Sikong Jing Was an Ungrateful Wretch

At that moment, in Su Yuexi's courtyard at Su Mansion.

Mei Xiaofang was anxiously tugging at Su Yuexi, shouting, "Where's that criminal? How come we can't find him?"

Su Yuexi's face was pale, dark circles hanging beneath her eyes. She hadn't slept a wink all night.

Yesterday, after Sikong Jing left Hengyu Pawnshop, he'd said he was going out of the city to retrieve the Jadeite Hairpin. At the time, they'd thought the City Guards would surely stop him and send him back, but he hadn't come home all night.

Now Su Yuexi didn't know whether Sikong Jing had left the city or been caught and locked up by the City Guards.

"Mother, Sikong Jing, he..."

She was about to explain what had happened at Hengyu Pawnshop when Aunt Li's shrill voice suddenly rang out from beyond the courtyard: "Mei Xiaofang, we've come to collect our money! Your criminal son-in-law promised us ten times our wages. You can pay us now!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a clatter broke out...

In the blink of an eye, dozens of people appeared inside and outside the courtyard.

Among them were seven servants demanding their wages, led by Aunt Li, as well as a large crowd of Su Mansion servants who had gathered to watch.

Every one of them wanted to know whether Mei Xiaofang's criminal son-in-law could really come up with ten times the wages.

At that moment, Mei Xiaofang, still inside the hall, asked again with a pale face, "Yuexi, is there any money left from pawning the Jadeite Hairpin?"

Su Yuexi shook her head. "No, just three Gold Crystal Coins."

Those three Gold Crystal Coins had already gone to Doctor Sun for the treatment of her father, Su Zhenglong. Su Yuexi still had nothing in her hands.

"But, Mother, don't worry. Sikong Jing has money. I saw him with lots of Gold Crystal Coins yesterday." Seeing how awful Mei Xiaofang looked, Su Yuexi hurried to reassure her.

"He has lots of Gold Crystal Coins, but where is he now?" Mei Xiaofang pressed.

As soon as her voice fell, Aunt Li spoke up again. "Mei Xiaofang, pay us back! Otherwise, don't blame us for carrying things off."

Mei Xiaofang glared resentfully at Su Yuexi, then could only rush outside and say, "My son-in-law went to get the money and hasn't come back yet. Once he does, he'll naturally be able to pay you ten times the amount. What's the rush?"

Although she didn't really believe that Sikong Jing had lots of Gold Crystal Coins, this was all Mei Xiaofang could say for now.

"Pfft..."

The next instant, a scornful laugh rang out abruptly from the crowd. It came from Su Yun.

She stepped forward gracefully, smiling as she said, "Aunt, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. I just got word that your criminal son-in-law broke out of the city yesterday!"

Su Yuexi had just stepped out of the hall when she froze.

Had Sikong Jing really managed to leave the city?

Mei Xiaofang also looked perplexed and asked, "Why would Sikong Jing leave the city?"

For a moment, she hadn't caught on to the seriousness of Su Yun's words.

Sikong Jing was a criminal. How dare he leave the city?

Su Yun smiled broadly, her tone mocking. "Aunt, haven't you figured it out yet? Your son-in-law has criminal status. Of course he broke out of the city to run away, to escape this prison called Yunye City."

At that, Mei Xiaofang's eyes widened. She shuddered violently and stammered, "You mean, you mean..."

Su Yun shrugged, a vicious glint flashing through her eyes. "That's right. He knew he couldn't pay ten times the wages, so why would he stay here and wait to die? He had to run away first."

Buzz!

Mei Xiaofang's mind exploded. Sikong Jing had promised that if he couldn't come up with ten times the wages, he'd leave his life behind.

And that hadn't been a joke. The servants might not dare kill him, but Su Zhengtao and Su Yun certainly would.

"Su Yun, stop talking nonsense. Sikong Jing has money."

