Ling Muzhu shouted angrily, her hands clenched into fists within her sleeves, her tightly furrowed brow suppressing the turbulent rage in her heart.
"I warned you long ago to be well-behaved, but you insisted on doing all sorts of evil. You didn't even spare the infant in the cradle. Now that you've met this end, what right do you have to resent others? This is all your own doing, and you can't blame anyone else!"
Ling Muzhu's words, sharp and precise, struck Ling Yan's heart, leaving her speechless.
"You always blame others and never reflect on your own faults. Someone like you is not worth saving. It was a mistake for me to come see you today. From now on, you'll fend for yourself here. Neither my father nor I will visit you again."
Upon hearing this, Ling Yan panicked. Her only hope of getting out of this was her father and Ling Muzhu.
Her maternal grandmother, her maternal uncle, and even her own mother were unreliable.
If they stopped caring about her, wouldn't she be doomed to die?
"Father, you can't abandon me! I am your flesh and blood daughter. You can't just watch me die. Father... Father, save me... save me!"
Ling Yan scrambled on her hands and knees, grabbing onto Ling Erye's robes as if they were a life-saving straw, refusing to let go.
Ling Erye glanced at Ling Yan, his hand hovering in mid-air, about to push her away. After all, she was his own daughter, and he couldn't bring himself to be that heartless.
Ling Muzhu, however, had long seen through Ling Yan's true nature. The last sliver of familial affection she had for her had vanished due to Ling Yan's actions.
"From this day forward, the Ling family will have no further connection with you. Your life or death is your own concern, and the Ling family will not interfere. I hope you will take care of yourself!"
With that, Ling Muzhu forcefully pushed Ling Yan to the ground.
Ling Yan, unwilling to give up, crawled to Ling Erye's feet and hugged his leg, her previous arrogance completely gone.
"Father, save me, save me... I will die here, I will truly die."
She didn't want to stay here. This place was gloomy and terrifying. Even before nightfall, countless rats and cockroaches scurried beneath her feet. If she continued to stay here, even if she didn't die, she would be driven mad.
"Now you remember your father. Your previous arrogance and haughtiness – you yourself said that your greatest misfortune was caused by your father. In less than fifteen minutes, you've completely forgotten what you said. Ling Yan, have you no shame?"
"Father, I was confused just now. I was talking nonsense, just rambling. Please... please don't take it to heart. Save me, get me out!"
Ling Yan was filled with regret. If she had known she would end up like this, she would never have said those words.
If her father also abandoned her, could she possibly survive this prison?
"Your repentance is false; you truly want your father to save you. Didn't you already align yourself with the Zhao family? To please your maternal grandmother, you stole your father's token and impersonated him to have your eldest cousin mine the Jingping Mountain iron ore. You are so loyal to the Zhao family, yet when you are in trouble today, why don't the Zhao family come to save you?"
Ling Muzhu looked down at Ling Yan with cold eyes, her gaze filled with icy disdain. If her elder brother hadn't been patrolling the Jingping Mountain iron ore today and discovered something amiss, investigating carefully, they wouldn't have known about this.
Fortunately, her elder brother discovered it early, dealt with the Zhao family promptly, and brought back their father's token. Fortunately, it didn't lead to a major disaster.
And in order to escape punishment, Zhao's cousin pushed all the blame onto Ling Yan.
Ling Erye was startled upon hearing this. He quickly reached for the token at his waist, took it down, and examined it closely, only then noticing the discrepancy.
His token was made of pure copper, with only a layer of gold wrapped around the outside, which accounted for its heavier weight.
The token he held now was made of pure gold, much lighter than the original.
He always kept this token in a box and rarely wore it. This forged token was very similar to the real one, and he never imagined the token would be stolen.
He hadn't inspected it closely, which allowed Ling Yan to seize the opportunity and steal the token.
"Your mind is truly clouded by greed! Iron ore is a matter of national importance. How dare you act so recklessly! Do you know that if something had gone wrong, not only would your life be forfeit, but our entire Ling family would be ruined by your actions!"
Ling Erye shouted in anger. At this moment, there was no trace of reluctance in his eyes as he looked at Ling Yan.
"Father... I... I didn't know..."
Ling Yan trembled all over, her face pale with fear. She truly didn't know about this. Her maternal grandmother had only told her to get the token and help her cousin get promoted. She had no idea it would be used for such purposes.
If she had known, even if she were given ten times the courage, she would never have dared to do such a thing.
"Father, grandmother said to use your token, so I... I gave it to her... I really didn't know... I didn't know grandmother intended to do something. If I had known, I absolutely wouldn't have done this!"
"You didn't know? Are you truly foolish, or just pretending to be? Or have the Zhao family fed you some kind of intoxicating elixir that you dared to steal your father's token? If the Zhao family truly wanted your father's help, why didn't they speak to him directly? Instead, they made you go to great lengths to steal the token! Anyone with a brain could tell something was wrong!"
Ling Muzhu was so exasperated by Ling Yan's stupidity that she felt she would die. Anyone with a brain wouldn't have done such a thing.
Her maternal grandmother taking Ling Yan in to raise her was precisely for this purpose. He finally understood why their grandfather had been so eager to marry Ling Yan off – it was to prevent such incidents from happening and implicating the entire family.
"Father... I..."
"Things have come to this, there's no need to say more. You've been wronged to be the daughter of such a useless person as myself. I will grant your wish. From today onwards, our father-daughter relationship is severed. Take care of yourself!"
Ling Erye's words fell, and he turned to leave without a backward glance, showing no lingering affection.
"Father... Father, I truly know I was wrong... Father!" Ling Yan, trapped behind the iron bars, her heart-wrenching cries filled the entire prison.
Ling Muzhu looked at Ling Yan with cold eyes and sighed, "If only you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?"
Ling Yan heard his voice, turned to look at Ling Muzhu, staggered forward, and grabbed Ling Muzhu's hand.
"Please, think of me as your sister. When you were sick, I took care of you. Help me one more time, Muzhu. You... figure out a way to save me."