Top-Tier Omega: Chasing Alpha to the Crematorium – Chapter 34
by Little PandaMing Yu, Let Me Out!
The Ming family had always valued extravagance. Inside the massive dining room, antique-style palace lanterns cast a soft light over the space. Exquisite tableware and fresh floral arrangements crowded the long table, and the faint scent of sandalwood drifted through the air.
Old Madam Ming sat at the head of the table. Her expression was calm, but a trace of displeasure lingered faintly between her brows.
To her left sat her son, Ming Yuanze, and her daughter-in-law, Yao Qianrou. To her right sat her daughter, Ming Yuandai, and her granddaughter, Ming Rui. The group conversed in low voices; the atmosphere appeared harmonious, but undercurrents of tension churned beneath the surface.
Yao Qianrou picked up her teacup, took a delicate sip, and set it down. Her tone carried a distinct note of dissatisfaction. “That child, Ming Yu, is truly becoming more and more unruly. A family banquet is such an important occasion, yet she makes so many of us sit here waiting just for her.”
Ming Yuanze frowned. “She’s busy with work. She might have been delayed on the road.”
“Busy with work?” Yao Qianrou sneered. “No matter how busy she is, she shouldn’t show such utter disregard for her elders. Before this, she brought a child home without a single word of warning, and when I merely gave her a piece of my mind, what did she do? She threw an attitude right back at my face. And now look at her—arriving this late without even the courtesy of a message. Her wings have truly grown hard.”
Ming Yuanze sighed. “Alright, alright. I’ll give her a proper talking-to when she gets here. Don’t be angry.”
Hearing their exchange, Old Madam Ming spoke up, her voice laced with disapproval. “What right do the two of you have to criticize Ming Yu? As parents, you turn the house upside down every single day, and yet you think you can manage your daughter?”
Being scolded by his mother in public was more than Ming Yuanze’s pride could take. He offered a low, defensive mumble. “Mom, those are things of the past…”
“Things of the past?” Old Madam Ming snorted coldly. “If you hadn’t gone out philandering, would there have been so many problems later on? Neither of you ever bothered to care about Ming Yu’s affairs before. But now look at you—each of you has suddenly learned how to put on the airs of an elder.”
Yao Qianrou’s face instantly turned an ugly shade.
She bit her lip, wanting to retort, but Ming Yuanze grabbed her arm and shot her a look, signaling her not to pour oil on the fire.
Seeing the tension, Ming Yuandai quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Mom, don’t be angry. Ming Yu has always known her limits. Bringing that woman back this time must mean she has her own considerations.”
But Old Madam Ming’s anger had not subsided. “From the way I see it, her mind has been completely bewitched by that woman. It’s truly retribution!”
Hearing this, Yao Qianrou could endure no more. She stood up abruptly. “Mom, what do you mean by that?”
“You know exactly what I mean.” Old Madam Ming shot her a frosty glare. “If you hadn’t used underhanded tricks back then to get pregnant with a child, the Ming family wouldn’t have suffered such an ugly scandal. Now Ming Yu has run into a woman whose methods are exactly the same as yours. I’d love to see what else you have to say for yourself.”
Yao Qianrou trembled with rage, right on the verge of exploding.
Ming Yuanze hurriedly pulled her back down, advising in a low voice, “Qianrou, say no more. Mom is getting on in years; don’t provoke her.”
Seeing Yao Qianrou fall silent, Old Madam Ming gave a cold harrumph before turning to Ming Yuandai. “Yuandai, you too. Ming Yu is at a critical juncture for her promotion to Marshal. How can we let a woman of unknown origins jeopardize her future? Why aren’t you helping persuade her?”
Ming Yuandai let out a helpless sigh. “Mom, it’s not like you don’t know Ming Yu’s personality. Once she’s made a decision, who could possibly change her mind?”
Old Madam Ming frowned. Finally, her gaze landed on Ming Rui, who had been sitting in total silence. “Ming Rui, you have a good relationship with Ming Yu. When she arrives, give her a proper talking-to.”
Ming Rui, who had been quietly eating fruit with her head down, was suddenly called upon. She froze, intensely awkward.
She looked up and offered a dry laugh. “Grandma, Cousin’s affairs… it’s not really my place to interfere.”
Old Madam Ming glared at her. “You haven’t even tried yet. How do you know you can’t persuade her?”
Left speechless by the interrogation, Ming Rui could only nod in compliance. “Alright, I’ll try later.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she stealthily pulled out her phone and shot Ming Yu a message: Cousin, tonight is a Hongmen Banquet1. May the heavens protect you.
At that moment, Ming Yu was leading Song Qingpei and Song Song toward Lakeheart Courtyard.
Seeing Ming Rui’s message, her brow furrowed slightly, but she quickly smoothed her expression back into its usual calm.
Sensing the shift in her mood, Song Qingpei asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Ming Yu shook her head, her tone even. “It’s nothing. Later on, some people might say a few unpleasant things. Don’t take them to heart.”