At that moment, Su Yuexi couldn't help rushing forward to argue with Su Yun, her eyes bloodshot.

Then she turned sharply to Mei Xiaofang and explained, "Mother, Sikong Jing didn't break out of the city to run away. He went to help me retrieve the Jadeite Hairpin that had been sold."

Mei Xiaofang stared blankly at her second daughter and asked, "So he really did break out of the city?"

"Mm." Su Yuexi nodded, then hurriedly explained what had happened at Hengyu Pawnshop.

"Hahaha..."

As soon as she finished, Su Yun couldn't help bursting into laughter.

"You're saying he went out of the city in the middle of the night for your little hairpin? Wasn't he afraid of dying out there?"

"Wasn't he afraid of being punished when he came back?"

Su Yun didn't believe a single word of Su Yuexi's explanation.

Su Yuexi bit her lip, faced Su Yun squarely, and shouted, "It's true."

Remembering the look in Sikong Jing's eyes yesterday, Su Yuexi grew furious, angry that Su Yun didn't believe in his character.

"Su Yuexi, you really are so naive."

"Your criminal husband was just using that as an excuse to break out of the city. He only wanted to get rid of you, you ugly freak."

"You actually think he'd sincerely treat someone as ugly as you well?"

Su Yun kept sneering. She looked at Su Yuexi as if she were a fool who'd been deceived by a bad man.

Those words made Su Yuexi's heart clench. Panic seized her at once.

She was an ugly freak everyone feared at the sight of. How could anyone truly care about her?

"Yuexi, that criminal is an ungrateful wretch, an ungrateful wretch!" Just as Su Yuexi's thoughts began to waver, Mei Xiaofang's voice rose behind her. "He's escaped the city. There's no way he'll come back."

"It was all fake. His marrying you was fake, his willingness to accept you was fake, and his promise to pay ten times the wages was fake."

"He was a heinous criminal to begin with. Why would he risk going out of the city for a hairpin?"

As Mei Xiaofang cried out again and again, Su Yuexi's mind roared. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Was she still the ugly freak no one wanted?

"Congratulations, Aunt. You've gotten rid of that criminal."

"But whether or not he ran away, he was still the son-in-law you acknowledged. You have to pay Aunt Li and the others ten times their wages."

Su Yun's shrill, heartless voice dragged the despairing mother and daughter back to reality.

Then Aunt Li and the others sneered. "Mei Xiaofang, pay up!"

All the servants stepped forward, their faces twisted with malice!

"We don't have any money. We'll find a way..."

Mei Xiaofang's face went deathly pale as she hurried to shield Su Yuexi, who was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

A long, cold smile stretched across Su Yun's lips. She barked, "No money, is that it? Then... you can start carrying things out."

The moment she finished speaking, Aunt Li and the others let out sharp laughs and charged into the rooms without another word.

At the same time, the servants watching from the sidelines grew eager to join in. Encouraged by Su Yun, quite a few of them rushed inside too.

"Stop, don't steal our things!"

"You bastards, you animals! Zhenglong is resting inside. You're not allowed in!"

Mei Xiaofang rushed frantically to the entrance of Su Zhenglong's room and stood guard in front of the door.

Su Zhenglong had only just started to improve after taking Doctor Sun's medicine. With all this commotion, he could die!

"You're not allowed to touch my father's things!" Su Yuexi cast aside her anguish too and rushed toward Su Zhenglong's room.

"Haha, ignore her! Charge in!" Su Yun cackled maniacally.

Inside, she was laughing even harder. Let's see if Su Zhenglong didn't die of rage now.

Suddenly, a violent gust of wind swept down, accompanied by a thunderous roar of fury. "What are you doing?"

The voice brimmed with rage. A tall, fierce figure crashed to the ground—it was Sikong Jing, who had just returned.

He'd come home full of joy, ready to tell Su Yuexi that he'd retrieved the Jadeite Hairpin. But the chaos he found before him sent killing intent surging through him.