dishes, sending them to the courtyard. Since the meals sent to the courtyard in the past few days had been refused, Lu Jiming's father came in person to ask if Wei Yan and Cui Chi had enjoyed themselves and if everything at the Lu residence was to their satisfaction.

Naturally, Wei Yan expressed his gratitude profusely. Unable to keep refusing, he allowed the wine and dishes to be shared among everyone. Lu Jiming's father then had someone bring out his private collection of fine wine, insisting on personally toasting Wei Yan and Cui Chi. After the toast, he had the servants distribute the remaining wine to the other members of the Imperial Guard to taste.

Late that night, when all was quiet and Lu Jiming was about to rest, his father's men came to the small courtyard again. This time, many guards arrived, carrying lanterns, almost surrounding the courtyard.

The leader, Lu Jiming's father's confidant, stood among the guards and called toward the room, "The master says that in a few days, it will be the late grandfather's death anniversary. He requests the young master go to the ancestral hall to pay respects." The courtyard was already asleep, making his voice particularly loud.

Hearing this, Lu Jiming draped an outer robe over his shoulders and walked to the corridor. "Please tell my father that I am not properly dressed. I will go in half an hour." He had just bathed, his hair was loose, and his robe was draped loosely over him.

"The master says the young master must go immediately," the confidant said. Several guards stepped forward, almost surrounding Lu Jiming.

"Understood. Allow me to return to my room to put on shoes," Lu Jiming said.

The confidant repeated, "The master says the young master must go immediately." The guards stepped closer, as if intending to seize Lu Jiming directly.

Disgusted, Lu Jiming avoided them and said sternly, "I will comply with my father's wishes. Do not treat me like a criminal." Seeing his cooperation, the guards stopped.

The group practically escorted Lu Jiming away from the small courtyard. Strangely, despite the commotion, no one in the two courtyards was disturbed. Neither Wei Yan nor the entire D Team seemed to notice that Lu Jiming had been taken away.

Lu Jiming, wearing only an outer robe, with loose hair and bare feet, walked on the stone path of the Lu residence. Since he became sensible—no, since he was born—he had never appeared in the courtyard so improperly.

The night wind rose, its mournful sound drifting through the hallways to everyone's ears. Everyone remained silent until they reached the brightly lit ancestral hall.

"Young master, please enter. The master will arrive shortly."

Without a word, Lu Jiming stepped over the threshold and entered the ancestral hall.

He looked up at the ancestors who had long turned to dead wood and wanted to ask them: Did they also resent him like his uncles? Did they resent him for ruining the family's official careers and forcing the entire clan into the struggle for the throne?

In his previous life, for the sake of his family, he gave up everything—the people he loved, the people who loved him, all abandoned. He provided the Lu family with the greatest protection, ensured all his relatives prospered in their official careers, and covered up their scandals. The only thing he kept for himself was A-Luan.

Yet A-Luan wasn't even allowed into the Lu family genealogy.

Even so, he tried to convince himself: not being in the genealogy meant A-Luan wouldn't have to bear the rise and fall of the entire clan like he did, wouldn't have to carry such a colossal burden forward slowly.

But A-Luan was his child, his only child. Why wouldn't the Lu family accept him? Hadn't he given enough for the Lu family?

Not being in the genealogy meant A-Luan couldn't be buried in the ancestral graves after death and would have no descendants to worship him, becoming a forgotten wandering ghost... How could Lu Jiming accept that!

"For you, my so-called flesh and blood, I ruined my entire life and A-Luan's entire life... Given a second chance, I just don't want to live that life again. I just want to live for myself this time. What have I done wrong? Why won't you let me go?" Lu Jiming murmured.

A night breeze blew open the window, extinguishing several candles in front of the ancestral tablets.

Lu Jiming's eyes were vacant, as if unaware of everything happening. He continued talking to himself, "When I served as an official, I had to bear the rise and fall of the entire clan. The Lu family raised me; I accepted that. When I was selected for the Eastern Palace and lost my value, becoming a discarded pawn, the Lu family could no longer tolerate me.

"Aren't families supposed to share glory and disgrace, advance and retreat together? Why abandon me?"

Lu Jiming had too many questions, many more words stuck in his heart, making him feel miserable, but he couldn't utter any more.

He thought perhaps he should weep and accuse, maybe the ancestors would soften upon seeing it. But his heart was utterly dead; he couldn't shed a single tear.

Lu Jiming knelt on both knees, kowtowed several times to the ancestral tablets, then stood up and looked up at these names that had long turned to dry bones. He said, "From now on, I am not a member of the Lu family."

The door was pushed open, along with a blast of wind from the courtyard. Lu Jiming stood barefoot in the ancestral hall, his long hair and sleeves flying in the wind, like a malevolent spirit that had clawed its way up from the underworld.

The servant following behind Lu Jiming’s father was so startled he nearly collapsed at the sight of him. Lu Jiming’s father angrily exclaimed, “Just look at the state you’re in!”

Lu Jiming raised the corners of his lips, his face etched with a frigid smile.

“Father, then what do you think I *should* look like?”

He *should* be proper and flawless, without a single mistake, even if he were to die here today, without a word of complaint.

But he was a person.

“I rue the day I fathered a son like you, who dishonors the family,” Lu Jiming’s father said.

Many years ago, on the day he was honored as the *Tanhua*, the Third-Place Scholar, his father had looked at him just like this, patting his back and saying, “Ming’er, your father is truly happy. The Lu family will surely regain its glory through you.”

Lu Jiming’s eyes traveled past his father to the servant behind him. The servant held a tray, and on the tray was a pot of wine.

“So, what does Father plan to do with me?” Lu Jiming asked.

His father was silent.

“Is that poisoned wine?” Lu Jiming laughed out loud. “Poisoned wine again… Hahahahaha…”

He had died from a cup of poisoned wine in his past life, too.

In his past life, he had done wrong, he deserved it, he went willingly, so even upon meeting Wei Yan again, he held no resentment toward him.

But in this life, what wrong had he done?

Was his only mistake not promptly ending his own life before the marriage decree was issued, forcing the entire family into a dilemma and troubling his father to personally come and kill him?

Some filial son I am!

Hahahahahaha…

Lu Jiming thought to himself that he must look like a madman now.

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