Song Qingpei nodded. She was more certain than ever that this Ming family banquet was going to be anything but simple.
The car rolled slowly into Lakeheart Courtyard. Ming Yu took Song Song by the hand and led Song Qingpei into the dining room.
The moment they walked through the door, all eyes snapped toward them.
Upon seeing Ming Yu, the displeasure on Old Madam Ming’s face softened slightly. But the moment she caught sight of Song Qingpei, her brow furrowed all over again. Yao Qianrou and Ming Yuanze wore complicated expressions, while Ming Yuandai and Ming Rui looked on with a mix of curiosity and scrutiny.
Ming Yu walked over, greeted everyone individually, and then introduced Song Qingpei to the room.
Holding Song Song’s hand, Song Qingpei politely offered her greetings.
In an instant, everyone’s gaze shifted to Old Madam Ming, as if waiting for her to set the tone.
Old Madam Ming gave Song Qingpei a frigid glance without saying a word. Instead, she fixed her eyes on Song Song and finally allowed a smile to surface. “Song Song, come. Come to Great-grandmother.”
Song Song looked up at Ming Yu a bit timidly. Only after seeing Ming Yu nod did she take small, tentative steps over to Old Madam Ming’s side.
Old Madam Ming stroked her head, her voice thoroughly affectionate. “Song Song is so well-behaved. Come, sit beside Great-grandmother.”
The icy reception she gave Song Qingpei stood in stark contrast to her warmth toward Song Song. It was a clear, unmistakable declaration to Song Qingpei: Just because the Ming family accepts Song Song, do not assume we will accept you. Know your place and back down.
Fortunately, Song Qingpei had never harbored any desires to latch onto the Ming family in the first place. She didn’t care how they treated her, so long as they treated her daughter well. Seeing Old Madam Ming’s reaction and confirming that she genuinely liked Song Song, Song Qingpei actually breathed a sigh of relief.
“Qingpei, sit down first.”
Ming Yu guided Song Qingpei to a seat, and the atmosphere in the dining room instantly turned delicate.
Yao Qianrou was the first to speak up, a sneer coloring her tone. “Ming Yu, and who might this be?”
Ming Yu gave her a flat look, her voice placid. “This is Song Qingpei. Song Song’s mother.”
Yao Qianrou let out a cold laugh. “Oh, so it’s Miss Song. I wonder, where is Miss Song from? What does your family do?”
Song Qingpei bristled with embarrassment at the interrogation.
Just as she hesitated over how to answer, Ming Yu cut in. “Mom, Qingpei is my guest. You don’t need to ask so much.”
Infuriated by Ming Yu’s attitude, Yao Qianrou’s voice grew sharp. “What guest? This is a family banquet. How could you just randomly bring home some woman of unknown origins?”
Ming Yu’s expression instantly turned freezing cold. “Mom, you don’t need to concern yourself with my affairs.”
Sensing the rapidly deteriorating atmosphere, Ming Yuanze hurried to mediate. “Ming Yu, your mother is only looking out for you. You are at a critical stage right now; you absolutely cannot let trivial matters jeopardize your future.”
Faced with these high-sounding excuses, Ming Yu drew her brows together impatiently. She turned to look at her grandmother. She knew full well that without the old woman’s tacit permission, no one in the Ming family today would dare speak to her in such a manner.
But Old Madam Ming simply sat at the head of the table, casting a mild glance over the scene without making the slightest move to intervene.
Believing she had gained Old Madam Ming’s unspoken approval, Yao Qianrou grew even more aggressive. “Ming Yu, I am your mother. We are all doing this for your own good. Don’t forget your status! You are the heir to the Ming family. How can you casually bring such a disreputable person home?”
“Disreputable?” A dark mockery laced Ming Yu’s tone. “Mom, have you forgotten exactly how you entered the Ming family back then? Are your affairs with father really any nobler than ours?”
Stabbed right in her sorest spot, Yao Qianrou’s face drained of color.
She shot to her feet, a trembling finger aimed squarely at Ming Yu. “You… how dare you speak to me like that!”
Ming Yuanze frowned deeply, his voice turning stern. “Ming Yu, watch your words! Your mother is doing this for your own good. How can you contradict her so brazenly?”
As if she had just heard a joke, Ming Yu cast a frigid, silent stare at him.
Having his authority trampled in front of the whole table made Ming Yuanze’s expression even uglier. Unfortunately for him, the Ming Yu of today was no longer someone he could easily control. In the end, he could only let out a cold harrumph and say no more.
The tension across the dining table was instantly drawn tight as a bowstring.
Seeing this, Ming Yuandai quickly stood up to play peacemaker once again. “Alright, alright, let’s all say a few words less. Today is a family banquet; let’s not make things unpleasant. Hurry up and eat.”
