Meng Ruozhao merely stared at him coldly, showing no intention of stepping forward to help.
Du Feng glared at her for a long time. Finally, he took a deep breath and started to play the family - card to morally blackmail her.
"You... You unfilial daughter! Do you still have me, your father, in your eyes? Do you still care about this family?"
"Can't you think about the family? Don't you know what kind of situation the Du family is in now?"
"Climbing onto the Yan family, this big tree, is so important to us! How can you be so selfish?"
"Moreover, only when the Du family prospers can you have a better life. Why can't you understand this?"
It was the same old tune again.
There was only a desolate sense of disgust and exhaustion in Meng Ruozhao's heart.
It was always like this. When coercion didn't work, they would start to show weakness, complain, and use family responsibility to pressure her.
She watched his performance expressionlessly, and there was no emotion in her voice.
"Dad, did you get something wrong? Isn't your real daughter, the legitimate young lady of the Du family, Du Xixi?"
"This important task of sacrificing for the family's arranged marriage shouldn't fall on me, an 'outsider', right?"
These words precisely hit Du Feng's sore spot.
He immediately became angry and embarrassed. His face flushed and then paled. He pointed at her and stammered "You" for a long time but couldn't come up with a retort.
To be honest, he wished that it was Du Xixi whom Yan Qiubai had taken a fancy to.
Du Xixi was much easier to control than her and much more sensible.
But who could have known that she was born with such an extremely beautiful face that now Yan Qiubai insisted on having her.
Just as the father - daughter duo were confronting each other, the study door was gently pushed open.
Xia Lian entered with two cups of ginseng tea in her hands, looking worried and gentle.
"Oh, Lao Du, Zhaozhao, why are you two arguing again?"
"Let's talk things over nicely. We're all family. Why get so angry?"
She first placed a cup of tea in front of Du Feng and gently advised,
"Lao Du, your heart isn't good. Don't get excited. Sit down and take a rest quickly."
Then she brought the other cup of tea to Meng Ruozhao, wearing an impeccable, loving smile on her face.
"Zhaozhao, you're really too much. You've just come back home. Don't make your father angry."
"Your father is doing this for your own good. A son - in - law like Young Master Yan is truly one in a million. It would be a pity to miss him."
"Girls, after all, need to find a good reliance. Your good fortune is something that many people envy."
Meng Ruozhao didn't even look at the cup of tea, let alone look at her hypocritical face.
Seeing that Meng Ruozhao ignored her, Xia Lian didn't feel embarrassed. She sighed and her tone became even more earnest, as if she was really thinking for Meng Ruozhao.
"Zhaozhao, Auntie knows that you've forgotten a lot of things, and Young Master Yan is busy with his work and can't accompany you all the time."
"But feelings can be cultivated. If he has no time, you can go to see him more often."
"Moreover, even if you don't think about yourself, think about your..."
"Sigh, if your mother were still alive and saw you being so willful and going down the wrong path, how heart - broken she would be?"
"She would surely persuade you to put the overall situation first and listen to your father..."
The words "mother" were like a rusty, dull knife that suddenly cut through the calm shell that Meng Ruozhao had been forcefully maintaining.
Her body swayed imperceptibly. Her face instantly turned as pale as paper. The hand hanging by her side suddenly clenched tightly, and her fingernails dug deeply into her palm.
She could endure Du Feng's scolding and Xia Lian's hypocrisy.
But she would never tolerate this hypocritical woman using her long - dead mother as a tool to attack and blackmail her.
A cold fury welled up from the deepest part of her heart and instantly swept through her whole body.
She slowly raised her head.
For the first time, a nearly ferocious light burst out from her always cold and calm eyes, shooting straight at Xia Lian.
Her voice was so cold that it seemed to freeze the air.
"Ms. Xia."
She no longer called her "Auntie" but used an extremely distant and polite address.
"If my mother were still alive, the first person she would slap might be you."
"Instead of teaching me how to curry favor with a man who is completely unsuitable for me for the sake of family interests and repeat her tragedy back then!"
Her words were like a silent thunderclap that exploded in the study.
Both Du Feng and Xia Lian were completely stunned, and their faces changed drastically!
What did these words mean?
Did she remember something?
It was impossible. How could she know about the things back then?
Not to mention that she had been missing for many years. Even if she had never been missing, it was impossible for her to know.
Because she was very young at that time and didn't understand anything.
Moreover, wasn't she still suffering from amnesia?
Could it be that the amnesia was fake and she came back just for revenge...
Just as Du Feng and Xia Lian were in shock and didn't say a word for a while.
Meng Ruozhao no longer looked at them.
She straightened her back, which seemed to be supported only by mustering all her strength. Then she turned around and walked out of the study without looking back.
The door gently closed behind her.
To her surprise, Du Feng didn't even chase after her.
It seemed that she had hit the nail on the head.
Back then, her mother, Meng Yu, must have had her reasons for marrying Du Feng.
Although she really couldn't remember, she had seen her mother's photo album in the attic storeroom some time ago.
Her mother was clearly a gentle and beautiful woman. She didn't seem to match Du Feng at all.
Moreover, there wasn't a single photo of her and Du Feng in the album.
Although her own problems were still unsolved, Meng Ruozhao suddenly really wanted to know why Du Feng and Xia Lian had been so shocked just now.
Was it out of guilt?
Then she really had to figure out what had happened back then.
Meng Ruozhao walked out of the Du family villa step by step. The sun shone on her, but she didn't feel the slightest bit of warmth.
There was only a kind of exhaustion and coldness that seeped from the bones.
But her eyes were more determined than when she had come.
Leaving the suffocating Du family, Meng Ruozhao almost fled back to "Fuyunxuan".
Only here, this small space that belonged to her, could make her feel a bit of real calmness and a sense of control.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to temporarily put aside the annoying things about the Du family. Then she changed into her work clothes.
She was going to continue to immerse herself in the costume design for the Republic of China drama crew, using work to numb herself.
However, just as she spread out the drawing paper and picked up the paintbrush, the wind chime at the door rang crisply.
Both employees had asked for leave today, so Meng Ruozhao had to get up herself to greet the guest.
Who would have thought that the person who pushed open the glass door and came in was one of the people she least wanted to see - Shen Xinyin.
Shen Xinyin obviously hadn't slept well all night.
Even though she had put on a delicate makeup, she couldn't hide the dark circles under her eyes and the haggard look.
But the arrogance and domineering air of a young lady in her remained unchanged. It seemed that she was just suppressing her emotions.
When she saw Meng Ruozhao, she slightly raised her chin and gave her a complex look from head to toe.
Meng Ruozhao frowned slightly and said in a flat tone, "Ms. Shen? Do you have something to do?"
Shen Xinyin took a deep breath, as if trying to maintain some kind of etiquette.
She even forced out a somewhat stiff smile.
"What, Boss Meng doesn't welcome guests? I'm here to order clothes."