Lu Chengwen calmly began brewing tea for Tang Wanli.
"Do you know how much money my younger brother made overseas speculating on grain, gold, and arms, even meddling with the lifeline economies of their countries?"
"What does that have to do with me?" Tang Wanli answered coldly.
"Then do you know how many people he got killed?"
"That has nothing to do with me either."
"Good answer."
Lu Chengwen set down the teapot. "At first, I thought all of this was caused by him. But later, he told me that without him, what was going to fall into chaos would still fall into chaos, the people who were going to die would still die, and the money that was going to be made would either go into his pocket or someone else's. Since there had to be a pocket anyway, why couldn't it be his?"
"What exactly are you trying to say? That you pity the world? Or that you've suddenly grown a conscience?"
"No, no, no. I don't have a conscience."
Lu Chengwen gave a bitter smile, picked up a cup of tea, and took a sip. "When he gave me a legitimate reason and told me I didn't have to be responsible for the people he starved to death, my very first feeling was actually... relief."
Lu Chengwen looked at Tang Wanli. "I know you're all Important Figures. You've seen corpses strewn across the fields, lived through war and chaos. You've long grown indifferent to people living and dying. But... I just can't accept it. There will always be people in this world who want to harm others, and there will always be people who want to save others. Those who want to save people might not necessarily be rewarded, while those who harm others..."
Lu Chengwen smiled