Sitting off to the side, Ming Rui couldn’t help but secretly flash a thumbs-up at Ming Yu, a teasing smile playing on her lips.
Ming Yu spared her a passing glance and ignored her, turning her attention back to Old Madam Ming.
Taking in Ming Yu’s fiercely protective stance over Song Qingpei, Old Madam Ming’s displeasure only deepened. “Ming Yu, if you want to bring Miss Song back, we have no objections. But you must be clear on your own status. Do not make yourself a laughingstock to outsiders.”
Facing her grandmother, Ming Yu’s tone softened slightly. “I understand.”
Having pushed the matter as far as it could go, Old Madam Ming finally gave the order. “Enough. Let’s eat.”
Seeing Old Madam Ming let the issue drop, Yao Qianrou was thoroughly unsatisfied and opened her mouth to argue further.
Ming Yuanze quickly grabbed her arm, hissing under his breath, “Stop talking. Nothing else we say will do any good.”
Yao Qianrou gritted her teeth. Not daring to invite any more humiliation upon herself, she resentfully began picking at her food.
Having stayed completely silent from start to finish, Song Qingpei couldn’t help but steal a shocked glance at Ming Yu. A bizarre sense of psychological balance suddenly welled up in her heart. So, Ming Yu wasn’t just brutally unpleasant when speaking to her—she was an equal-opportunity destroyer who ruthlessly ran over everyone in her path.
Noticing Song Qingpei’s gaze, Ming Yu turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”
Song Qingpei shook her head and quietly went back to her meal.
The Ming family banquet proceeded in a suffocatingly awkward atmosphere.
At the table, Ming Yu’s unyielding attitude ensured that no one dared to interrogate Song Qingpei any further. Instead, all attention converged on Song Song. As the Ming family’s unspoken future heir, Song Song became the perfect lubricant to ease the tension.
She sat obediently, occasionally answering a question or two, looking exceptionally well-behaved and sensible.
After dinner, seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Old Madam Ming used the excuse of having matters to discuss to call Ming Yu away from the dining room.
The moment Ming Yu left, Yao Qianrou seized the opportunity and immediately launched her attack on Song Qingpei, her words incredibly vicious.
“Miss Song, do you really think that as long as you latch onto Ming Yu, you can fly up a branch and become a phoenix2?”
Song Qingpei offered a faint smile, doing her best to maintain her politeness. “Auntie Yao, I believe you’ve misunderstood. The situation between Ming Yu and me is not what you think.”
“Misunderstood?” Yao Qianrou’s voice spiked in volume. “A disreputable woman like you—what other reason could you possibly have for approaching Ming Yu other than coveting her status and position? Let me tell you right now, the Ming family is not a place someone like you can ever hope to climb into!”
Seeing her act so aggressively, Song Qingpei’s voice turned cold as well. “Madam Yao, I respect you because you are Ming Yu’s mother, but I ask that you afford me the same respect. Please stop speaking so offensively.”
Yao Qianrou slammed her hands on the table and stood up, pointing directly at Song Qingpei’s nose as she cursed, “What kind of thing do you think you are! How dare you speak to me like that! Ming Yu is my daughter, and I will absolutely never permit a woman like you to stay by her side!”
Song Song, who had been quietly eating her food, saw someone bullying her mother.
She immediately jerked her head up, her cheeks puffed out as she glared furiously at Yao Qianrou. “You’re not allowed to bully my Mama! You bad woman!”
Yao Qianrou’s face turned livid with rage at Song Song’s outburst, and she spoke without thinking. “You uneducated little thing, I am your grandmother! I have half a mind to teach you a proper lesson today!”
Seeing this, Song Qingpei immediately pulled Song Song behind her protectively. “Madam Yao, please conduct yourself with dignity. Song Song is my daughter, and you have no right to teach her any lessons.”
Yao Qianrou was just about to explode when Ming Yuandai quickly stood up and blocked her.
“Alright, alright, we are all a family. Let’s not make this so ugly. Sister-in-law, hold your tongue. The child is still small; don’t frighten her.”
Ming Rui hurried over as well. She took Song Song’s hand, smiling brightly. “Song Song, how about Auntie takes you out to the garden to play? There are so many pretty flowers out there, and little butterflies too.”
Song Song looked up at Song Qingpei. Only when she saw her nod did she reluctantly agree. “Okay.”
Ming Rui led Song Song and Song Qingpei out of the dining room. Out in the garden, the atmosphere instantly grew much lighter.
Song Song was quickly captivated by the flowers and plants, running happily back and forth.
Ming Rui watched her retreating figure and smiled at Song Qingpei. “Song Song really is an adorable kid.”
Song Qingpei nodded, looking at Ming Rui with genuine gratitude. “Thank you for bailing us out back there.”
Ming Rui waved her hand dismissively, clearly unbothered. “Don’t take it to heart. Yao Qianrou is just an unpresentable shrew. Don’t take a word she says seriously.”
Song Qingpei felt a surge of confusion. “She is Ming Yu’s mother, after all. Why is she like that?”
Ming Rui sighed, lowering her voice to explain. “The Ming family’s dynamics are very complicated. Ming Yuanze—Ming Yu’s father—was a notorious philanderer in his youth. Back then, Yao Qianrou was just a mistress who schemed her way to the top and forced her way into the Ming family. Because she was always insecure about her own low status, she constantly manipulated and gaslighted Cousin, forcing her to strive for perfection just to earn face for her. I even heard from my grandmother that when Cousin was six years old, Yao Qianrou locked her alone in the house to go out gambling. Cousin nearly burned to death in a fire.”
Song Qingpei’s heart pounded with shock. She never imagined Ming Yu possessed such a dark and traumatic past.
“Honestly, Cousin has had it pretty rough. She’s carried so much on her shoulders since she was little.” As Ming Rui spoke, she couldn’t help but turn an earnest look on Song Qingpei. “But don’t worry. Cousin might look completely made of ice, but she’s actually a very good person. Back in the day, my mother cut ties with the Ming family for the sake of a man. Later, when she realized she had entrusted herself to the wrong person and had to get a divorce, my grandmother and uncle pressured my mother to abandon me, and they absolutely refused to let me take the Ming surname. It was Cousin who went and pleaded with Grandmother until she finally agreed.”
“Cousin truly is a wonderful person. Now that you’re with her, she will definitely treat you well.”
“No, no, no, you’ve misunderstood,” Song Qingpei hurriedly explained. “We broke up a long time ago. Right now, we’re just… raising Song Song together, that’s all.”
“Ah?” Ming Rui was stunned.
They aren’t even together, and yet Cousin is guarding her this fiercely? Man, Cousin has fallen hard this time!
On the other side of the estate, Old Madam Ming had taken Ming Yu to Doctor Gong’s laboratory under the guise of inquiring about her health.
The moment Ming Yu heard they were going to Doctor Gong’s, her brows knitted together, her entire face flashing with resistance.
She stood at the door to the lab, her steps faltering, as if countless memories she absolutely refused to face lay hidden behind that door.
“Grandma, I really don’t need any more examinations.”
But Old Madam Ming remained entirely unmoved, her tone radiating an unquestionable authority. “Ming Yu, you are the heir to the Ming family. Your physical and mental condition is tied to the fate of this entire clan. Doctor Gong is an expert in this field. You must undergo the examination.”
Ming Yu’s lips moved slightly, but her grandmother’s decisions had never permitted any disobedience, especially when it concerned the future of the Ming family. In the end, she could only nod in silent resignation.
Stepping into the laboratory, they found Doctor Gong had already been waiting for some time.
She wore a pristine white lab coat. A surgical mask obscured the lower half of her face, leaving only a pair of eyes that glinted with a cold, metallic light from behind silver-rimmed glasses.
Seeing Ming Yu enter, her tone carried a chilling familiarity. “Admiral Ming, we meet again.”
Ming Yu’s gaze lingered on Doctor Gong’s face for a split second before darting away, as if looking at the woman for even a moment longer would make her physically ill.
She did not acknowledge Doctor Gong’s greeting. She simply stood there, cold and rigid, allowing the lab assistants to attach a web of instruments to her body.
The moment the machines hummed to life, Ming Yu’s body gave a violent shudder.
Countless memories she desperately wished to keep buried flooded her mind—agonizing, suffocating scenes that had nearly shattered her soul.
It was as if she had been violently dragged back to her childhood. Because her Mental Strength had naturally fallen short of a typical Alpha’s, her grandmother had been determined to make her powerful. To that end, she had sought out this very Doctor Gong to train her, sparing no expense and showing no mercy as Ming Yu was subjected to endless, brutal conditioning.
She remembered these cold instruments connecting to her skin. She remembered the relentless currents of electricity tearing through her body, bringing wave after wave of excruciating pain. She remembered crying and begging for mercy countless times, only for Doctor Gong to stand by and watch with cold detachment, repeating those same words over and over when Ming Yu was at her most vulnerable.
“Trash. Weaklings do not deserve to live…”
Those words were like a sharpened blade, plunging into her heart again and again until she couldn’t breathe.
She had thought she had long since forgotten that agony, but now, with the instruments connected to her once more, the memories surged back like a tidal wave, threatening to pull her under.
Ming Yu’s breathing grew ragged. Fine beads of sweat broke out across her forehead, and her knuckles turned white from clenching her fists.
Doctor Gong stood off to the side, quietly observing her reaction. That faint smile remained on her face, but in this context, it appeared unimaginably cruel.
“Admiral Ming, relax. This is merely a routine checkup.”
Ming Yu’s lips trembled slightly. Her consciousness began to blur, as if she were being dragged down into a bottomless dream.
Inside that dreamscape, Doctor Gong’s voice echoed around her. “Tell me, what is the most important thing to you right now?”
Ming Yu’s brows furrowed deeply. The figures of Song Qingpei and her daughter surfaced in her mind.
A tangled mess of emotions swelled in her chest—a profound warmth, warring against an unspeakable sense of conflict and resistance.
“I… I don’t know.” Her voice sounded terrifyingly weak within the dream.
Doctor Gong’s voice drifted back, laced with a hypnotic suggestion. “Do you really not know? Or are you simply too afraid to admit it? Tell me, what is it that you truly desire above all else?”
Ming Yu’s body trembled. The days when she had lost her memory began to play out in her mind.
Back then, she had been free from the suffocating chains of her family and those crushing responsibilities. She had nothing but the companionship of Song Qingpei and Song Song. That stretch of time had been the most relaxed, the freest moment of her entire life.
“I… I want to have a home…”
Ming Yu’s voice grew fainter and fainter, but halfway through, she suddenly recoiled violently. “No… no, I want to become Marshal. I want to revive the glory of the Ming clan. That is my lifelong duty and my only goal.”
The corners of Doctor Gong’s mouth curled upward. A flash of triumph gleamed in her eyes.
She knew that deep within Ming Yu’s heart, the foundation had begun to waver.
But that wavering was still not enough to break the Mental Imprint.
Only after confirming Ming Yu’s current mental state did Doctor Gong switch off the machine.
Seeing Doctor Gong remove the instruments, Old Madam Ming stepped forward. “Doctor Gong, what are the results?”
Doctor Gong offered a slight smile, her tone brimming with absolute confidence. “Old Madam, please rest assured. The problem is not severe. The Admiral’s subconscious has indeed begun to resist the control of the Mental Imprint. Fortunately, we caught it early enough. All we need to do is deepen the imprint further.”
Old Madam Ming frowned, a trace of anxiety flashing through her eyes. “The Mental Imprint… she won’t notice it, will she?”
Doctor Gong’s smile widened. “Do not worry. Admiral Ming was only ten years old when the Mental Imprint was first embedded. Her sense of self was still incredibly fragile. She will not realize a thing.”
Only then did Old Madam Ming breathe a sigh of relief.
Back then, in order to forge an exceptional heir for the Ming family, she had utilized every method at her disposal. But Ming Yu’s natural disposition had been soft-spoken, yielding, and clingy. And so, Old Madam Ming had ruthlessly ordered the implantation of a Mental Imprint into the young girl’s mind—
【I must become powerful. I must revive the Ming family.】
On one hand, she subjected Ming Yu to draconian training; on the other, she doled out rare crumbs of grandmotherly affection. This toxic duality had forged the Ming Yu of today—unfathomably powerful, yet overwhelmingly grateful to her grandmother, controlled by her like a puppet on a string.
But she never could have anticipated that an unexpected accident would deal Ming Yu a severe head trauma, damaging the Mental Imprint. After losing her memories, Ming Yu’s true, suppressed nature had temporarily resurfaced. She had met Song Qingpei, gotten pregnant, and even had a daughter. Thankfully, they had finally tracked her down and brought her back. Old Madam Ming had assumed everything would seamlessly return to its proper track, but she never expected…
Having placed all her hopes and dreams upon Ming Yu, Old Madam Ming naturally refused to watch her masterpiece be ruined. She turned to Doctor Gong. “Ming Yu is the future of the Ming family. Absolutely no one, and nothing, can be allowed to influence her.”
Doctor Gong nodded. “Understood. I will proceed to deepen the effects of the Mental Imprint. I will ensure that Ming Yu views the revival of the Ming family as the sole, unalterable purpose of her life. She will not waver for anyone.”
Old Madam Ming finally nodded in satisfaction.
Doctor Gong reattached the instruments and immediately initiated the process to deepen the Mental Imprint.
“Ming Yu, remember this. Weaklings do not deserve to live.”
“You must be powerful. Showing weakness is shameful.”
“Reviving the Ming clan is your sole objective in this life. No person and no matter can ever make you compromise.”
Under the overwhelming suppression of the Mental Imprint, Ming Yu squeezed her eyes shut, completely at the mercy of those cold, mechanical words as they carved into her brain like a sharpened knife.
Her consciousness slowly plunged into the abyss…
She heard the same looping admonishment from when she was ten years old: “Trash. Weaklings do not deserve to live…”
When Ming Yu finally awoke, the bitter taste of the sedative still lingered on her tongue.
Her face was pale, and a deep exhaustion haunted her eyes.
Doctor Gong stood to the side. The faint smile remained unchanged, her voice perfectly serene.
“Admiral Ming, the examination results show that everything is perfectly normal.”
Ming Yu said nothing. She simply pushed herself up in silence, trying to distance herself from the detestable machines.
Old Madam Ming walked over. Her probing gaze rapidly swept across Ming Yu’s face before melting into an expression of doting concern. “Ming Yu, how do you feel?”
“I’m fine.” Ming Yu forced herself to stand.
Old Madam Ming looked at her, eager to test the renewed strength of the Mental Imprint. She probed, “Ming Yu, Grandma is doing this for your own good. You must cut all ties with Song Qingpei.”
Ming Yu remained silent, pressing two fingers against her throbbing temples.
For some inexplicable reason, a desperate, ravenous urge to see Song Qingpei and her daughter clawed at her chest right now, as if that were the only thing that could fill the gaping void inside her.
And she acted exactly on that urge. Without a single word, she stood up and walked away, completely discarding the deep respect she usually showed her grandmother.
Seeing this, Old Madam Ming suppressed her flaring anger. “Ming Yu! Stop right there!”
“Grandma, I know.”
Ming Yu paused her steps, but she did not look back. She strode out the door.
Her footsteps echoed down the laboratory hallway, every strike of her boots sounding like it was treading on a tightly strung wire, carrying a suffocating, heavy rhythm.
When Ming Yu hurried back to the dining hall, neither Song Qingpei nor Song Song were anywhere to be seen. A flicker of deep impatience flashed through her eyes.
In the Great Hall, Yao Qianrou spotted Ming Yu returning, her face twisting with resentment and accusation.
“Ming Yu, what exactly is going on between you and that Song Qingpei?” Yao Qianrou’s voice was shrill and piercing.
Ming Yu’s gaze swept over Yao Qianrou with absolute glacial indifference. “My affairs are not yours to manage.”
Infuriated by her arrogance, Yao Qianrou’s face turned livid, her voice climbing an octave higher. “What kind of attitude is that? I am your mother! If I don’t manage you, who will? Your wings are fully grown now, so you think you don’t even have to listen to a word I say anymore, is that it?”
A cold sneer bled into Ming Yu’s tone. “Mom? Do you deserve that title?”
The words choked Yao Qianrou. Her face shifted rapidly between shades of green and white.
A trembling finger shot out to point at Ming Yu. “You… you actually dare to speak to me like this! Ming Yuanze, look at your daughter! Look at what she’s become!”
Ming Yuanze frowned, a hint of exhausted resignation in his voice. “Ming Yu, your mother is only looking out for you. You are the heir to the Ming family now; your every action concerns the reputation of this entire clan. A woman of Song Qingpei’s status is completely unworthy of you. You should sever ties with her as soon as possible, before it affects your future…”
“Enough.” Ming Yu cut him off without a shred of courtesy. She demanded, “Tell me, where did Qingpei and Song Song go?”
Seeing both Yao Qianrou and her brother suffer a humiliating defeat, and noting the dangerous impatience rolling off Ming Yu, Ming Yuandai quickly stepped forward. “Ming Yu, Miss Song and Song Song are out in the garden. Go find them.”
Ming Yu nodded. Without another word, she turned on her heel and headed straight for the garden.
Out among the flowers, Song Song was crouched in front of a bush, her small hands gently brushing the petals, a thoroughly innocent smile lighting up her face.
Ming Rui stood nearby, watching her with a beaming smile and occasionally tossing out a playful remark.
Song Qingpei stood a short distance away, her gaze locked warmly on Song Song, a faint, tender smile playing across her lips.
Ming Yu’s footsteps hitched slightly at the garden’s entrance. Her eyes lingered on Song Qingpei for a fraction of a second before she walked over. “It’s getting late. We should go back.”
Hearing her voice, Ming Rui turned around, a flicker of surprise crossing her face. “Cousin, you’re out already? Didn’t Doctor Gong…”
Ming Yu offered no answer. She merely leveled a frigid stare at her cousin, a blatant warning glinting in her eyes.
Frightened by the sheer intensity of that look, Ming Rui subconsciously snapped her mouth shut.
Oblivious to the bizarre tension between the two, Song Qingpei simply said softly, “Song Song, it’s time to go home.”
Song Song nodded obediently. “Okay.”
Ming Yu said nothing more. She turned and began walking out. Song Qingpei took Song Song’s hand and followed closely behind her.
Ming Rui watched their retreating backs, her brow knitting together as a faint sense of unease rippled through her heart.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that ever since Ming Yu returned from Doctor Gong’s lab, something about her had changed. Actually, it had been like this in the past too… every time her cousin emerged from Doctor Gong’s care, she would seem slightly different from the person Ming Rui remembered.
Was it just her imagination?
On the ride back, the atmosphere inside the car was suffocatingly heavy.
Sitting in the back seat, Song Qingpei thought of the horrific past Ming Rui had revealed in the garden. She couldn’t stop her gaze from drifting toward Ming Yu. A tangled mess of emotions surged through her. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t stop herself—
Her heart was softening.
Especially when she pictured Ming Yu in her ‘Mengmeng’ state, the ache in her chest grew even sharper. She could remain perfectly unbothered by the high-and-mighty Admiral Ming Yu, but when faced with the Ming Yu sitting beside her now, she found it impossible to stay detached.
“Ming Yu…” Song Qingpei began softly, her tone carrying a tentative probe. “Your relationship with your parents… is it not very good?”
Ming Yu kept her eyes locked strictly on the road ahead. Her voice was pure ice. “My family affairs are none of your business.”
Song Qingpei choked. Whatever trace of soft-hearted pity she’d felt vanished into thin air in a heartbeat.
Ha. It served her right for being sentimental. With a foul mouth like that, Ming Yu deserved to die alone. She’d never get a wife in this lifetime.
For the rest of the drive, neither of them spoke another word.
Sitting wedged between them, Song Song tilted her little head up to look at Song Qingpei, then swiveled to look at Ming Yu. She propped her chin in her hands and let out a long, heavy sigh entirely unsuited for her age.
Sigh. Mama and Mommy are definitely mad at each other again. So annoying.
Upon arriving back at Shanshui Manor, Ming Yu walked straight into the study, tossing a cold order over her shoulder at Song Qingpei. “Come with me. I have something to say to you.”
Song Qingpei was thoroughly irritated, but she followed Ming Yu into the room anyway.
Inside the study, Ming Yu stood by the window, her back to Song Qingpei. The command in her voice was absolute. “Song Qingpei, I expect you to resign from your position at Blue Sea.”
Song Qingpei couldn’t believe it. After arguing over this for so long, Ming Yu still hadn’t given up on the idea.
But on this matter, Song Qingpei would absolutely never back down. This was not just a job to her—it was a career she loved, an opportunity to prove her own worth, and the sole foundation that gave her the leverage to fight for custody of Song Song.
Not wanting to get into yet another screaming match, Song Qingpei swallowed her anger and tried to reason with her.
“I am doing very well at Blue Sea. Why are you so obsessed with making me quit?”
But ever since returning from the ancestral home, Ming Yu seemed like a completely different person. Not only had her patience evaporated, but the recent gestures of goodwill she had shown Song Qingpei were entirely gone. She dictated forcefully, “There is no ‘why.’ I do not want you working there anymore, and I certainly do not want you having any further contact with Murong Ruixue. You don’t need to ask questions. Just resign.”
The arrogance of those words was enough to drive someone to murder.
Ming Yu wasn’t discussing this with her at all. She was giving an order. She was treating Song Qingpei like a subordinate, handing down a decree from on high that permitted no disobedience.
A surge of fury blazed through Song Qingpei. She ground her teeth together. “Ming Yu, could you try giving me even a shred of respect?”
“I am doing this for your own good,” Ming Yu insisted.
Hearing that line, Song Qingpei actually let out a bitter laugh. “Are you really doing this for my own good? Or do you just want to control me?”
Ming Yu’s brow furrowed slightly. A flicker of struggle surfaced in her eyes, but it vanished almost instantly, replaced once again by unyielding dominance. “Song Qingpei, you need to understand that my decisions are not open to question.”
Song Qingpei’s entire body went rigid.
It had been a long time since Ming Yu had spoken to her in that commanding tone. Coupled with Ming Yu’s frequent attempts to bridge the gap lately, Song Qingpei had actually begun to entertain a ridiculous delusion—that this woman was capable of communication, that she could be reasoned with.
But looking at her now, it was obvious Ming Yu was still exactly who she had always been. She had just hidden it incredibly well.
Thinking back to their intimacy the night before, a sharp pang of agony tore through Song Qingpei’s heart. “You… how did you turn back into this?”
“Into what?” Catching her meaning, Ming Yu let out a cold harrumph. “Song Qingpei, did you really expect me to keep debasing myself like ‘Mengmeng’ just to grovel for your favor? Let me tell you right now, that is impossible.”
Song Qingpei stared at Ming Yu in utter shock, a chaotic storm of emotions churning violently in her chest.
“Mengmeng?” Her voice trembled uncontrollably. “You… you really do remember. What is going on?”
Ming Yu’s gaze was eerily calm, without a trace of evasion.
She looked Song Qingpei dead in the eye and confessed bluntly, “Mengmeng is an amnesiac state triggered by hypnosis. After all, you couldn’t stop talking about how much you missed the version of me that lost her memory. But I could never lower myself to grovel for your approval like that. So, I could only let her come out to smooth things over with you.”
Song Qingpei’s pupils contracted violently, as if she had just taken a physical blow to the chest.
Lower herself? Groveling?
What an incredible way to twist the truth! Ming Yu actually thought ‘Mengmeng’ had just been groveling to her?
But when she had first met ‘Mengmeng,’ that was exactly who she was—innocent, clingy, gentle, carrying a trace of childishness. She was fundamentally a different person from the Ming Yu standing here now.
That was precisely why Song Qingpei had so firmly believed that the moment Ming Yu regained her memories, ‘Mengmeng’ had died.
She had spent three excruciating years struggling to accept that reality. Yet Ming Yu, entirely for her own selfish convenience, had handed her hope on a silver platter, letting her see the lover she had yearned for day and night—only to casually shatter the dream with a few flippant words the moment Song Qingpei finally allowed herself to sink back into it.
Song Qingpei’s voice shook as she demanded, “Why… why would you use something like this to deceive me?”
Ming Yu genuinely could not understand her obsession.
Whether it was the amnesiac ‘Mengmeng’ or her current self, wasn’t it all just her? What was the difference?
Her brows pulled together, an edge of irritation bleeding into her tone. “Song Qingpei, you were the one who kept insisting Mengmeng was dead and that we could never go back to the past. Since that was the case, I brought ‘Mengmeng’ back so we could live together in harmony. What is so wrong with that?”
“It is not the same!”
Song Qingpei’s voice spiked. “Ming Yu, do you even know what love is?”
“Love is exclusive!”
“Even if ‘Mengmeng’ was just a state of your amnesia, we were deeply in love during that time. I would rather believe our love died the second your memory returned than accept that my former lover has been twisted into the thing standing in front of me now.”
Song Qingpei felt as though her heart were being violently ripped apart. The pain was so intense it was suffocating.
For the first time, she unleashed the full, blazing intensity of her emotions, nearly screaming in a furious roar. “Let me tell you this right now! Ming Yu, I despise this kind of deceit! I despise the utterly unempathetic person you are right now, and I will never, ever love this version of you! From now on, we cross our own bridges and walk our own roads. Keep your hands out of my affairs, and I will absolutely not resign!”
“Other than Song Song, there is nothing left between us!”
Faced with that explosive rage, a flicker of genuine emotion broke through Ming Yu’s composure. But it lasted only a fraction of a second before the tyrannical dominance swallowed it whole once more.
She rejected Song Qingpei’s declaration without a moment’s hesitation, issuing an absolute, unrefusable command. “Song Qingpei, I need you to mark me during my heat, and Song Song needs her mother by her side. From today onward, you are forbidden from working at Blue Sea, and you are forbidden from having any further contact with Murong Ruixue.”
Outraged to her very core by the sheer insanity of those demands, Song Qingpei spat, “Ming Yu, you do not have the right to control me! I will not listen to you!”
Hearing this, a dangerous light glinted in Ming Yu’s eyes. “Song Qingpei, do not force my hand.”
The air between them instantly sharpened into blades. It felt as though a silent, brutal war was brewing in the suffocating silence.
In the end, Song Qingpei gritted her teeth, turned around, and stormed out of the study.
Her heart was brimming with a toxic mix of fury and despair. A beautiful dream had just been mercilessly slaughtered in front of her eyes.
The next day was Saturday. She was supposed to have the day off, but Song Qingpei had agreed to work overtime to repair a mech.
And so, she ate her breakfast as usual and prepared to head to work.
However, the moment she reached the front doors, she found her path blocked by several soldiers clad in stark black uniforms.
They stood before her, entirely expressionless, forming an impenetrable wall of flesh. Song Qingpei’s face instantly turned ashen.
“Move!” she snapped. “You have no right to restrict my freedom!”
The leader of the soldiers spoke with rigid respect, yet left absolutely no room for negotiation. “Miss Song, the Admiral has left orders. For your own safety, please do not leave the manor for the time being.”
“Safety?” Song Qingpei let out a bitter laugh. “You mean imprisonment! What right does Ming Yu have to do this?”
The bodyguards remained dead silent, standing immovable in her path.
Trembling with rage, Song Qingpei pulled out her phone and dialed Ming Yu’s number.
It rang for a long time before the call finally connected. Ming Yu’s voice drifted through the speaker. “What’s wrong?”
“Ming Yu, what is the meaning of this?” Song Qingpei forced the words out through her teeth. “By what right are you restricting my personal freedom?”
“I told you. It is for your own safety.” Ming Yu’s voice was perfectly calm. “Things have been turbulent outside lately. You are safest staying inside the manor.”
“Cut the crap!” Song Qingpei finally exploded. “Safety, my ass—you just want to control me! Ming Yu, you’ve crossed the line!”
Silence stretched over the line for a long moment. When Ming Yu finally spoke again, her voice had turned freezing cold. “Just be good and stay in the manor with Song Song. Wait for me to return.”
“You—”
Before Song Qingpei could finish, the call disconnected.
“Ming Yu, you bastard!”
Footnotes
- A reference to the historical Feast at Hong Gate (Hóngmén Yàn) in 206 BCE, where warlord Xiang Yu planned to assassinate his rival Liu Bang. The term is now a common idiom for a banquet or meeting that is actually a trap with malicious intent.
- An idiom (fēi shàng zhī tóu biàn fènghuáng) meaning a person of low status marrying into wealth or power, thereby elevating their social standing overnight.
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